Toru Iwatani

Quick Facts

Full Name	Toru Iwatani
Occupation	Game Designer
Date Of Birth	Jan 25, 1955(1955-01-25)
Age	69
Birthplace	Tokyo
Country	Japan
Horoscope	Aquarius

Toru Iwatani Biography

Toru Iwatani is one of the most popular and richest Game Designer who was born on January 25, 1955 in Tokyo, Japan. Former video game designer who created the classic arcade games Pac-Man and Pole Position. He worked for the software company Namco.

He appeared in the Adam Sandler-starring film Pixels in a cameo appearance.

Toru Iwatani (岩谷 徹 , Iwatani Tōru, born January 25, 1955) is a Japanese video game designer who spent much of his career working for Namco. He is best known as the creator of the arcade game Pac-Man (1980). He also designed the 1982 racing game Pole Position and its 1983 sequel Pole Position II.

At the age of 22, Iwatani joined the Japanese video game publisher Namco in

1977. Before he had joined, Namco had acquired the rights to the Japanese division of Atari, Inc. from Nolan Bushnell, giving them the rights to distribute many of the company’s games, such as Breakout, across the country. This became an unprecedented success for Namco, and made them interested in producing their own video games in-house instead of relying on other companies to make games for them. Iwatani was assigned to the video game development division of the company upon arrival. He originally wanted to create pinball machines, however Namco executives declined the idea due to patent-related issues. As a sort-of compromise, Iwatani was allowed to create a video game based on the concept of pinball. With the assistance of programmer Shigeichi Ishimura, Iwatani created Gee Bee, released in 1978. While not as successful as the company hoped, Gee Bee helped Namco get a foothold in the gradually- expanding video game market. Two sequels were released in 1979, Bomb Bee and Cutie Q, which Iwatani worked on as a designer.

He was born in Tokyo, Japan.

Toru Iwatani Net Worth

Toru Iwatani is one of the richest Game Designer from Japan. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Toru Iwatani 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

He joined Namco in 1977 where he came up with the idea for “Pakku-Man.” The game was released to the public in 1980.

The final game he developed was Pac-Man Championship Edition for Xbox 360.

Iwatani was born in the Meguro ward of Tokyo, Japan on January 25, 1955. While in kindergarten, he and his family moved to the Tōhoku region of Japan after his father got a job as an engineer for the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. After becoming a junior high student, Iwatani returned to Tokyo and graduated from the Tokyo Metropolitan University High School, before graduating from the Tokai University Faculty of Engineering. Iwatani was self-taught in computers without any formal training in programming or graphical design. He often filled his school textbooks with scattered manga, which he claims had a major influence on the character designs of his games.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Toru Iwatani height Not available right now. Toru weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Toru Iwatani Dating?

According to our records, Toru Iwatani is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Toru Iwatani’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Toru Iwatani. You may help us to build the dating records for Toru Iwatani!

Facts & Trivia

Toru Ranked on the list of most popular Game Designer. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Japan. Toru Iwatani celebrates birthday on January 25 of every year.

Why did Toru Iwatani make Pac-Man?

Iwatani states in a Yahoo Article, that one of the main reasons he began working on Pac-Man was to create a game that would be appealing to women as well as men. He has stated that at the time of Pac-Man’s development, most arcade games were either focused on violence or targeted exclusively towards men.

What is Toru Iwatani doing now?

Since 2007, Iwatani has been a professor at the Department of Games at Tokyo Polytechnic University.

Is the creator of Pac-Man still alive?

Masaya Nakamura, a Japanese toy and game entrepreneur whose company’s most enduring creation, Pac-Man, became a worldwide cultural touchstone, died on Jan. 22. He was 91. His death was announced on Monday by Bandai Namco, the business where he retained the title of honorary adviser.

Was that the real creator of Pac-Man in pixels?

If you’ve seen the trailer for this movie, you know that Pac-Man’s creator Toru Iwatani shows up to try to talk some sense into his “son” amidst the videogame war. But that’s not actually Iwatani, it’s actor Denis Akiyama.

Who beat Pac-Man?

Billy Mitchell was the first person to ever get a perfect score in Pac- Man. In 1999, he racked up 3,333,360 points, creating what was thought to be the unattainable end of the game and surprising even the creators and designers.