Foodies and food games

Gaming is no longer just about shooting the villains and aliens ... it’s about food too.

By: AGENCIES
Updated on: Jun 02 2010, 13:08 IST

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Food has become more of an obvious character in gaming since the 1980s when Pac-Man was first introduced. Enter the controversial PlayStation Network game Fat Princess, where teams turn their skinny princess fat by loading her up on cake so the other team can't steal her and or Wii Ware's Major League Eating: The Game, where "world's greatest gurgitory athletes' compete" across 12 different food types;' not to mention Restaurant City, a Facebook game, Sushi Cat, Super Mario's dragon friend Yoshi who loves to eat and even celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's has a game, Hell's Kitchen.

Toru Iwatani, the former game designer of the iconic arcade game Pac-Man, Wired the inspiration 30-years ago for creating Pac-Man was female foodies.

"Around the time that we launched Pac-Man, video arcades were filled with games where you shoot aliens. It seemed very dark. It was for men, it wasn't fashionable at all," explained Iwatani.

He continued, "I realised that if women and couples were going to come to game centers, they had to be cheerful places. When you think about things women like, you think about fashion, food or dating boyfriends. So I decided to theme the game around 'eating'."