Learn about the history of ‘Pac-Man’ at this new Chicago exhibition

The unique Pac-Man arcade recreation was programmed in Japan, nevertheless it wasn’t till Chicago-based Halfway Video games turned the North American distributor for the title that guiding a hungry yellow circle via a maze of dots turned a world phenomenon. Since its launch in 1980, the sport has spawned numerous sequels and tons of licensed merchandise, making it one of many highest grossing media franchises of all time. There’s even a restaurant and arcade devoted to the model situated within the Woodfield Mall in suburban Schaumburg.

“Pac-Man is among the most recognized properties, it doesn’t matter what era you belong to,” says Tim Lapetino, a geek-culture historian who’s the co-author of the upcoming ebook Pac-Man: 40 Years of Waka Waka.

Lapetino teamed up with Chicago Gamespace founder Jonathan Kinkley to place collectively “Nom Nom: 40 Years of Pac-Man Design and Historical past,” an exhibition on the Bloomingdale Path-adjacent house that was initially set to debut final Could to coincide with the franchise’s fortieth anniversary, earlier than the onset of the pandemic spurred a delay. Displayed alongside Chicago Gamespace’s everlasting assortment of online game artifacts, the exhibit collects artifacts that chart the character’s rise from a easy block of pixels to a pop-culture icon.

Pac-Man’s story begins in Japan in 1979, the place designer Toru Iwatani was trying to create a non-violent recreation that will enchantment to girls and kids. When Halfway Video games introduced the title to the U.S. (modifying the unique Japanese title “Puck Man” out of profane vandalism considerations), it shortly turned an arcade blockbuster that was ported to early residence online game consoles, sparking curiosity in licensing alternatives for the straightforward, recognizable character.

“Halfway needed to place [Pac-Man] on as many alternative merchandise as attainable, and their filter for what they have been placing him on was fairly mild,” says Lapetino. “They got an enormous quantity of freedom to license the character in ways in which they noticed match within the U.S., and that’s one thing that’s not performed at present.”

“Nom Nom: 40 Years of Pac-Man Design and Historical past” shows an array of Pac-Man merch, together with cleaning soap, lunch containers, clothes and paintings (a rumored prototype of a Pac-Man bathroom seat couldn’t be tracked down) alongside playable Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man arcade cupboards and a uncommon Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man pinball machine. However the exhibit is not only a shrine made up of tchotchkes emblazoned with the popular culture juggernaut—it is also within the people who helped flip the sport right into a phenomena, from Japanese programmers to Halfway Video games workers in Chicago.

“We hope to light up the story of how these individuals have been in a position to make Pac-Man what it has grow to be at present,” says Kinkley. “There may be surprisingly little scholarship and analysis performed on earlier than Pac-Man got here to the U.S., so we’re hoping to yield some authentic analysis and new discoveries.”

You’ll find out about and play your method via the historical past of Pac-Man when “Nom Nom: 40 Years of Pac-Man Design and Historical past” opens at Chicago Gamespace on February 7. The exhibition is simply open to the general public on Sundays from 1–5pm and you may have to reserve a $5 ticket to safe a time slot on your go to. Face masks are required and free disposable gloves might be obtainable on-site for anybody who needs to (safely) seize a joystick and chomp some ghost.