- Image by turtlemom4bacon via Flickr
Pac-Man, one of the most popular arcade games in the world celebrates its 30th anniversary this week. The classic game, developed by Namco, was first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Since its creation, Pac-Man, which features a rotund figure following a trail through a maze, has become an icon of the 1980s pop culture and one of the most successful games ever created.
Pac-man has inspired hundreds of imitations ranging from a cartoon series, merchandise, card games, a top-ten hit single (Pac-Man Fever by Buckner and Garcia) and sequels such as Pac-Man championship edition, Pac-Man vs., Bally Midway spin-offs and Ms. Pac-Man. Part of the game’s success story has been attributed to its simple appeal to a wider audience which includes, children, adults, male or female, and its relative ease-of-use. Pac-Man’s status as one of the most famous video games in history is further buttressed by the revelation that it is recognised by about 94% of American gamers unlike the more dominant shooting and space war games of 80s.
Furthermore, Google has joined millions of Pac-Man lovers all over the world to celebrate its 30th anniversary by changing its homepage logo (over the weekend) to a complete playable version of the game (See picture below), reaching up to 256 levels, thus making the Pac-Man game the first fully interactive Google logo. However, there are now reports that due to Google’s gesture, some offices have now blocked access to the Google Website to prevent their staff from being lured away by Pac-Man.
Talking Pont
Do you have any Pac-Man memories? Why do you think it became so popular and can you think of any game that will have a similar long-lasting effect in future?
14 Comments
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May 23, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Ya i played the game and it taken me in my back days when i use to play pacman nes game. I think Google should fix these type of games permanently, if not do this on every special occasion.
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May 24, 2010 at 10:13 am
…I spend about 30 minute playing the Pac-Man on Google home page on Saturday, when I saw the game,in fact I forget about the search I want to make.
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May 24, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I played it for a while. Back in the day, my favorite was Arkanoid:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkanoid
Not as popular but equally as fun!
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May 24, 2010 at 11:54 pm
I just pre-ordered this today!
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May 25, 2010 at 2:51 pm
great article and a very, very good blog.
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May 27, 2010 at 2:02 pm
i really love playing PACMAN, my kids also are enjoyed. anyway this is a nice blog, thanks for this post!
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May 28, 2010 at 11:12 am
RescueTime, a time tracking software company, reckons that bored office workers wasted 4.82 million hours at a cost of $120m in global productivity by playing the interactive Pacman Google logo. Now that’s not very good news for the economy.
eagle09
May 31, 2010 at 12:15 pm
thanks for this article….
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July 1, 2010 at 10:37 pm
I remember when Pacman came out. That was a loooong time ago. I was just a kid back then. Brings back memories. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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August 24, 2010 at 10:05 am
Thanks to google that remind us such games.
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August 31, 2010 at 2:34 am
I remember when Pacman came out. That was a loooong time ago. I was just a kid back then. Brings back memories. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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February 22, 2011 at 5:00 pm
You can’t say the word ‘Pac-man” and not smile. Everyone has played this at one point in their lives.. and yes.. I did play this when google changed its homepage for that one weekend. Lol. Thanks for a nostalgic journey back to when times were a bit easier.
Darin Cunningham
July 21, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Classic. That’s what it is. It was a very cool idea what Google did with their logo incorporating a Pacman game. I spent a good half an hour playing!