A new official entry in Namco's Dig Dug series has just been released on Android and iOS earlier this week, with the catch being that it is only going to be available for two weeks.
Dig Dug New Frontier is described as a "modern take on the classic arcade game" and is a collaboration between the Australian game developer Spunge Games (part of Liquid Animation), Bandai Namco, and interactive media platform Gamisodes.
It was released on June 17th and is being offered as a playable title on the Gamisodes app until June 30th, at which point it will be removed (presumably never to return; we've reached out to a spokesperson for the devs to try and clarify this).
Gamisodes, in case you've never heard of it (and we don't blame you!), is a media app that is pitching itself as the "Netflix of Interactive TV Shows". It features a library of interactive television shows that combine animation with simple gameplay tailored towards a younger audience.
The latest Dig Dug project, for instance, combines CG animated cutscenes with more traditional gameplay segments reminiscent of the original arcade game. This sees the player tunnelling underground blowing up enemies like Fygars and Pookas.
Looking into the history of Gamisodes, it seems that the platform launched last year, and has links in the past to a bunch of Blockchain nonsense, having partnered with the Canadian animation company Wildbrain and SUI Blockchain creator Mysten Labs to release an interactive Inspector Gadget interactive TV show with card-based NFT drops.
Understandably, Dig Dug fans were disappointed upon finding this out, sharing their dissatisfaction on social media, leading the company behind the app to spam any posts mentioning NFTs with an assurance that this particular project is NFT-free.
Comments 23
what a ***** sandwich.
I'm glad that the game looks absolutely terrible otherwise I'd really feel like I was missing out.
i cant imagine who this is for... a dig dug game made exclusively for children, in 2025, but they'll have to download an app and presumably subscribe to a service in the next two weeks in order to play it?
bit of a "happy 90th birthday, grandson!" situation.
But why though?
Setting aside that this doesn't look very good, it still took time, effort, talent, and presumably money to make. Why spend resources developing a product that will only be out in the wild for 14 days? And even sillier, Dig Dug is a nostalgia property that the target Gamisodes demographic likely has minimal interest in.
What's the strategy here?
A fear mongering article against NFT! Shame
/S (I have to use uppercase to be sure everyone understands I'm joking)
I despise Namco with literally all of my physical being💀💀💀
Dig Dug: Digging Strike for the NDS was a cool extension of the classic arcade formula and is still very playable.
Kinda strange that they never attempted to do a modern take on Mr. Do! which is the best one of all the onescreen maze arcade games imho.
I love Dig Dug, it's my favorite of the Namco Legendary line, but who came up with this?
Why even make this advailable for a limited time?! Where's all that money that went into this go?! I'll never know...
@PinballBuzzbro Why?
Because ***** games preservation, amirite?!
If you want a far better game featuring the character of Taizou Hori, the most excellent MR. DRILLER DRILL LAND is still on sale for <$5 USD on the Nintendo e-shop for another 3 days. Enjoy!
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/mr-driller-drillland-switch/
Arbitrary expiration dates on games **** me off. I would have happily kept playing Mario 35 offline against CPU opponents. Taking away something you enjoy for no reason other than "limited time only" is bull****.
@Lanmanna
-Refusing to ever touch any of their old legacy franchises or doing it once then never again, not even referencing them or making tweets about them
-Putting a patent on loading screens having minigames meaning every other game ever was forced to have boring loading screens with nothing on them
-All they ever make nowadays is lazy licensed slop based on the same 5 shonen anime over and over again
they aren't as bad as Sega or Nintendo but I hate them almost just as much
@PinballBuzzbro wait, didn't the loading screen patent expire back in 2015?
The saddest part of all this is Matt Danner, creator of Xiaolin Showdown and Legend of the Three Caballeros is listed as the main creative behind this.
We all do things we aren't proud of to keep the lights on sometimes.
@PinballBuzzbro "-All they ever make nowadays is lazy licensed slop based on the same 5 shonen anime over and over again"
I'm pretty sure that's just the Bandai part of the company.
It occurred to me that Bandai is approaching 40 years of holding the Dragon Ball game license. Quoting AVGN "Can't someone else have a try?" No.
Reminder that Dig Dug has some truly out-there official, canon lore, including that the main character from the original game, Taizo Hori, is the divorced father of Susumu Hori, the player character from Mr. Driller.
No thanks, it looks terrible!
So are we suppose to want this?
Good ol' FOMO. It informs you, the wise consumer, that the vendor is weak and unconfident in their work.
I say work, but this is actually market research aimed at kids.
Poor kids don't deserve this. Not after the Stygian horrors they've witnessed on the social medias.
I obviously love the OG Dig Dug, but my goodness . . . there ain't much Namco won't do for a $.
Why would they remove it after two days??? 😆
Removed - inappropriate language
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