Pac-Man

THE ONLY THING GREATER THAN THE GAME’S INSATIABLE HUNGER IS OUR OWN APPETITE FOR IT—BUT WHY?

- Robert Klara

Dick Clark’s American Bandstand had more than its share of cheesy guests over the years—bands that lip-synced their tunes in front of a TV audience under orders to cheer. But few acts quite equaled Buckner & Garcia, two friends who’d met at Perkins High School in Akron, Ohio, and managed to write a song that, by March 1982, skyrocketed them to fame. Their efforts would land them a gold record, a No. 9 slot on the Billboard charts and, of course, a spot on Dick Clark. 

The song? “Pac-Man Fever.” 

Americans initially caught the Pac-Man fever two years prior in October 1980, when a little-known Japanese gaming company called Namco licensed its latest game, Puck Man, to Midway for stateside distribution. “Pac” is short for “pakku,” the Japanese word for munch—so knowing very well what American mall rats would do with a name like Puck Man, Midway wisely changed it to Pac-Man.