Some are celebrities, others are has-beens, some were never meant to be. What is it that defines successful game characters? And how do they go from concept to console?
- Pac-Man (1980):
Inspired by a pizza with a missing slice, Pac-Man became the first game character to really capture players' imaginations. The ravenous yellow ball also blazed the trail for merchandising based around game characters, with a bewildering range of lunchboxes, stickers, books and records (among other things) flooding shops the world over.