By Doug Trueman

The world was created in six days. On the seventh day there was Pac-Man.

OK, so it's not that extreme. But it does feel that way. Pac-Man goes back further than almost any other game in history. If you've never played Pac-Man (or one of its clones), you'll be hard-pressed to call yourself a "real" gamer. Now that I've insulted scores of video-game addicts around the world, I can sit back, relax, and wait for the flames to pour in.

But seriously, there are those of us who remembered when the bow in Ms. Pac-Man's hair represented a stunning graphical advancement, when having a power pellet suddenly wear off was scarier than a T-rex crashing through a window, and when getting an extra life actually meant something. In honor of the world's first omnivorous pizza, we've created this special feature devoted to the history of Pac-Man.

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