SheBytes is pretty geeky.  I am NERD –so what!  So is Pac-Man But what’s geekier than a break down of its history?

Pretty much every technology blog we adore has got that slight nerd feel, coupled with a simultaneously modern but nostalgic façade and we’re proud to share the same ambience.

So as an aspiring tech blog, SheBytes felt that it’s an apropo rite of passage to do a tribute to our most beloved geek game of all time: Pac-Man.

Because of Pac-Man’s worldwide fame, I’m going to focus this post on facts about the little yellow gobbler you probably don’t know…

• Pac-Man’s name is derived from eating. The Japanese team of developers used the “onomatopoeic slang phrase…paku-paku”, which is the sound of a chewing mouth, as the basis for the title; Pakkuman.

• Pac-Man is the “highest-grossing video game of all time”; making more than $2.5 billion dollars, in quarters by the 90’s!

• The color of the blue “enemy” is not really blue, but is actually Cyan

• While the official colors, names and nicknames of the “ghosts” in English are:

Red: Shadow; Blinky

Pink: Speedy; Pinky

Cyan: Bashful; Inky

Orange: Pokey; Clyde

• In the traditional Japanese its:

Red: Chaser; red guy

Pink: Ambusher; pink guy

Cyan: Fickle; blue guy

Orange: Stupid; slow guy

• The first person to achieve “perfect play” in Pac-Man; “by eating every possible dot, power pellet, fruit, and enemy…on the first 255 levels”, was Billy Mitchell of Florida, in about 6 hours.

• While a common misconception about the “ghosts” is that they all move randomly, creator Toru Iwatani explained that they each have set movement personalities. Blinky chases Pac-Man, while both Pinky and Inky try to get in front of Pac-Man’s mouth. Pokey is the only character that moves randomly. This ensures for less boring and more challenging game play.

I hope you found these Pac-Man insights helpful. Click here to play Pac-Man right now.

Play on Pac-Man lovers, because the game “was designed to have no ending”!

Jesse Braunstein is a Junior at NYU double majoring in Economics and Psychology. Jesse joined Madison Technology and SheBytes.com in May 2011 as a summer intern. Jesse has been instrumental in utilizing his expanding background to come up with creative perspectives on the Marketing, Advertising and Business Development initiatives at both Madison Technology and SheBytes.com. Jesse’s outlook stems from an Economics and Psychology education and a deep understanding of the individual and how the individual acts within and interacts with the market.  Follow Jesse on Twitter and Facebook. Check out his About.me.

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