Side by Side is a video series on local multiplayer games. This is the seventh series, episode 1 of 12.

Joel Goodwin of Electron Dance and Gregg Burnell of Tap-Repeatedly play Pong. Yes, it’s Pong. That’s it. Nothing more to see here. Oh, fine, if you insist. This time it’s a Pong where you have to draw the paddles. It’s called Dashpong (MrEliptik, 2022) and it resulted in a complete mental meltdown.

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2 thoughts on “Side by Side: Dashpong

  1. Hooray! Side by Side! It brings warmth to my stone heart to see you two chatting away, and I always get a kick out of the things you discover. The final two minutes of the video are instant classic, they’re like the pepper-sprayed-TV-show-host of Side by Side.

    Dashpong strikes me as the quintessential example of a game that extends a very tried and true concept. I loved the aesthetic and color scheme, but it’s striking how the comparatively simple “edits” made to the core Pong mechanics make it so much deeper. Joel, when you remarked that your angle of movement is fixed once you commit to a direction, that changed things. At a glance it seems like the game would be relatively easy given the size of the paddles you’re able to emit, but the controls really would add to the challenge. Also, it looks like the paddles can take one or two hits before bursting (or are they just on a timer?), so pros could do some devious bounce moves.

    Gregg is a fierce competitor. I know this. He’ll try to tell you about how I blew myself up with a grenade one time, but it’s a filthy lie.

  2. Hello Steerpike! I’ve been desperate to get these episodes out for monnnnnths and I’m happy to finally get the first one out. The next one? Oh, that’s next week I’m afraid. A whole seven days.

    I think this episode ends with one of the all-time best moments of Side by Side. I don’t think we’ll ever top this. But we suffered for this art. We SUFFERED. We SUFFERED WITH FUN.

    The paddles last for a few seconds and then vaporize, so there’s this horrible moment when you’ve used up your paddle quota and are desperate for one to vanish so you can get on and make a new one.

    Yes, Gregg is competitive but, don’t worry, I’ll take him down a peg or– oh no, he’s won again.

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