Pac-Man comes to life on Casio’s digital watch

Pac-Man has been brought to life once again in the Casio x PAC-MAN Limited Edition model, a reinterpretation of the F-100 digital watch, first released in 1978.

It is an appropriate watch to reimagine the popular game, itself first released in 1980, with its bold graphics, bright colours and simple concept – eat, run! – here faithfully reproduced four decades later. The vintage history of the watch is also acknowledged, with the design nodding to the original 1978 F-100 digital watch, the first Casio quartz watch in a resin case. Technically accomplished – it came with a stopwatch, calendar functions and a digital alarm – it was recently reinterpretated by watchmakers in the A100 watch which came with a four-button front layout as its focus. This key design element, present in the special edition, is overrun by Pac-Man and the ghost characters in an endless game of chase.

‘We wanted to realise the Pac-Man world on the entire watch design, including the strap, case-back and package, as well as ensuring fans feel like they are entering into the world of the Pac-Man game-screen through each design element – like with the ghosts, who follow the actual play on the screen of Pac-Man,’ says Tomoaki Nakamura of the Casio’s timepiece marketing department. To do this, details are loyal to the quirks of the game. The gold-plating on the watch case is inspired by the colour of the Pac-Man arcade game cabinet, with a laser etching of Pac-Man’s flight away from and towards the ghosts on the top and bottom watch bands.

For Casio, the collaboration was a natural one. ‘Both Pac-Man and Casio digital watches have countless fans around the world, over many generations,’ adds Nakamura. ‘It is representative of the 1980s and iconic – born in Japan.’

INFORMATION

casio.co.uk