A closer look
Translation issues in the 1980s weren't just for text—they ruined perfectly good pizza metaphors. When Namco licensed 'Pac-Man' to Midway Games for North American distribution in 1980, the US artists had very little context for the game's actual lore. Looking at the low-resolution arcade flyers, they entirely misinterpreted the abstract yellow circle. Consequently, the original North American arcade cabinet art famously features an absolutely terrifying version of Pac-Man with long, muscular human legs and red boots, completely ignoring the fact that he was supposed to represent a pizza missing a slice.
