Japan's 'Father of PAC-MAN' arcade game dies at 91

Reuters
FILE PHOTO-Japanese toy maker Bandai Co President Takeo Takasu (R), holding the company's "Gundam" figure, poses for photographers with Masaya Nakamura (C), chairman and founder of videogame company Namco Ltd, creator of "Pac-Man", and Vice-Chairman Kyushiro Takagi at a news conference in Tokyo May 2, 2005. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese toy and game software maker Bandai Namco Holdings said on Monday that its founder Masaya Nakamura, known as "Father of PAC-MAN", has died at the age of 91. Nakamura, who has served as a top adviser to the company, died on Jan. 22, the group said in a statement. It did not give details of the cause of his death. PAC-MAN, a monster-eating game, went on sale in 1980 and proved a big hit in Japan and internationally, prompting the Guinness Book of World Records to name it as the world's most successful arcade game at the time. Nakamura founded the company that became Namco in 1955, which started life operating two electrically-powered rocking horses on top of a department store in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. He took up the post of top adviser of the holding company when it was formed in 2005 through merger of Namco and Bandai. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto. Editing by Jane Merriman)