The sound comes from Pac-Man, the classic arcade video game first released by Namco in 1980. Its simple electronic audio became one of the most recognizable game cues from the early arcade era. Online, the game over sound spread beyond gaming videos into short memes, fail compilations and nostalgic edits because it communicates defeat in less than two seconds. It still gets used because even people who never played the original game usually recognize Pac-Man audio and understand the joke immediately.