Software:AMF Bowling 2004

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Short description: 2003 video game
AMF Bowling 2004
Developer(s)Black Market Games
Publisher(s)Mud Duck Productions
SeriesAMF Bowling
Platform(s)Xbox
Release
  • NA: December 1, 2003
Genre(s)Bowling
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

AMF Bowling 2004 is a video game developed by Black Market Games and published by Mud Duck Productions exclusively for the Xbox in the US on December 1, 2003. Licensed by AMF Bowling, the game is a simulation of traditional ten-pin bowling, with modes for individual and local multiplayer and tournament play. AMF Bowling received negative reviews, with critics citing its lack of gameplay features and variety and sub-par presentation of the game's character models and environment design. The game was the first in a series of licensed bowling games published by Mud Duck Productions, succeeded by AMF Bowling Pinbusters! for the Nintendo Wii and DS in 2007.

Gameplay

A screenshot of gameplay in AMF Bowling 2004.

AMF Bowling 2004 is a simulation of ten-pin bowling over ten frames. Players control the ball using a circular overlay with three regions and a pointer arrow. The player presses the A button four times to start the bowl, determine the power of the bowl, the accuracy of the bowl, and the level of spin. Lanes feature other mechanics, including an oil pattern that determines the level of grip on a lane, influencing how much spin can be applied to a bowl. The game supports a scoreboard and replay controls to view a completed bowl. Players are also able to create and modify the appearance of their own bowler and change the texture, logo, surface and hook of their ball.[1]

AMF Bowling 2004 supports two modes. In 'Open Bowling' mode, players can complete a regular local game with up to three human or computer opponents, a team game in groups of competitors, or a practice mode in which pins can be removed during frames. In 'Tournament' mode, players compete in rounds against 8, 16, or 32 competitors, either in a match play mode with bowlers eliminated in head-to-head rounds, or a shootout mode where players where eliminations are decided in groups of three, with the top two players facing off to determine the winner.[2]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic48/100[3]
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameSpot5.2/10[4]
IGN5/10[5]
TeamXbox3/10[2]
Xbox Nation (XBN)6/10[6]

AMF Bowling 2004 received a negative reception from critics. Review aggregator Metacritic stating the game received "generally unfavorable reviews" with an average score of 48% across six reviews.[3] Critics were mixed on the merits of the bowling gameplay. Hilary Goldstein of IGN praised the physics as "good as they can get in a bowling game", but found the core gameplay "bare bones" and "boring".[5] Similarly, Alex Navarro of GameSpot praised the game's "realistic delivery", but found the game "isn't much fun" due to the game's "complete and utter lack of variety...with no rule variations", also critiquing the game's poor explanation of mechanics, stating "oil patterns and aiming marks may be true to life, but they aren't exactly intuitive...the game never really explains how these elements come into play."[4] However, Russ Garbutt of Xbox Nation found the game to be "fun", stating "the ball, pin and lane physics are as spot-on as the developers claim they are."[6] Dale Nardozzi of Team Xbox stated the game was "stripped down" and "fails on pretty much every gameplay level", finding the lack of options led to a "purely score-based game" with no unlockable features or motivation to play.[2]

Several critics dismissed the visual presentation and sparse design of the game. Writing for IGN, Hilary Goldstein critiqued the game as having "no frills, weak animations, terrible character models, and a lack of visual pop".[5] Similarly, Alex Navarro of GameSpot stated the game's "graphics and sound leave quite a lot to be desired", dismissing the bowler models as "a complete joke, with badly shaped bodies and no real detail to speak of", and finding the "remaining set pieces and components (to be) pretty low-res and generally not nice to look at".[4] Russ Garbutt of Xbox Nation stated "the title does very little to impress...the flashy balls and pins are artistically rendered, but these are last-generation graphics."[6] Dale Nardozzi of Team Xbox dismissed the graphics as a "full-frontal insult", disliking the "poor animations", "sheer lack of detail", and "terrible" surrounding details.[2]

References

  1. ↑ AMF Bowling 2004 - Game Manual. Mud Duck. 2003. https://archive.org/details/AMF_Bowling_2004/page/n1/mode/2up. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Nardozzi, Dale (2003-12-17). "AMF Bowling 2004 Review (Xbox)". TeamXbox. http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/689/AMF-Bowling-2004/p1/. Retrieved 2014-11-21. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "AMF Bowling 2004 for Xbox Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/amf-bowling-2004/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox. Retrieved 2014-11-21. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Navarro, Alex (2004-01-30). "AMF Bowling 2004 Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/amf-bowling-2004-review/1900-6087236/. Retrieved 2014-11-21. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Goldstein, Hilary (2004-02-04). "AMF Bowling 2004 Review". http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/02/04/amf-bowling-2004-review. Retrieved 2013-03-17. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Garbutt, Russ (April 2004). "AMF Bowling 2004". Xbox Nation: 91. https://archive.org/details/XboxNation13April2004/page/n87/mode/2up?q=%22AMF+Bowling+2004%22. 
  • Official website (archived)
  • 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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