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Season 1, Episode 3: Pac-Man

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In 1979, a young Japanese game designer named Toru Iwatani had the desire to create a non-violent arcade game that would appeal to everyone. Originally called "Puck-Man" in Japan, the name was changed to "Pac-Man" by the time the game hit the United States in October 1980. The moment Pac-Man landed on U.S. shores Americans were hit with "Pac-Man Fever." As the fever grew, so did revenues for arcade owners and Pac-Man merchandise retailers. But by the mid 1980s, the arcade industry saw a sharp drop in profits as the home console era began. Atari's home version of Pac-Man for the Atari VCS was one of the best-selling games in Atari's history. Since then, Pac-Man has been released on almost every console imaginable.