Life is a video game. No matter how good you are, in the end they always hit you. It’s true, isn’t it? Maybe. But when you ask Mr. Billy Mitchell, he may not entirely agree. Why? In 1999, his name earned a place in contemporary human history. He was dubbed the man who completed the first perfect PacMan game, setting an all-time high score of 3,333,360 points. He managed to hit and conquer 256 boards or mazes for six hours without losing a single PacMan life! It could have continued, but the game was literally over, as the PacMan game creators never developed the 257 board. The popularity Mitchell gained might have been noteworthy news back then, but it’s actually based on a more important fact. . And no, it is not your ability to play arcade games. Here’s the fact: the PacMan series has built a milestone over its 20 years of existence. Who would have thought that a simple game with a fairly simple gameplay would later become one of the most famous and played arcade games of all time?
On May 22, 1980, the original edition of the PacMan game debuted on the Japanese arcade scene and was released by Namco, now Namco Bandai. The inspiration for the creation of PacMan was a slice of pizza! Tohru Iwatani, the Namco game designer, went out for pizza and the rest, as they would say, is history.
This is the basic PacMan game: a player directs PacMan in a certain maze with the goal of eating all the dots throughout the maze and moving to the next level. However, within the labyrinth four ghosts roam with whom PacMan must avoid contact. PacMan loses a life every time a ghost touches him. And once all lives are lost, the game is over.
Namco was reported to have earned over $ 100,000,000 from his income from the PacMan game. The PacMan brand had been licensed to more than 250 companies to create more than 400 products such as breakfast cereals, toys, furniture, and even a car, the PacMan Hot Rod. The brand was also able to be extended to other forms of media such as television, such as the ABC cartoon called The PacMan show. And believe it or not, there is a full-length album about it and it’s called PacMan Fever. On this note, it is clear to believe that the main character of the game PacMan has become an icon in his own right.
On its 20th anniversary in early 2000, Namco breathed new life into its original PacMan game series through PacMan World featuring classic PacMan gameplay infused with modern video game pursuit. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, Namco Bandai will launch a new edition of the PacMan game. However, there are not many details about it yet, but one can anticipate nothing but pure fun and entertainment from the big cheery yellow ball that is the PacMan game.
