Pac-Man is an important part of gaming history, so where better to celebrate his 30th anniversary than the cultural hub that is the Museum of Computing in Swindon?
Nowhere, that’s where.
22 May 2010 is the big day, which will feature a Pac-Man exhibition at the museum and Pac-Man games on multiple systems like the Atari 2600 and SEGA Master System.
Perhaps more intriguing is a ‘Human Pac-Man event’ planned for Swindon town centre’s Wharf Green. Members of the public willing to cast dignity to the wind will be able to enter a specially created maze and try to avoid the giant ghosts contained within.
According to the organisers “It’s anyones guess what will happen when Pac-Man grabs a ‘power pill’ and the tables are turned on the ghosts!” Logically, you would assume that Pac-Man must consume his ghostly foe in an orgy of cannibalistic vengeance. But that probably won’t be the case.
Pac-Man really is a gaming icon though. The original arcade cabinet showed how obsessive collecting tendencies in players could be used as a central game mechanic and dabbled with the risk-reward technique of dangling bonus points in dangerous spots.
It also spawned a plethora of weak drug-based jokes about power pills, but let’s gloss over that.
For more details about Pac-Man’s special day, head over to the Museum of Computing’s events page.
