Pac-Man is joined on screen by a collection of ghosts who chase him around the maze as he tries to gobble up dots. The player uses a joystick to control the circular character, moving it around a maze and eating wafers whilst avoiding an encounter with one of four ghosts. Atari adapted the Namco arcade game ‘Pac-Man’ for its Atari 2600, a console originally released in October 1977. The then-revolutionary RGB colour displays allowed Iwatani and his team to create attractive characters with bright colours which helped bring new fans to gaming. He wanted to create a non-violent game, hoping that his game would attract women and couples to the arcades. Creator Toru Iwatani felt that arcade games at the time were often violent and appealed mainly to men. Part of the reason for this success was the universal appeal. Within a year more than 100,000 arcade units had been sold grossing more than $1 billion in quarters. The US welcomed this new title and Pac-Man became a huge success in the growing number of arcades around the country. After a quick name change (courtesy of American Execs at Midway fearing what vandals might change the title to) Pac-Man hit the arcades. Initial feedback was positive and so later that year Namco took its new title to trade shows around the world. Ten years earlier in May 1980 Namco began public testing of its new arcade game Puck Man. My love for the little yellow circle started in a very analogue fashion playing the MB Games boardgame spin-off at the age of five with my cousin in 1990. The undisputed granddaddy of gaming mascots turns 40 this month so here’s a look at why we’ve all been in the throes of Pac-Mania for the past four decades. To celebrate 40 years since the release of Pac-Man, Head of Commercial Experiences and gaming fan Mark Cutmore explores the story of the much-loved character and pop-culture icon.
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