Every year, GHOULA pays tribute to this great country by profiling a ghost from American pop-culture that has ties to Southern California. This year, we spotlight video game royalty.
Is there a greater icon (graphically speaking) from the 1980's that is more universally recognized than that of Pac-Man, the yellow circle missing a wedge that starred in the enormously popular video arcade game of the same name, as well as numerous sequels and various off-shoots through the decades and various game platforms.
Never far from this electronic superstar are Pac-Man's four colorful villains, commonly thought to be ghosts (or monsters that turn into ghosts), and known by many names, depending on the language the game uses, but in the United States they're called Shadow, Speedy, Bashful, and Pokey. As such, these mischievous spectres may represent the first time a video game tackled the issue of the "after life" in the context of the character's world.
Granted, these complex ground-breaking, and gender barrier breaking, characters in the otherwise monochromatic, and simple world of 1980's video games were created in Japan. It is worth noting the popular Saturday morning cartoon show based of the game (1982-1983), which not only definitively called Pac-Man's enemies "ghosts" and renamed them, using their popular nicknames, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, was created right here in Los Angeles at the (now defunct) Hanna-Barbera Studios at 3400 Cahuenga Blvd. (The former site of a "Monkey Island" attraction).
GOD BLESS AMERICA'S GHOSTS! Happy 4th of July, everyone!
(to see last year's ghost from American pop culture...)
Is there a greater icon (graphically speaking) from the 1980's that is more universally recognized than that of Pac-Man, the yellow circle missing a wedge that starred in the enormously popular video arcade game of the same name, as well as numerous sequels and various off-shoots through the decades and various game platforms.
Never far from this electronic superstar are Pac-Man's four colorful villains, commonly thought to be ghosts (or monsters that turn into ghosts), and known by many names, depending on the language the game uses, but in the United States they're called Shadow, Speedy, Bashful, and Pokey. As such, these mischievous spectres may represent the first time a video game tackled the issue of the "after life" in the context of the character's world.
Granted, these complex ground-breaking, and gender barrier breaking, characters in the otherwise monochromatic, and simple world of 1980's video games were created in Japan. It is worth noting the popular Saturday morning cartoon show based of the game (1982-1983), which not only definitively called Pac-Man's enemies "ghosts" and renamed them, using their popular nicknames, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, was created right here in Los Angeles at the (now defunct) Hanna-Barbera Studios at 3400 Cahuenga Blvd. (The former site of a "Monkey Island" attraction).
GOD BLESS AMERICA'S GHOSTS! Happy 4th of July, everyone!
(to see last year's ghost from American pop culture...)
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