First playable Google doodle marks 30 years of Pac-Man

Internet giant Google marked the 30th birthday of Pac-Man by featuring the classic arcade videogame in the first-ever playable doodle on its home page.

Web users who opened Google's homepage after 1500 GMT on Friday - which is midnight in Japan, where Pac-Man was born - were greeted by a small-scale Pac-man game set around a barely discernible "Google" in the middle of the game's colourful maze.

The game designed by Toru Iwatani was first released by Japan-based Namco into arcades on May 22, 1980. The Google doodle Pac-Man was complete with the arcade game's trademark music and sound effects, and an "Insert Coin" button where Google's "I'm feeling lucky" button usually is. But even though Pac-Man grew to become the best-selling coin-operated game in history, the Google doodle was decidedly less popular with internet users.

"What is with the annoying Pac- Man Audio playing on your search page today?" wrote one of more than 200 visitors to Google's help page, most of who were complaining about the Pac-Man doodle.

"Have you guys been hacked? I thought I had contracted a virus," wrote another.