#DIG DUG ARRANGEMENT MUSIC SERIES#
John Lennon played versions of ‘Dig A Pony’ several times at Twickenham Film Studios in January 1969, during a series of rehearsals which were filmed for the Let It Be movie. ‘Dig A Pony’ was originally titled ‘All I Want Is You’, words which appear in the chorus and which constitute the song’s only direct, meaningful sentiment. However, like so many of Lennon’s songs of the period, the dominant influence is Yoko Ono. However, some tantalising references can be found, including to The Beatles’ one-time name Johnny and the Moondogs (“I pick a moondog”) and Mick Jagger (I roll a stoney/Well you can imitate everyone you know”). ‘Dig A Pony’ contained mostly nonsense lyrics, which Lennon dismissed in 1980 as “another piece of garbage”. The version which appeared on Let It Be, however, was from the group’s famous rooftop performance on 30 January. John Lennon’s only significant new contribution to the Let It Be album (his ‘Across The Universe’ had been recorded nearly a year previously), ‘Dig A Pony’ was the first song to be recorded during the Apple Studios sessions in late January 1969. Dig Dug is a maze arcade game developed by Namco in 1981 and released in 1982, distributed in North America by Atari, Inc.John Lennon: vocals, rhythm guitar Paul McCartney: vocals, bass George Harrison: vocals, lead guitar Ringo Starr: drums Billy Preston: electric piano The player controls Dig Dug to defeat all enemies per stage, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rocks.ĭig Dug was planned and designed by Masahisa Ikegami, with help from Galaga creator Shigeru Yokoyama. It was programmed for the Namco Galaga arcade board by Shouichi Fukatani, who worked on many of Namco's earlier arcade games, along with Toshio Sakai. Music was composed by Yuriko Keino, including the character movement jingle at executives' request, as her first Namco game. Namco heavily marketed it as a "strategic digging game". Upon release, Dig Dug was well received by critics for its addictive gameplay, cute characters, and strategy. During the golden age of arcade video games, it was globally successful, including as the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 in Japan.
It prompted a long series of sequels and spin-offs, including the Mr. It is in many Namco video game compilations for many systems.ĭig Dug is a maze video game. The player controls protagonist Dig Dug (Taizo Hori) to eliminate each screen's enemies: Pookas, red creatures with comically large goggles, and Fygars, fire-breathing green dragons. Dig Dug can use an air pump to inflate them to bursting, or crush them under large falling rocks. Bonus points are awarded for squashing multiple enemies with a single rock, and dropping two rocks in a stage yields a bonus item, which can be eaten for points. Once all the enemies have been defeated, Dig Dug progresses to the next stage. Įnemies chase Dig Dug through dirt in the form of ghostly eyes, only becoming solid in the air where his pump can stun or destroy them. Enemies eventually become faster and more aggressive and the last one then attempts escape. Later stages vary in dirt color, while increasing the number and speed of enemies. In 1981, Dig Dug was planned and designed by Masahisa Ikegami, with help from Shigeru Yokoyama, the creator of Galaga. The game was programmed for the Namco Galaga arcade system board by Shigeichi Ishimura, a Namco hardware engineer, and the late Shouichi Fukatani, along with Toshio Sakai. Other staff members were primarily colleagues of Shigeru Yokoyama. Yuriko Keino composed the soundtrack, as her first video game project. Tasked with making Dig Dug's movement sound, she couldn't make a realistic stepping sound, so she instead made a short melody. The team hoped to allow player-designed mazes which could prompt unique gameplay mechanics, contrasting with the pre-set maze exploration in Pac-Man (1980).ĭotman" Ono, a Namco graphic artist, designed the sprites.
Namco's marketing materials heavily call it a "strategic digging game". Release ĭig Dug was released in Japan on February 20, 1982. It was released in North America in April 1982 by Atari, as part of the licensing deal with Namco. Namco released it in Europe on April 19, 1982.