iXHS

Issue 27
About Pacman: More Than a Game
By Ruiner



	I could never play Pac-Man, it triples my blood pressure and causes
me to hyperventilate, I swear that if I play Pac-Man one more time I'm going
to have a heart attack and die.  I can't think of a more stressful game to
play than Pac-Man or Mrs. Pac-Man.  However, Pac-Man is a meaningfull game
that transcends mere entertainment.  Pac-Man is not only a game but a lesson
in the ways of capitalism and Western Civilization.  

	Pac-Man himself represents the human individual who must struggle 
through life.  It is inevitable that Pac-Man will die because there are just
too many forces which are opposed to him.  This demonstrates the first 
parallel between Pac-Man and reality.  The pellets that Pac-Man must gobble
up represent money, and the fruit which appear periodically after Pac-Man
collects a specific amount of pellets (money) represents possesions, 
therefore, as in any capitalistic society, the objective of the individual
(Pac-Man) is to aquire as much money and as many possesions as possible
before death.  

	The different levels of Pac-Man represent the social classes
that exist in a capitalist world, when the game begins Pac-Man is destitute
with no money and no possesions and is therefore on the first level, the 
first level being below the poverty line. With zero of anything, Pac-Man is
a member of the lower class.  As Pac-Man's wealth increases, he advances in
social status until he dies because he succumbs to the ghosts.  

	The ghosts of Pac-Man represent the demons of modern society.  (It is
interesting to note that the ghosts were later used in a secret level of
"Wolfenstein 3d" a game about a soldier who fights through a German castle in
the midst of World War Two)  The ghosts are somewhat faster than Pac-Man
representing how eventually some social demon will catch up with you,
whether it be a contagious disease, or the allure of the mafia.  There are
also many ghosts or demons as opposed to the one Pac-Man because there are
many social blights for one individual to handle.

	  The power pellets that Pac-man collects to temporarily neutralize
the ghosts represent social programs.  Programs that have been established to
deter, counter-act, or end social problems, or aid people who have succumbed
to social problems.  When Pac-Man devours a power-pellet he is now able to
send the ghosts back to their point of origin, but, like social evils, the
ghosts can not be ultimatley destroyed and therefore always return, there are
only so many power-pellets however, and there is also the unrelentless
presence of the ghosts.  This represents the limitation of resources that
these programs have while the evils that the programs have been set to combat
are always present and most likely will be even after the resources needed to
end the problems diminish to nothing.

	The maze itself represents the unpredictabilty of life and money.  
There is absolutley no way that the outcome of the game can be predicted or
controlled, much like the life of an individual, it is just as possible that
Pac-Man becomes the victim of a ghost as me dying as the result of a social
demon (IE, automobile collision with a driver who has been drinking and 
driving) Just as it's possible that Pac-Man navigates successfully through
the maze to make it to the next social class.  The ghosts twist and turn in
an unending, directionless journey through the maze, eventually destroying
Pac-Man, much like how social problems have no real aim, but are problems
nonetheless.  The maze may also represent the workplace because it is where
Pac-Man makes his living.

	It is also interesting to note that Pac-Man is married.  Yes, Pac-Man
has a spouse, Mrs. Pac-Man who must brave the same labrynthe that Pac-Man 
must, the game "Mrs. Pac-Man" has all of the same elements that Pac-Man does,
pellets (money), fruit (possesions), ghosts (social demons), power-pellets
(social programs) and of course, the maze.  This makes the Pac-Man's a 
double income family, and from a capitalistic viewpoint, this is very 
beneficial to the family.  Both husband and wife are at their respective 
workplaces, both earning money and bringing the family higher in the social
classes.  Alternately, if Pac-Man and his wife were on social assistance, 
they would recieve more money per person as a couple, than if they were 
individuals.  From a capitalistic perspective, Pac-Man getting married had
many advantages.

	In conclusion I would like to say that it is very evident that 
Pac-Man is not merely a game but a lesson in real-world economics and 
society.  Since the early 80's (when Pac-Man was originally released) video
games have become very much a part of Western Culture, actually, throughout 
the 80's a sort of arcade subculture developped complete with arcade 
terminology.  Video games were the next logical medium by which people could
communicate with the youth an their level, and it only made sense to develop
games with such meaning as Pac-Man has.

        EN