I have got PACMAN Fever by Tony Green

As a Christmas gift by son and daughter got me one of the portable PACMAN™ devices that plug into the audio and video jacks on your television and allowed you to play the old style arcade games which were popular in the 1980’s.

It did not take the three of us long to get hooked. Even my children who had never seen PACMAN™ because it was created long before they were born became addicted. Soon we started playing far more and longer than we should.

Vivid memories flooded my mind from my childhood where I spent many hours (and quarters) playing in the arcade trying to get the high score.

A few days later I sitting at my computer and my daughter asked if we possibly play PACMAN™ on line. I explained to her the game was copy right protected and would not be available for free. However, to her amusement and my surprise after checking Google there many websites offered various versions of the Pacman™ game designed to be played on line for no money. Even more they existed in every flavor I thought possible and some I had not. They had Ms. Pacman™, Baby Pacman™, Pacman Plus™, and Super-Pacman™, so on and so forth. One included a version based on the Simpson’s television series.

I downloaded the “Pacman Fever” song by Jerry Garcia. After listening to the single a few times my children were amazed someone would write a song about a video game. The faddish craze does seem odd looking back in retrospect.

PACMAN™ is essentially a crescent shaped icon eating dots trying to avoid four colored ghosts. Eating one of the four energizers located at the corner of the screen allowed you get to eat the ghosts, which now have turned blue for points. Once along a piece a fruit comes along and in the event you can eat you get more points. You received three lives to play and after these are used the game is over. (Yes, I know it would be four men assuming you get your bonus life at 10,000 or 20,000 points). Its beauty is its simplicity, which is part of the appeal.

The technology of video games has come a long way in the last twenty years. In a time where Wii, Nintendo-DS and X-Box are commonplace I wonder if kids might enjoy any entertainment without 3d graphics or the ability to play against someone on line.

Actually, the answer is not complicated. Of course, they could. The reason PACMAN™ became so popular was the game is simply a lot of fun. My children realized that and I bet in the future their children might find playing enjoyable. Enough reminiscing, my daughters just lost her last live on her turn and it is my turn……