Controversy: Integrating Pac-Man Into American Culture

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Sarah Sadowski – Final Essay Prompt The iconic game that today is known as “Pac-Man” originated from Japan and is a central example of global convergence that combines cultural appropriation as well as cultural hybridity. Originally named “Puck-Man”, the arcade game was released with massive success in Japan in 1979. Furthermore expanding, the Namco Company (distributors of Pac-Man) exhibited Cultural Hybridity by landing a license to sell and distribute with the company Midway in the U.S. beginning in 1980. Cultural Hybridity can be defined as the integration or collaboration between different cultures. Midway integrated Puck Man into American culture by changing the name of the video game, fearing that the “P” in Puck-Man could be easily …show more content…

Upon discovering the unauthorized sequel, Midway was forced to turn over the rights and lost their license to the franchise (Cohen). The American companies of General Computer Corporation and Midway shifted the collaborative relationship between Japan and the US into appropriation by stealing base elements of Pac-Man to create a new and improved sequel. By doing so, they lost the trust of Namco and soured a successful partnership. Although it could be argued that there was voluntary assimilation, or the loss of cultural characteristics from one culture when taking on the cultural characteristics of another group, involved when Pac-Man marketed Ms. Pac Man back to Japan and added it to their official library of games, this does not necessarily mean that the changes were warranted. Namco itself was a company that wished to profit and although Ms. Pac Man continued to make them money after they took her licensing back, this does not mean that they wanted or agreed with General Computer Corporation and Midway’s alterations. These two ideas support the cultural hybridity and cultural appropriation of Pac-Man in the eighties. Namco originally licensing out Puck-Man to the American company Midway displayed the cultural hybridity through the successful collaboration between the two cultures. This was further exemplified through the emergence of the name Pac-Man and its respect to Japanese origins. Unfortunately, General Computer Corporation and Midway demonstrated cultural appropriation when they neglected to include Namco in the creation of Ms. Pac Man and stole elements from the original Pac-Man to create an unfounded

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