Career and achievements
1955
Iwatani was born in Meguro ward of Tokyo, Japan.
He was self-taught, without any formal training in computers, visual arts, or graphic design.
1977
Joined the computer software company Namco. It was here where he came up with the idea for a game called "Pakku-Man" which was the original title of the game as released to the Japanese public.
1980
On 22 May he finished the game, along with programmer Shigeo Funaki, a hardware engineer, a cabinet designer and Toshio Kai for sound and music.
It caught the attention of arcade-game manufacturer Midway, who bought the United States rights for the game and released the game in the U.S. as Pac-Man. Due to its innovative concept and continuing international popularity, it is regarded as one of the all-time classic video games.
Iwatani went on to create a few other video games, including Libble Rabble, but none of them reached the amount of success that Pac-Man did. He was promoted within the ranks of Namco, eventually being responsible for overseeing the administration of the company.
In a VH-1 Game Break interview, Itawani said that, "The truth of the matter is, there were no rewards per se for the success of Pac-Man. I was just an employee. There was no change in my salary, no bonus, no official citation of any kind."
1988
Iwatani's greatest success after Pac-Man was Pole Position, which became a major arcade hit and is considered the most influential racing video game of all time.
2005
He taught the subject of Character Design Studies at Osaka University of Arts as visiting professor.
2007
Left Namco in to become a full-time lecturer at Tokyo Polytechnic University.
2010
Iwatani received a certificate from Guinness World Records for Pac-Man having the most "coin-operated arcade machines" installed worldwide: 293,822.