Japanese video game industrialist and Namco founder Masaya Nakamura has died, the company said on Monday. He was 91. However, the company did not release any details about Nakamura’s death, citing the wishes of his family.
Known as the “Father of Pac-Man”, Nakamura started Namco in 1955. The company was originally an amusement-ride company before branching out into the nascent video game market. Its most well-known title, Pac-Man, was released in 1980. The game, designed by Namco employee Toru Iwatani turned into a global phenomenon, with the Guinness World Records ranking it as the world’s “most successful coin-operated arcade machine”.
Other games manufactured by Namco include Galaxian, which was released in 1979, and Tekken, a 1994 street-fighting game that has several sequels. The company also ventured into film production after acquiring film studio Nikkatsu in 1993. It merged with its rival Bandai in 2005, forming Bandai Namco.
Nakamura was given several honours and awards for his contribution to the video games and entertainment industries. In 2007, the Japanese government honoured him the Order of the Rising Sun, the third-highest order in the country. He was also inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame in 2010.
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