In the early 1980s, Pac-Man was a huge event for Namco. Without exaggeration, the game can be considered a symbol of the 20th century. You will hardly find anyone who has never heard of this title or hasn't played this game since it became one of the first phenomena of the gaming world that penetrated the sphere of popular culture. Actually, it was so popular that Namco's Pac-Man-related extra revenue exceeded the company's income from arcade sales.
Pac-Man's creator, Toru Iwatani, joined Namco and then Nakamura Manufacturing, in 1977, at the age of 22. Iwatani explored topics that would equally be of interest to players of both sexes. Then, together with a team of programmers and designers, Iwatani got to work. Ideas followed one after another. Some of them were improved, while others, which did not correspond to the game's concept, were rejected. Development lasted 18 months.
An interesting fact is that Iwatani got the idea of the game thanks to a pizza he once ordered. When he took one piece from the plate, he looked at what was left of it, and his imagination created a picture of the future game protagonist. Ghosts appear different, and they have their names:
- Blinky (red)
- Inkey (blue)
- Pinky (pink)
- Clyde (red)
At the same time, after eating the ball, sinister pests become vulnerable and avoid the main character. Programmers put much effort to develop them. If four enemies are chasing Pac-Man all the time according to the same rules, they will eventually line up one after another, following the main character through the maze and doing nothing interesting. Nevertheless, the algorithms that were developed helped prevent this from happening. As a result, the ghosts chase the hero, on one hand, and on the other, their behavior differs.
The player's main task is to collect all the dots appearing in the maze. During the helplessness of ghosts, you can eat them. They do not disappear forever but at least return to the center and do not interfere for a while. Enemies are in the center of the screen at the beginning of the game, but then, they begin to crawl through the maze.
The advantage of Pac-Man is the transition from one corner of the maze to another. If you exit the maze to the right or left outside the game, you will appear on the other side. The upside is that the ghosts slow down on this transition, but you don't. In addition, extra bonuses in the form of fruits appear at different levels. You should remember that each ghost has its movement skills and points for eating them.
Pacman originally had 255 levels. Adults and children played slot machines all over the country without interruption. The maximum record dates back to July 3, 1999. Billy Mitchell played continuously for six hours and managed to score 3,333,360 points.
There are currently many interpretations and parodies of the game. There are countless clones of the game, and cosplays on the yellow man are still popular. After such a huge success, the creator Iwatani participated in some more projects, including Pac-Land and Pac-Mania. Toru admitted that Pac-Man remained his favorite despite the appearance of other games.
Due to the wild popularity of the game, songs, films, and series could not but appear. Browser-based Pac-Man Games are also available to any user, regardless of age. Children can increase their speed of thinking, and adults can remember the old days. And, of course, Pacman-style games bring a lot of fun and help you relax after a hard day.