Pac-Man, originally called Puck Man in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.
Creator of Pac-Man, Toru Iwatani, at the 2011 Game Developers Conference
Portable version (Handheld electronic game) by Japanese company Tomy
Pac-Man characters as street decorations in Barcelona, Spain
Pac-Man interactive exposition at The Art of Video Games
An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and platform games. Multiplayer online battle arena and some real-time strategy games are also considered action games.
Space Invaders (1978), an early shoot 'em up
Kung-Fu Master (1984), an early side-scrolling beat 'em up
Street Fighter II (1991), a fighting game