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Dig Dug

1982 arcade game created by Namco

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ204105 ↗
Source-derived summary

Dig Dug is a 1982 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was released by Atari, Inc. in North America. The player digs underground tunnels to attack enemies in each level, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rocks.

Dig 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 and kawaii character design. During the golden age of arcade video games, it was globally successful, including as the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 in Japan.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Dig Dug” as 1982 arcade game created by Namco. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1982—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1982-04-19, 1985-06-04—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. The account is most persuasive where arcade, game and created can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 1982 arcade game created by Namco. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q204105. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Dig Dug”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Dig Dug primary sources, Dig Dug archive and arcade research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Dig Dug”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Dig Dug” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.