I had played pinball from the time I was a small child, growing up in Chicago, the machines were everywhere as they were all manufactured there as well. When "Space Invaders" came out, the first commercial video game, I found it quite enthralling. "Pacman" in 1980 was even more enticing. I spent hundreds of dollars in quarters trying to top myself score-wise. The following story is true. I played Pacman wherever I could find a machine. One day while driving I saw an arcade and immediately stopped in to get my Pacman fix for the day. As I was playing with great flair and energy, a group of kids came over and said, "you know about the hiding place don't you?" I said, "what???" The group told me that there was one place in the maze that if you hold Pacman there, the ghosts can't find him. I found this ridiculous, having played it so many times before. I asked them to show me. They pointed to one dot on the maze next to a wall and said just hold him there. Hmmmm. The ghosts started moving a little faster. And even more faster. They started searching the entire playing field. A few times they would even pass right over where I had Pacman standing. Then Inky, Binky, Pinky and Clyde became psychotic. They were furious and wanted to know where Pacman was. Twice the normal speed. Five times the normal speed. Ten times the normal speed and all of us were laughing hysterically. Twenty times the normal speed as they came rushing in and out of the exits determined to find their yellow nemesis. Then they started moving so fast, you couldn't keep track of them. BOOM!!!! You could hear the explosion throughout the arcade. The monitor turned into lightning, it split in half and black smoke was pouring out of it. Those kids went running out the door as fast as the ghosts had become and I was the only one standing there. The manager came over, "what happened?" "Uh....Pacman blew up." What can you say when you've just terminally decimated Pacman and all the ghosts? Realizing that this information could become a national security threat, I kept it to myself. I understand that the original machines were given software upgrades to take care of the hiding issue.