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Paku Paku: The Pac-Man Story

This document discusses the history and design of the classic video game Pac-Man. It provides details about the game's creator, Toru Iwatani, including his background and design philosophy. It also describes Maslow's MDA framework and how it relates to Pac-Man. Key elements of the game like the maze, dots, power pellets, and ghosts are outlined. The document aims to convey the thoughtful design process behind Pac-Man and Iwatani's goal of creating a game that would make people happy.

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Alex Gregorie
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66 views2 pages

Paku Paku: The Pac-Man Story

This document discusses the history and design of the classic video game Pac-Man. It provides details about the game's creator, Toru Iwatani, including his background and design philosophy. It also describes Maslow's MDA framework and how it relates to Pac-Man. Key elements of the game like the maze, dots, power pellets, and ghosts are outlined. The document aims to convey the thoughtful design process behind Pac-Man and Iwatani's goal of creating a game that would make people happy.

Uploaded by

Alex Gregorie
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

history of the game, the designer and his design philosophy, MDA framework within the game.

_______________ 1) History 2) Designer a) Toru Iwatani i) Born: January 25, 1955 in Tokyo Japan ii) Self-taught iii) Joined NAMCO Ltd., at the age of 22 in 1977 iv) INTERVIEW (1) Process (a) Taberu to eat (b) I wanted to create a comical game that women could enjoy (c) Origin Story (i) Pac Man is that one lunch time I was quite hungry and I ordered a

(d)

whole pizza. I helped myself to a wedge and what was left was the idea for the Pac Man shape (ii) Paku-paku= Japanese slang for the way his mouth moves. Lead to the name Pacman Order of Process (i) Game about eating (ii) Pac man and dots are simplify the concept (iii) Maze- to Add structure and direction for the player

(iv) Enemies to add tension and drama

b) Philosophy i) Interested not in computers but in creating images that communicate with people ii) I dont fit the mold of visual arts designer or graphic designer iii) I just had a strong concept about what a game designer is-someone who designs priojects to make someone happy. Thats his purpose iv) Im not a programmer v) Pac-man can not distinguish right from wrong and simply acts like a child vi) We tried out each feature as we went along. If it wasnt fun or didnt add
anything to the games complexity, we dropped it.

vii) Recently Ive felt I would like to make the people who enjoy playing games cry

give them an emotion different from the ones theyre used to when they play video games. viii) Much more difficult. Its possible to induce laughter in a short time with jokes, but getting people to cry requires creating a special situation, and that takes more time. A film such as E.T. where one laughs and cries is quite difficult.

ix) It's about a man and a woman... They come together, they fight - they have a big fight and split up. They realise they made a mistake, and come back together again. They get married and live happily ever after.

3) That's what I think the relationship between the developer and the players should be like - they quarrel, but they make it constructive for both of them

i)

4) Elements: i) The Maze ii) Dots iii) Pellets iv) Ghosts (1) Red, pink, blue and orange v) Pacman vi) Ghost container 5) The Game was Designed A->D->M a) Aesthetics i) To appeal to women and make people happy ii) Sensation-Game as sense-pleasure iii) Challenge- Game as obstacle course iv) Submission- Game as pastime b) Dynamics i) The game took the idea of the violent and epic games and aimed to simplify them in order to create a pleasurable experience ii) 6) Mechanics: i) Core Mechanic: (1) Moving around a maze eating dots ii) Eating is scoring points and temporary defense from ghosts iii) Movement (1) Ghosts move and attack in waves with their own personality (a) Red=Blinky=direct chase (b) iv) Ghost Conversion (a) Speed change and AI change

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