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== Impact and legacy ==
== Impact and legacy ==
When first launched in Japan by Namco in 1980, the game received a lukewarm response, as ''[[Space Invaders]]'' and other similar games were more popular at the time.<ref name="classicgaming"/> However, the game found far more success in North America. ''Pac-Man''{{'}}s success in North America took competitors and distributors completely by surprise in 1980. Marketing executives who saw ''Pac-Man'' at a trade show prior to release completely overlooked the game (along with the now classic ''[[Defender (video game)|Defender]]''), while they looked to a racing car game called ''[[Rally-X]]'' as the game to outdo that year.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.classicgaming.com/rotw/defender.shtml | author = Bowen, Kevin | title = Game of the Week: ''Defender'' | publisher = ClassicGaming.com | year = 2001 | accessdate = 2006-08-17}}</ref> The appeal of ''Pac-Man'' was such that the game caught on immediately with the public; it quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry up to that point. ''Pac-Man'' outstripped ''[[Asteroids (computer game)|Asteroids]]'' as the best-selling arcade game in North America,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://thedoteaters.com/p2_stage4.php | title = Player 2 Stage 4: Two Superstars | publisher = The Dot Eaters | accessdate = 2006-08-17}}</ref><ref name="Wolf-44">{{citation|title=The medium of the video game|author=Mark J. P. Wolf||publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|year=2001|isbn=029279150X|page=44|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lKZriBxbcwQC&pg=PA44|accessdate=2011-04-09}}</ref> where it would go on to sell over 350,000 units,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=GameMuseum.Detail&id=261 | title = Game of the Week: ''Pac-Man'' | author = Kevin "Fragmaster" Bowen | publisher = [[GameSpy]] | year = 2001 | accessdate = 2011-04-09}}</ref> and within a year,<ref name="Barton-181">{{citation|title=Vintage games: an insider look at the history of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the most influential games of all time|author=Bill Loguidice & Matt Barton|publisher=[[Focal Press]]|year=2009|isbn=0240811461|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=M_bFdsP9L7oC|accessdate=2011-04-23|page=181|quote=The machines were well worth the investment; in total they raked in over a billion dollars worth of quarters in the first year alone.}}</ref> generate a revenue of over $1 billion in [[Quarter (United States coin)|quarters]],<ref name="timemag"/><ref name="Barton-181"/><ref name="Wolf-73">{{citation|title=The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond|author=Mark J. P. Wolf|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2008|isbn=031333868X|page=73|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC&pg=PA73|accessdate=2011-04-10|quote=It would go on to become arguably the most famous video game of all time, with the arcade game alone taking in more than a billion dollars, and one study estimated that it had been played more than 10 billion times during the twentieth century.}}</ref> equivalent to over $2.3 billion in 2011.<ref name="Inflation">{{cite web|title=CPI Inflation Calculator|publisher=[[Bureau of Labor Statistics]]|url=http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm|accessdate=2011-03-22}}</ref> Towards the end of the 20th century, the total gross of ''Pac-Man'' arcade machines had been estimated at more than 10 billion quarters ($2.5 billion),<ref name="Wolf-73"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Pac Man turns 25: A pizza dinner yields a cultural phenomenon - and millions of dollars in quarters|date=May 10, 2005|author=Chris Morris|publisher=[[CNN]]|url=http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/10/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm|accessdate=2011-04-23|quote=In the late 1990s, Twin Galaxies, which tracks video game world record scores, visited used game auctions and counted how many times the average Pac Man machine had been played. Based on those findings and the total number of machines that were manufactured, the organization said it believed the game had been played more than 10 billion times in the 20th century.}}</ref> equivalent to over $3.4 billion in 2011.<ref name="Inflation"/>
When first launched in Japan by Namco in 1980, the game received a lukewarm response, as ''[[Space Invaders]]'' and other similar games were more popular at the time.<ref name="classicgaming"/> However, the game found far more success in North America. ''Pac-Man''{{'}}s success in North America took competitors and distributors completely by surprise in 1980. Marketing executives who saw ''Pac-Man'' at a trade show prior to release completely overlooked the game (along with the now classic ''[[Defender (video game)|Defender]]''), while they looked to a racing car game called ''[[Rally-X]]'' as the game to outdo that year.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.classicgaming.com/rotw/defender.shtml | author = Bowen, Kevin | title = Game of the Week: ''Defender'' | publisher = ClassicGaming.com | year = 2001 | accessdate = 2006-08-17}}</ref> The appeal of ''Pac-Man'' was such that the game caught on immediately with the public; it quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry up to that point. ''Pac-Man'' outstripped ''[[Asteroids (computer game)|Asteroids]]'' as the best-selling arcade game in North America,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://thedoteaters.com/p2_stage4.php | title = Player 2 Stage 4: Two Superstars | publisher = The Dot Eaters | accessdate = 2006-08-17}}</ref><ref name="Wolf-44">{{citation|title=The medium of the video game|author=Mark J. P. Wolf||publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|year=2001|isbn=029279150X|page=44|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lKZriBxbcwQC&pg=PA44|accessdate=2011-04-09}}</ref> where it would sell more than 350,000 [[Video game arcade cabinet|arcade cabinets]]<ref name="Brill-120">{{citation|title=America in the 1980s|author=Marlene Targ Brill|publisher=[[Lerner Publishing Group|Twenty-First Century Books]]|year=2009|isbn=0822576023|page=120|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NjmhJKkoKW0C&pg=PT120|accessdate=2011-05-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=GameMuseum.Detail&id=261 | title = Game of the Week: ''Pac-Man'' | author = Kevin "Fragmaster" Bowen | publisher = [[GameSpy]] | year = 2001 | accessdate = 2011-04-09}}</ref> (retailing at around $2400 each)<ref>{{citation|title=Video arcades rival Broadway theatre and girlie shows in NY|work=[[InfoWorld]]|date=12 April 1982|volume=4|issue=14|issn=0199-6649|page=15|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15|accessdate=2011-05-01}}</ref> for $1 billion<ref name="Brill-120"/> (equivalent to over $2.3 billion in 2011)<ref name="Inflation">{{cite web|title=CPI Inflation Calculator|publisher=[[Bureau of Labor Statistics]]|url=http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm|accessdate=2011-03-22}}</ref> within 18 months,<ref name="Brill-120"/> and gross over $1 billion in [[Quarter (United States coin)|quarters]] within a year.<ref name="Barton-181">{{citation|title=Vintage games: an insider look at the history of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the most influential games of all time|author=Bill Loguidice & Matt Barton|publisher=[[Focal Press]]|year=2009|isbn=0240811461|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=M_bFdsP9L7oC|accessdate=2011-04-23|page=181|quote=The machines were well worth the investment; in total they raked in over a billion dollars worth of quarters in the first year alone.}}</ref><ref name="Wolf-73">{{citation|title=The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond|author=Mark J. P. Wolf|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2008|isbn=031333868X|page=73|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC&pg=PA73|accessdate=2011-04-10|quote=It would go on to become arguably the most famous video game of all time, with the arcade game alone taking in more than a billion dollars, and one study estimated that it had been played more than 10 billion times during the twentieth century.}}</ref> Towards the end of the 20th century, the game's total gross in quarters had been estimated at more than 10 billion quarters ($2.5 billion),<ref name="Wolf-73"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Pac Man turns 25: A pizza dinner yields a cultural phenomenon - and millions of dollars in quarters|date=May 10, 2005|author=Chris Morris|publisher=[[CNN]]|url=http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/10/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm|accessdate=2011-04-23|quote=In the late 1990s, Twin Galaxies, which tracks video game world record scores, visited used game auctions and counted how many times the average Pac Man machine had been played. Based on those findings and the total number of machines that were manufactured, the organization said it believed the game had been played more than 10 billion times in the 20th century.}}</ref> equivalent to over $3.4 billion in 2011,<ref name="Inflation"/> making it the [[List of best-selling video games|highest-grossing video game]] of all time.<ref>{{citation|title=The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world|author=Steve L. Kent|publisher=[[Prima Publishing|Prima]]|year=2001|isbn=0761536434|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=C2MH05ogU9oC|accessdate=2011-05-01|page=143|quote=Despite the success of his game, Iwatani never received much attention. Rumors emerged that the unknown creator of Pac-Man had left the industry when he received only a $3500 bonus for creating the highest-grossing video game of all time.}}</ref>


The game is regarded as one of the most influential video games of all time, for a number of reasons: its titular character was the first original gaming [[mascot]], the game established the [[List of maze video games#Maze chase games|maze chase game]] genre, it demonstrated the potential of [[Player character|characters in video games]], it opened gaming to female audiences, and it was gaming's first licensing success.<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3122102 The Essential 50 - Pac-Man], [[1UP]]</ref> In addition, it was the first video game to feature [[power-up]]s,<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3151392 Playing With Power: Great Ideas That Have Changed Gaming Forever], [[1UP]]</ref> and it was the first game to feature [[cut scene]]s, in the form of brief comical interludes about Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing each other around during those interludes.<ref>[http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 Gaming's Most Important Evolutions], [[GamesRadar]]</ref> The game has also been cited as an influence on the design of titles ranging from the early [[Stealth game|stealth]] game ''[[Metal Gear]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=GO3: Kojima Talks Metal Gear History, Future|author=David Low|publisher=[[Gamasutra]]|date=April 2, 2007|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13351|accessdate=2011-08-03}}</ref> to the [[Open world|sandbox]] game ''[[Grand Theft Auto (series)|Grand Theft Auto]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Grand Theft Auto And Pac-Man? “The Same”|author=Brian Ashcraft|date=July 16, 2009|url=http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/07/grand-theft-auto-and-pac-man-the-same/|accessdate=2011-03-08}}</ref>
The game is regarded as one of the most influential video games of all time, for a number of reasons: its titular character was the first original gaming [[mascot]], the game established the [[List of maze video games#Maze chase games|maze chase game]] genre, it demonstrated the potential of [[Player character|characters in video games]], it opened gaming to female audiences, and it was gaming's first licensing success.<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3122102 The Essential 50 - Pac-Man], [[1UP]]</ref> In addition, it was the first video game to feature [[power-up]]s,<ref>[http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3151392 Playing With Power: Great Ideas That Have Changed Gaming Forever], [[1UP]]</ref> and it was the first game to feature [[cut scene]]s, in the form of brief comical interludes about Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing each other around during those interludes.<ref>[http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamings-most-important-evolutions/a-20101008102331322035/p-2 Gaming's Most Important Evolutions], [[GamesRadar]]</ref> The game has also been cited as an influence on the design of titles ranging from the early [[Stealth game|stealth]] game ''[[Metal Gear]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=GO3: Kojima Talks Metal Gear History, Future|author=David Low|publisher=[[Gamasutra]]|date=April 2, 2007|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13351|accessdate=2011-08-03}}</ref> to the [[Open world|sandbox]] game ''[[Grand Theft Auto (series)|Grand Theft Auto]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Grand Theft Auto And Pac-Man? “The Same”|author=Brian Ashcraft|date=July 16, 2009|url=http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/07/grand-theft-auto-and-pac-man-the-same/|accessdate=2011-03-08}}</ref>


===Remakes and sequels===
===Remakes and sequels===
{{see also|List of Pac-Man video games}}

''Pac-Man'' is one of the few games to have been consistently published for over three decades, having been remade on numerous platforms and spawned many sequels. Re-releases include ported and updated versions of the original arcade game.
''Pac-Man'' is one of the few games to have been consistently published for over three decades, having been remade on numerous platforms and spawned many sequels. Re-releases include ported and updated versions of the original arcade game.


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}}
}}
</ref> Despite the criticism, it went on to sell seven million units, becoming the best selling game on the [[Atari 2600]] console, though it would eventually became one of the contributing factors to [[Atari, Inc.|Atari]]'s decline and the [[North American video game crash of 1983]], alongside Atari's ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (video game)|E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]''.<ref name="IGN-TopSelling">{{cite web| url = http://retro.ign.com/articles/903/903024p1.html| title = Top 10 Best-Selling Atari 2600 Games| first = Levi| last = Buchanan| date = 2008-08-26| publisher = [[IGN]]| accessdate = 2009-07-15}}</ref>
</ref> Despite the criticism, it sold seven million units,<ref name="IGN-TopSelling"/> costing $37.95 each,<ref name="timemag"/> becoming the best selling game on the [[Atari 2600]] console, though it would eventually become one of the contributing factors to [[Atari, Inc.|Atari]]'s decline and the [[North American video game crash of 1983]], alongside Atari's ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (video game)|E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]''.<ref name="IGN-TopSelling">{{cite web| url = http://retro.ign.com/articles/903/903024p1.html| title = Top 10 Best-Selling Atari 2600 Games| first = Levi| last = Buchanan| date = 2008-08-26| publisher = [[IGN]]| accessdate = 2009-07-15}}</ref>


It was also released for the [[Apple II series]], Atari's [[Atari 5200|5200]] and [[Atari 8-bit family|8-bit computers]], [[IBM Personal Computer]], [[Intellivision]], the [[Commodore 64]] and [[Commodore VIC-20|VIC-20]] and [[Nintendo Entertainment System]]. For [[handheld game console]]s, it was released on the [[Game Boy]], [[Sega Game Gear]] and the [[Neo Geo Pocket Color]].
It was also released for the [[Apple II series]], Atari's [[Atari 5200|5200]] and [[Atari 8-bit family|8-bit computers]], [[IBM Personal Computer]], [[Intellivision]], the [[Commodore 64]] and [[Commodore VIC-20|VIC-20]] and [[Nintendo Entertainment System]]. For [[handheld game console]]s, it was released on the [[Game Boy]], [[Sega Game Gear]] and the [[Neo Geo Pocket Color]].

Revision as of 07:51, 1 May 2011

This article is about the original Pac-Man arcade game from 1980. For other uses, see Pac-Man (disambiguation).

Pac-Man
North American Flyer
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)Namco, Midway
Designer(s)Tōru Iwatani – Game designer
Shigeo Funaki (舟木茂雄) – Programmer
Toshio Kai (甲斐敏夫) – Sound & Music
Composer(s)Toshio Kai
Platform(s)Arcade
ReleaseJPN May 22, 1980[1][2]
NA October, 1980[3]
Genre(s)Maze
Mode(s)Up to two players, alternating turns
Arcade systemNamco Pac-Man

Pac-Man (パックマン, Pakkuman) is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980.[1][2] Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of 1980s popular culture.[6][7][8][9] Upon its release, the game—and, subsequently, Pac-Man derivatives—became a social phenomenon[10] that sold a bevy of merchandise and also inspired, among other things, an animated television series and a top-ten hit single.[11]

When Pac-Man was released, the most popular arcade video games were space shooters, in particular Space Invaders and Asteroids. The most visible minority were sports games that were mostly derivative of Pong. Pac-Man succeeded by creating a new genre and appealing to both genders.[12] Pac-Man is often credited with being a landmark in video game history, and is among the most famous arcade games of all time.[13] The character also appears in more than 30 officially licensed game spin-offs,[14] as well as in numerous unauthorized clones and bootlegs.[15] According to the Davie-Brown Index, Pac-Man has the highest brand awareness of any video game character among American consumers, recognized by 94 percent of them.[16] Pac-Man is one of the longest running video game franchises from the golden age of video arcade games, and one of only three video games that are on display at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. (along with Pong and Dragon's Lair).[17]

Gameplay

Screenshot of play area

The player controls Pac-Man through a maze, eating pac-dots. When all dots are eaten, Pac-Man is taken to the next stage, between some stages one of three intermission animations plays.[18] Four enemies (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) roam the maze, trying to catch Pac-Man. If an enemy touches Pac-Man, a life is lost. When all lives have been lost, the game ends. Pac-Man is awarded a single bonus life at 10,000 points by default—DIP switches inside the machine can change the required points or disable the bonus life altogether. Near the corners of the maze are four larger, flashing dots known as power pellets that provide Pac-Man with the temporary ability to eat the enemies. The enemies turn deep blue, reverse direction and usually move more slowly. When an enemy is eaten, its eyes remain and return to the center box where it is regenerated in its normal color. Blue enemies flash white before they become dangerous again and the amount of time the enemies remain vulnerable varies from one stage to the next, but the time period generally becomes shorter as the game progresses. In later stages, the enemies don't change colors at all, but still reverse direction when a power pellet is eaten.

Enemies

File:Pacman title na.png
North American Pac-Man title screen, showing the official enemy names.

The enemies in Pac-Man are known variously as "ghosts" and "monsters".[19][20][21] Despite the seemingly random nature of the enemies, their movements are strictly deterministic, which players have used to their advantage.[22] In an interview, creator Toru Iwatani stated that he had designed each enemy with its own distinct personality in order to keep the game from becoming impossibly difficult or boring to play.[23] More recently, Iwatani described the enemy behaviors in more detail at the 2011 Game Developers Conference. He stated that the red enemy chases Pac-Man, and the pink and blue enemies try to position themselves in front of Pac-Man's mouth.[24] While he claimed that the orange enemy's behavior is random, a careful analysis of the game's code reveals that it actually chases Pac-Man most of the time, but also moves toward the lower-left corner of the maze when Pac-Man is facing a certain direction.[25]

Enemy Color Original Puck Man[26] American Pac-Man
Character (Personality) Translation Nickname Translation Alternate
character 		Alternate
nickname 		Character (Personality) Nickname
Red Oikake (追いかけ) chaser Akabei (赤ベイ) red guy Urchin Macky Shadow Blinky
Pink Machibuse (待ち伏せ) ambusher Pinky (ピンキー) pink guy Romp Micky Speedy Pinky
Cyan Kimagure (気まぐれ) fickle Aosuke (青助) blue guy Stylist Mucky Bashful Inky
Orange Otoboke (お惚け) stupid Guzuta (愚図た) slow guy Crybaby Mocky Pokey Clyde

Split-screen

File:Split Screen in Pac Man.gif
The 256th "Split-Screen" level cannot be completed due to a software bug.

Pac-Man was designed to have no ending – as long as the player keeps at least one life, he or she should be able to play the game indefinitely. However, a bug keeps this from happening: Normally, no more than seven fruits are displayed at the bottom of the screen at any one time. But when the internal level counter, which is stored in a single byte, reaches 255, the subroutine that draws the fruits erroneously "rolls over" this number to zero, causing it to try to draw 256 fruits instead of the usual seven. This corrupts the bottom of the screen and the entire right half of the maze with seemingly random symbols, making it impossible to eat enough dots to beat the level. Because this effectively ends the game, this "split-screen" level is often referred to as the "kill screen". Emulators and code analysis have revealed what would happen should this 255th level be cleared: The fruits and intermissions would restart at level 1 conditions, but the enemies would retain their higher speed and invulnerability to power pellets from the higher stages.[27]

Perfect play

A perfect Pac-Man game occurs when the player achieves the maximum possible score on the first 255 levels (by eating every possible dot, power pellet, fruit, and enemy) without losing a single life, and then scoring as many points as possible in the last level.[28][29] As verified by the Twin Galaxies International Scoreboard on July 3, 1999, the first person to achieve this maximum possible score (3,333,360 points) was Billy Mitchell of Hollywood, Florida, who performed the feat in about six hours.[29][30]

In September 2009, David Race of Beavercreek, Ohio, became the sixth person to achieve a perfect score. His time of 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds set a new record for the fastest time to obtain a perfect score.[31]

In December 1982, an 8-year-old boy, Jeffrey R. Yee, supposedly received a letter from U.S. President Ronald Reagan congratulating him on a worldwide record of 6,131,940 points, a score only possible if he had passed the Split-Screen Level.[29] Whether or not this event happened as described has remained in heated debate among video-game circles since its supposed occurrence.[citation needed] In September 1983, Walter Day, chief scorekeeper at Twin Galaxies, took the US National Video Game Team on a tour of the East Coast to visit video game players who claimed they could get through the Split-Screen Level. No video game player could demonstrate this ability. In 1999, Billy Mitchell offered $100,000 to anyone who could probably pass through the Split-Screen Level before January 1, 2000. The prize went unclaimed.[29]

Development

The game was developed primarily by a young Namco employee named Tōru Iwatani over the course of a year, beginning in April 1979, employing a nine-man team. It was based on the concept of eating, and the original Japanese title was Pakkuman (パックマン), inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeic slang phrase paku-paku taberu (パクパク食べる),[32][33] where paku-paku describes (the sound of) the mouth movement when widely opened and then closed in succession.[34]

Although Iwatani has repeatedly stated that the character's shape was inspired by a pizza missing a slice,[10] he admitted in a 1986 interview that this was a half-truth and the character design also came from simplifying and rounding out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi (口).[35] Iwatani attempted to appeal to a wider audience—beyond the typical demographics of young boys and teenagers. This led him to add elements of a maze, as well as cute ghost enemy characters. The result was a game he named Puck Man.[36]

Later in 1980, the game was picked up for manufacture in the United States by Bally division Midway,[35] which changed the game's name from Puck Man to Pac-Man in an effort to avoid vandalism. The cabinet artwork was also changed.[37]

Impact and legacy

When first launched in Japan by Namco in 1980, the game received a lukewarm response, as Space Invaders and other similar games were more popular at the time.[12] However, the game found far more success in North America. Pac-Man's success in North America took competitors and distributors completely by surprise in 1980. Marketing executives who saw Pac-Man at a trade show prior to release completely overlooked the game (along with the now classic Defender), while they looked to a racing car game called Rally-X as the game to outdo that year.[38] The appeal of Pac-Man was such that the game caught on immediately with the public; it quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry up to that point. Pac-Man outstripped Asteroids as the best-selling arcade game in North America,[39][40] where it would sell more than 350,000 arcade cabinets[41][42] (retailing at around $2400 each)[43] for $1 billion[41] (equivalent to over $2.3 billion in 2011)[44] within 18 months,[41] and gross over $1 billion in quarters within a year.[45][46] Towards the end of the 20th century, the game's total gross in quarters had been estimated at more than 10 billion quarters ($2.5 billion),[46][47] equivalent to over $3.4 billion in 2011,[44] making it the highest-grossing video game of all time.[48]

The game is regarded as one of the most influential video games of all time, for a number of reasons: its titular character was the first original gaming mascot, the game established the maze chase game genre, it demonstrated the potential of characters in video games, it opened gaming to female audiences, and it was gaming's first licensing success.[49] In addition, it was the first video game to feature power-ups,[50] and it was the first game to feature cut scenes, in the form of brief comical interludes about Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing each other around during those interludes.[51] The game has also been cited as an influence on the design of titles ranging from the early stealth game Metal Gear,[52] to the sandbox game Grand Theft Auto.[53]

Remakes and sequels

See also: List of Pac-Man video games

Pac-Man is one of the few games to have been consistently published for over three decades, having been remade on numerous platforms and spawned many sequels. Re-releases include ported and updated versions of the original arcade game.

The Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man only somewhat resembled the original and had the ghosts take turns appearing on the screen, creating a flicker effect that was widely criticized.

One of the first ports to be released was the much maligned port for the Atari 2600. The Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man only somewhat resembled the original, and its flickering ghosts were widely criticized.[54][55][56] Despite the criticism, it sold seven million units,[57] costing $37.95 each,[11] becoming the best selling game on the Atari 2600 console, though it would eventually become one of the contributing factors to Atari's decline and the North American video game crash of 1983, alongside Atari's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.[57]

It was also released for the Apple II series, Atari's 5200 and 8-bit computers, IBM Personal Computer, Intellivision, the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 and Nintendo Entertainment System. For handheld game consoles, it was released on the Game Boy, Sega Game Gear and the Neo Geo Pocket Color.

The game has also been featured in Namco's long-running Namco Museum video game compilations. Downloads of the game have been made available on game services such as Xbox Live Arcade, GameTap and Virtual Console. Namco has also released mobile versions for BREW, Java, iOS, as well as Palm PDAs and Windows Mobile-based devices. A port of Pac-Man for Android[58] can be controlled not only through an Android phone's trackball but through touch gestures or its on-board accelerometer.

In addition, Namco has repeatedly re-released the game to arcades. In 2001, Namco released a Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga "Class of 1981 Reunion Edition" cabinet with Pac-Man available for play as a hidden game. To commemorate Pac-Man's 25th anniversary in 2005, Namco released a revision that officially featured all three games.

In 2010 Namco Bandai has announced that they are releasing this game on Windows Phone 7 as an Xbox Live game.[59]

Pac-Man's spawned sequels and spin-offs includes only one which was designed by Tōru Iwatani . Some of the follow-ups were not developed by Namco either - including the most significant, Ms. Pac-Man, released in the United States in 1981. Originally called Crazy Otto, this unauthorized hack of Pac-Man was created by General Computer Corporation and sold to Midway without Namco's permission. The game features several changes from the original Pac-Man, including faster gameplay, more mazes, new intermissions, and moving bonus items. Some consider Ms. Pac-Man to be superior to the original, and even the best in the entire series.[13] Namco sued Midway for exceeding their license. Eventually, Bally Midway struck a deal with Namco to officially license Ms. Pac-Man as a sequel.

Following Ms. Pac-Man, Bally Midway released several other unauthorized spin-offs, such as Pac-Man Plus, Jr. Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man and Professor Pac-Man, resulting in Namco severing business relations with Midway.[10][60]

Pac-Man Championship Edition (2007)

Various platform games based on the series have also been released by Namco, such as 1984's Pac-Land and the Pac-Man World series, which features Pac-Man in a 3-D world. More modern versions of the original game have also been developed, such as the multiplayer Pac-Man Vs. for the Nintendo GameCube and Tōru Iwatani-developed Pac-Man Championship Edition and its sequel.

The initial configuration of the Google Pac-Man banner

For the weekend of May 21–23, 2010, Google changed the Google logo on its homepage to a Google Doodle of a fully playable version of the game[61] in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the game's release. The game featured the ability to play both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man simultaneously.[62] After finishing the game, the website automatically redirected the user to a search of Pac-Man 30th Anniversary.[63] Companies across the world experienced slight drops in productivity due to the game, though the reported $120 million total loss "spread out across the entire world isn't a huge loss, comparatively speaking". Some organizations even temporarily blocked Google's website from workplace computers on the Friday it was uploaded, particularly where it violated regulations against recreational games.[64][65][66] Because of the popularity of the Pac-Man doodle, Google decided to allow access to the game through a separate web page.[67]

Pac-Man went on to become an icon of video game culture during the 1980s, and a wide variety of Pac-Man merchandise was marketed with the character's image, from t-shirts and toys to hand-held video game imitations and even specially shaped pasta. An animated TV series produced by Hanna–Barbera aired on ABC from 1982 to 1983.[68] The Killer List of Videogames lists Pac-Man as the #1 video game on its "Top 10 Most Popular Video games" list.[69] At one time, a feature film based on the game was also in development.[70][71] In 2010, a computer-generated animated series was reported to be in the works.[72][73]

Guinness World Records has awarded the Pac-Man series eight records in Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008, including First Perfect Pac-Man Game for Billy Mitchell's July 3, 1999 score and "Most Successful Coin-Operated Game". On June 3, 2010, at the NLGD Festival of Games, the game's creator Toru Iwatani officially received the certificate from Guinness World Records for Pac-Man having had the most "coin-operated arcade machines" installed world wide: 293,822. The record was set and recognized in 2005 and mentioned in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008, but finally actually awarded in 2010.[21]

Pac-Man has been referenced in numerous other media. In music, the Buckner & Garcia song "Pac-Man Fever" went to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts,[11] and received a Gold certification with over a million records sold.[74] Their Pac-Man Fever album also received a Gold certification for selling over a million records.[75] "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a song titled "Pac-Man" that was a parody of The Beatles' "Taxman", in 1981.[76] Hip hop emcee Lil' Flip sampled sounds from the game Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man to make his top-20 single "Game Over". Namco America filed a lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment for unauthorized use of these samples. The suit was eventually settled out of court.[77][78]

The game has also inspired various real-life recreations, involving either real people or robots. One event called Pac-Manhattan set a Guinness World Record for "Largest Pac-Man Game" in 2004.[79][80][81]

The term Pac-Man defense in mergers and acquisitions refers to a hostile takeover target that attempts to reverse the situation and take over its would-be acquirer instead, a reference to Pac-Man's power pellets.[82]

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Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pac-Man&oldid=426856006"