Next month when the doors fly open to E3 in Los Angeles, attendees (including 2D-X) will fill the massive convention center with child-like intrigue and anticipation for what has long been considered the greatest stage for the future of gaming. However, as industry titans lure us in with the realism of computer generated sweat, we should remember that 30 years ago it was a yellow blip with a craving for pellets, not secret agents jumping through flames, that turned our fistful of quarters into a generation of memories.

Though I couldn’t tell you when I first played Pac-Man, it stays in my memory as one of the few video games my dad was never intimidated by. There was no need to feel hindered by a childhood spent working in factories instead of playing in arcades. There weren’t any complex controls to learn or flurries of bullets to dodge. There was just a joystick, four pixelated ghosts to avoid and an old man feeling younger with every completed level.

Years later, this golden formula of simplicity is still inspiring many of the addictive time-wasters we spend countless hours on. From Bomber Man to Bejeweled, the idea that age and technical experience should never play a factor into entertainment has always proven to be a successful motto despite a industry’s growing taste for bells and whistles.

For any who question Pac-Man’s role in the gaming industry, look no further than the pages of Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition, which names our yellow friend as the most recognizable videogame character in the world. An Italian plumber may hold the title for “most successful” but it’s not Super Mario machines you’ll see people making a line for in dive bars all over the country. It’s not a playable Zelda game that Google changed their logo to, or Halo oven mitts you’ll buy online (though that would be kind of cool). It’s Pac-Man. And though the gaming industry will evolve as new technology becomes available, Pac-Man has proven that sometimes success isn’t measured by headshots and K.O.’s but by the memories engraved in our minds long after the arcades are boarded up and the old man has spent his last quarter.

Happy birthday, Pac-Man and to you too, Pop.