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Archive for Pac-Man
Today is Atari National Pac-Man Day
Posted in Atari, pop culture, video games with tags Atari, Cavalcade Arcade, Pac-Man, pop culture, video games on April 3, 2014 by Paxton
It’s Atari National Pac-Man Day!
Posted in Pac-Man, pop culture with tags anniversary, Atari, Cavalcade Arcade, holiday, Pac-Man, pop culture, video games on April 3, 2013 by Paxton
Today marks the 31st annual Atari National Pac-Man Day.
Atari declared National Pac-Man Day on the day they released the Atari port of Pac-Man back on April 3, 1982.
(Via Sascha Grant)
Pac-Man was a cultural phenomenon in the early 80s. It was merchandised as thoroughly as anything is today. So on this most auspicious holiday think back on the Atari 2600 and the game of Pac-Man. Maybe head on over to an emulator site and play a game. Enjoy one of the first video games to become a global phenomenon.
Check out these other Pac-Man specific articles:
1. On Episode 77 of the Nerd Lunch Podcast we discuss the Atari 2600 and its games (including Pac-Man)
2. First Perfect Game of Pac-Man played back in 1999
3. America’s Love Affair with a man named Pac
4. Check out some Pac-Man photos in my Video Games Flickr set
Happy Atari National Pac-Man Day
Posted in Atari, Pac-Man, pop culture, video games with tags Atari, Cavalcade Arcade, Pac-Man, pop culture, video games on April 3, 2012 by Paxton
30 years ago today on April 3, 1982, Atari announced National Pac-Man Day.
National Pac-Man Day coincided with the release of Atari’s port of the Pac-Man arcade game.
Via John Mundy
Despite that game being one of the worst ports of a game ever created, it was the highest selling game of the year and received an enormous marketing push from Atari.
Above is an ad touting the popularity of Pac-Man and it includes pictures from Pac-Man release parties all over the world. Atari even held several Pac-Man Championships. Here’s an ad for the UK Championship.
Atari’s Pac-Man, along with E.T., probably killed not only Atari but the entire home console video game market. At least for 4 or 5 years until the Nintendo Entertainment System took off. Because, despite selling millions of Pac-Man cartridges (as well as E.T.), Atari had over estimated demand and made many, many more than was sold and they were left with tons of extra cartridges.
So, enjoy Atari National Pac-Man Day! One of the nerdiest holidays ever!
Other Pac-Man articles:
1. Anniversary of the 1st Perfect Game of Pac-Man
2. America’s Love Affair with a Man Named Pac
Only 5 More Days Until Atari National Pac-Man Day
Posted in Atari, Pac-Man, pop culture, video games with tags Atari, Cavalcade Arcade, Pac-Man, video games on March 29, 2012 by Paxton
The Grocery Aisle of long forgotten breakfast cereals Pt I
Posted in breakfast cereal, Cap'n Crunch, cartoons, food, nostalgia, Pac-Man, pop culture, TV shows with tags Batman, breakfast cereal, Cap'n Crunch, Ghostbusters, nostalgia, Pac-Man, pop culture, TV shows, video games on March 31, 2009 by Paxton
My good friend Steve emailed me a few weeks ago and asked me to write an article on a subject he and his wife had recently been discussing. He wanted me to talk about breakfast cereal. More specifically, he wanted me to talk about some of his favorite breakfast cereals he remembers when he was a kid. Now, Steve and I have known each other since first grade, but I won’t know all of his favorite breakfast cereals. So, I thought I’d take the general topic of cereal, and look at it from the nostalgia perspective.
There is a surprising amount of cereal box enthusiasts out there. If you go to Flickr, there are two main groups dedicated to cereal from the ’50s up through the ’90s. There are more groups than these two, but the two I’m talking about contain the majority of the images. So, scanning these groups, I thought I’d discuss some forgotten and long discontinued cereals that we may all remember. So, let’s head on over to your local Western Supermarket or Safeway, and walk down the Nostalgia aisle (Aisle 7c) and see what we all used to eat when we were kids. FYI…There were so many awesome, awesome cereals that I found that I decided to split this article into two parts. Come back later this week to see Part II. For any of the pictures below, click them to go to a bigger version (most likely on Flickr).
All set, then let’s begin with the first batch…
No talk about breakfast cereals is complete without talking about Capt. Horatio Magellan Crunch (aka Cap’n Crunch for the noobs). And if we are talking about the Cap’n, I’m going to have to talk about the elephant in the room. It is a harsh truth that all cereal enthusiasts are aware of. Cap’n Crunch is an incurable media whore. Currently, there’s like five versions of Cap’n Crunch on the shelves. That alone is enough, but if you look into the past, and include special editions, we are looking at a number north of 17 versions of Cap’n Crunch. Seriously. He will pimp his image/cereal out to any idea that comes across the table. Here are 9 versions of Cap”n Crunch you may have never seen.
Deep Sea Crunch? Vanilly Crunch? Seriously? And that’s not all of the images. How about Treasure Hunt Crunch? Or maybe you would prefer Choco-Donuts Crunch? This never ending parade of Crunch madness has got to end. The Cap’n is sick, he needs help.
Cavalcade of Awesome 