- Jan 7, 2002
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For gaming geeks it is as close to the Holy Grail as it is possible to get.
But at a recent conference the Japanese inventor of Pac-Man unveiled the original drafts of how the iconic video game would look.
Toru Iwatani was due to speak at the Festival of Games conference in Holland when he casually displayed a simple scrap book filled with his original sketches for the game.
The sketches were drawn on graph paper and show that the original concept did not differ much from the finished game
Toru Iwatani shows his original drafts for the iconic game
Drawn on simple graph paper they give a compelling insight into what was to become a pop culture icon.
And they also show that the game's unique look did not differ much from its original concept through to finished game.
Each one is marked with a stamp that means Top Secret in Japanese, giving a sense of how truly revolutionary his design was in the late 1970s.
Pac-Man is the most successful arcade game of all time.
The game was a massive hit, spawning a number of sequels
Based on the concept of eating the original Japanese title was Pakkuman inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeic slang phrase paku-paku which refers to the sound of someones mouth opening and closing as they eat.
Iwatani designed the game with a female audience in mind with its cute characters and chirpy music.
It took his team of designers one year and five months to develop - a record for a video game at the time.
It was first launched in February 1980 in Japan to a muted reception from the predominantly male gamers who were more used to shoot-em-ups.
But the game really took off when it was taken to the US and renamed Pac-Man.
Within months its addictive game-play had made it a phenomenon with merchandise and even a childrens TV cartoon produced to cash in on its popularity.
Last month Google posted the first ever interactive Google doodle to mark the 30th birthday of the classic arcade game.
It spent the weekend incorporated into the logo on the Google online search homepage.
But at a recent conference the Japanese inventor of Pac-Man unveiled the original drafts of how the iconic video game would look.
Toru Iwatani was due to speak at the Festival of Games conference in Holland when he casually displayed a simple scrap book filled with his original sketches for the game.
The sketches were drawn on graph paper and show that the original concept did not differ much from the finished game
Drawn on simple graph paper they give a compelling insight into what was to become a pop culture icon.
And they also show that the game's unique look did not differ much from its original concept through to finished game.
Each one is marked with a stamp that means Top Secret in Japanese, giving a sense of how truly revolutionary his design was in the late 1970s.
Pac-Man is the most successful arcade game of all time.
The game was a massive hit, spawning a number of sequels
Based on the concept of eating the original Japanese title was Pakkuman inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeic slang phrase paku-paku which refers to the sound of someones mouth opening and closing as they eat.
Iwatani designed the game with a female audience in mind with its cute characters and chirpy music.
It took his team of designers one year and five months to develop - a record for a video game at the time.
It was first launched in February 1980 in Japan to a muted reception from the predominantly male gamers who were more used to shoot-em-ups.
But the game really took off when it was taken to the US and renamed Pac-Man.
Within months its addictive game-play had made it a phenomenon with merchandise and even a childrens TV cartoon produced to cash in on its popularity.
Last month Google posted the first ever interactive Google doodle to mark the 30th birthday of the classic arcade game.
It spent the weekend incorporated into the logo on the Google online search homepage.
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