Everyone from the 1980's and later can recognize the ever-reminiscent "wakka wakka wakka", colorful ghosts and fruits, and the simple, pellet-eating yellow circle known as PAC-MAN.
Today is the 30 year anniversary of the loveable arcade character that is not only the single most sold coin-operated game, but also the most memorable. Parents, and maybe even grandparents can remember playing this game when it came out. "Pac-Man was licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Midway, a division of Bally, and it reached American shores in October 1980, at a time when shooter games such as Space Invaders ruled the arcades.
Its light-hearted originality and simplicity -- players needed only to move a joystick -- made it an immediate hit. Some speculated that Pac-Man became popular in bars in part because gamers needed only one hand to play and could hold a drink in the other. In the first 15 months after its release in the U.S., Namco sold more than 100,000 arcade units, while fans spent more than $1 billion in quarters to fuel what would become known as "Pac-Man fever."
Truly, this is a milestone of rememberance for the popular arcade character. Without him as the face of arcade gaming, it was doubtful the industry would've been as popular as it was. Asteroids is a close second, but everyone who's anyone knows Pac-man by face, color, sound, and name. And it was a nice touch, for anyone that noticed, that Google changed their logo to a fully-functioning Pac-man replica. Let's just say that I not only wasted more time in class than I ever have before -- but I also got a personal highscore. (I was only sad that it could not be saved for later play.)
Link to the original article:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/21/pac-man.game.anniversary/index.html
Today is the 30 year anniversary of the loveable arcade character that is not only the single most sold coin-operated game, but also the most memorable. Parents, and maybe even grandparents can remember playing this game when it came out. "Pac-Man was licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Midway, a division of Bally, and it reached American shores in October 1980, at a time when shooter games such as Space Invaders ruled the arcades.
Its light-hearted originality and simplicity -- players needed only to move a joystick -- made it an immediate hit. Some speculated that Pac-Man became popular in bars in part because gamers needed only one hand to play and could hold a drink in the other. In the first 15 months after its release in the U.S., Namco sold more than 100,000 arcade units, while fans spent more than $1 billion in quarters to fuel what would become known as "Pac-Man fever."
Truly, this is a milestone of rememberance for the popular arcade character. Without him as the face of arcade gaming, it was doubtful the industry would've been as popular as it was. Asteroids is a close second, but everyone who's anyone knows Pac-man by face, color, sound, and name. And it was a nice touch, for anyone that noticed, that Google changed their logo to a fully-functioning Pac-man replica. Let's just say that I not only wasted more time in class than I ever have before -- but I also got a personal highscore. (I was only sad that it could not be saved for later play.)
Link to the original article:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/21/pac-man.game.anniversary/index.html
