Pac-Origins Man's
After creating Gee Bee (a riff on Breakout) and Galaxian, Namco, a prominent mechanical arcade game developer in Japan since 1955, had already been a major player in the video arcade business by the end of the 1970s (inspired by "Space Invaders").

It was Tru Iwatani's goal to create a game that would appeal to both men and women when he joined Namco's design team after working on the Gee Bee series.

A common belief holds that Tru was motivated to design Pac-Man after noticing an incomplete pizza. Regardless of how he came up with the concept, he had one thing in mind: he wanted to create a game where eating was the major action.

With only 18 months to go, Tru and his crew had created a non-violent eating game that could compete with the likes of Pong or space shooters where the goal was to die.

"Puck-Man" was first released in Japan in 1979 and quickly became a smash hit. Aiming for the United States, which was the largest arcade game market alongside Japan, was Namco's goal with this release. They sub-licensed the game to Midway Games in order to have it distributed in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

For fear that pranksters could easily change "P" to "F," the game was renamed "Pac-Man" in America, a moniker that has since become synonymous with the character and is now used worldwide.

Pac-Man was a major success in the United States, breaking all arcade and popular culture sales records. The most popular overeater of all time has everyone scrambling for an upright or cocktail table cabinet in an arcade, pizza shop, bar or nightclub.

Pac-gameplay Man's takes place in a maze populated by dots, a ghost generator in the lower center, and Pac-Man placed in the lower half of a single screen.

Dots in the maze must be eaten without being scared away by a Ghost (referred to as Monsters in the original game). When a ghost touches Pac-Man, it's the end of his illustrious career.

Power pellets can be found at the corners of the maze in Pacman 30th Anniversary, of course. Once all of the ghosts turn blue, Pac-Man is free to pounce on his prey. Ghosts are transformed into floating eyes before returning to the generator to renew their skin once they've been devoured.

As well as eating dots and power pellets, Pac-Man may get bonus points by eating ghosts and fruit that emerge in the maze without notice.

After Pac-Man consumes all of the dots on the screen, a series of short films shows him and the Ghost Monsters chasing each other around. "Donkey Kong" was the first game to feature intermission cinematics when it was launched in 1981.

Only the speed of the ghosts and the duration of the power pellets' effects shorten as the game progresses.

The Best Pac-Man Game Ever Played
However, the game can only be played up to level 255 due to an error that prevents it from being played further that point. The dots and maze on the right side of the screen are hidden by the nonsense on the left. It's called a "death screen" just to be clear.

Each level of "Pac-Man" requires you to eat all of the dots on the screen, as well as any fruit or power pellets that occur. You must also complete the game without losing a life. Gamers can expect to receive a whopping 3,333,360 points.

One of the greatest "Pac-Man" players ever, Billy Mitchell, was the subject of two documentaries: "The Fistful of Quarters" and "Caching Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade."

In today's world, pop culture is like Pac-nose. Man's Pac-Man is still one of the best-known characters in video games. As a result of his widespread appeal, Pac-Man and the holiday season have developed an odd bond.