Page 24 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #8

If you had to name the first three
significant arcade games in the
industry -- and we're talking
historically significant, not the game
you first fell in love with -- the answer
would have to be Pong (1972), Space
Invaders (1978), and Pac-Man
(1980). Each helped reinforce the
commercial viability of electronic
entertainment, growing the industry
by leaps and bounds, or in Pac-Man's
case, dots and energizers.

Created by Japanese developer Toru Iwatani, who
reportedly drew inspiration from a pizza with a missing
piece, Pac-Man did something completely different
with the medium. Instead of shooting targets in space,
you guided a voracious yellow creature through a maze
filled with consumables. Four monsters, later referred
to as ghosts, added the thrill of pursuit and a sense of
randomness to the action, even if it was illusion. Pac-
Man was colorful, simple to grasp, hard to master,
and was appealing to women and men alike.

Much like Space Invaders' impact in Japan, Pac-Man was a bona fide blockbuster in the United
States, spawning an assortment of marketing deals and licensed products that would celebrate the
character in song, cereal and shirts. Yet developer Namco had difficulty trying to build on Pac-
Man's success through sequels. Ms. Pac-Man was easily the most popular, enhancing the game in
nearly every area, but it wasn't technically developed by Namco and started as a bootleg.

Pac-Man Plus, Super Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man, and so forth, all added twists on the
familiar play mechanics, some stranger than others, but failed to capture the universal appeal of the
original. In the end, these failings didn't matter; Pac-Man had made such an indelible mark that the
original game is still a best-seller 30 years after its debut. How else can you explain the Xbox Live
Arcade version of Pac-Man outselling the downloadable service's Ms. Pac-Man? Perhaps the old
adage is true, you never forget your first love.

It's no secret that early on, the console industry relied heavily on arcade translations to sell
platforms. Everyone was looking to capture that arcade feeling, and while console technology was a
step or two behind the latest and greatest in the coin-op world, it didn't necessarily deter sales.
Namco could keep the Pac-Man franchise going on multiple fronts, licensing home conversions and
eventually expanding the character to new genres. Pac-Man is still going strong today, still as
recognizable, still as insatiable. Only now, it's for a new generation.

To commemorate the greedy gobbler's 30th anniversary, Classic Gamer Magazine takes a look at the
various iterations of Pac-Man throughout the years. Some were inspired choices, some were
dreadful, but we feel all are worth taking a waka-waka-walk down memory lane.

- 24 -