Pac-Man: The famous game character influenced by a slice of pizza 

Ghosts, video games and a slice of pizza: Can you find a connection between these three even remotely? Probably not! But what if we say that there is! Well, we talking about the universally loved arcade game called Pac-Man. It has been around for more than four decades and has appealed to people of all ages. Remember its signature music? How addictive is that! For those of you who still haven’t had the chance to play this game, here’s what it’s like. The main character, aka Pac-Man (a circle with a snapping mouth that gobbles dots) needs to be guided through a maze, while avoiding ghosts. The goal is to lead him to different varieties of fruits and other score-boosting things. Turns out that a slice of pizza inspired the creation of Pac-Man. Interesting, isn’t it?  

Pac-Man: The idea behind the game 
For those unaware, Pac-Man is a Japanese video game franchise dating back to the 1980s. It was the brainchild of Toru Iwatani, who worked for a company called Bandai Namco Entertainment (popularly called Namco). Namco was greatly impressed with Iwatani’s idea and quickly wanted to launch it. Why? Because, for the first time in years, someone wanted to divert from the contemporary violent themes of video games and make something more playful and comfortable. Iwatani was clear that he didn’t want only teenage boys and grown-up men to play his game, but an entire family, comprising of women and children as well. It’s as if he wanted to make the world of video games a lot more diverse. Quick fact: Pac-Man is now the longest-running, best-selling and highest-grossing video game series in history.  

Pac-Man and a slice of pizza 
Who would have even imagined that a slice of pizza can inspire one of the most-loved video game characters ever? Well, turns out, it did. As it happened, Iwatani conceived the main character Pac-Man while he was eating pizza. Are you wondering how pizza could have possibly led to the creation of Pac-Man? Well, this is how it went. While gorging on the pizza Iwatani realised that, without the first slice from the pizza, it somewhat looked like a head with an open mouth. Now, quickly imagine the Pac-Man character, or even better the logo of Pac-Man. Here, the ‘C’ looks like a pizza minus a slice. Not only the shape, but also yellow colour of Pac-Man is an influence of that slice of pizza.  

Wait, we aren’t done yet. Looks like, even the name Pac-Man emerged, all thanks to pizza. The term ‘paku-paku’ in Japanese is commonly used to describe the sound of a person eating. And, Iwatani is said to have enjoyed that particular pizza meal so much, that he even noticed the sound while he was eating. The result? The name Puck-Man! However, just before the launch, Iwatani and his team of nine designers felt that Pac-Man sounded catchier. Hence, they quickly incorporated the change. 

Pac-Man: How it evolved over the years 
Interestingly, when Pac-Man was released all across Japan in 1980, it created more stir than the makers had ever expected. As a result, Namco decided to take it abroad. Needless to say, it was an instant hit internationally, especially in the US. In fact, soon, the Americans customised their own version of the game and within a year Ms. Pac-Man was born. It was a collaborative venture by US-based game company Midway and the original makers Namco. As the name suggests, it was a female Pac-Man who featured a ribbon on top. Over the years, Pac-Man had similar makeovers. For instance, there was Super Pac-Man (1982), Pac & Pal (1983) where the character Mil was introduced, Pac-Land (1984), Pac-Mania (1987), Pac-Panic (1994), Pac-In-Time (1995) and many more. What evolved as an arcade game can today be even played from the comfort of home, with the help of gaming consoles or smartphone apps.