Programmers At Work

Toru Iwatani

Game designer Toru Iwatani was born on January 25, 1955 in the Meguro Ward of Tokyo, Japan. He is totally self-taught, without any formal training in computers, visual arts, or graphic design. In 1977, at the age of 22, Iwatani joined NAMCO LIMITED, a computer software company in Tokyo that produces video games. Once within the company, Iwatani eventually found his place designing games. He completed Pac Man with the help of four others, after working on it for a year and five months, taking it from concept to finished product.

The game was first introduced in Japan, where it was very successful. When the game was exported, Pac Man captured the imaginations of Americans and Europeans as well. Iwatani went on to design more games, his favorite being Libble Rabble, which he designed after finishing the Pac Man project. Lately, Iwatani has become more involved in the administration of NAMCO LIMITED.

Geoff Leach, a friend and associate in Tokyo, sent me a lively telex one day, saying he had learned the name of the designer of Pac Man through his boss, Mr. Imaizumi, who happened to be in a study group with the designer. He thought he might be able to arrange an interview for me. I fired back a telex, expressing my delight at the prospect.

In Japan, the individual responsible for creating or designing a product is often not singled out and recognized. The group or company receives the credit, and the individual, although known in certain circles, remains inaccessible and unidentified. In this case, due to the personal nature of the contact, the interview was granted.

Mr. Leach and I took the subway to the outskirts of Tokyo to the offices of NAMCO. After reaching our stop, we wandered down narrow, busy streets in a shop-filled neighborhood until we came upon a striking brown marble building. The success of Pac Man had obviously served the company well.

We pushed through a set of double doors to enter the large white-marble lobby, where we were immediately welcomed by a gesticulating lady robot receptionist. She was decorated in pink and cream colors, with a nice pink helmet-like hat and blue eyes, and she had a shapely feminine figure. There was not another soul around. We paused, looking at her from a distance behind the counter. As we moved further into the lobby, she motioned us up to the counter. A computer terminal on the counter next to her flashed “WELCOME TO NAMCO,” and prompted us to look through a telephone directory and call the person we wished to see. We stood at the counter quite amused and somewhat baffled by all this, when the public relations director came up to greet us and ushered us into a conference room where we were served tea while we waited for Mr. Iwatani to arrive.

He entered the room and we all stood and greeted, bowed, and exchanged business cards. Mr. Iwatani was a tall, striking man with a quiet, yet ….

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