¿Who has never played Coconut Eater? Pac-Man, its original name, is already one of the classics of video game history. May 22 marks the 40th anniversary of its official launch in 1980.
In the 70s and 80s, video games began to become a social phenomenon around the world. The arcade video game machines in the arcades attracted crowds of players, who had to pay to play a game.
The first title to be massively successful was Pong, a two-dimensional game that simulates a game of tennis between two players. Space Invaders, a 1978 video game, followed. The goal was to eliminate as many alien ships as possible.
Due to the success of Space Invaders and Pong, many of the video games that preceded them were shooting or sports. Pac-Man changed the narrative of video games and opened the door to experiment with new mechanics to create innovative ways of playing. Its success was immediate and a large number of video game arcade machines were sold.
Pac-Man was created by designer Toru Iwatani of the Japanese company Namco. The game is to lead Pac-Man, a yellow ball that opens and closes his mouth, through a maze. He scores points when he eats what he finds in his path, balls and different fruits, but he must avoid four ghosts.
In theory, the game has 255 levels, but the player can reach 256. However, due to the technological limitation of the time, that level had many errors.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the launch of one of the most influential games in history, the Bandai Namco company has prepared various activities to pay tribute to it. He has also created a song to celebrate the anniversary. It has been composed by the famous Japanese techno artist Ken Ishii, who has used the original sounds of the game. ¡Let the game begin!