WATCH: Pac-Man turns 45 – and is still chomping

How old were you when the highly addictive Pac-Man arcade game was unveiled to the world?

While the older generation may remember when the iconic yellow chomper made its debut, some of the Gen Zs remain clueless about the addiction of playing the game, not on a console or mobile phone, but at the game arcade or local corner shop after school or on a Saturday afternoon.

No fancy tech

There were no touch screens, face recognition or fancy technology, just a joystick controller and a few buttons.

Kids would scrounge for coins in couches and every corner of the house to go and play Pac-Man.

Mastering the game got your name on the high-score screen and earned the envy of all those who tried to beat it.

The game was officially released on 22 May 1980 in Japanese arcades before launching in the United States in October that year.

WATCH The iconic Pac-Man turns 45 on Thursday

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Best-selling

According to the National Museum of Play, Pac-Man is the best-selling arcade video game ever, transcending generations and new advancements in technology.

ABC aired an animated television show, and the song “Pac-Man Fever” surged to the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in March 1982. “Pac-Mania” set the stage for later video game icons such as Mario and Sonic.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America, the maker of the game, said it is commemorating the 45th anniversary of the game “with an unprecedented year-long campaign”, USA Today reported.

Creator

Pac-Man (or Puck Man as it was known in Japan) made video games a mass cultural phenomenon.

Created by programmer Toru Iwatani in 1980 and released by Namco in Japan and Midway in the United States, Pac-Man’s yellow, pizza-shaped title character and four colourful ghosts injected personality into video gaming.

Since its release, Pac-Man and its many variations and sequels have munched their way into countless arcades, homes and new digital spaces.

Television series

In 2013, Namco and Disney launched Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, a new animated television series, video game, and toy line that introduced Pac-Man to a new generation. In 2015 a Super Bowl ad featured a Bud Light-drinking hero evading Pinky, Blinky, Inky, and Clyde.

According to designer Toru Iwatani, the name Pac-Man derives from the Japanese “paku-paku”, an onomatopoeic term for eating, and that he designed the character by rounding out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi.

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