Opinion What’s in a game

Pac-man, and later spin-offs like Ms Pac-man, are simple, two-dimensional games where the player has to direct a disembodied, yellow head across a maze while eating as many dots (and sometimes fruit) as possible, without being killed by ghost-like villains. That was all there was to it — no fancy graphics, complicated plots and gratuitous sex and violence that marks contemporary video games. At home, at arcades and in offices, hours upon hours were spent feeding the insatiable yellow head. It has been played an estimated 10 billion times. Nakamura got into the business of children’s entertainment because he thought that Japan was finally ready for a bit of fun, a decade after the violence of World War II. Unfortunately, however, Pac-man owes its success to the same impulse that makes its controversial successors so addictive today.

Like the violent anti-hero of the Hitman games, Pac-man is relentless in his single-minded pursuit. And like so many other oddly coloured global figures, his only USP is his large mouth. Even now, the nearly 40-year-old game can hold its own. Its sheer simplicity — all you need is basic hand-eye coordination — is refreshing. Nakamura himself warned of the dangers of something he called “screen addiction” when Pac-man first became successful. Now, with 3D screens, smartphones and virtual reality headsets, the world of video games is more enticing than ever. Unfortunately, it also enhances some of the more gory aspects of its creators’ imaginations. We must thank Pac-man for all the beauty of the gaming world. And also its beasts.