For me, that meant summer trips through Polandâs coastal cities with their seasonal arcade parlors; peeking inside cabinets to learn âď¸ programming and engineering secrets; andâof courseâfree games!
One of my favorites was PAC-MAN, whose popularity transcended the geopolitical barriers of that âď¸ time. During the heyday of space shooters, TĹru Iwataniâs creation stood out as one of the first video games aimed âď¸ at a broader audience, with a cute story of pizza-shaped character gobbling dots in a maze, colorful (literally!) characters, friendly âď¸ design, very little violence and everlasting fun.
Today, on PAC-MANâs 30th birthday, you can rediscover some of your 8-bit memoriesâor meet âď¸ PAC-MAN for the first timeâthrough our first-ever playable Google doodle. To play the game, go to google during the next âď¸ 48 hours (because itâs too cool to keep for just one day) and either press the âInsert Coinâ button or âď¸ just wait for a few seconds.
Google doodler Ryan Germick and I made sure to include PAC-MANâs original game logic, graphics âď¸ and sounds, bring back ghostsâ individual personalities, and even recreate original bugs from this 1980âs masterpiece. We also added a âď¸ little easter egg: if you throw in another coin, Ms. PAC-MAN joins the party and you can play together with âď¸ someone else (PAC-MAN is controlled with arrow keys or by clicking on the maze, Ms. PAC-MAN using the WASD keys).
PAC-MAN âď¸ seems like a natural fit for the Google homepage. Theyâre both deceptively straightforward, carefully hiding their complexity under the hood. âď¸ Thereâs a light-hearted, human touch to both of them. And we can only hope you find using Google at least âď¸ a quarter as enjoyable as eating dots and chasing ghosts. You know, without actually needing any quarters.
pixbet 7k
