The Pac-Man Principle
A User's Guide To Capitalism
Published on 27. July 2018
96 pages
978-1-78535-606-3 (ISBN)
Description
In spite of being well into middle-age, Pac-Man's popularity shows no sign of decline and the character has appeared in over sixty games on virtually every games platform ever released. According to the David Brown celebrity index, in 2008, nearly three decades after initial release, 94% of Americans were able to recognise Pac-Man, which gave the character greater brand awareness than Super Mario. Pac-Man, with its avowed commitment to non-violence was a videogame of many firsts, including being designed to appeal to children and females and providing the first narrative interlude in a videogame. Although iconic, Pac-Man has not been subject to sustained critical analysis. This book helps to fill that gap, providing an extensive, sophisticated, but accessible analysis of the influence of Pac-Man on the way that we live in contemporary western societies.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Collective Ink
File size
2,05 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-78535-606-3 (9781785356063)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2018
John Hunt Publishing
€29.89
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Alex Wade is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Education at Birmingham City University, UK. He has published widely on French social theory, space and time in videogames and the histories of videogames.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- 1: In Defence of Pac-Man
- 2: Speed and Space: The Places and Times of Pac-Man
- 3: Ghostware: The Hauntologies of Pac-Man
- 4: The Politics of Pac-Land
- 5: Accelerate Your Mind: The Soundscapes of Pac-Man
- 6: Grids and Guidebooks: Beyond the Code
- 7: Afterword by Toru Iwatani
- Endnotes
