If you want to do a show and tell about “return on investment,” point to Namco’s Ms Pac-Man. We found one still doing her thing in a laundromat on quarter play and loving the attention despite the fact that the old gal originally came out in January 1982. That’s 35 years ago, and this one’s still ticking and, if you ignore that intimidating lock, still looking pretty spiff.
With the possible exception of Taito’s Space Invaders (which reportedly sold over 300,00 world wide…especially if you count the knockoffs), Ms Pac can be considered the greatest video upright of all time. Brought out here by Midway, it reportedly sold just over 100,000 units, inching past its male counterpart Pac-Man on the production line and proving, as its ad said: “Brother don’t you know…I’m more than Pac-Man with a bow.”
Okay, how many quarters? How deep is the ocean?