Fearing that American hoodlums would scratch off the P in Puck to make an F, it was changed to "Pac-Man" for North America.
Smart move.
Can you name the ghosts that chase poor Pac-Man?
Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.
Back in the day, more than 400 "Pac-Man" products were licensed.
The duo of Buckner and Garcia hit No. 9 on the pop charts in 1982 with a song called "Pac-Man Fever." (Let's just say it hasn't aged well.)
In 2005, Guinness World Records named "Pac-Man" the most successful coin-operated game.
Just this year, Guinness named Pac-Man himself as the most recognizable video game character of all-time with 94 percent consumer recognition.
The second-place Mario, who began life in 1981 as Jumpman in Nintendo’s “Donkey Kong,” has 93 percent recognition.
Originally called "Crazy Otto," the faster and more beloved "Ms. Pac-Man" was released as an unauthorized American sequel to "Pac-Man" in 1981 by Bally Midway.
Namco’s intended sequel was actually “Super Pac-Man” in 1982, in which Pac’s diet expanded to include cake and burgers.
Midway’s unauthorized U.S. sequels also included “Jr. Pac-Man” in 1983.
Hanna-Barbera produced a Saturday morning "Pac-Man" cartoon on ABC from 1982-84.
Not to be outdone in the rush to exploit a fad with crudely produced animation, CBS aired “Saturday Supercade,” starring the combined might of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Frogger, Qbert and the dude from “Pitfall,” from 1983-85.
The first game featured on a postage stamp (in 2000) wasn't actually "Pac-Man" or any of its sequels. It was the Atari 2600 version of "Defender."
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