Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

'Father of Pac-Man,' Masaya Nakamura, Dies At Age 91 (japantimes.co.jp)

Posted by BeauHD on from the rest-in-peace dept.

AmiMoJo writes from a report via The Japan Times: Masaya Nakamura, the founder of game developer Namco and known as "the father of Pac-Man," has died at age 91. He founded Nakamura Seisakusho in 1955, which was renamed Namco in 1977. The company developed numerous hit video games, including "Galaxian," "Pac-Man" and "Ridge Racer." "Pac-Man," designed by Namco's inhouse video game maker Toru Iwatani, is one of the most recognizable and popular video games in history. In 2005 it was listed by Guinness World Records as the "most successful coin-operated arcade machine."

39 comments

  1. Apologies in advance by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    1. Re:Apologies in advance by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      Too soon.

    2. Re:Apologies in advance by orion205 · · Score: 1

      The ghosts finally got him.

  2. Hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I some how expected the father of Pac-Man to be an aging rapper called Pac-Daddy.

  3. Pac *man* by Hognoxious · · Score: 0

    That's raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaascalist!!!!!!!!!!

    Shouldn't it be Pac-Wumman, Pac-BeingOfWhatEverGenderHeSheOrItIdentifiesWith or something like that?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:Pac *man* by rmdingler · · Score: 2

      To be fair, some claim Ms. Pac-Man was an even better play.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    2. Re:Pac *man* by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Funny

      They only claim that because if you reach level 256, you see a picture of Ms. Pac-Man nude.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:Pac *man* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spot on

    4. Re:Pac *man* by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      They both have their particular unique qualities.

      PacMan is brilliant for so many reasons. It was the first game to have convincing AI. Previously enemies moved in simple patterns or randomly, but PacMan's ghosts seemed to have personalities and players would read intent and emotion into behaviours that were actually governed by relatively simple but cleverly designed rules.

      The game itself is tweaked to perfection. The collision detection uses 8x8 blocks, for example, so ghosts can actually slightly overlap PacMan without killing him. That might seem like a bug, but it actually makes the game more exciting as they get right on your tail. The speed at which everything moves is calibrated perfectly too.

      Ms. PacMan altered the ghost behaviour to make it more random, removing the ability to use patterns to beat every level consistently. This was actually a key moment in the formation of Western and Japanese video game styles. Western games tended to be more random and rely on players being able to react, where as Japanese games offered patterns that could be learned or ignored as the player chose. For those not aware, Ms. PacMan was developed as a ROM hack in the west and then made into an official product.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. Just watched the COMDEX Lilith demo... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    No system is complete without Pacman! What a coincidence.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  5. Aliens by ghoul · · Score: 1

    He died? Or did the Aliens from Oixel kidnap him to teach them to make better video game villains

    --
    **Life is too short to be serious**
    1. Re:Aliens by ghoul · · Score: 1

      Pixel

      --
      **Life is too short to be serious**
    2. Re: Aliens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't type right, hence you're stupid. We should kill all the people who are either too stupid or too smart. Like in Europe.

  6. "Did you know that the original name for Pac-Man.. by Kargan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...was Puck-Man? You'd think it was because he looks like a hockey puck, but it actually comes from the Japanese phrase 'Paku-Paku,' which means to flap one's mouth open and closed. They changed it because they thought Puck-Man would be too easy to vandalize, you know, like people could just scratch off the P and turn it into an F or whatever."

    --
    Palaces, barricades, threats, meet promises
  7. Honor him! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    By adding a fifth ghost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_(Pac-Man)

  8. Two Questions by cstacy · · Score: 1

    1. Did he ever manage to settle his suit against NEWSWEEK?
    2. And how will his death affect the Bitcoin market?

  9. Re: "Did you know that the original name for Pac-M by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    :-)

  10. Re: "Did you know that the original name for Pac-M by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Totally underrated movie.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  11. womyn by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Hey Butthead, they spelt 'woman' wrong.

    Cool, stupid chicks are easy.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  12. What?!?! by freeze128 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Masaya Nakamura was the FOUNDER of NAMCO, the company who made Pac-Man. However, the Pac-Man video game was designed by Toru Iwatani. This is like a reality show: Who is the REAL father?

    1. Re:What?!?! by antdude · · Score: 1

      Haha, I would watch that. Maybe Pac-Man had two fathers! :O

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  13. Re:"Did you know that the original name for Pac-Ma by freeze128 · · Score: 2

    Really? A Japanese company actually THOUGHT about English words and phrases? Then how come we have "Donkey Kong", a video game with NO DONKEYS in it?

  14. Re:"Did you know that the original name for Pac-Ma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was supposed to be Monkey Kong and someone remembered the wrong English animal name.

  15. RIP by Major+Blud · · Score: 1

    Cause of death: Pac-man Fever.

    RIP, many happy hours were spent playing your games.

    --
    If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    1. Re:RIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Waka/Jawaka :-)

  16. Fond Memories by mfh · · Score: 1

    RIP.

    I can remember playing when I was a kid. Was so addictive and fun to play that people would gather around and try to beat each person before them, get the high score. Many a weekly allowance wasted on this title... but the better you got at the game, the cheaper it became to play.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:Fond Memories by twosat · · Score: 4, Funny

      "If Pacman had affected us as kids we'd be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music." - Marcus Brigstocke

  17. Google Doodle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He should be honored in a google doodle. Get on that google! BTW how do we suggest doodles to google. God speed Masaya Nakamura! ( - - - -

  18. Did you guys see Pixels? A tribute to this man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RIP, man! C< . . . . You will be missed.

    1. Re:Did you guys see Pixels? A tribute to this man. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Too bad Pixels was horrible.

  19. Re:"Did you know that the original name for Pac-Ma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That makes sense.

  20. RIP by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

    Wakka wakka :-(

    --
    Eat the rich.
  21. Second Video Game I ever played by Lodragandraoidh · · Score: 1

    Pac Man was the second video game I played, the first being Pong.  It was the first console video game I played outside of the home.  A friend of mine came to me and said, "I gotta show you something that's going to blow your mind."  So off we rode on our bikes to the local Target store.  They had two arcade machines: Pac Man, and Asteroids. Thus began 30+ years, many thousands of hours, and thousands of dollars invested in video games.
    Galaxian still haunts my memories...

    RIP Masaya Nakamura

    --

    Lodragan Draoidh
    The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
  22. Re:"Did you know that the original name for Pac-Ma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but it actually comes from the Japanese phrase 'Paku-Paku,' which means to flap one's mouth open and closed

    [citation needed]

    This is what I read:

    Kent, Steve. Ultimate History of Video Games, p.142. "Before Namco showed Pac-Man to Midway, one change was made to the game. Pac-Man was originally named Puck-Man, a reference to the puck-like shape of the main character. Nakamura worried about American vandals changing the "P" to an "F." To prevent any such occurrence, he changed the name of the game."

  23. He has two more lives :-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A teacher of us, during an examinations was walking around tables answering questions, then he said : "I feel like a pac-man, soon I'll start eating students who ask too much"

    R.I.P and thanks Pac-Man

  24. Thanks for the fever and games! by antdude · · Score: 1

    I had Pac-Man fever back in the 80s. :/

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  25. I though he was eaten to his death by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    By his own creation in one of the lamest films since Rob Schneider's "I am (fill-in-your-own)"