industry namco
An arcade game or coin - op is a coin - operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants , bars and amusement arcades . Most arcade games are video games , pinball machines , electro - mechanical games , redemption games or merchandisers . While exact dates are debated , the golden age of arcade video games is usually defined as a period beginning sometime in the late 1970s and ending sometime in the mid - 1980s . Excluding a brief resurgence in the early 1990s , the arcade industry subsequently declined in the Western hemisphere as competing home - based ___MASK42___ consoles such as Playstation and Xbox increased in their graphics and game - play capability and decreased in cost . Early life . Iwatani was born in the Meguro ward of Tokyo , Japan . He joined the ___MASK28___ ___MASK87___ company Namco in 1977 . This is where he started his career in the video game business . There , he came up with the idea for a game called " Pakku - Man " and in 1980 , he , along with programmer Shigeo Funaki (   ), a hardware engineer , a cabinet designer and Toshio Kai (   ) for sound and ___MASK23___ , finished the game . It was released to the Japanese public on May 22 of that year , where it became a huge success . It caught the attention of arcade - game manufacturer Midway , who bought the United States rights for the game and released the game in the U . S . as " Pac - Man ". Due to its innovative concept and continuing international popularity , it is regarded as one of the all - time classic video games . Iwatani returned to his " Pac - Man " roots in 2007 when he developed " Pac - Man Championship Edition " for the Xbox 360 , which he states is the final game he will develop . Most games of the series take place in the same fictionalized world populated with fictional countries with details loosely based on real - life location , events , and wars . One of the main selling points of the series is the ability to pilot a range of ___MASK35___ that include accurate or slightly modified representations of present - day military ___MASK35___ , prototypes that never saw actual battle , and completely fictional boss - type superweapons . Longtime fans of the series are rewarded with small hints of the continuity between the games , as some characters and events are referenced from one game to another . , stylized as PAC - MAN , is an arcade game developed by Namco and first released in Japan in May 1980 . It was created by Japanese ___MASK42___ designer Toru Iwatani . It was licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway and released in October 1980 . Immensely popular from its original release to the present day , " Pac - Man " is considered one of the classics of the medium , and an icon of 1980s popular culture . Upon its release , the game  and , subsequently , " Pac - Man " derivatives  became a social phenomenon that yielded high sales of merchandise and inspired a legacy in other media , such as the " Pac - Man " animated ___MASK57___ series and the top - ten hit single " Pac - Man Fever ". Pac - Man was popular in the 1980s and 1990s and is still played in the 2010s . Namco Limited (  Kabushiki Gaisha Namuko ) ( commonly referred to as Namco ) is a Japanese corporation best known as a former ___MASK42___ developer and publisher . Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005 , the two companies ' game production assets were spun off into Bandai Namco Games on March 31 , 2006 , now known as Bandai Namco Entertainment . Namco was re - established to continue domestic operation of video arcades and amusement parks . Its headquarters are located in ta , Tokyo . The company ' s English name is often officially written as NAMCO ( in all capital letters ) . Namco was a front - runner during the golden age of arcade video games . Pac - Man , arguably their most famous title , went on to become the best - selling arcade game in history and an international popular culture icon . They are also known for creating successful franchises such as Galaxian , Ridge Racer , Ace Combat , Tekken , as well as the Soul and Tales series . The son of the CEO of worldwide ___MASK5___ Mishima Zaibatsu , Heihachi Mishima , Kazuya sought to take revenge against his father for having thrown him down a cliff years prior . However , his victory over Heihachi quickly revealed him to be no different from his father , as he engaged in multiple corrupt practices that established him as one of the series ' antagonists . In particular , Kazuya ' s relationship with Jun Kazama conceived their son , Jin Kazama , who opposed his father and for the most part became the series ' protagonist . Kazuya possesses the Devil Gene , a strange mutation that could transform him into a demonic form known as ( or simply Devil , prior to Devil Jin ' s playable appearance ). The character has received positive reception . ___MASK57___ or TV is a ___MASK68___ medium used for transmitting ___MASK30___ images in monochrome ( black - and - white ), or in color , and in two or three dimensions and sound . It can refer to a television set , a television program (" TV show "), or the medium of television transmission . ___MASK57___ is a mass medium , for entertainment , education , news , and advertising . Popular culture or pop culture is the entirety of ideas , perspectives , attitudes , images , and other phenomena that are within the mainstream of a given culture , especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the late 20th and early 21st century . Heavily influenced by ___MASK50___ , this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the society . The most common pop culture categories are : entertainment ( movies , ___MASK23___ , television , games ), sports , news ( as in people / places in news ), politics , fashion / clothes , technology , and slang . Popular culture has a way of influencing an individual ' s attitudes towards certain topics . In philosophy , ideas are usually construed as mental representational images of some object . Ideas can also be abstract concepts that do not present as mental images . Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being . The capacity to create and understand the meaning of ideas is considered to be an essential and defining feature of ___MASK69___ beings . In a popular sense , an idea arises in a reflexive , spontaneous manner , even without thinking or serious reflection , for example , when we talk about the " idea " of a person or a place . A new or original idea can often lead to innovation . Mainstream is current thought that is widespread . It includes all popular culture and media culture , typically disseminated by ___MASK50___ . It is to be distinguished from subcultures and countercultures , and at the opposite extreme are cult followings and fringe theories . Western culture , sometimes equated with Western civilization , Occidental culture , the Western world , Western society or European civilization is a term used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms , ethical values , traditional customs , belief systems , political systems , and specific artifacts and technologies that have some origin or association with Europe . The term also applies beyond Europe , to countries and cultures whose histories are strongly connected to Europe by immigration , ___MASK83___ , or influence . For example , " Western Culture " includes countries in the Americas and Australasia , whose language and demographic ethnicity majorities are currently European . The ___MASK50___ is a diversified collection of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication . The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets . Conception and creation . " Tekken " series director Katsuhiro Harada has stated that Heihachi is his favorite character in the overall series and the character he most frequently selects when playing . He further described Heihachi as a " very ___MASK69___ character ", stating that while focus had been placed on his appearance he found the character ' s philosophy more interesting , and that in the series he was a " perfect portrayal of the evil that lurks in men ' s hearts ", an evil " far more hideous than any made - up monster or demon ." It was one of the forerunners of modern video gaming and helped expand the ___MASK75___ from a novelty to a global industry ( see golden age of video arcade games ). When first released , " Space Invaders " was very successful . A ___MASK42___ console is an electronic , digital or ___MASK28___ device that outputs a video signal or visual image to display a ___MASK42___ that one or more people can play . The golden age of arcade video games was the era of greatest popularity and technological innovation for arcade video games . The exact time period is a matter of debate , but key moments include the release of " Space Invaders " in 1978 and the introduction of vector display ___MASK40___ in 1979 . The golden age lasted until the late 1980s , when home ___MASK42___ consoles like the NES were introduced . A cutscene or event scene ( sometimes in - game cinematic or in - game movie ) is a sequence in a ___MASK42___ that is not interactive , breaking up the gameplay . Such scenes could be used to show conversations between characters , bring exposition to the player , set the mood , reward the player , introduce new gameplay elements , show the effects of a player ' s actions , create emotional connections , improve pacing or foreshadow future events . The premise of each game in the main series documents the events of the King of Iron Fist Tournament , hosted by the Mishima Zaibatsu corporation . The prize is typically control of the company , which then allows the winner to host the following tournament . After beating the game with each character , an ending cutscene is unlocked and usually one of the endings from each game becomes the continuation of the story into the following installment . The story has largely revolved around the Mishima clan curse , which began narratively with Heihachi Mishima throwing his son Kazuya Mishima from a cliff when he was 5 years old . Kazuya was nearly killed from the fall , but through the influence of the " Devil Gene " he survived and swore revenge to his father by the time of the King of Iron Fist Tournament .