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As we reported yesterday, the year of Pac-Man’s fortieth anniversary is upon us, and with it is coming a ton of cool games, merchandise, music, and more. One particularly fascinating part of the festivities is the upcoming history book Pac-Man: 40 Years of Waka Waka. Written by Tim Lapetino and co-writer Arjan Terpstra, here’s what Lapetino had to say about the reveal:
What’s eating me? My next book is coming!
I’m writing the definitive History of Pac-Man, published this fall by @cookbeck, with co-author @Ranja72. We’re thrilled to unpack the origins, art & pop culture impact of #PacMan through 40 years. More to come! https://t.co/9erLmQfkBi pic.twitter.com/L1sQlA9SDJ
— Tim Lapetino (@lapetino) May 22, 2020
The book will be published by Cook and Becker, and here’s some of the press release:
We’re very pleased to finally announce a new, big project we have been working on for the last year or so: the official book on Pac-Man! The very first video game icon turns 40 this year, and together with Bandai Namco Entertainment we decided the time was right for the definite volume on Pac-Man. The first stand-alone art, design and history book on Pac-Man, this 40th Anniversary book dives deep into the archives of Bandai Namco Entertainment, and is produced as a luxury coffee table art book.
As a game, Pac-Man greatly expanded the expressive range of video games, while as a product its design philosophy made it uniquely suited to appeal to new types of video game players, forever changing the arcade and home video industry. For the very first time, the fascinating story of Pac-Man will be told in its entirety.
From the workbenches at Namco in Tokyo, where Pac-Man first saw the light of day, to Midway Manufacturing Co.’s industrial production plant in Chicago, where a staggering 400.000 arcade cabinets were produced: we left no stone unturned to make sure we had the final words on matters big and small. For this, our team dived deep into the literature on games history, found every source on the internet, and has conducted dozens of behind-the-scenes interviews, talking to people directly involved in the design, building and sales of Pac-Man, with surprising insights into Pac-Man’s history.
Cook and Becker goes on to say that there will be a limited collector’s edition of 40 Years of Waka Waka with “several extras” and that pre-orders will begin in July. There’s no official release window beyond 2020, which is to be expected given the continued presence of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world. However, when Cook and Becker updates with more solid details, we’ll be sure to let you all know.
Source: Cook and Becker Website
