Pac Man hits his quarter-century
Celebrating by munching a load of pills, presumably
That most venerable of gaming characters Pac Man celebrated his twenty-fifth year of existence yesterday. A massive celebrity since the day of his inception, Pac Man has been munching his way through power pills for so long now that he should be able to power the continental United States just by plugging himself in. The iconic yellow fella is arguably the most well recognised gaming character in history, having gobbled his way off of arcade machines and into just about every marketable commodity known to man. From breakfast cereals and pillow cases Pac Man has also starred in his own cartoon show, an 80's classic, as well as having been the inspiration for a Top 40 single, Buckner & Garcia's Pac Man Fever.
Originally called Puck Man by his Japanese creator Toru Iwatani, the character gained his look after Mr. Iwatani looked at the pizza that he had just taken a slice from. Mr. Iwatani saw a head with a half-open mouth rather then a tasty pizza pie. Imagining this head running around a maze eating things, the legend was born. A legend that, according to video-game orginisation Twin Galaxies, has been played on arcade machines more than 10 billion times in the 20th century. "Pac Man changed the psychological profile of the average person," explains Twin Galaxies' founder Walter Day. "Suddenly old and young, male and female, doctors, dentists, lawyers and housewives found it acceptable to be playing a video game. And Pac Man opened that door for them. Despite the fact that it was technologically advanced, it was as simple as playing a card game for them."
Pac Man has made his parent company Namco oodles of money over the years, a trend that the company plans on continuing with the advent of the next-gen machines. Namco are keen to release another four Pac Man games in the near future, with a PSP version waiting to be announced. "I think there's a high nostalgia value with Pac Man -- a lot more so than many classic characters," said Sean Mylett, senior marketing manager for Namco. "I think Pac Man is a game where people really remember being younger and pumping quarters and quarters into machines. ... Then there's another level with the 'Pac Man World 3' character. He's an E-rated character. He's very colorful, very safe. It's definitely different than the trends going on in games. He just has an appeal." And while more then a few of the attempts to repeat the phenomenal success of Pac Man in the early eighties have been less than triumphant, a character this well-loved and recognized is sure to live on for many more years to come. Happy Birthday Pac Man.
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