Pac-Man turns 40 today

[gbpxl]

Pac-Man was released in Japan 40 years ago, on May 22nd, 1980. According to CNN at least

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/pac-man-40-anniversary-history/index.html

I don't remember my first encounter with the guy formerly known as Puck Man. I remember playing Pac-Man 2 for the SNES and there was the arcade version of either the original or Ms. Pac-Man in there. There was a cocktail version of the original at the local pizza place. That would've been circa 1994. I don't know if I would've played anything earlier than that. I know I never saw the stand-up version as a kid and wouldve been too small to play it anyways.

What are your earliest memories of Pac-Man?

[Aussie2B]

My earliest memory of Pac-Man is playing this thing: http://www.liquidcrystal.co.nz/watches/nelsonic-pacman/

[jb143]

My earliest memory of Pac-man is probably watching the Saturday morning cartoon show. Either that, or playing the 2600 version at my grandmas house. I don't think I actually played the arcade until years later. Though I did play Super Pac-man pretty regularly in the late 80's because my cousins got the cocktail cabinet for Christmas one year.

[ArcadePerfect]

Pac-Man was released in Japan 40 years ago, on May 22nd, 1980. According to CNN at least

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/pac-man-40-anniversary-history/index.html

I don't remember my first encounter with the guy formerly known as Puck Man. I remember playing Pac-Man 2 for the SNES and there was the arcade version of either the original or Ms. Pac-Man in there. There was a cocktail version of the original at the local pizza place. That would've been circa 1994. I don't know if I would've played anything earlier than that. I know I never saw the stand-up version as a kid and wouldve been too small to play it anyways.

What are your earliest memories of Pac-Man?

Pac-Man 2 is one of my all time favorite games, would love a sequel to it. Even though there's a lot of 'point and click' genre games, there's nothing else like it really. Exceptionally unique & creative. The facial expressions capture the imagination in your youth, like a walking interactive cartoon.

The later 3D games are also cool but none of them seemed to bring the universe to life (Pac-Man's family, various towns, his very persona) as perfectly as Pac-Man 2 imo. It's kind of a 16-Bit semi-sequel to Pac-Land in a way but way, way more in-depth. Was a big fan of the original first volume of Namco Museum Collection btw, found it innovative.

[Aussie2B]

I've always heard that Pac-Man 2 is similar to the Wonder Project J series, which is one of my very favorites. I still need to pick up a copy sometime.

[Greg2600]

The official Pac-Man site has the 40th as tomorrow May 22, ha ha.

https://www.pacman.com/en/

I don't have a clear memory, but I definitely recall going to kiddie arcades back in the early 80's and playing Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man as they were easy for me to figure out. When we finally got the Atari 2600 2nd or 3rd hand in 1983-84, I played the Tod Frye port all the time.

[gbpxl]

Tomorrow is today in Japan.

[SpaceHarrier]

I was born in 1980 and, of course, I remember seeing Pac-Man everywhere growing up. I was seemingly always in an arcade, pizza place or burger joint with arcade games, but somehow I never once played Pac-Man as a kid. Always thought it looked cool, though.

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Happy Birthday, Puck-Man!

Pac-Man himself turns 40 today, but the Pac-Man name doesn't turn 40 until later this year. The original release from May 22, 1980 was called "Puck-Man", it was changed to Pac-Man for the international release. I think "Pac-Man" was announced for the USA market on November 22, 1980, so the name dates to some time between May and November 1980.

The name was changed from Puck-Man to Pac-Man because Namco/Midway were worried that people would scratch out part of the "P" in Puck Man, and "Fac-Man" isn't funny or obscene.