Happy 30th Birthday Pac-Man!

The late 70's to early 80's was arguable one of, if not the, most iconic periods in arcade gaming, especially if you were in the Japanese development scene - wherein some of the most iconic games ever created were, well, created in this period. We're talking games that are still as iconic today as they were then, such as Taito's Space Invaders, Nintendo's Donkey Kong and celebrating its 30th birthday today, Namco's Puck-Man, or as it's better known, Pac-Man.

You may think that Namco would have something special planned for it right? Y'know, since it's practically synomous with the company and they adore putting out Pac-Man anything, since it's still bloody popular. Nope. Nothing. Not even a port to yet another platform - because it's one of the few games that's available on just about anything...

Instead, a couple of Google engineers decided to do something even more awesome - create a port that'll run in the Google logo on the main Google page. Pretty bloody awesome, especially when you realize that you can actually play with two players, the second controlling Ms. Pac-Man. Good going Google, taking advantage of a massive missed opportunity that Namco could've totally taken advantage of. You've got less than 48hrs to play it before it's taken down, but still, it's rad.

So...yeah. Don't know what else I can say. Because let's face it - it's FREAKING PAC-MAN. It's one of those games that everyone knows about, anyone can play, and it's still completely awesome. I really don't know what else I can say about it that hasn't already been covered to death. If you just stick with the main stuff, and avoid most of the spin-offs, you'll be groovy.

Though if I were to recommend one Pac title for this special occasion, get the Xbox Live title Pac-Man Championship Edition, which is a fantastic remake of the original game. The iPhone version also works, but it's best played with a controller. Should you not have access at all to play the game, Ms. Pac-Man or even the original Pac-Man is also pretty awesome.

Happy 30th Birthday Pac-Man!