One of the most recognizable games of all time, Pac-Man is a true testament to the impact video games can have on a generation of gamers. As an ode to the iconic arcade game, the Pacman 30th Anniversary Google Doodle was released in 2010, celebrating its success since its initial release in the early 1980s, becoming that year's first worldwide game- there.
Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. also remastered the game for the PlayStation (PS4) and Xbox One to commemorate Pac-Man's 30th anniversary. So the world can continue to enjoy the classic arcade game all these years later.
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The story of Pac-Man
For a game that follows a yellow ball eating and running away from ghosts, it certainly left its mark on players. This pop culture icon was created by a young video game designer named Toru Iwatani, a visionary way ahead of his time.
According to him, when he started writing the title, “the arcades were full of violent video games where you killed aliens.” Toru Iwatani was already in the industry at this time, working for Namco. He also described arcades as dreary places where only boys wanted to go. So he set out to combat this stereotype by creating a game that women and couples could also enjoy, and for beginners in general.
And that's what he did. Pac-Man was the first video game that attracted women to arcades to play the Pac-Man cabinet (the arcade machine), because it was a game they felt comfortable with. comfortable in an environment dominated by pinball machines and boys. Iwatani was far from suspecting that he was going to make video game history.
The invention of Pacman
When it comes to our main character's design, Iwatani says it was looking at a pizza that inspired the iconic shape we have. The pizza was missing two slices and it looked like a mouth to Iwatani, so he decided to create “Pakkuman”, a character which is an onomatopoeic reference to the Japanese term “paku-paku taberu”. This term is generally used to describe the sound your mouth makes when it is opened wide and closed in rapid succession, which has become the iconic “paku paku” noise we hear today in this perfect game.
It's a brilliant way to create a character and this type of inspiration is still relevant after Pacman's 30th anniversary, which is a testament to Pacman's innovative design and fun to play.
Rather than fighting menacing alien invaders or terrifying creatures from the deep, Pac-Man is just running away from four ghosts. While not an intimidating opponent, the gameplay evokes the fear of getting surprised and losing your life to one of these guys.
Pacman's signature is his big mouth. Iwatani designed the game so that Pac-Man could chew power pills, fruits, and pellets, sometimes called power pills.
In North America, the classic game was published by Midway Manufacturing (Midway Games) under its licensing agreement with Namco America in the United States. It became a worldwide phenomenon and one of the most popular classic arcade games and video games of all time. The original Pac-man became a cultural icon that changed the gaming industry forever, spawning a board game and a card game, comic books, Saturday morning cartoons, TV shows, online games, stationery, lunch boxes, etc. Even the game's sound effects revolutionized pop culture.
Midway also created later games like Ms. Pac-Man, a hit that also took the pop culture world by storm, and which only fueled the Pac-Man fever that surrounded the classic arcade. Since then, the community has been clamoring for the return of Ms. Pac-Man, and it looks like this game's 40th anniversary is the chance to do just that. The release of Ms. Pac-Man caused some turmoil at Namco because the distribution went against their terms of service, but it appears they have worked things out. Midway also produced Super Pac-Man. While retaining the same iconic Pac-Man character, almost everything else in the game has been changed, including new modes. In this version, players had to eat keys that opened doors to where their “fruit” was, the basic “coins” that would allow them to move on to the next level where the fruit is worth extra points. If Pac-Man was the first character in the Pac-Man universe, others followed, such as Professor Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man and other playable characters.
With each anniversary, the game seems to be enriched with new difficulty modes, a tournament mode, themed events, new mazes (while of course retaining the original mazes), exclusive skins, weekly challenges in the mazes, a story mode, a Pac-Man battle royale, an adventure mode, a classic 8-bit arcade mode and much more. You can access all of these and more in the Pac-Man+ Museum created by Bandai Namco to showcase all the great games they have developed in the Pac-Man image since the late 1970s.
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How does the game work
Like most computer games in the 80s, Pac-Man was primarily designed for arcades. The game is therefore played with a controller or keyboard arrows on PC. The goal of the game is to move the Pacman character around the screen to consume the 240 points (coins). To achieve this goal, players must make inputs to change the direction of Pacman who is perpetually moving. Without forgetting, of course, trying to get the best score.
The four ghosts (who also have their own names) are Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), Inky (light blue) and Clyde (orange). If you're familiar with ghosts as AIs that just chase you, you might be surprised to discover that each of these four ghosts has their own attack strategy.
Each of the ghosts will always be in one of three modes: Chase, Scatter or Frightened. Yes, you read that right, scared. But this information will really be bait in the heat of battle because you will never be able to instantly tell what strategy a ghost is using.
However, according to some Pacman enthusiasts, here are some character traits of each ghost. Check it out as you prepare to revisit it during Pacman's 30th anniversary.
Blinky (red): Also nicknamed Shadow, he prefers to follow Pac-Man, but his strategy changes: he moves at Pac-Man's speed, and even faster when you have eaten a lot of points.
Pinky (pink): She follows Pac-Man's direction but does not directly follow Pac-Man himself. Instead, she maneuvers around the nearest walls in order to catch you off guard and eliminate her.
Inky (light blue): Inky is perhaps the most dangerous of all the ghosts because he is a wild card. His strategy is a mix of all the other ghosts, so he can be extremely dangerous.
Clyde (orange): Clyde has the nickname “pokey” thanks to his strategy which consists of leaving the box and heading towards Pac-Man, but changing direction shortly after for a “dispersal” phase. It is particularly dangerous in the lower left part of the maze.
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The impact of Pac-Man
The recognition of its impact through the celebration of Pacman's 30th anniversary is a testament to the beauty of this classic video game.
The game Pac-Man can be considered an inspiration for the use of Power-Ups in video games and the way they motivate players to think strategically.
We can also attribute the popularity of cutscenes to this iconic game, as they never really existed before this game came along.
More importantly, Pac-Man made game designers realize how important the main character really is and how they can create a staple in games.
William James Mitchell Jr, known to his friends as Billy Mitchell, was the first person/Pac-Man fan to claim a perfect score of 3,333,360 points (the highest score possible) in the video game Pac-Man .
How to play Pacman 30th Anniversary in your Google browser?
One of the more interesting Easter eggs of Operation Google Doodle is the addition of the full Pacman game on the Pacman 30th Anniversary.
Today, all you have to do is open your Google Chrome browser and type “Pacman” in the search bar to get a view of the Google Doodle (in other words, Google Pacman). Then, simply click on the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, sometimes represented by a coin or simply “Play”, to access a new beginner level game that did not exist in the original game. This level is a way for Google to show off the work it put into creating the doodle. If you wait long enough, the game will start on its own and players can move Pac-Man using the arrow keys.
It seems that they have added to the retro arcade game, making it possible to access a multiplayer mode that allows two players to play. To access it, you have to go to Pacman online and click twice. The second player will be able to move their own Pac-Man with the WASD keys, while the first plays normally with the arrow keys.
On mobile, the steps are pretty much the same – you'll need to open Chrome on your phone and type in the search bar “Pacman” and here you'll also be presented with the “PAC-MAN Doodle” right at the top of your search results. research. This is the same doodle from Pacman's 30th anniversary, so press play to start enjoying the first level. Mobile users control Pac-Man simply using swipe gestures. The advantage of the version of Pac-Man on Google's browser is that it is still free today.
Namco Limited's PAC-MAN video games (including the original Pacman game) are now accessible or available for download on all major consoles and gaming platforms, including PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (STEAM) , Nintendo Switch, Apple iOS devices (via the App Store), and Android devices (via the Google Play store).