Who invented Pacman

The game was developed primarily by Namco employee Toru Iwatani over 18 months. The original title was pronounced pakku-man and was inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeic phrase paku-paku taberu where paku-paku describes (the sound of) the mouth movement when widely opened and then closed in succession. Although it is often cited that the character's shape was inspired by a pizza missing a slice, he admitted in a 1986 interview that it was a half-truth and the character design also came from simplifying and rounding out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi as well as the basic concept of eating. Iwatani's efforts to appeal to a wider audience - beyond the typical demographics of young boys and teenagers - would eventually lead him to adding elements of a maze.  The result was a game he entitled PUCK MAN. When first launched in Japan in 1979 by Namco, the game received a lukewarm response, as Space Invaders and other similar games were more popular at the time.