About Pac-Man

    • 4 posts
    March 29, 2022 5:53 AM EDT

    My father worked as an arcade game and pinball technician when I was a kid, and it was the best job I could have ever imagined. A trip across Poland's seaside cities with their seasonal arcade parlors meant for me summer trips, looking beneath cabinet doors to learn about programming and technical secrets, and—of course—free games!!

    Toys like Pac-Man, whose appeal cut beyond national boundaries at the time, were among my personal favorites. At a time when space shooters were all the rage, Tru Iwatani's creation stood out as one of the first games designed to appeal to a wider audience, thanks to its cute story about a pizza-shaped character gobbling up dots in a maze, its colorful (literally!) characters, its friendly design, its low level of violence, and its never-ending enjoyment.

    For Pacman 30th Anniversary, we've created the first-ever playable Google doodle in honor of the iconic video game character. In order to play this game, you must visit google.com during the next 48 hours and either press the "Insert Coin" button or wait for a few seconds.

    I worked with Google artist Ryan Germick to reconstruct the original PAC-MAN game logic, graphics, and sound effects, and to bring back the distinct personalities of the ghosts. We even recreated some of the original bugs from this classic 1980s game. You can also play Ms. PAC-MAN with a friend by tossing in a second coin, which activates the "Easter Egg" (PAC-MAN is controlled with arrow keys or by clicking on the maze, Ms. PAC-MAN using the WASD keys).
    The inclusion of PAC-MAN on the Google home page is a no-brainer. Both appear simple on the surface, yet their inner complexity is anything but. Both of them have a light-hearted, human quality about them. We can only hope that you like using Google at least as much as eating dots and chasing ghosts. Even if you don't have any quarters on hand

     
  • September 6, 2022 9:33 AM EDT