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Pac-Man Turns 25
blacklily8 writes "CNN Money is running a story about Pac-Man's 25th birthday. After going on a bit about the history of our favorite pizza sans one slice, the article waxes a bit on why the game was (and is) such a success, with some quotations from Namco's marketing manager: 'He's very colorful, very safe. It's definitely different than the trends going on in games. He just has an appeal.' I think it's because the game is just plain fun, with no need to rely on tech-demo thrills to attract attention. Time to dig out the X-Arcade." It's also *hard*, proving that challenging games are what people have always been looking for.
"I foresee thousands of discussions on the UltraWeb (or whatever they decide to call it) about these games, and how kids these days just don't understand good game design."
If the game design of Pac Man was so good, then why do I become bored with it in 5 minutes? This may not be the point your arguing or commenting on, but I see it out there a lot. Pac Man might have been revolutionary for its time, but standards change. I'm not saying that ultra-good graphics are an excuse for poor gameplay, but most professional designers today still keep in mind the fundamentals of what makes a fun game fun in my opinion.