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Pac-Man Makes Guinness Book

Posted by Zonk on from the wakka-wakka-woot dept.

phresno writes "As a gaming icon, everybody loves Namco's Pac-Man. The arcade machine sold over 293,000 units in just eight years of its initial release and is fondly remembered even 25 years later. The success of Pac-Man has awarded it not only pop culture status, but a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. Long live Pac-Man!"

5 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Re:fp? by Saven+Marek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Ahhh how I long for the days when games weren't all just a different version of the same first person shooter.

  2. Namco at E3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Anyone else catch the Namco Pac-man birthday floor show at E3? Six stripper-esque (esque, since they don't actually strip,) dancers singing "happy birthday to you" to a guy in a pacman suit, as the crowd (somewhat) sings along.

    Surreal didn't even begin to describe...

  3. Re:fp? by Mikito · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In my rush to get a topical first post (I think I actually did it), I left out comments which I would have included otherwise.

    Ms. Pac Man, unlike its predecessor, had a series of animated interludes when you completed a number of levels. I think it was complete 4 levels, see a short cartoon, complete another 8 levels, see another cartoon and so on. It's been years since I've played the game.

    Ms. Pac Man also had a variety of mazes, which made the game a little more interesting...it also helped avoid (or delay) the screen burn-in that a lot of arcade games were prone to back then.

    Even so, I salute Pac Man for being included in the Guinness Book of World Records, and for its appetite of my quarters.

    --
    Anakin Simpson: If you're not with me, then you're my enemy--ooh, donuts!
  4. Been playing for nearly 25 years! by Riktov · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I probably played Pac-Man before anyone else on Slashdot. It was September or October 1980, and I was a high school student living in Japan. My friends and I would go to a video arcade (or "game center" as they were called) in Jiyugaoka after school, and one day we came across this strange game with a cute yellow guy going around munching dots in a maze, completely unlike the Galaxian and other space-themed games we had been playing until then.

    It really was revolutionary, and we were all instantly hooked. I can still play the pattern that my friend taught me then.

    The video arcade where I first played Pac-Man 25 years ago is still there, incidentally.

    1. Re: Been playing for nearly 25 years! by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 5, Interesting
      It really was revolutionary, and we were all instantly hooked.

      Came across some webpages recently on Pac-Man history. Apparantly it was inspired by a left-over pizza (with a slice cut out), and after introduction so popular in Japan, that there was a shortage in particular coins, because so many were thrown in the Pac-Man arcade machines(!!).

      Personally, I think Pac-Man is so wonderful because it combines a deceivingly simple concept with addictive gameplay. Think about programming YAPMC (Yet Another Pac-Man Clone): at first sight, you think: simple. But you have to deal with timing, player controls, graphics/sprites etc., sounds, the game 'map' (pills, walls, powerups etc.), and even 'Artificial Intelligence' (ghost movement, yeah I know they're really dumb, but still). All the basic ingredients of modern games, except 3D or networked multiplayer. And that in a really small package, where any kid can grasp the object of the game in under 5 seconds.