Dig Dug Island
An MMO based on Dig Dug II with island-sinking gameplay.
Dig Dug Island was an online-only game for Japan, created by VerX and published by Namco Bandai. Based on Dig Dug II, it let up to four players battle enemies on a randomly generated island by pumping them up or drilling fault lines to sink them. Players could customize a villa with purchased items. Beta testing started December 21, 2007, with a full launch on May 8, 2008. The servers closed on April 21, 2009.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- VerX
- Publisher
- Namco Bandai Games
- Series
- Dig Dug
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows
- Genre
- MMO
- Modes
- Multiplayer
- Director
- Kazutoshi Mori
- Designer
- Haruki Negi
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Dig Dug Island was an online multiplayer game inspired by the arcade title Dig Dug II. In it, up to four players worked together to rid an island of two types of foes: Pookas, which looked like red tomatoes wearing goggles, and Fygars, green dragons with red wings that could breathe fire. Players could defeat these enemies by inflating them with a pump until they burst, or by drilling along fault lines to cause the ground beneath them to collapse into the sea. For their avatars, players could either design their own or pick from characters based on other Namco games, such as Mappy, The Tower of Druaga, Valkyrie no Densetsu, and Wonder Momo. New players received a customizable island villa, which they could decorate with items bought using Sun tickets, the in-game currency. Sun tickets could be purchased with real money, but only through a VerX Passport ID account. Friends and other players could visit the island and chat. An online tutorial was provided on the game's website, and VerX ran holiday events where logging in during specific times earned exclusive items.
Development
Dig Dug Island began as an idea from Kazutoshi Mori in 2004. Mori worked for VerX, a Japanese online game developer owned by Vector Corporation, and had previously worked on Tales of Eternia Online. He wanted to make online versions of older Namco games and bundle them together like a Namco Museum service. The first planned remake was an online Dig Dug, which started development in 2005. Mori and his team came up with five different gameplay ideas. The most popular was an eight-player multiplayer version of Dig Dug II, so they decided to use that concept. Designer Haruki Negi aimed the game at a casual audience, especially children and people new to the Dig Dug series, making it simple and easy to pick up. The team briefly considered using 3D graphics but instead went with 2D sprites placed on a 3D background. The online multiplayer was inspired by MMORPGs. Mori did not like games where a host controlled groups, so he wanted the multiplayer to focus on teamwork and building a community rather than just playing with friends. To make this work, the team created a "gondola system" that let players join pre-set parties instead of waiting for a host to open one. Negi thought this would encourage cooperation. The eight-player mode was changed so that half the players were on one island and the other half on another, because having all eight on the same island was too chaotic. Custom villas were inspired by real-time strategy games, a genre Mori liked. Most items could be bought with Sun tickets, an in-game currency, while some items required real money. A closed beta test started on December 21, 2007, and the game launched publicly on May 8, 2008. In 2009, VerX began permanently shutting down Dig Dug Island and its sister game Tancle, which was based on Tank Battalion. Players received refunds for real-money purchases until April 21, when the servers were turned off.
More in Bandai Namco Games of the 2000s
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced