Pac-Man is not just an electronic game nor just a well-known “face.” Much more than that, Pac-Man has become a cultural symbol, both of Japan and of video games. The game was first made for Arcade in the early 1980s. Even with a very simple mechanic, the game became very popular.
The round yellow character that resembles a pizza runs through a maze trying to collect points and escape from ghosts. This is a brief and explained summary of the game. The hope of the game was to attract both girls and boys. And this goal was achieved; with a bit of humor and a beautiful comic appeal, the game became famous.
A bit of the history of the yellow character
Toru Iwatani, a designer from the gaming company Namco, wanted to create a game that resembled a cartoon. Toru says that his inspiration for creating the character was a pizza he was eating. The pizza was missing two slices, which looked like a mouth. So in 1980, the game was released under the name “Puck-Man.”
In the same year, an American company bought the rights to the game. It was then that the main character was renamed to Pac-Man. In 1981, the game became famous throughout American territory. The game surpassed another hit, Asteroids, earning over a billion dollars in its first year. Pac-Man was one of the first games to launch a major advertising campaign. T-shirts, cups, mugs, sweaters, pants, books, board games, and much more were themed around the game.
The game was considered revolutionary for its time. The “Power Up” mechanic was introduced much earlier in Pac-Man than in the “Mario Bros” franchise. This mechanic gives a temporary special ability to the character. Something that also caught attention was the artificial intelligence. Each ghost had its own personality and distinct functions in the game. While one chased Pac-Man, some tried to surround him, and another only moved if the others were nearby.
In 1981, two sequels were released, basically the same game. The difference was that the main character in one was a female character, and in the other, it was a child version. Over time, newer and more modern versions of the game emerged. Until in 1982, an animation based on Pac-Man was produced, and in 1987 it arrived in Brazil, being aired by TV Bandeirantes.
Some curiosities about Pac-Man
- Billy Mitchell holds the record for completing the game in 6 hours, achieving a score of 3,333,360 points without dying once;
- In the first 18 months, more than 350,000 Pac-Man arcade machines were sold, leading to nearly a billion dollars;
- The original ghosts in the game have names: Blinky the red, Inky the blue, Pinky the pink, and Clyde the orange;
- The original game had a size of only 24 KB;
- The character was also inspired by Popeye, who ate and became strong;
- In 1981, a song called “Pac-Man Fever” was released, selling over 2.5 million copies;
- Pac-Man was the best-selling game for the Atari 2600 console, with over 7 million copies sold;
Have you ever played a Pac-Man game? Did you know his story? Leave in the comments what you thought and share the article on social media.
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