Software:3-D Ultra Pinball

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Short description: Computer game series

3-D Ultra Pinball is a series of pinball computer games developed by Sierra Entertainment's Dynamix. The games try to escape from the traditional, arcade pinball and feature animation, more than one table at once, and "temporary targets" (such as spaceships, goblins and dinosaurs appearing throughout the table).

3-D Ultra Pinball

Main article: Software:3-D Ultra Pinball (video game)

The original 3-D Ultra Pinball game was released in 1995. This game is based on the space simulation game, Outpost. There are three tables named Colony, Command Post, and Mine. Each table holds a set of five challenges. Smaller "mini-tables" are featured with their own set of flippers. The goal is to build and launch a Starship completing the game's entire course.

3-D Ultra Pinball: Creep Night

Main article: Software:3-D Ultra Pinball: Creep Night

The second game, Creep Night (1996) had a horror film set, and 3 different tables (and after finishing all challenges in a table, the player could travel to the other ones):

  • Castle, fragmented in town, castle area and graveyard. Its challenges are Zombies, Goblins, Runaway (a goblin riding an ATV runs through the table), Vortex (multi-ball, in which the player must shoot in the vortex) and Wraith (a female magnetic ghost tries to capture the ball).
  • Tower, a mad scientist lab. The challenges are: Rat, Energy Gate (similar to Vortex, but "single-balled"), Beast, Goblin, and Dynamo. After finishing all 5 challenges, the "Frankenstein monster" revives and is needed to hit him 5 times.
  • Dungeon. The Challenges are: Gobbler (a ghost chases the ball to eat it), Spiders, Dimension Door (if hit, activates a "Simon"-like game), Trapdoor (similar to "Vortex") and Skeleton Escape (six skeletons come out of the cells for you to hit). Like in Tower, after beating them a Catapult appears, and the player must have to hit it some times.

After finishing all the 3 tables, comes a changed Castle table, with 5 new challenges.

This was also released with several demos of other software titles also by Sierra Online.

3-D Ultra Pinball: Creep Night received a score of 3 out of 5 from MacUser.[1]

3-D Ultra Pinball: The Lost Continent

Lost Continent (1997) had a Jurassic Park-like set. It followed a storyline, in which a plane falls on an island where an evil genius, Heckla, has created dinosaurs of other animals and the cavemen who live there. Professor Spector, his assistant Mary, and adventurer Rex Hunter try to escape back to the modern world, rescue Neeka (a tribal woman) and stop Heckla and his army of robots.

It has no challenges but features 16 tables, divided in 3 "sectors": Jungle, Temple and Chambers (Heckla's Lab).

3-D Ultra NASCAR Pinball

Main article: Software:3-D Ultra NASCAR Pinball

As the title reads, it is a NASCAR-themed pinball, released in 1998.

The game only has 3 fields: garage, track and pitstop.

It features several famous NASCAR drivers like Dale Earnhart and Bobby Labonte as playable characters, but the choice affects only audio commentaries and field decorations.

3-D Ultra Pinball Power

Power (1999) was a compilation released in 1999, featuring the first game, Creep Night and Lost Continent, and as a bonus, The Incredible Machine and a demo of 3-D Ultra Golf.

3-D Ultra Pinball: Thrillride

Main article: Software:3-D Ultra Pinball: Thrillride

The final title of the series, Thrillride, also received a Game Boy Color version, which was developed by Left Field Productions and released by Sierra in December 2000. It is set in Hersheypark with rides and theme park elements as puzzles and table features. The PC version was included in Sierra's Game Room for the PC in 2004.

Sales

The series sold more than half a million copies by 1998.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Loyola, Roman (March 1997). "The Game Room". MacUser. Archived from the original on 2001-02-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20010221034057/http://macuser.zdnet.com/mu_0397/personal/gameroom.html. 
  2. ↑ Gitman, Mitch (February 20, 1998). "Pinball Wizardry". p. 97. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100364761/pittsburgh-post-gazette/. Retrieved April 24, 2022. 
  • 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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