Namco Bandai is celebrating its most famous character's 30th anniversary with a classy art exhibit
Art critics, move over. Pac-Man is invading Tokyo’s 3331 Arts Chiyoda gallery to celebrate his 30th birthday, with an exhibition appropriately titled, “Exhibition Pac-Man 80’s to 10’s Gaming Culture.”
The exhibit runs from the 2nd of October (as in right now) to the 11th and the main features include the following:
- Nine playable variations on the original Pac-Man cabinet, from foreign versions to rare machines that included the character’s original name “Puck-Man.” - A large selection of the many console versions of Pac-Man from around the world. - Several screenings of the pilot for the upcoming 3D-animated Pac-Man TV series. Various pieces of Pac-Man themed art, including an item from Andy Warhol’s Japan-themed collection. - A marathon screening of the American Pac-Man cartoon. We wonder if the inadvertent racial slursthe show used will be included? - Art from French artist Nicolas Buffe - A Pac-Man roundtable discussion. - All kinds of Pac-Man merchandise.
If you’re interested but can’t find your way to Japan in the next week, you can check the gallery’s live stream. It doesn’t run 24/7, but we think the major events from the show will be broadcast.
Above: The History of Pac-Man from Namco Bandai’s Japanese “online museum”
