A special Mother's Day tribute to Ms. Pac-Man
When people stop to think about truly classic video games, those that got their beginnings in the upright arcades and corrupted children for days on end, there are a few titles that will come to mind. However, there was not likely a game more addictive and more long-lasting than good old Ms. Pac-Man. Considered to be more of a true gaming experience than the original Pac-Man because of the random ghost behavior, Ms. Pac-Man became a gaming icon during her time, and eventually a legend. She is one of the few female protagonists from classic gaming to stand the test of time, and like so many, she also has her deep, dark secrets.
Ms. Pac-Man Commercial
Ms. Pac-Man, the game, was originally a hack of Namco’s original Pac-Man game and was slatted to star a leggy freak named Crazy Otto. Yes, Ms. Pac-Man was male. However, the publishers of the game, Midway, were quickly approached by Namco and the license was bought out. Mostly, the move was a stroke of temporary brilliance on Midway’s part to avoid a lawsuit because of the blatant similarities between the games. Otto was given the Pac-Man treatment, and Pac-Woman was born. Female employees vetoed this original moniker in favor of the more delicate and friendly-sounding, Miss Pac-Man. But when the animated cut scene between levels showed Miss Pac-Man with Pac-Man, and also holding a Baby Pac-Man, eyebrows were raised. Her name was quickly changed to Mrs. Pac-Man and eventually she was tagged with Ms. Pac-Man, which stuck. She received a lasting title simply because she was a mother.
Ms. Pac-Man
And a mother she is, and not only in terms of her child from the hit animated Hanna-Barbera Productions Saturday morning cartoons that aired in the early eighties. Ms. “Pepper” Pac-Man is the mother of a gaming franchise that is still holding strong in the modern day. Ms. Pac-Man can still be found in taverns and carnival arcades in her coin-operated format, and is available on just about every home gaming system from the Atari 2600 to modern mobile phones. As a modern woman, she has proven that she is-in fact-more than just Pac-Man with a bow. Between juggling her family (consisting of her husband, Pac-Baby, a dog and a cat) and a lucrative career eating dots and ghosts, Ms. Pac-Man has still found time to champion the women’s rights movement…after all Clyde the ghost WAS replaced by Sue in the Ms. Pac-Man games. After almost thirty years, this woman of the eighties still holds a place on our hard drives, memorabilia and in our hearts. Happy Mother’s Day Ms. Pac-Man. This day in retro gaming is for you.
Tags: Pac-Man
This entry was posted on Sunday, November 7th, 2010 at 08:00 and is filed under Other Retrogames News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.