Pac-Man debuted in July 1980, and it devoured the world in a matter of months. Over time, its creator Toru Iwatani shared several details about the game's development, which have been contradictory on more than one occasion, but his primary goal never changed: to bring more women to arcade halls, dominated almost absolutely by a male audience at that time. Now, what is the link between Pac-Man and women? According to Iwatani, it's... food?
History tells us that Pac-Man wasn't such a spectacular success at first. The popularity of Space Invaders in Japan was enormous, and its players didn't abandon it easily. But once it reached the United States, the entire market surrendered to that hungry yellow circle, chased by four ghosts. Food is actually one of the pillars that holds up Pac-Man, and the world loved imagining a pizza with one slice missing as a source of inspiration.
"Women join the arcade revolution"
Another thing Iwatani stated on several occasions is that he wanted to move away from shooting and alien invasions, creating a game that anyone could enjoy, with a special emphasis on women. Iwatani said:
"The development of Pac-Man began as a way to attract women to arcade halls, which were generally a male space. We thought women liked to eat, so we had the idea to make a video game in which an adorable character eats small monsters, instead of a wild video game where you kill your enemies."
Anyone could come to the conclusion that Iwatani had good intentions, although built on a classic '70s stereotype. However... the point is that it worked. Perhaps food had no influence after all, but Pac-Man's non-violent vision attracted a female audience almost immediately, to such an extent that 60 percent of the player base was made up of women.
Neither slow nor lazy, Midway recognized the potential of women in arcades, and a year later released Ms. Pac-Man... but that's another story.
Electronic Games - May 1982 (PDF): Click here
