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Pac-Man (universe): Difference between revisions
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Previous use of "mascot" somewhat downplays Pac-Man's importance as just a "forerunner to mascots" instead of what he actually is, a forerunner to all gaming - there aren't actually that many corporate mascots in the gaming sphere, with most either being wrongly assigned that title by fans (Rayman, Mega Man, Kratos, Cheif) or quickly dropped from that position (Aero the Acrobat, Gex) - with Mario, Sonic, and Pac being outliers in both longevity and legitimacy.
BubzieBobkat (talk | contribs) m (Holy crap this series has a lot of publishers - another never-ending well. Left in the non-Namco publishers that were most significant in the series' early history.) |
BubzieBobkat (talk | contribs) m (Previous use of "mascot" somewhat downplays Pac-Man's importance as just a "forerunner to mascots" instead of what he actually is, a forerunner to all gaming - there aren't actually that many corporate mascots in the gaming sphere, with most either being wrongly assigned that title by fans (Rayman, Mega Man, Kratos, Cheif) or quickly dropped from that position (Aero the Acrobat, Gex) - with Mario, Sonic, and Pac being outliers in both longevity and legitimacy.) |
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The '''''Pac-Man'' universe''' ({{ja|パックマン|Pakkuman}}, ''Pacman'', initially romanized as ''Puckman''), stylized in-game, and officially capitalized as '''PAC-MAN''', refers to the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series' collection of characters, stages, and properties from [[Bandai Namco]]'s massively successful and long-running media franchise. A staple of popular culture, it is one of the most lucrative and influential video game franchises in history, with the [[Pac-Man (game)|original title]] being the highest-grossing coin-op arcade game of all time,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usgamer.net/articles/top-10-biggest-grossing-arcade-games-of-all-time|title=Top 10 Highest-Grossing Arcade Games of All Time|publisher=USgamer}}</ref> popularizing the concept of a video game | The '''''Pac-Man'' universe''' ({{ja|パックマン|Pakkuman}}, ''Pacman'', initially romanized as ''Puckman''), stylized in-game, and officially capitalized as '''PAC-MAN''', refers to the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series' collection of characters, stages, and properties from [[Bandai Namco]]'s massively successful and long-running media franchise. A staple of popular culture, it is one of the most lucrative and influential video game franchises in history, with the [[Pac-Man (game)|original title]] being the highest-grossing coin-op arcade game of all time,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usgamer.net/articles/top-10-biggest-grossing-arcade-games-of-all-time|title=Top 10 Highest-Grossing Arcade Games of All Time|publisher=USgamer}}</ref> popularizing the concept of a named video game character — the titular [[Pac-Man]] — and spawning a wave of sequels and spin-offs, as well as animated series, songs, and merchandise, becoming a mascot for Bandai Namco. It was first represented in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', and returned in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', both developed by Bandai Namco. | ||
==Franchise description== | ==Franchise description== | ||
After Masaya Nakamura's company, Nakamura Amusement-machine Manufacturing Company (or [[Bandai Namco|NAMCO]]), founded Namco's American subsidiary in order to license its video arcade machines to companies such as Atari and Midway Games for distribution in the U.S., Namco released its first internally designed video arcade game in 1978, ''Gee Bee''. Following this, Namco developed and released the highly popular fixed shooter game ''Galaxian'' in 1979 to compete with Taito Corporation's successful earlier game, ''Space Invaders''. ''Galaxian'' revolutionized the arcade industry as the first game to use RGB-color graphics, and it and its 1981 sequel ''Galaga'' became fixtures in what was subsequently remembered as the "Golden Age of arcade video games" — the peak era of arcade video game popularity and technological innovation. | After Masaya Nakamura's company, Nakamura Amusement-machine Manufacturing Company (or [[Bandai Namco|NAMCO]]), founded Namco's American subsidiary in order to license its video arcade machines to companies such as Atari and Midway Games for distribution in the U.S., Namco released its first internally designed video arcade game in 1978, ''Gee Bee''. Following this, Namco developed and released the highly popular fixed shooter game ''Galaxian'' in 1979 to compete with Taito Corporation's successful earlier game, ''Space Invaders''. ''Galaxian'' revolutionized the arcade industry as the first game to use RGB-color graphics, and it and its 1981 sequel ''Galaga'' became fixtures in what was subsequently remembered as the "Golden Age of arcade video games" — the peak era of arcade video game popularity and technological innovation. | ||
However, Namco's project in between, 1980's ''Pac-Man'', would arguably become even more definitive of both the era and Namco's legacy. A young Namco employee named Toru Iwatani designed the game with the intention to appeal to a wider audience beyond young boys and teenagers — demographics that were typical of the time because of the prevalence of space shooter-themed arcade machines. He therefore fashioned a game out of maze-like elements and a colorful aesthetic with cute character designs, including a player character he originally named "Puckman" after the Japanese phrase ぱくぱく ("paku paku"), an onomatopoeia used to represent the sound of eating. The character and the game itself were renamed ''Pac-Man'' for the North American release, as it was realized the original name could be vandalized to | However, Namco's project in between, 1980's ''Pac-Man'', would arguably become even more definitive of both the era and Namco's legacy. A young Namco employee named Toru Iwatani designed the game with the intention to appeal to a wider audience beyond young boys and teenagers — demographics that were typical of the time because of the prevalence of space shooter-themed arcade machines. He therefore fashioned a game out of maze-like elements and a colorful aesthetic with cute character designs, including a player character he originally named "Puckman" after the Japanese phrase ぱくぱく ("paku paku"), an onomatopoeia used to represent the sound of eating. The character and the game itself were renamed ''Pac-Man'' for the North American release, as it was realized the original name could be vandalized to say "Fuck-Man" by changing the P into an F. | ||
The original ''Pac-Man'' is set in a static, neon-colored maze, where the wedge-shaped [[Pac-Man]] must traverse every corridor and lane at least once in order to eat every one of 244 dots distributed across the screen. Pac-Man is at constant risk from four differently-colored "[[ghosts]]" that roam the maze with the intention to collide into him, which will cost him a life. Each of the four ghosts has a unique way of targeting Pac-Man, giving them character beyond being simple enemies. Four of the dots in the maze are large, blinking [[Power Pellet]]s. When Pac-Man eats one of these, the ghosts temporarily turn blue and vulnerable, and will be briefly taken out of the game when Pac-Man collides with them in this state. | The original ''Pac-Man'' is set in a static, neon-colored maze, where the wedge-shaped [[Pac-Man]] must traverse every corridor and lane at least once in order to eat every one of 244 dots distributed across the screen. Pac-Man is at constant risk from four differently-colored "[[ghosts]]" that roam the maze with the intention to collide into him, which will cost him a life. Each of the four ghosts has a unique way of targeting Pac-Man, giving them character beyond being simple enemies. Four of the dots in the maze are large, blinking [[Power Pellet]]s. When Pac-Man eats one of these, the ghosts temporarily turn blue and vulnerable, and will be briefly taken out of the game when Pac-Man collides with them in this state. | ||
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Despite its initially lukewarm reception in Japan, it is difficult to overstate the immense impact that the North American release of the game ''Pac-Man'' had. It quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry up to that point, grossing over $1 billion in quarters within a decade, and towards the end of the 20th century, the game's total gross in quarters had been estimated at more than 10 billion quarters ($2.5 billion), making it the highest-grossing video game of all time. It established the maze chase game genre, and is also credited for laying the foundations for the stealth genre due to its emphasis on avoiding enemies rather than fighting them; ''Pac-Man'' is often cited as an inspiration for the original {{uv|Metal Gear}}. | Despite its initially lukewarm reception in Japan, it is difficult to overstate the immense impact that the North American release of the game ''Pac-Man'' had. It quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry up to that point, grossing over $1 billion in quarters within a decade, and towards the end of the 20th century, the game's total gross in quarters had been estimated at more than 10 billion quarters ($2.5 billion), making it the highest-grossing video game of all time. It established the maze chase game genre, and is also credited for laying the foundations for the stealth genre due to its emphasis on avoiding enemies rather than fighting them; ''Pac-Man'' is often cited as an inspiration for the original {{uv|Metal Gear}}. | ||
It introduced what is argued to be the first original | It introduced what is argued to be the first original, distinctly named player character in a video game outside of the text adventure genre, deviating from prior games that featured either vehicles (such as ''Space Invaders'' by Taito or ''Lunar Lander'' by Atari); vague silhouettes (''Circus'' by Exidy or ''Hunt the Wumpus'' by Gregory Yob); or licensed characters (''Fonz'' by Sega or ''Superman'' by Atari), and in doing so demonstrated the potential of characters in video games. It was the first video game to feature power-ups, and is often credited as the first game to feature cutscenes, albeit not to the degree that Nintendo's own revolutionary arcade game, {{uv|Donkey Kong}}, had the following year. Finally, it is one of the earliest games to become popular with a female audience, and this wide appeal allowed it to become gaming's first licensing success. Pac-Man was determined to have the highest brand awareness of any video game character among American consumers. | ||
''Pac-Man'' became one of few games to have been consistently published for over | ''Pac-Man'' became one of few games to have been consistently published for over four decades, with many remakes and sequels released on numerous platforms. This is not to mention the influx of unauthorized ''Pac-Man'' clones that took place soon after the original release, nor of the ill-fated port of the game for the Atari 2600 (which ironically was a contributing factor to the infamous North American {{s|wikipedia|1983 video game crash}} due to the debilitating technical limitations of the console). An American-produced derivative titled ''Ms. Pac-Man'', developed by Namco licensee Midway (today Warner Bros. subsidiary NetherRealm Studios), garnered a great deal of success of its own due to improvements over the original title; despite its development happening without Namco's consent, the company approved of the character, received the rights to the property, and subsequently included the feminine take on ''Pac-Man'' in various ''Pac-Man'' compilations and ports. However, several legal and financial battles between Namco and several parties like General Computer Corporation, it's successors, and later AtGames have put the character of Ms. Pac-Man in a state of limbo over who truly owns the character and who is owed royalties, leading to a complete erasure of Ms. Pac-Man in recent years with products about her being pulled from stores and different characters replacing her in re-releases. | ||
As the series progressed with continued releases that explored different genres, the iconic yellow wedge shape that ordinarily defined the title character onscreen was phased out for a design closer to his appearance on the promotional artwork printed on the arcade machines themselves — an abstract, spherical humanoid with rudimentary limbs and a massive face with a stick-like nose that varied in length between appearances. This design was first seen in-game in the 1984 title ''Pac-Land'', in part to tie in with a [[wikipedia:Pac-Man (TV series)|Hanna-Barbera animated series]] about Pac-Man that ran for two seasons in 1982 and 1983. ''Pac-Land'' is an innovative title in itself as one of the first side-scrolling platform games, and one of the first games to include {{s|wikipedia|parallax scrolling}}. It is considered a major foundation for later | As the series progressed with continued releases that explored different genres, the iconic yellow wedge shape that ordinarily defined the title character onscreen was phased out for a design closer to his appearance on the promotional artwork printed on the arcade machines themselves — an abstract, spherical humanoid with rudimentary limbs and a massive face with a stick-like nose that varied in length between appearances. This design was first seen in-game in the 1984 title ''Pac-Land'', in part to tie in with a [[wikipedia:Pac-Man (TV series)|Hanna-Barbera animated series]] about Pac-Man that ran for two seasons in 1982 and 1983. ''Pac-Land'' is an innovative title in itself as one of the first side-scrolling platform games, and one of the first games to include {{s|wikipedia|parallax scrolling}}. It is considered a major foundation for later platformers, codified by 1985's ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' | ||
The steady stream of ''Pac-Man'' games was more-or-less halted for roughly six years after ''Pac-Mania'' for the arcades in 1987, before resuming on consoles with ''Pac-Attack'' in 1993. Through releases on a variety of competing platforms, including the PC, the formerly maze-based series explored genres as varied as puzzle, adventure, platformer, party, racing, and even pinball. These games often introduced a colorful cartoon world, not unlike that of {{uv|Mario}} and {{uv|Sonic}}, and a wide variety of characters outside of the original cast of the arcade game, not the least of which were Pac-Man's wife and children. It could be argued that, as recently as the early 2010s, ''Pac-Man'' as a property was easily more relevant as a forerunner to modern video games than as a starring video game franchise, due to the tendency of these experimental ''Pac-Man'' games to cater to young child demographics and garner at-times mediocre reception, but Namco nonetheless continues to honor the character as its company mascot. | The steady stream of ''Pac-Man'' games was more-or-less halted for roughly six years after ''Pac-Mania'' for the arcades in 1987, before resuming on consoles with ''Pac-Attack'' in 1993. Through releases on a variety of competing platforms, including the PC, the formerly maze-based series explored genres as varied as puzzle, adventure, platformer, party, racing, and even pinball. These games often introduced a colorful cartoon world, not unlike that of {{uv|Mario}} and {{uv|Sonic}}, and a wide variety of characters outside of the original cast of the arcade game, not the least of which were Pac-Man's wife and children. It could be argued that, as recently as the early 2010s, ''Pac-Man'' as a property was easily more relevant as a forerunner to modern video games than as a starring video game franchise, due to the tendency of these experimental ''Pac-Man'' games to cater to young child demographics and garner at-times mediocre reception, but Namco nonetheless continues to honor the character as its company mascot. | ||