In 1980 a little known distributor by the name of Midway released a game destined to become one of the greatest arcade classics of all time. Developed by Namco, Pacman is a maze game in which a player navigates Pac-man, a yellow figure, through a maze eating pills and avoiding ghosts.
Pacman has undeniably had a significant impact on the video game industry. Until Pacman, video games were almost exclusively “Space Shooters” – games in which a player controls a space craft that has to shoot something. Pacman was the first game to break out of that model and be incredibly successful. Since then, video games have diversified considerably and continuously branch out into new and creative areas.
The name Pacman is derived from the Japanese phrase Pakupaku which loosely translates into “he eats, he eats”. In fact, the game was originally released under the name Puck Man in Japan, but when the game was picked up by Midway to be released in the US the name was changed to Pacman for fear of vandalism that could potentially be inflicted by Americans in arcades and will include scratching the P into an F in the Japanese name “Puck Man”.
The first known “perfect Pacman game”, in which a player must complete all 255 levels, collect all the bonuses and never be caught by a ghost, was played by Billy Mitchell at 1999. Billy set the record at a local arcade in New Hampshire while employing a strategy of improvising throughout the 6 hours of game play and not using any repeating patterns or tactics. The final score was 3,333,360.
Showing posts with label pacman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pacman. Show all posts
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Friday, May 6, 2011
How Pacman Changed Gaming
Games today are so flashy and expensive to make that they almost seem to miss the point. So bent on outdoing the last game made by a competitor, they seem to lose sight of the most important things in the consumers. Because of that, it is always nice to look back and see how a simple game like Pacman touched the hearts of gamers all around the world and still remains a favorite of many in the present.
To start out with, lets give a brief history of how the game of Pacman was first made and how it gained such popularity. The maze game was made when the creator saw a pizza with one slice missing, think about what Pacman looks like, and was supposed to revolve around eating. It was first made in 1980 but was not very popular as games like Space Invaders made it overlooked in Japan. It was originally named Puckman. Later in 1980, the game was sent to the United States and renamed under the name we recognize it as today. In America the newly named Pacman was a big hit and a welcome change from the same old games Americans were used to. It took no real time after that for the rest of the world to catch onto the game and join in the celebration. If you are wondering why the name was changed, Americans thought the name Puckman would be changed by vandals to a cuss word (replace the P with a F). In Europe, Puckman games can still be found. Another fun fact about Pacman is that a perfect game is when you are able to finish all two hundred and fifty five levels without ever being caught. It was first done in 1999 by someone with way too much time on their hands.
Why has Pacman been popular for so long? Well there are several reasons why. For one it is really easy to play, there is nothing more to the game then moving Pacman with the control buttons, four in total, up, down, right, or left. Anyone who knows what the buttons are can play the game perfectly well within seconds of picking it up. Nowadays games focus so much on making controls hard and take long to pick up. It just seems to take away from the overall gaming experience provided by current games.
Another fun feature to the game was the eating. Who didn’t want to spend their entire day just eating and running away from ghosts? And how much fun was it when you could actually eat the ghosts and they ran away? Pacman’s unique gaming was clearly a reason why the game has lasted so long.
And with all other classics, Pacman is extremely accessible and can be found all over the internet for free. Nothing is more appealing than a game which can be easily loaded and doesn’t cost any money to play. Why pay fifty dollars for a game that will take hours to learn when you can pay nothing for instant fun? Flash versions and others can be found of Pacman in numerous places around the web.
So what is the future of this gaming franchise? Well many next generation consoles are releasing revamped and newer versions of Pacman, in three dimensions and with a story to boot. So if you are looking for a more advanced Pacman adventure, they do exist. But the old classic versions will always be available for the gamers looking for a blast in the past!
To start out with, lets give a brief history of how the game of Pacman was first made and how it gained such popularity. The maze game was made when the creator saw a pizza with one slice missing, think about what Pacman looks like, and was supposed to revolve around eating. It was first made in 1980 but was not very popular as games like Space Invaders made it overlooked in Japan. It was originally named Puckman. Later in 1980, the game was sent to the United States and renamed under the name we recognize it as today. In America the newly named Pacman was a big hit and a welcome change from the same old games Americans were used to. It took no real time after that for the rest of the world to catch onto the game and join in the celebration. If you are wondering why the name was changed, Americans thought the name Puckman would be changed by vandals to a cuss word (replace the P with a F). In Europe, Puckman games can still be found. Another fun fact about Pacman is that a perfect game is when you are able to finish all two hundred and fifty five levels without ever being caught. It was first done in 1999 by someone with way too much time on their hands.
Why has Pacman been popular for so long? Well there are several reasons why. For one it is really easy to play, there is nothing more to the game then moving Pacman with the control buttons, four in total, up, down, right, or left. Anyone who knows what the buttons are can play the game perfectly well within seconds of picking it up. Nowadays games focus so much on making controls hard and take long to pick up. It just seems to take away from the overall gaming experience provided by current games.
Another fun feature to the game was the eating. Who didn’t want to spend their entire day just eating and running away from ghosts? And how much fun was it when you could actually eat the ghosts and they ran away? Pacman’s unique gaming was clearly a reason why the game has lasted so long.
And with all other classics, Pacman is extremely accessible and can be found all over the internet for free. Nothing is more appealing than a game which can be easily loaded and doesn’t cost any money to play. Why pay fifty dollars for a game that will take hours to learn when you can pay nothing for instant fun? Flash versions and others can be found of Pacman in numerous places around the web.
So what is the future of this gaming franchise? Well many next generation consoles are releasing revamped and newer versions of Pacman, in three dimensions and with a story to boot. So if you are looking for a more advanced Pacman adventure, they do exist. But the old classic versions will always be available for the gamers looking for a blast in the past!
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