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Father of Pac-Man dies at 91
Masaya Nakamura famous for popularising the iconic 80s arcade game
The father of the world's most iconic arcade game Pac-Man, Masaya Nakamura, has died at the age of 91.
Nakamura founded the Japanese company Namco in 1954, which began as two mechanical horse rides on a department store rooftop but went on to pioneer game arcades and amusement parks.
The company launched Pac-Man in 1980, which went on to become the Guinness Book of World Records most successful coin-operated arcade game.
The game was developed by a young Namco employee named Toru Iwatani. Legend has it Iwatani decided to base the game on eating - and Pac-Man is a pizza with a slice missing.
In 2004 Namco merged with Bandai, with Nakamura remaining on the company's board as an honorary advisor at Bandai Namco until his death on 22 January.
In a statement, the company praised Nakamura for developing Namco and said he was "instrumental in the development of the industry as a whole and the development of video-related industries". ®