In 1980, Japanese company Namco Limited developed the game Pac- Man. Pac-Man, one of the most popular video games of all time, was played by controlling a yellow character as it goes around the map eating colored dots while running from four ghosts, Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde. The lead designer of Pac-Man, Iwatani Tohru claimed that he had come up with the idea for Pac-Man when looking at a pizza missing two slices, one that resembled the same shape as the Pac-Man character. Pac-Man was named after a Japanese Phrase that describes the sound of one when they are eating “paku-paku taberu”. Tohru’s idea behind Pac-Man was to create a nonviolent video game that revolved around eating than shooting space aliens.When Pac-Man was released in Japan, it wasn’t an arcade hit and many didn’t seem to care about the game. Along with that, Investors didn’t initially see Pac-Man as a profitable arcade game as it struggled during Trade Shows. Another game, Rally-X, was believed to be the highest-selling game in the next year. Investors could not predict America’s love for Pac-Man. When the United States got a hold of Pac-Man, the game became an instant overnight sensation and took over arcades across the United States.
Pac-Man has become one of the highest-grossing games of all time. It has generated over 14 billion dollars in revenue. The game has led to its own merchandise, sequels, and TV shows. Pac-Man is one of the best selling games worldwide and is one of the staples of Video Game culture.
Nice post on Pac-Man! I think one of the most interesting facts about Pac-Man is the naming of the ghosts. In the original Japanese version, the literal translation of the ghosts’ names are Chaser, Ambusher, Fickle, and Feigned Ignorance (or Stupid). Their names are reflections of the type of behavior that each of the ghosts would have. For example, Chaser, now called Blinky, has the very simple AI of chasing Pac-Man.
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I find it very interesting that you chose to talk about Pac-Man and I enjoy that you described the background and effect of Pac-Man in terms of becoming on of the staples of Video Game culture. Pac-Man redefined video games as at the time of its release most games were World-War themed and about annihilation. Pac Man changed the social dialogue around arcades as it was a game that everyone was comfortable playing, and you now had women and children of both genders in the arcade. Pac-Man alone made it more permissible for everyone to be included in arcade culture.
ReplyDeleteWow, I did not know that Pac-Man was more than just a random circle eating and running away from ghost characters! It is really interesting how the game developed and became known globally as the stereotypical arcade game. I found out that the creator of the game had no background in programming or designing. He initially was working on pinball machines but was then moved to work on designing games, Pac-Man being one of them.
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I really enjoyed your post on Pac-Man! It was really interesting to be able to learn about the history and the rise of the quintessential arcade game. I found that the Guinness Book of World Records has awarded Pac-Man eight total records, including the "Most Successful Coin-Operated Game" in 2008. The game has also inspired several real-life recreations, like Manny Pacquiao's nickname and the concept of renormalization in the mathematical study of the Mandelbrot Set.
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