Dig Dug
TECHNICAL DATASHEET
Game Name: Dig Dug
Manufacturer: Namco (Japón). Atari la distribuyó en Europa y Norteamérica.
Year of development: 1982
Category: Maze
Hardware Platform Info:
- Main CPU: 3x ZiLOG Z80 @ 3,072 MHz
- Sound CPU: Sound 1 × Namco WSG @ 3,072 MHz
- Video Resolution: Display Vertical orientation, Raster, 224 × 288 resolution
Main developers: Masahisa Ikegami, Shigeichi Ishimura, Toshio Sakai and Shōichi Fukatani
Music Composer: Yuriko Keino
GAME STORY
History of development:
Dig Dug is a maze arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan in 1982. It runs on the same hardware as the famous Galaga. Outside of Japan it was distributed by Atari.
Atari also licensed the home versions of Dig Dug and released it for Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Intellivision, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, VIC-20, Commodore 64, IBM PC, and TI-99. / 4A. Namco took it upon himself to bring Dig Dug to the NES console.
The Gakken company of "Game & Watch" type machines and tabletops also implemented a version of Dig Dug in that same year of 1982.
Game Overview:
Dig Dug's goal is to eliminate monsters that live underground, either by inflating with an air pump until they explode or by throwing stones at them. There are two types of enemies in game: "Pookas" (a kind of round red monsters that look like tomatoes with yellow glasses) and "Fygars" (green dragons that shoot fire).
The player character is the Dig Dug. He is dressed in white and blue and is capable of digging tunnels through earth. Dig Dug will die if caught by a Pooka, burned by Fygar's fire, or crushed by a rock.
Curiosities:
The world record is held by Donald Hayes, who achieved the highest score with 5,142,500 points in 2011.
Upon reaching level 256 of game the machine places an enemy just above the place where player appears, causing him to die immediately regardless of the number of lives he has and therefore forcing the game to end.
HISTORY OF THE MACHINE IN ARCADE VINTAGE
Status: OPERATIONAL
Information about the location and purchase by Arcade Vintage:
Acquired by José Mª Litarte from his friend Kevin Pitt in Brighton, England. Dave “smuggler” took care of the transportation to the Arcade Vintage Association in Petrer.
Information about the restoration process or repairs carried out:
The cabinet of a Centipede was used, since the two games used the same. The machine was established by Ricardo Fernández-Vega and Javier Herrero from scratch, including monitor, power supply, plate, panel and wiring.
Links to other related websites:
https://www.sonyers.com/analisis-arcade-game-series-dig-dug/