The Pac-Man video game originally came out in Japan on May 21, 1980, and by October of that year it was released in North America. The yellow, pie-shaped Pac-Man character, who travels around a maze trying to eat dots and avoid four hunting ghosts, quickly became an icon of the 1980s and to this day remains one of the most popular video games in history.
While Pac-Man may be one of the most iconic and beloved video games of all time, there’s still a lot that fans don’t know about the yellow pellet-muncher. Here are 10 things you didn’t know about Pac-Man.
Pac-Man was originally called Puck-Man
When Pac-Man was first released in Japan in 1980, it was called Puck-Man, because Pac-Man’s shape resembles a hockey puck. However, when the game was released in the United States, the name was changed to Pac-Man to avoid vandalism, as the word “puck” is too similar to a rude English word beginning with F.
Pac-Man was designed to attract women
Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani wanted to create a video game that would appeal to women, as well as men. He chose to make Pac-Man a cute and cuddly character, and he set the game in a maze that resembled a pizza parlor.
The design of Pac-Man was inspired by a pizza
One day, Iwatani was looking at a pizza when he removed a slice. The resulting shape reminded him of a mouth, and he had the idea for Pac-Man.
The game’s creators did not receive any special rewards for its creation
Iwatani described his company’s reaction to the game in an interview with VH1 Games in 2007, saying: “I’m not sure if I should mention this or not. Well, um, the truth of the matter is, there were no rewards per se for the success of Pac-Man. I was just an employee. There was no change in my salary, no bonus, no official citation of any kind.”
The Pac-Man ghosts have names
The four ghosts in Pac-Man are named Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde. In Japan, they are known as Fickle, Chaser, Ambusher, and Stupid.
Pac-Man is the most popular video game character of all time
According to Guinness World Records, Pac-Man is the most successful video game character in history, with over 43 million units sold.
Pac-Man has a perfect score
In 1999, Billy Mitchell achieved a perfect score of 3,333,360 points on Pac-Man. Mitchell’s score was officially recognized by Guinness World Records in 2005.
Pac-Man was the first video game to be featured on a Saturday morning cartoon show
What… You don’t remember it? The Pac-Man cartoon show premiered in 1982 on ABC. The show was a Saturday morning cartoon that ran for two seasons.
Pac-Man has a wife and child
Ms. Pac-Man was introduced in 1981, and Jr. Pac-Man was introduced in 1983.
There is a real-world Pac-Man maze in Japan
In 2012, a Pac-Man maze was created in Izumo, Japan. The maze is made of hedges, city streets and sidewalks and is the largest Pac-Man maze in the world.
The maze is located in the city of Ichikawa and is made up of city streets and sidewalks.
There is a real-life Pac-Man maze. In 2012, a Pac-Man maze was created in Izumo, Japan. The maze is made of hedges and is the largest Pac-Man maze in the world.
