Arguably the greatest video game of all time, ‘Pac-Man’, is the arcade game developed by ‘Namco’, way back in 1980. Featuring a hungry little yellow sprite-like character with a penchant for ghost gobbling, Pac-Man, is as popular now as he ever was, and is rightly considered to be one of the true classics of video game history, and a lasting testament to the genius, of what is now considered to be the ‘golden age’ of gaming.
Combining simple rules with deep and addictive game-play, the player controls a hungry Pac-Man who must clear the screen of 'pac-dots', while either evading being killed by the colorful cast of ghosts who chase him around the maze in which he feeds, or through consuming the 'power-pellets' scattered around the maze, and then eating the ghosts themselves, who then in the form of a pair of flashing eyeballs, return to the centre of the maze to regenerate, before once again giving chase. And with only three lives to spare (unless 10,000 points can be reached, at which point a single additional bonus life is awarded), and with mazes of increasing difficulty as the game progresses, Pac-Man, offers just the right amount of challenge, and has won the hearts of generation after generation.
As a ‘pop-culture’ icon, Pac-Man, is recognised by 94% of all Americans, and with his thirty-plus spin-off games, animated television series, hit disco record, and endless array of merchandise and collectibles, it would not be surprising to find that Pac-Man was recognised by the inhabitants of even the remotest hidden villages, of reclusive foreign tribes. And while some believe Pac-Man himself to be based visually upon a hockey puck, or a pizza with a slice missing, Pac-Man’s visage is actually based upon the Japanese character for ‘mouth’, while the game itself was inspired by the Japanese folk-hero ‘Paku’, who was famous for his voracious appetite, and is the reason that Pac-Man was originally titled 'Pakkuman'.
As an iconic legend and video gaming classic, standing alongside the likes of ‘Space Invaders’, and ‘Pong’, as a game that has been released on virtually every home-based games console and computer ever made, Pac-Man is the winner of numerous Guinness World Records, including: Pac-Man having had ‘the most coin-operated arcade machines installed world wide’, and for being: ‘The most successful coin-operated game ever’,
I lose at it, i suck at it, im a total embarrassment with Pac Man....but i just cant help it but to love it....along with Tetris, of course.
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