Pac-Man Pizza Man
Standard, Mini-Myte and Cocktail cabinets shown
In 1977, Toru Iwatani joins Namco, initially intending to make pinball games for the company. Caught in the transition to videogames, Iwatani bridges the gap by creating or participating in the development of three interesting video pinball games: Gee Bee (1978), Bomb Bee (1979) and Cutie Q (1979). All three of them capitalize on the immense popularity of Block Kuzushi or ‘block breaker’-type games in Japan, spurred on by Atari’s Breakout. Cutie Q is probably the more important of these games as far as an article about Pac-Man is concerned, since Iwatani’s contribution to the game are the cute, colourful characters featured within. These include a purple ghost named Minimon, along with a bright yellow creature called Walk-Man.
Cutie Q, Namco pinball/Breakout hybrid with colourful characters by Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani, 1979
Cute characters Minimon (right) and Walk-Man from Namco’s Cutie Q, precursor game to Pac-Man, 1979
Puck Man and ghost from Puck Man game flyer, Namco 1980
By 1979, Iwatani is tired of the glut of videogame shoot-em-ups littering the arcades, even those being developed at his own company such as Galaxian. He wants to create an arcade game that continues the ‘Kawaii’ or cute character aesthetic from Cutie Q that looks more like a cartoon than a video game and appeals to women as well as men. Inspired by the sight of a pizza with a slice taken, his original design calls for an animated pizza with a missing wedge for a mouth running around a maze eating everything in sight. Technological restraints at the time, however, require the programming team, led by Hideyuki Mokajima, to do a graphics scale-back to a simple, solid yellow circle. The large wedge of a mouth does remain, though, and the character and game is christened Pakkuman (パックマン) . This derives from the Japanese term “paku-paku” (パクパク), meaning the sound made during a rapid opening-closing of the mouth as food is gobbled up, with the name romanized as Puck-Man.
Toru Iwatani, creator of Pac-Man, undated photo
JUMP: Pac-Man video playlist
Gaming history is heralded by the distinctive theme music that plays at the beginning of a new maze in Puck Man, composed by Toshio Kai. Kai is also responsible for music in Namco’s other maze game for 1980, Rally-X. Listen to the background music as you play Namco’s Galaxian, and you’ll hear Kai’s work as well. After the jaunty Puck Man opening tune, players find themselves guiding Puck Man around a single maze eating dots, while avoiding the four ghosts Akabei, Pinky, Aosuke, and Guzuta (each with varying levels of hunting skills), who escape from a cage in the middle of the screen and will end our little yellow friend’s life if they touch him. In each corner of the square playfield is a large dot that when eaten will turn the ghosts blue for a brief period, during which time the tables turn and Puck can eat the ghosts, leaving only the apparently indigestible eyes which make their way back to the cage for reincarnation into another ghost. During every screen, a treat appears for the player under the ghost-cage, in the form of fruit or a bell or some other symbol waiting to be devoured. Considering the graphic design of the game, one wonders if perhaps Iwatani and Mokajima have played the 1975 German board game Blockade, the cover art of which bears a striking resemblance to their game.
The ghosts of Puck Man
In the maze with Pac-Man
The whole of the gameplay cycle of Puck Man shown on its arcade game marquee, 1980
The arcade game is deceptively simple to play, with only a four-position joystick needed to guide the character around the maze, Iwatani’s nod to newcomers to the arcade and women who might not be familiar with video games. However, with each successive screen, the ghosts get faster and their time of blue-invulnerability less. Tension is added with a steady whining sound effect that increases in pitch as the game is played. Things certainly do reach a fever pitch as the game becomes an absolute smash in Japan when it is released in the spring of 1980, following Space Invader‘s lead in causing another Yen shortage nationwide as tens of thousands of Puck Man machines start gobbling them up.
Pac-Man arcade game marquee, 1980
The simple control panel for ‘Pac-Man’
With its distribution deal with Namco via Galaxian, Bally/Midway has the first option to license the game for the US, but freshly appointed Bally Manufacturing president Robert E. Mullane amazingly declines the offer, calling the game “silly”. To be fair, previous games dealing with a maze playfield, such as Atari’s Gotcha (1973) and Sega’s Head-On (1979), have failed to cement the maze-game as a solid avenue for arcade success. Even Midway themselves had tried their hand with the genre in 1976 with Amazing Maze. Why confine players to a small box filled with walls, when the rest of the games in the arcade are putting them into the cockpits of space-faring battle ships? All of this might factor into Mullane’s question at the time, “Who plays maze games anymore?”. His decision to pass on Puck Man is overruled by fellow executives, including boosters like Midway Marketing VP Stanley Jarocki, who immediately sees the novelty of the game’s premise after a viewing in Namco’s development labs in Japan. Midway ultimately signs the deal for the North American Puck Man license.
The many cabinets of the Pac-Man Parlor, Old Towne arcade in Toledo, OH
Pacmania Reigns
In the translation to North America, the names of the ghosts are westernized to Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. The name of the game and its main character is changed as well, to Pac-Man, in order to discourage vandals from replacing the P in Puck Man with an F. Bally/Midway releases the game in North America in October of 1980. In the face of Mullane’s indifference, the game goes on to become one of the most popular arcade games of all time, selling 100,000 units in America alone (along with countless unauthorized clones), breaking the previous 70,000 sales record set by Atari’s Asteroids. In the rest of the world, there’s somewhere in the neighbourhood of 300,000 units sold. About a billion dollars a year lands in Pac-Man coin-boxes, one quarter at a time. It’s also the first video game to spawn a massive merchandising bonanza, starting with T-shirts and then rapidly expanding to over 50 manufacturers making over 200 different items: jackets, sweaters, coffee cups, stuffed dolls, bed sheets, cereal, board-games, underwear, pasta, towels…you name it, it has Pac-Man’s yellow mug and logo on it. All this bric-a-pac equals between 8 – 10 million dollars in gross profits in merchandising alone for Midway. By late 1982, there are over 600 licensed products, and would include the excellent Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man Mini-Arcade tabletop electronic games by Coleco.
Lots of Pac-Man merchandise, 1983
Pac-Man is also the first video game to become so totally ingrained in popular culture, going so far as to appear on both the cover of Time and Mad magazine. Speaking of literature, a library of books are released meant to help players parse the movement patterns of the ghosts in the game, allowing them to play longer. Some, including Mastering Pac-Man by professional Blackjack player Ken Uston, even land on the best-seller list, as well as landing some legal animosity from Midway who see the tips eating into their coin-drop on the game.
All this Pac mania culminates in National Pac-Man Day, named April 3, 1982 as part of the promotion for the much-anticipated (and later much maligned; See below) Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man.
National Pac-Man Day, April 3rd, 1982
Also consider: It makes sense that the official video game of the 1982 World’s Fair held in Knoxville, TN is the Odyssey 2, considering that Magnavox, producer of the console, is based in the city. However, the fair grounds also contain no less than four stores all bursting with Pac-Man merchandise, along with the obligatory arcade games and even Pac pinball tables.
I Got A Fever!
Buckner & Garcia is an obscure singer-songwriter duo from Akron, Ohio, comprised of keyboardist Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia on guitar. Friends since 7th grade, they pay their dues creating commercial jingles for radio and TV. Their biggest previous claim to fame is having produced an extended version of Theme for WKRP/Cincinnati for BGO Music out of Atlanta. After hearing his seven-year old daughter raving on and on about Pac-Man, Arnie Gellar, the “G” in BGO, gives the musical duo a call about making a record about the video game craze, and they jump at the chance. Their single Pac-Man Fever is released in the later part of 1981 on the BGO Records label, selling 12,000 copies in the Atlanta area. Gellar then cuts a deal with Columbia to release the record nationwide. By January of 1982 radio stations are picking up the song, and Pac-Man Fever passes 1.5 million copies in early 1982, making it all the way to #9 on the Billboard charts. Not bad for a song that the duo had written in about two hours back in October of 1981, with the two previously having caught the fever at a local Atlanta bar that summer, pouring quarters into Pac-Man‘s ravenous maw there. The next step is to create an entire LP around the theme, naturally titled Pac-Man Fever, which only takes three weeks to write and produce. The most complicated part is obtaining 30 separate contracts from various video game makers for the inclusion of their games, for which each gets a cut of the proceeds. Featuring sound effects from the games, other songs on the album include Do the Donkey Kong and Frogger’s Lament. Also helpfully provided inside the LP album package is a sheet containing patterns that can be used to win at Midway’s game. The Pac-Man Fever album eventually peaks at #46 on the charts.
I got the fever, 1981 Pac-Man Fever album
Pac-Man Travels The TV Maze
In 1981 ABC is looking to tap into current trends with a Saturday morning cartoon show based on a video game character. Since Pac-Man is the biggest thing in arcades at the time, network execs bring in famed animation house Hanna-Barbera (creators of The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, etc.) to develop a vehicle for the vaunted Dot Eater. H-B then enters protracted negotiations with Bally/Midway for the rights, finding themselves in a fight for them against budget animation house Filmation Associates, run by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott. Filmation is the producer of such classic Saturday morning TV fare as Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. It is H-B who eventually gobble up the rights for the Pac-Man TV show.
Joe Barbera of Hanna-Barbera, and friends, 1984
The arcade game manufacturer insists that the characters strictly hew to the artwork displayed on game cabinets, but H-B finds the graphics too limiting; they need to develop a look that will lend itself to a continuing series, and that will please everyone involved. The next step has H-B running through the maze of FCC regulations, which stipulate that a show based on current merchandise cannot slavishly duplicate the source material, else be designated advertising. Thus must the producers of the Pac-Man TV show strive to not do a TV show based on Pac-Man. They must also appease ABC censors by not having characters shown actually being eaten. Writers for the series blow out the video game concept, with Pac now thoroughly domesticated with wife, kid, and Pac pets, living in a round Pac-metropolis. Gravelly-voiced actor/comedian Marty Ingels, best known for his role as Arch Fenster in the 1962 sit-com I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster, provides the speech for the Great Yellow One. He goes up against Mezmaron, cut from typical Saturday morning villain material, eternally on the hunt for Pac-Land’s sacred Power Pellet forest with his five ghost monster stooges. Debuting September 25, 1982, at 9 am on ABC’s Saturday morning lineup, the program is creatively titled Pac-Man. Gobbling up the television ratings with a whopping 42 rating share upon its premiere, the show turns the characters in its competing cartoon program over at NBC, The Smurfs, blue with envy – Pac-Man topples the blue mushroom-dwelling creatures from their perch as the #1 rated Saturday-morning cartoon show. After a successful first year, the producers tinker with the formula, adding in the wacky Super Pac character, as well as the obligatory wise-cracking nephew. In 1983, a new series called The Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour is broadcast featuring new Pac-Man episodes, but our yellow star must share the hour-long show with a walking, talking Rubik’s Cube, another early 80’s fad sensation. The Rubik segments are produced by Ruby-Spears.
ABC’s ‘Pac-Man’ TV show, 1982
The whole Pac-fan-damily, from the Pac-Man animated series. L-R: Sour Puss, Super-Pac, Chomp-Chomp, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Adult Pac-Baby, Baby Pac-Baby
Chips Off the Old Pac-Man Dot
Click to play a clone of Ms. Pac-Man. Drop in quarters with 5, press 1 or 2 to select game and control the Ms. with your arrow keys
Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet and game play: The better-half
Ten arcade sequels follow the original game, first of which is Ms. Pac-man, released in early 1982. Its development starts in June of 1981 as an unauthorized “mod” or modification of the original game, by a company founded by MIT students Kevin Curran and Doug Macrae called General Computer Corp. (GCC). Titled Crazy Otto, the game enhancement features a version of Pac-Man with legs being chased by monsters with feet, fruit prizes that move around the maze and a cartoon interlude where Otto and a female equivalent have a baby delivered by a stork. Having been burned previously by a lawsuit to the tune of $15,000,000 from Atari over Super Missile Attack, GCC’s enhancement board for their arcade game Missile Command, this time the company presents their version of Pac-Man to Midway before selling the mod kit directly to operators.
Conveniently, Midway is growing impatient waiting for Namco to produce a Pac-Man sequel for license. Midway thusly enters into an agreement with GCC on Oct. 29, 1981, to buy the game. It is quickly developed further by GCC into an even more obvious attempt to lure women into the arcade than the original. Instead of one maze, Ms. Pac-Man (a version of the original Pac-Man character wearing a red bow, lipstick and a beauty mark) has four different playfields, with the special treats roaming around instead of staying motionless under the monster cage. Released in 1981, it goes on to sell 115,000 units, becoming the biggest American-made arcade hit yet. Since the game is not authorized by Namco it helps sour their relationship with Midway, which is further strained by more unauthorized sequels from Midway such as Super Pac-Man and the GCC developed Jr. Pac-Man.
Click to play Super Pac-Man
GCC would bury the hatchet with Atari and later design many games for the company, as well as the 7800 ProSystem game console. As for Bally Midway, battered by the careening video game market the company loses $95 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1984. They announce their departure from the coin-op and video game industry the following year. This division of the company would be subsequently picked up by Williams Electronics.
The Missus, as released in 1981
JUMP: Crazy Otto played at California Extreme 2012, YouTube
Pac-Land handheld game by Namco, 1984
The other Pac-Man sequels are Pac-Man Plus (1982), Super Pac-Man (1982), Baby Pac-Man (1982), Jr. Pac-Man (1983), Pac & Pal (1983), Pac-Land, based heavily on the cartoon series (1984), Pac-Mania (1986), Pac-Attack (1993), and even a virtual reality 3-D Pac-man game called Pac-Man VR in 1996, produced by Virtuality Ltd. and released to major entertainment centres. In a nice little yellow circle, Nutting Associates puts together Professor Pac-Man (1983), a quiz game based on the IP that brings Nutting full circle, back to their roots as a coin-op trivia game company. The number of console, computer, and hand-held translations is too numerous to count in its entirety.
Probably the biggest is Atari’s license of the game for their aging 2600 game console in 1982. An obvious rush-job to make the deadline for Christmas that year, the translation as done by programmer Tod Frye breaks sales records but is deemed a creative disaster by critics. The well-done Ms. Pac-Man adaptation for the 2600, released in 1983 by Atari, goes a long way to redeeming their flagship console. Atari also has better luck porting Pac-Man to its 5200 console that year. Through its Atarisoft label, the company moves Pac through the maze of home console adaptations for competing systems such as the Mattel Intellivision, and various home computer conversions.
Pac-Man World for the PlayStation, 1999
Connecting the Dots
It’s pretty tough to cover all the bases when it comes to the myriad of subsequent games based on the Pac-Man IP, but here are some highlights. Thanks to the resurgent interest in classic arcade games through the besieged emulation scene, The Yellow One gets the obligatory 3D makeover in Namco’s celebration of 20 years of Pac-mania, with Pac-Man World – 20th Anniversary. The three-dimensional adventure game, complete with a 3D rendering of the original’s maze, is released for the Sony PlayStation in October 1999. This is not the first developed 3D version of Pac-Man, however. In 1997, Namco’s internal U.S. development team, under the management of Bill Anderson (Cool Spot, Sega Genesis 1993), begins work on Pac-Man: Ghost Zone. Featuring the tale of a young arcader who gets sucked into the world of Pac-Man Tron-style, the game is severely hampered by its janky controls. While the project ends up shelved by Namco, the 3D design of the title character is entered into the official style-sheet for such renderings, establishing his look in the later 3D games.
Click to play Pac-Man World on the Sony Playstation
Pac-Man World is followed by two sequels, Pac-Man World 2 in 2002 for the popular consoles of the day, and Pac-Man World 3 in 2005. The formula also gains a multiplayer aspect in 2003, with the release of Pac-Man vs. for Nintendo’s Gamecube. The game requires Nintendo’s Gameboy Advance handheld in order to play. It also requires real-life friends, as vs. is multiplayer only. The player using the GBA attached to the Gamecube has a view of the entire maze, while at least one player on the Gamecube controls a ghost, with a limited view of the maze immediately around him. If he is able to catch Pac, the hunter becomes the hunted as the GBA is handed over to the new Pac. The game is designed by Mario and Link creator Shigeru Miyamoto, and it isn’t much of a stretch to see the whole Pac-Man vs. set-up as a trial-run for Nintendo’s Wii U console, released in 2012, with synchronous multiplayer facilitated by a large screen embedded right in the controller.
Pac-Man vs. gameplay, Game Boy Advance view lower right, ghost TV view upper left, 2003
In the same vein comes Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, released by Bandai Namco in October of 2013. Available for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U and the PC via Steam, the game is based on the animated series premiering on the Disney XD cable channel the same year. This 3D platformer also features a 4-player split-screen multi-player mode where players take the role of the ghosts from the original game, all on the hunt for Pac. Multi-player also comes to Pac-Man on the arcade front with Pac-Man Battle Royale, put out by Bandai Namco in 2011 in two flavours: one a cocktail-type set up with four joysticks placed around the table, and an imposing deluxe version featuring four individual control podiums for players to stand at. Both allow gamers to duke it out in the maze Pac-Head to Pac-Head, where when one gobbles a power-pellet they can consume both the enemy ghosts and their fellow Pac-People.
Ad for Namco Museum Vol. 1, 1996
As for the creator of all this yellow mania, Toru Iwatani announces his retirement from Namco and the video game industry in 2007 at the age of 52, in order to devote his full energies to teaching at the Tokyo Polytechnic Institute. His swan song before leaving the company is Pac-Man Championship Edition, a fresh and highly-energetic take on the Pac-Man formula, first for the Xbox 360 gaming console in 2007, and later released for mobile platforms and the PlayStation 3. Namco follows-up Iwatani’s final effort with Pac-Man Championship DX, with some extra tweaks, for the same game platforms in 2010. Continuing with Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 in 2016, to the no doubt innumerable Pac-Man games since, Toru Iwatani’s legacy keeps gobbling up new generations of video game players. 
They really should have called them “Chompionship” Editions: Pac-Man Champion Edition 2, 2016
The Tomytronic handheld Pac-Man game, 1981
Close-up of Tomy Pac-Man game, 1981
Sources (Click to view)
Page 1 – Pizza Man
Development of Pac-Man
“Cutie Q.” The Spriters Resource. URL:https://www.spriters-resource.com/arcade/cutieq/ Retrieved 18 Dec. 2025. Images of cute sprites from the game Cutie Q.
“A Question of Character: Pac-Man.” Next Generation, Oct. 1998, p. 80. Where did the idea for Pac-Man come from? (Toru Iwatani) As I was eating pizza, I took a slice away and looked at what was left.
How did this idea evolve and change as Pac-Man developed? (Iwatani) In order to make a game that even girls who hadn’t played many arcade games could play and enjoy, I made the entire game controlled with just one joystick.
Parkin, Simon. “Pac-Man.” Illustrated History of 151 Video Games a Detailed Guide to the Most Important Games. Comp. Station10.cebu. Wigston, Leicestershire: Lorenz $c 2013, 2013. 28. Internet Archive. 24 Sept. 2019. Web. 19 Mar. 2022. Image of Toru Iwatani with Pac-Man stuffy
“Amazing Maze – Midway Manufacturing Co.” The Arcade Flyer Archive. Upl:Dphower. Retrieved 25 Nov. 2025. Image of Amazing Maze flyer.
Love, Gael. “Robert Mullane.” Interview Sep. 1986. Web. Internet Archive 7 Oct. 2021. Upl:MicrofilmIssueGenerator. Retrieved 18 Dec. 2025. B&W image of Robert Mullane. Photographer Dennis Manarchy.
Popularity of Pac-Man
Lehrian, Lorrie. “Pac Man Fever Is Sweeping the Area.” Public Opinion [Chambersburg, PA] 06 Apr. 1982: 15. Newspapers.com. Web. 27 July 2021. Image of kids thronging a Pac-Man machine in Chambersburg, PA. Photo by Christopher Shatzer
Teverbaugh, Rick. “New Games in Old Town”. May 1983: 76. Internet Archive. May 28 2013. Upl: Sketch the Cow. Image of Pac-Man Parlor at Old Towne arcade, Toledo.
Gray, Rob (photographer). “Video Games’ Holiday Gift Guide.” Video Games Jan. 1983. 37. Web. Internet Archive 20 Apr. 2022. Retrieved 12 Mar. 2026. Image of Pac-Man merchandise, including yo-yo, Tomytronics handheld game and a Pac-bank.
Sly | Image | BoardGameGeek – boardgamegeek.com/image/832103/sly
Blumberg, T. & station57.cebu. (2022). Pop Culture With Character: A Look Inside Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. Gemstone Pub./Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. (Original work published 2006) Image of Pac-Man wind-up toys by Tomy
Image of Pac-Man board game courtesy of A Board Game A Day: Pac-Man – aboardgameaday.blogspot.ca/2011/09/day-eleven-pac-man.html
Video Games, “The House That Pac Built”, by Andrea Stone, pgs. 53 – 55, 72, Vol. 1 Num. 3, Dec 1982
Billboard, “For Cross-Merchandising, ‘Pac-Man’ Made In Heaven”, pg. 6, Apr 24 1982
Pac-Man Demands a Sacrifice! (2013, May 28). Vidiot!, https://archive.org/details/Vidiot_Vol_1_No_3_1983-05_CREEM_Magazine_US/page/n7/mode/2up. (Original work published 1983) Image of actor Robert Hays being chased by Pac-Man. Photo by Michael N. Marks
Reading Eagle (UPI), “Pac-Man Maker Forced To Fight Imitators”, pg. 74, Mar. 14 1982
Stanley Jarocki interview, raw footage for “Wired In”, a 1982 uncompleted technology news show, archived at Media Burn Archive – mediaburn.org/video/wired-in-raw-29/
“Cosa Vi Siete Persi”. Game Republic May 2012. 98. Web. Internet Archive 27 Feb. 2019. Retrieved 5 Dec. 2025. Image of Toru Iwatani holding Pac-Man merch.
“Cover: Bally Midway Executives Stanley Jarocki and Charles Farmer.” Cash Box 22 May 1982: Cover. Web. 9 Apr. 2021. Cover image of Stanley Jarocki and Charles Farmer surrounded by Pac-Man machines and sequels
Schenecty Gazette (AP), “Smile! Pac-Man Moving Into Millions of Homes”, pg. 30, Mar. 17, 1982
Goodman, Danny. “Pac-Mania” Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games: 122-123. Internet Archive. Upl: scottithgames Feb 22 2016. Retrieved Nov 9 2025. Image of Pac-Man merchandise featuring blue shirt. Photo by Tom Zuk.
“Introduction.” Pac-Mania. New York: Beekman House, 1982. 5. Print. Image of model wearing Pac-Man shirt, carrying a Pac-Man bag
“Pac-Man Products.” Pac-Mania. New York: Beekman House, 1982. 37,40. Print. Image of model inside Pac-Man sleeping bag. ;Model holding Pac-Man towel.
“Pac-Man Day.” Pac-Mania. New York: Beekman House, 1982. 50-55. Print. Images of National Pac-Man Day festivities.
Starlog, “Toys and Games for ’82”, by Susan Adamo and Bob Greenberger, pg. 31, Jul 1982
“Puck-Man?” By the Editors of Consumer Guide: Pac-Mania. Ed. Jason Scott. New York: Beekman House, 1982. 62. Print. Image of Ms. Pac-Man filling the Midway manufacturing plant, 1982
Electronic Games, “Meet Pac-Man’s Video Godfather” by Gabe Essoe, pgs. 22-28, Jan 1984. Retrieved from the Internet Archive, Electronic Games magazine collection
Johnson, R. & scottithgames. (1983, March). What’s Round & Yellow & Laughs All The Way To The Bank? Vidiot, 20–23. Image of Pac-Man merchandise laid out on red background. Photo by Larry Kaplan
Fromm, Randy. “Pac-Attack! Pac-Attack!” Play Meter 15 Aug. 1982: 48-49. Internet Archive. Web. 9 Aug. 2023. Retrieved 19 Nov. 2025. Images of Pac-Man store at the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, TN.
I Got a Fever!
Pac-Man Fever Music Record
Electronic Games, “Electronic Games Hotline: Pac-Man Fever is Catching”, pg. 9, May 1982. Retrieved from the Internet Archive, Electronic Games magazine collection
Neato Coolville: I’LL ALWAYS HAVE PAC-MAN FEVER – neatocoolville.blogspot.ca/2011/11/ill-always-have-pac-man-fever.html
Pac-Man Fever – Buckner & Garcia : AllMusic – www.allmusic.com/album/pac-man-fever-mw0000222904
Hunt, Dennis. “Double Dose of Pac-Man Fever.” The Los Angeles Times 21 Mar. 1982: 82-83. Newspapers.com. Web. 19 Aug. 2021. Image of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia together, Buckner at top of picture. Other info: Garcia…explained how they became Pac-Man addicts: “It happened at this bar in Atlanta. We had just finished working on some project and we had some extra time. We saw this machine and we didn’t understand it. We put $15 to $20 in it before we figured out how to play it. Then everyday we’d go and try to beat the machine. ;”What’s funny is that when we finally wrote the song in October we were worried we were too late with it.” ;The single, which they wrote in a few hours, was released by Columbia late last year and started to get extensive air play in January… ;It took us only three or four weeks to write and record the whole album [Pac-Man Fever]. ;Buckner and Garcia, who’ve been buddies since junior high school… ;While waiting for a break in the music business, they have been earning money writing and producing radio and TV commercials.
ArtInBase – Buckner and Garcia – www.artinbase.info/artist/4733/Buckner_&_Garcia/
Page 1 – The TV Maze
Saturday Morning TV Show
Scottithgames, comp. “More Pac-Mania.” Videogaming Illustrated Aug. `982: 8. Internet Archive. 26 May 2013. Web. 19 Aug. 2021. Now, Louis Scheimer, president fo Filmation Associates, has announced that his company recently obtained from Midway Manufacturing Co. the rights to the billion-dollar gobbler [Pac-Man] for a Saturday morning cartoon series.
Essoe, Gabe. “Meet Pac-Man’s Video Godfather.” Comp. Jason Scott. Electronic Games Jan. 1984: 22+. Internet Archive. 28 May 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2022. Image of Joe Barbera, 1984. Other info: From Interview with Joe Barbera – “Next cam Network’s Programs and Practices,” continues Barbera good naturedly, “and they said we can’t show the eating of characters on-screen. It’s too violent.”
Boyer, Peter J. “GAMES KIDS AND NETWORKS PLAY.” The Los Angeles Times 30 Oct. 1982: V-1+. Newspapers.com. Web. 19 Aug. 2021. In fact, they have embraced this mutant dandy [Pac-Man] so enthusiastically that ABC has accomplished a remarkable turnaround on Saturday morning, overtaking NBC and the one-mighty “Smurfs” and establishing a foothold on first place for ABC.
Image of Marty Ingels with Pac-Man, as well as other information, from Video Games, “Blips – Life in the Fast Maze with Marty Ingels”, by Sue Adamo, pgs. 10, 12, Vol. 1 Num. 5, Feb 1983
Image from Hanna-Barbera TV show featuring Ghosts, Mezmaron and Pac-Man from Electronic Games, “Dear Pac-Man” by Gabe Essoe, pgs. 46-52, Dec 1983. Retrieved from the Internet Archive, Electronic Games magazine collection
Title screen for The Pac-Man Rubik the Amazing Cube Hour from Toonarific
Still of Rubik, the Amazing Cube from X-Entertainment
The Arcade Flyer Archive – flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=home
Page 2 – Chips Off the Old Dot
Ms. Pac-Man and Midway’s Lawsuit Against General Computer Corporation
Associate-manuel-dennis, comp. “Atari Sues Boston Firm In Vid Game Infringement Suit.” Cash Box 26 Apr. 1981: 30. Internet Archive. 26 Sept. 2016. Web. 22 Oct. 2019. <https://archive.org/details/cashbox43unse_12/page/30>. Atari, Inc. announced that it is suing General Computer Corporation (Boston) and its principals for $5,000,000 each for alleged violation of Atari’s copyrights and trademarks involving its corporate name, its logotype and its coin-operated video game “Missile Command”.
Atari Coin Connection, “Atari Pursuing Copyright Infringers”, pg. 2, Sep 1981. “Recently, the General Computer Corporation of Boston received a restraining order from Judge Robert E. Keeton of the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, to temporarily prevent them from manufacturing, advertising or selling “Super Missile Attack”, their product designed to “enhance” the game play on Missile Command.” Retrieved from Pinball Pirate, Atari Coin Connection archive, Sep 16 2015.
Video Games, “Briefs – The Fight for Ms. Pac-Man”, by Steve Bloom, pg. 98, Vol. 1 Num. 5, Feb 1983
Image of Crazy Otto and other associated images and information from Steve Golson’s lecture for MIT Labs, part of the “Push Button: Examining the Culture, Platforms, and Design of the Arcade” lecture series, Jan
Ahl, David H. “Industry Insider.” Creative Computing Mar. 1985: 14. Creative Computing Magazine (March 1985) Volume 11 Number 03. Internet Archive. Web. 06 Mar. 2016. After a $95 million loss in the fourth quarter, Bally (Pac-Man) is dropping out of the coin-op and videogames business.
Page 2 – Connecting the Dots
The Aftermath of Pac-Man
“Pac-Man: Ghost Zone.” Next Generation, Aug. 1997, pp. 82–83. “We had to put our model before Namco Limited’s staunchest critics, and the model we have now is the official 3D model for the style guide.”
amazon.ca, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, PS3 – www.amazon.ca/dp/B00CSLIYTI
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, official Bandai Namco site – www.pacisback.com/en/index.html
Blumberg, T. & station57.cebu. (2022). Pop Culture With Character: A Look Inside Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. Gemstone Pub./Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. (Original work published 2006) Image of horrific Pac-Man puppets by Commonwealth
Image of Shigeru Miyamoto holding a Game Boy from – Firestone, Mary. Nintendo: The Company and Its Founders. ABDO Publishing Company, 2011. p. 57.
“This Game is Better Than Pac-Man 99! | Pac-Man Vs.- 4-Player – Session #1.” YouTube. TheGamingMasterGuys. URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vgz5udJp7c 6 Jun. 2021. Retrieved 28 Dec. 2025. Snapshot of gameplay for Pac-Man Vs.<.span>
Images of Iwatani and his original design drawings from Control Magazine, “Prof. Toru Iwatani: ‘This is how I made Pac-Man!'”, by Matthijs Dierckx, June 22 2010 – www.controlmagazine.net/2010/06/22/prof-toru-iwatani-this-is-how-i-made-pac-man/
Scottithgames, comp. “The Father of Pac-Man?” Electronic Fun with Computers & Games Mar. 1983: 18. Internet Archive. 28 May 2013. Web. 2 Jan. 2022. Image of Masaya Nakamura playing Pac-Man
Photo of Pac-Man Yahtzee games by William Hunter, 2014
Unannotated, Uncategorized, or I Just Don’t Damn Remember!
The Pac-Man Dossier, by Jamey Pittman, 2011 – home.comcast.net/~jpittman2/pacman/pacmandossier.html
Video Games, “The Absolutely, Positively Last Word on Pac-Man”, an excerpt from “Video Invaders”, a book by Steve Bloom, pgs. 23 – 26, 78, Vol. 1 Num. 1, Aug 1982
Music Credits
Pac-Man Fever, Pac-Man Fever 30 Year Anniversary. Music by Buckner & Garcia. Published by BGO Records/Columbia-CBS Records, 1982
External Links (Click to view)
With the motto W.W.P.M.D.? (What Would Pac-Man Do?), this is the holy religious site (NOT A RELIGION. DO NOT WORSHIP) The 1st Church of Pac-Man, now saved in the warehouse of antiquity, The Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive – https://web.archive.org/web/20191101144605/http://www.flamingmayo.com/firstchurchofpacman/index2.htm
Pac-Man: A Tribute Page, by Shawn Williams – Play accurate javascript versions of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, including a version of the Pac-Man enhancement game Crazy Otto (just click on Ms. Pac-Man at the top of the Ms. Pac-Man page). It also has a fascinating breakdown of the “AI” of the ghosts. With the original site years defunct, the link from this text will take you to the latest working version of the site archived at The Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive.
Namco English website – https://www.bandainamcoent.com
Official Buckner & Garcia ‘Pac-Man Fever’ page – http://bucknergarcia.com
I’ve heard a lot a people say in books and in other articles that say puckman was originally released In Japan on October 10th 1979. Just about every book I read about the history of video games contradicts the may 22 1980 release for pacman. I’m still confused about the relase date.
uh no puckman was DEVELOPED in 1979 not relased sir.