is a Japanese video game designer who spent much of his career working for Namco. He is best known and commemorated for being the creator of the arcade game Pac-Man (1980). In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.
Early life
Iwatani was born in the Meguro ward of Tokyo, Japan, on January 25, 1955. While in kindergarten, he and his family moved to the Tōhoku region of Japan after his father got a as an engineer for the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. After becoming a junior high student, Iwatani returned to Tokyo and graduated from the Tokyo Metropolitan University High School, before graduating from the Tokai University Faculty of Engineering. Iwatani was self-taught in computers without any formal training in programming or graphic design. He often filled his school textbooks with scattered manga, which he claims had a major influence on the character designs of his games.
Career
At the age of 22, Iwatani joined the Japanese video game publisher Namco in 1977. An often-repeated story is that Iwatani left Namco furious at the lack of any recognition or additions to his pay, which he has claimed to be false.
Iwatani went on to design Libble Rabble in 1983, a twin-stick puzzler based on a game he had played in his childhood. Iwatani claims Libble Rabble to be his favorite game. He also worked as a producer for many of Namco's arcade games, including Rally-X, Galaga, Pole Position, Ridge Racer and Time Crisis. From April 2005, he taught the subject of Character Design Studies at Osaka University of Arts as visiting professor. Iwatani left Namco in March 2007 to become a full-time lecturer at Tokyo Polytechnic University. Iwatani returned to his Pac-Man roots in 2007 when he developed Pac-Man Championship Edition for the Xbox 360, which he stated is the final game he will develop.
On June 3, 2010, at the Festival of Games, Iwatani received a certificate from Guinness World Records for Pac-Man having the most "coin-operated arcade machines" installed worldwide: 293,822. The record was set and recognized in 2005, and recorded in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008.
He was portrayed in the Adam Sandler sci-fi comedy adventure Pixels by actor Denis Akiyama, while Iwatani himself has a cameo as an arcade repairman.
Works
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
|-
|1978
|Gee Bee
|rowspan="4" |Designer
|-
|rowspan="2" |1979
|Bomb Bee
|-
|Cutie Q
|-
|rowspan="2" |1980
|Pac-Man
|-
|Rally-X
|rowspan="3" |Producer
|-
|1981
|Galaga
|-
|rowspan="2" |1982
|Pole Position
|-
|Super Pac-Man
|Designer
|-
|rowspan="2" |1983
|Pole Position II
|Producer
|-
|Libble Rabble
|Designer
|-
|1984
|Pac-Land
|Producer
|-
|rowspan="2" |1987
|Pac-Mania
|Director
|-
|Quester
|rowspan="3" |Producer
|-
|1993
|Ridge Racer
|-
|1995
|Time Crisis
|-
|2007
|Pac-Man Championship Edition
|Project Supervisor
|}
Writings
References
External links
- Detailed Toru Iwatani biography at PAC-MAN Museum
- Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating at Wired.com