General Analysis II - adrixdx/ms-pacman GitHub Wiki

#Ms. Pac-Man: The first female video game protagonist

Immediately after it's release, Ms. Pac-Man was an incredible success. Not only did it have everything that fans loved about Pac-Man, but it was also the first female playable character in an arcade game, which drew an even greater audience. Both women and men enjoyed playing Ms. Pac-Man, and soon she became as iconic as Pac-Man himself.

After the runaway success of Ms. Pac-Man, Midway continued to churn out more unauthorized sequels, including Baby Pac-Man, Pac-Man Plus, and the video game pinball hybrid Jr. Pac-Man, none of which ever reached the popularity of their namesake.

Ms. Pac-Man’s name comes from the original title Puck-Man and the term “paku paku,” a Japanese slang term or gesture for eating or gobbling. However, in the 72 hours before production on the sequel began, Midway marketers changed her planned name of Pac-Woman—which would have kept the Pac-Man brand intact—to Ms. Pac-Man.

#One of the most popular arcade games

While Pac-Man is classified as the highest-grossing American arcade game of all time, Ms. Pac-Man is a major title in her own right. The game was in 125,000 arcade cabinets, and by 1987 had earned $1.2 billion. Therefore, it’s the fourth highest selling arcade game of all time.

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