Strangely enough, it was NOT a big success after launch. After a short 18 months, the game was complete and launched as 'Puck Man'. This odd sounding name (odd only because it's not English of course) is symbolic of the noise made when one opens and closes their mouth rapidly. Iwatani drew inspiration for his game via a famous Japanese phrase known as 'Paku-Paku Taberu'. Toru Iwatani designed the game over the short time of 18 months (yeah back then one guy could write a game on his own, imagine that today?).
The company Namco gets the credit for developing the most popular arcade game of all time.
