Pac-man takes a bite out of USC
Universally known arcade game inspires event
Almar Flotildes
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: The Mix
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If you were anywhere around the West Quad courtyard Saturday afternoon, you'd initially notice the song "Pac-Man Fever" by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia on repeat. But then you'd ask yourself, "Why are people dressed as shiny ghosts chasing a guy wearing a Pac-Man helmet through a maze?"
Because it's fun!
Hosted by the university's chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Pac-Man Competition may have been the first that the school has ever seen of a live recreation of a classic arcade video game.
ACM chapter president Ben Fine said this event that he and the group have been advertising for about three weeks - by handing out fliers all around campus while wearing a crafty homemade Pac-Man head - was a chance for them to get the word out about their newly reformed club.
"You could hold talks, but this (holding a Pac-Man Competition) brings the people out," said the fourth-year computer science student.
Fine is also a photographer for The Daily Gamecock.
The competition started out as an idea by one of the ACM members to do a live-action video game - one that is universally recognized. Last semester, the chapter hosted a Halo 3 tournament (on Xbox 360) among other small events.
Other people have held live Pac-Man games, particularly a group of college students from New York University who have a site called pacmanhattan.com and plays on a larger scale around the blocks of Washington Square Park with slightly different rules.
The rules that the ACM has adopted to its interpretation of the video game are almost similar to the actual game. Pac-Man must collect all the pellets (yellow-taped plastic balls) he can without being caught by a ghost. Blue power-up pellets are worth 10 points and allow Pac-Man to tag the ghosts for a limited amount of time.
The game is a true test of one's "ghost avoidance skills." While some people came pre-registered and ready to test those skills, there were some passersby that joined in the fun, too.
Sarah Fuentes, 20, was walking by to do her laundry and finally just stopped to see what was going on, she said. She was persuaded to play and ended up racking up more than 100 points.
With the Pac-Man helmet on, "you cannot see. There's no peripheral vision," the second-year marketing student said. "But it's funny, and it's a brilliant idea."
Michael Tyson, 28, a graduate student studying higher education and student affairs, said he had a lot of fun playing even though he was tagged pretty early on by a ghost.
"I wish had a better strategy," Tyson said. "But it's definitely a creative idea."
Fine said the competition may become an annual event for ACM.
"It is fun, lots of fun," he said. "Where else are you going to be able to act out a video game?"
Interested in joining ACM? Anyone is welcome to the weekly meetings Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the Swearingen Engineering Center room 2A17 or contact Ben Fine at fineb@mailbox.sc.edu.
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