One of the most famous games of all times, Pac-Man, completed 40 years on May 22nd. The game, in which a round yellow character eats up small dots and runs away from ghosts, became one of the icons of the 1980s. Altogether, 100,000 copies were sold in the first year of its release alone. The yellow character became a major success, and its image has been stamped on t-shirts, lunch kits, pajamas, and other items.

Pac-Man started in Japan, when Toru Iwatani, a 24-year-old game designer, decided to create a game that did not involve much violence. According to Toru, at the time, most video arcades only had very somber  games. So, he thought of creating a game that would involve the act of eating. This is where the idea for the main character to eat small dots came from.

According to the historian and curator of the exhibit “The Art of Video Games” launched in 2002 by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Pac-Man was responsible for people of different generations going to video arcades, and also made game designers from that time realize that it was possible to create non-violent games that were successful.

Pac-Man

Inspirations: Iwatani was eating a pizza from a box when he took out one of the slices and came up with the idea of designing a character shaped like a pizza without one slice.

Ghosts: the bright creatures’ look came from Japanese manga Little Ghost Q-Taro and from the carton Casper, the Friendly Ghost.

Sources:  CNN and The Guardian

Questions

1) What is Toru Iwatani’s nationality?
a) American
b) Brazilian
c) Japanese
d) Chinese

2) Are you interested in vintage videogames like Pac-Man? Why?

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