Ms. Pac-Man lands game honours

Seven years after Pac-Man entered the World Video Game Hall of Fame, Ms. Pac-Man is following suit. The 1982 video game was inducted along with Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Sid Meier's Civilization.

Inductees are chosen for their popularity and influence on the video game industry or pop culture over time. All types of electronic games are eligible — arcade, console, computer, hand-held and mobile.

Ms. Pac-Man, from developer Midway, is one of the best-selling arcade games of all time. Julia Novakovic, senior archivist at the hall told The Associated Press the female-centric followup to Pac-Man wasn't a move driven by gender politics.

But “by offering the first widely recognized female video game character,” she said, “Ms. Pac-Man represented a turn in the cultural conversation about women's place in the arcade, as well as in society at large.”