For many people around the world, the golden age of video games didn’t arrive in the ’70s; It emerged in the 1980s. During that decade, the Sega Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Nintendo Gamy Boy were all released.
The arcade games of the 80’s produced some of the best arcade games, many of which continued to produce sequels decades later. These 10 games are among the most important games of all time because their influence didn’t just affect the ’80s; It built the video game industry.
Throughout the 1970s, the vast majority of video games were shooters of one type or another. Players controlled a ship and blew up enemies, which appealed to men more than it did to women. Seeing this, Toru Iwatani wanted to do something different, so he focused on creating a game featuring cute, cartoonish characters.
Pac-Man was developed with all of that in mind, and the game was an instant success. With its cute pie-shaped protagonist and the adorable ghosts, Pac-Man was a game anyone could enjoy, and it quickly became a cultural phenomenon.
Pac-Man’s impact on popular culture is widespread, and the image of Pac-Man himself has since become synonymous with all types of gaming. What’s so fascinating about Pac-Man, besides its enduring legacy, is the fact that more than 40 years after it was released, it’s still the highest-grossing game of all time.
More than 400,000 Pac-Man cabinets were sold worldwide, and they brought in a total of $2.5 billion by 1990. That’s the equivalent of 10,000,000,000 quarters, and when you adjust the numbers for inflation, Pac-Man grossed a whopping $5.1 billion as of 2021.
