Ms. Pac-Man Going Under The Microscope At GDC

Ms. Pac-Man was the wildly popular sequel to an early arcade sensation, and it's the subject of a postmortem talk at next year's GDC.

The game didn't start as an officially sanctioned sequel. It began as an add-on kit for arcade operators looking to extend the lifespan of their Pac-Man arcade machines. That game – Crazy Otto – so impressed arcade giant Midway that they licensed the game and retooled it as Ms. Pac-Man.

Steve Golson, the game's designer and engineer, will be at GDC further discussing Ms. Pac-Man in depth. The event is being held from March 14-18 in San Francisco.

Our Take
I've gone to several of these classic-game postmortems, and they're a fascinating glimpse into gaming history. I'm looking forward to hearing more about Ms. Pac-Man, considering its fairly weird past. The simple addition of giving Pac-Man a love interest led to several family-themed sequels and laid the foundation for the cartoon. Pretty cool, considering how it came to be.