Software:007 Racing

From HandWiki
Short description: 2000 video game
007 Racing
Cover art featuring the Aston Martin DB5
Developer(s)Eutechnyx
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts[lower-alpha 1]
Composer(s)Allister Brimble
SeriesJames Bond
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • NA: 17 November 2000[1]
  • EU: 15 December 2000
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

007 Racing is a 2000 racing video game based on the James Bond license. It was developed by Eutechnyx, published by Electronic Arts, and released for the PlayStation console system. This game marks the seventh appearance of Pierce Brosnan's James Bond; the game included his likeness but not his voice, which is provided by Tim Bentinck. Including many revived characters from previous entries, the game is considered to be a spin-off of the original chronicles.

Gameplay

In 007 Racing the player takes on the role of British secret agent James Bond, behind the wheel of several of his vehicles from the then-19 official films. Cars include the Aston Martin DB5 made famous in its initial appearance in Goldfinger, the Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only, and the BMW Z8 that briefly appeared in The World Is Not Enough as well as seven other automobiles. Each car is equipped with all the usual gadgetry and weapons issued by Q, the Quartermaster of a special branch of MI6 referred to as Q-Branch.

Plot

In 007 Racing, a high-ranking European diplomat and businessman plan to hijack a shipment of NATO weapons and smuggle them to international terrorists inside cars that roll off the assembly line of his automotive plants. As Bond, it is up to the player to stop him. The gamer is supplied with several gadget-filled cars from the Bond universe to thwart the villain.

The story opens with Bond rescuing Cherise Litte from an Eastern European country (presumably Estonia) and getting her over the border in his Aston Martin DB5. Upon his return to London, he is informed by M that a freighter carrying top secret NATO weapons including laser-guided surface-to-air missiles, long-range missiles, missile shields, latest GPS technology and Q equipped BMW 750iL bound for Halifax was intercepted in the Labrador Sea, south of Greenland. Bond is tasked with finding the cargo. His mission takes him to New York City, where he is met by his friend from the CIA Jack Wade. Upon arriving in New York he is informed by a villain that a bomb has been planted on his car and that any attempt to defuse it or slow down the vehicle will cause it to explode. Bond jettisons the car in the Hudson River.

Bond continues with finding the electromagnetic pulse device that was stolen and destroying ten computers in the distribution center from which a car transporter carrying the smuggling cars. He intercepts the transporter with his Aston Martin. Bond then goes to Mexico with his BMW Z3, where he is pointed by questioning the transporter driver, the henchman Whisper. He is trying to track Zukovsky and once he manages, he finds out that behind everything is Dr Hammond Litte, Cherise's father, and that her rescue was just a decoy mission aiming to distract him from the freighter. Bond then engages in a race with Xenia Onatopp and her Ferrari F355 after which he gets captured and taken to Louisiana. He manages to escape and finds the stolen BMW, after which he pursues and destroys the boat driven by Jaws.

Back in New York, Bond downloads the files from four limousines with his BMW Z8 and discovers that Litte's real plan is to release a deadly virus that will kill millions. Bond then goes to the Baltic Sea with his Lotus Esprit and after infiltrating the opponent's underwater base he destroys the plane transporting the virus.

Development and release

007 Racing was developed by Eutechnyx, which worked with MGM to create the game's storyline. It includes objectives and vehicles based on those featured in the James Bond films.[2] 007 Racing uses a modified version of the game engine that was developed for Eutechnyx's earlier Le Mans 24 Hours. Lead programmer Peter Davies recalled in 2021: "given the huge differences in the game style it was a massive overhaul, but some core components like the physics engine, renderer, and build tools were retained."[3]

In North America, 007 Racing was released in November 2000.[1][4][5] A sequel for the PlayStation 2 was announced shortly thereafter, but was never released.[6]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic51/100[7]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStar[4]
Edge2/10[8]
EGM2.83/10[9][lower-alpha 2]
Game Informer7/10[11]
GameFan42%[12]
GameRevolutionC−[13]
GameZone8/10[5]
IGN5/10[14]
Next GenerationStarStar[15]
OPM (US)StarStarStar[16]
Maxim4/10[17]

007 Racing received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[7]

Game Informer's Paul Anderson called the graphics "ugly" and "nasty", but said there are some "well-designed" missions. He called the voice acting "excellent", particularly praising the performance given by Cleese, but thought the game had an inconsistent mix of content.[11]

Douglass C. Perry of IGN stated that 007 Racing is "a decent little game, as long as you don't expect too much from it". He added: "It's not original, nor is it good looking. It's filled with awkward spots and questionable areas (like when I reached the broken bridge in Escape and the vocals chimed in after it was too late to launch my parachute), and it becomes a chore rather than fun. Occasionally, there are little flashes of goodness (Escape and Gimme a Break are examples), but the game never really reaches any new planes of play that we've did already experience in Spy Hunter, back in the early 1980s. I mean if you're simply dying to drive Bond cars, rent this game, but don't buy it full price. Now, if you don't mind, I've got an old-school arcade to find."[14]

Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot gave a mixed review, stating: "The game's varied mission objectives occasionally give it a Driver-like feel, but the clunky control issues really manage to take you out of the game. The heavily modified Need for Speed engine [sic] is great for the fast action, fast driving missions, but the slower-paced, more combat-heavy levels suffer from the game's rough control. Overall, 007 Racing isn't polished enough to fill the needs of objective-based driving game fans. Fans of these types of games would be better served by Driver 2."[18] Retro Gamer criticized the slow pace of the missions.[19] David Chen of NextGen said that the game was "Fine as a rental car, but not worth the sticker price."[15] Jake The Snake of GamePro said that the game "offers mild fun that will appeal for sure only to gamers who love both Bond and action-driving games.[20][lower-alpha 3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Released under the EA Games brand name and co-published by MGM Interactive.
  2. ↑ Three critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game each a score of 1/10, 6/10, and 1.5/10.
  3. ↑ GamePro gave the game two 3.5/5 scores for graphics and fun factor, and two 4/5 scores for sound and control.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 IGN staff (17 November 2000). "007 Racing Ships". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/11/18/007-racing-ships. 
  2. ↑ Stahl, Ben (28 July 2000). "007 Racing Q&A". Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/007-racing-qanda/1100-2609346/. 
  3. ↑ Williams, Owen (8 September 2021). "Shaken & Stirred: The ingredients of a great James Bond game". https://whynowgaming.com/shaken-stirred-the-ingredients-of-a-great-james-bond-game/. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Thompson, Jon. "007 Racing - Review". All Media Group. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=25244&tab=review. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lafferty, Michael (15 January 2001). "007 Racing Review - PlayStation". http://psx.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r16455.htm. 
  6. ↑ IGN staff (11 December 2000). "Bond Races to PlayStation 2 Again". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/12/12/bond-races-to-playstation-2-again. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "007 Racing". Fandom. https://www.metacritic.com/game/007-racing/. 
  8. ↑ "007 Racing". Edge (Future Publishing) (93): 110. January 2001. https://retrocdn.net/images/e/e0/Edge_UK_093.pdf. Retrieved 28 February 2024. 
  9. ↑ Mielke, James "Milkman"; Zuniga, Todd; Lockhart, Ryan (February 2001). "007 Racing". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (139): 136. https://retrocdn.net/images/e/e5/EGM_US_139.pdf. Retrieved 28 February 2024. 
  10. ↑ Brooks, Mark (25 January 2001). "007 Racing". Greedy Productions Ltd.. http://www.elecplay.com/review.html?article=5122&full=1#mr_toppy. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Anderson, Paul (January 2001). "007 Racing". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (93): 102. http://gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200101/R03.0804.1518.51124.htm. Retrieved 1 December 2013. 
  12. ↑ "REVIEW for 007 Racing". GameFan (BPA International). 2000. 
  13. ↑ Sparks, Shawn (November 2000). "007 Racing Review". CraveOnline. https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/34101-007-racing-review. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Perry, Douglass C. (21 November 2000). "007 Racing". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/11/22/007-racing. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Chen, David (April 2001). "007 Racing". NextGen (Imagine Media) (76): 85. https://archive.org/details/NextGen76Apr2001/page/n85/mode/2up. Retrieved 24 December 2019. 
  16. ↑ Zuniga, Todd (February 2001). "007 Racing". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (41): 92. https://archive.org/details/official-u.-s.-playstation-magazine-issue-41-february-2001/page/92/mode/2up. Retrieved 28 February 2024. 
  17. ↑ Boyce, Ryan (25 November 2000). "007 Racing". Maxim. http://www.maxim.com/gaming/007-racing. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
  18. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named gamespot
  19. ↑ Jones, Darran (11 November 2010). "007 Racing". Retro Gamer (Imagine Publishing) (83): 57. 
  20. ↑ Jake The Snake (January 2001). "007 Racing". GamePro (IDG) (148): 85. https://retrocdn.net/images/e/e6/GamePro_US_148.pdf. Retrieved 28 February 2024. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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