The fever included breakfast cereals, of course: The end with “Atari Pac-Man” helped drive the incorrect notion home that it was Atari’s creation, not Namco’s: To the point of how much Atari marketed the game, here’s a commercial from back-in-the-day. Want to dive into more detail about how the original game came together? Check out “The Development of Pac-Man” over at Arcade Blogger. Thanks to their massive efforts to promote the game for their 26 game consoles, it meant that many people still erroneously associate the character with that company (although if you really dig into the history, Namco got into the business as Atari Japan, which quickly turned into its own thing. In Pac-Man’s case, home licensing fell to Atari. In those days, games would often be licensed out to two companies – one for arcades and one for home. Where Namco was the company to create the title, Midway was the company that it was licensed to in the US to handle arcade manufacturing, distribution and marketing. This launched a slew of clones and copycats seeking to bank on the fame of a player navigating a labyrinth eating/colelcting something while being chased by monsters. Pac-Man (1980) – Almost started as Puck Man, operators didn’t initially believe or understand the impact that this game would have, which would drive players crazier than Space Invaders had just a short time before. Otherwise, let’s take a trip down memory lane with all of the official arcade releases that the character has had over the years: There have been other remixes too that get into the Pac-Beat, so plenty of audio goodness to enjoy from the franchise. Unfortunately there is no new Pac-Man arcade release out right now from Bandai Namco, although the pandemic could be to blame for that. This was the hit song that the duo produced in the wake of said fever that swept society back in the early ’80s, so tune-in! One thing to post here at the top is here shortly from when I’m writing this, Jerry Buckner, of Buckner & Garcia, is hosting a livestream this morning (9AM PST / 12PM EST) to perform Pac-Man Fever. Much of this post will be recreating the 35th anniversary celebration post, with a few tweaks here and there. With May 22nd being the official launch day for Pac-Man, it’s time to celebrate 40 years of the lovable yellow dot eater – a day that should be celebrated with as much pop culture musings as Star Wars is on May 4th. Sure, Pac-Man wasn’t the first character representation ever made in the biz, but it could be argued that part of the phenomenon comes from the “personality” found in the game thanks not just to the gameplay, but also to the cutscenes that tell short, amusing stories from the Pac-Man world without having to say a word. That said, a variety of brands have created mascot style characters through the arcade medium over the years, and if I were to throw the question out there of “which character best represents arcades as a mascot?,” I’m sure a majority of respondents would answer: Pac-Man. That question is a little harder to answer because arcades just don’t work like consoles do – every dedicated game release is like a new console launch. Granted, both of those characters appeared in arcades before they did on their respective consoles, which takes us to the next point – Who would serve as a “mascot” for arcades? Two companies in particular created mascots that are still popular today – Mario for Nintendo, Sonic The Hedgehog for Sega. Back during the “Console Wars” of the ’80s & ’90s, big game consoles were known for their “mascots,” a game with a protagonist that served as the face of a particular console and brand.
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