Hitting a big birthday, an iconic character is in the spotlight this year in Orange County.
Bandai Namco Entertainment America, which consolidated its headquarters in Irvine in 2022, is celebrating the 45th anniversary of Pac-Man, that hungry yellow video game character who cruises through a maze munching up dots and power pellets, outwitting a team of colorful ghosts, all with a music score that is instantly recognizable to many.
And Irvine is joining in with the celebration, hosting “Journey Through the Maze: 45 Years of Pac-Man,” an exhibit of memorabilia and artwork that will remain on display at its Great Park Gallery through Sept. 28.
Among the artifacts that Bandai Namco shared with the city for the exhibit are some of the original sketches of the game’s inventor, Toru Iwatani, drawn with pencil on graph paper and inspired, the story goes, by the shape created when a slice was taken from a lunchtime pizza.
Those humble beginnings of an arcade game that became iconic inspired the exhibit’s designers, said Adam Sabolick, Irvine’s program coordinator for arts and exhibitions.
“A pencil and graph paper and seeing something in a pizza pie,” he said, “to me, that is super inspiring. You never know how big such a small simple idea can get.”
And big the idea got, spawning several versions of the game through the years and a fan base that gobbled up merchandise and even a children’s cartoon, all of which are highlighted in the exhibit.
There are interactive displays tracing the game’s history and a couple of arcade machines for playing Pac-Man.
The exhibit also features pieces by more than 50 artists who shared their take on the iconic character.
Patrick Ballesteros, an artist, educator and illustrator out of San Diego, was tapped to pull together the artists for the project and said he had no trouble drawing interest from an “eclectic” group.
A kid of the 1980s, Ballesteros said he grew up playing Pac-Man, but the game crosses generations — his own son knows the little yellow guy, as well.
“In the ABCs of gaming, you start with Pac-Man,” Ballesteros said. “I think there is a lot of history in gaming, and going back to the roots, it is cool to see how simple things can be and be so effective.”
Bandai Namco’s senior director of brand management, Susan Tran, said she was taken by the variety of the submitted pieces.
“To see all the different versions, to see how people are interpreting Pac-Man, is just so great to see and really heartwarming for me,” she said.
“Pac-Man has been so ingrained in pop culture,” she said, “and has made such a huge impact on the video game industry, and this is such a great way to showcase his legacy.”
The company also hosted Pac-Man Day at Angel Stadium recently and last month opened a space on the stadium’s concourse where baseball fans can play arcade games and take photos. There have been races with Pac-Man on the field for the last year.
Bandai Namco also has a promotion going on with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts right now with special Pac-Man designs.
A new Pac-Man game, Shadow Labyrinth, is coming out in July.
Tran said the company is looking for other ways to engage with the local community it calls home.
“As a global entertainment company, our goal at Bandai Namco is to connect with fans and bring fun to everyone,” she said. “Working with the city is just a really great way for us to do that.”
At a recent grand opening for the exhibit in the Great Park Gallery, fans toured the exhibit and took photos with a roaming Pac-Man mascot. One father dressed in a suit made out of material screened with the game’s maze and characters pushed a stroller.
“You can feel that humanity coming through that video game,” Ballesteros said, “because look at all of us who have loved playing it.”
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