Pac-Man (1980)
Though Pong and Zork will always live on in the hearts of early adopters, it was “Pac-Man” that moved the video game completely into the pop cultural landscape. “Asteroids” and “Space Invaders” certainly helped, but in addition to making the arcade the social center of every American mall for the better part of 20 years, it also spawned sequels, spin-offs, Saturday morning cartoons and a breakfast cereal. Some of Pac-Man’s success can be attributed to the bubbly, colorful design that made it appealing to more than just genre nerds, while its gentle approach to violence made it safe in parents’ eyes. It’s not that we haven’t seen many games better than “Pac-Man”…but we’ll never see anything like it again. Both the Smithsonian and NYC’s MoMA have included it as part of their permanent collection.
