How 13 Video Games Got Their Names

Did you know Pac Man was originally called Puck Man because "puck" sounds sort of like the Japanese equivalent of "nom?" So how did it end up as "Pac?"

The name of the game, Pakkuman, was inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeia, “paku-paku,” which describes the sound of eating, similar to the English word “chomp.” As the game was brought to market, the title morphed into Puck Man.

But when Puck Man made his way to North America there was concern that the arcade cabinets would be vandalized by making the P into an F to spell something entirely different. A compromise was reached and the game became known as Pac-Man instead. Thanks to the American marketing machine, the name Pac-Man was eventually adopted for the game all over the world.

Find out the story behind 12 other game names from Mental Floss.

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