A sad day for the video game world, pioneer Masaya Nakamura has passed away at 91 years old. The Japanese game icon is notably known for founding the company behind "Pac-Man." Nakamura died on January 22. 

Masaya Nakamura started out Namco with two mechanical horse rides on a department store rooftop. He later went on to pioneer game arcades and amusement parks for children.

The hit classic "Pac-Man" was designed by Namco engineer and video game maker Toru Iwatani. The game went on sale in 1980 and was a huge hit. At that time, there were only a few games that challenged its popularity.

The game is estimated to have been played more than 10 billion times. It even holds a Guinness World Record as the most successful coin-operated arcade game.

Nakamura reportedly chose the word "Pac," or "pakku" in the Japanese language, to represent the sound of the Pac-Man chomping ghosts. Reportedly, the idea for Pac-Man's design came from the image of a pizza with a carved out slice.

The game originally started out as an arcade item. Later on, it was available for the Nintendo Family Computer. The game has been emulated and adapted for smartphones and different console platforms. Other hits from Namco include "Ridge Racer" and an arcade drumming game.

Nakamura took pride in having fun and games for his job. He was a key player in Bandai Namco's global notoriety. As of this writing, the company has not released any other information regarding Nakamura's death. In respect to his family's wishes, details of his death were not divulged to the public.