Postmortem: Pac-Man, Iwatani's Rhapsody in Yellow (2005)

Check out Iwatani's original sketches: http://control-online.nl/gamesindustrie/2010/06/22/iwatani-t...

A few years ago I found this dossier (http://home.comcast.net/~jpittman2/pacman/pacmandossier.html) about Pac-Man. Jamey Pittman discusses Toru Iwatani's development journey and provides players with the most complete and detailed study of game's logic. It's a treasure trove for gamers and developers alike.

"We also considered a few additional game features, such as gates that would trap the ghosts, but these also had to be sacrificed in order for us to finish on time."

I recall that Lock 'n' Chase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_%27n%27_Chase (1981) had gates to block the baddies. I wonder what the earliest example of blocking gates in a maze game like this would be...

" It was especially difficult for us to explain the concept of how Pac-Man, who spends most of his time avoiding ghosts, is able to turn the tables and chase the ghosts after eating a power cookie."

I don't know how this could be a difficult concept to grasp - even in the context of the alien-shoot-em-up-fest that was inflicting the industry at the time, surely it made sense to have a 'powerup' that would turn the tides?

I'm trying to think of other games of that era that might have had a powerup for the user to enjoy, but I can't honestly think of something prior to Pacman so readily .. is it myopia, or was Pacman really one of the first video games that offered a 'turn the tables' power mechanic?

Because its such an obvious feature of games these days, its sort of befuddling to be thinking of game design without powerups. I remember the first time I played Super Mario, thinking .. oh, this magical shroom is a bit like the Pacman power pill .. but why is any similar example prior to Pacman so obfuscated to me? I guess the Pacman powerpills were the ultimate in player revenge ..