Software:Aces of the Pacific

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Aces of the Pacific
Developer(s)Dynamix
Publisher(s)Sierra On-Line
Designer(s)Damon Slye
Programmer(s)Bob Lindstrom
Artist(s)Mark Peasley
Composer(s)Jan Paul Moorhead
Platform(s)MS-DOS
Release1992
Genre(s)Combat flight simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

Aces of the Pacific is a combat flight simulation game developed by Dynamix for MS-DOS compatible operating systems and published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game takes place during World War II. Players can choose a single mission or a career path in United States Army Air Forces , United States Navy, United States Marines, Imperial Japanese Army, or Imperial Japanese Navy. Dynamix followed-up the game with Aces Over Europe in 1993.

An Amiga version of Aces of the Pacific was previewed[1] but not released.

Gameplay

Aces of the Pacific features various warplanes of the World War II era, such as the F6F Hellcat and the Zero. The game includes historical missions, should the player choose to play them during the course of their career or as a single mission. Historical missions include the Japanese Navy's surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor, defense of Pearl Harbor by a handful of Army Air Corps P-40 Warhawks based at Wheeler Field, fighter/bomber combat during the Battle of Midway, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Battle of Coral Sea, and the mission to shoot down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto after deciphering Japanese messages of his scheduled plans to visit island bases.

Numerous World War II aces make an appearance in the game, and the player can fly either with or against them through the course of their career. Dick Bong, Thomas McGuire, David McCampbell, Joe Foss, and Pappy Boyington are some of the American aces that appear in the game. Accomplished aces of the Imperial Japanese Navy such as Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Tetsuzō Iwamoto, and Saburo Sakai also take to the skies of the Pacific.

If the 1946 Expansion Pack is installed, at the end of the war, the player may choose to continue in an alternate history in which atomic bombs were never used on Japan. The game calls the campaign Operation Coronet, the planned invasion of Japan. This extra campaign contains numerous prototype aircraft that were developed before the war's end but never saw combat in World War II.

Reception

Aces of the Pacific was a commercial hit, with sales of 350,000 units.[3]

Computer Gaming World's Doug Fick in September 1992 called Aces of the Pacific "simultaneously awesome and disappointing." The reviewer praised the graphics, documentation, and gameplay, but found that even a fast computer could not run the software with sufficient performance, the AI enemies and sound were inferior to those of Red Baron, and that aircraft performance was unrealistic. He concluded that "Aces of the Pacific is 80% 'battle-ready'" and hoped that the developer would "provide that extra 20%."[4] In December, Fick reported that Dynamix had significantly improved performance without sacrificing graphics, and also improved opponents' AI, sound, and aircraft realism. He concluded that "as updated, Aces of the Pacific lives up to its tremendous advanced billing and is now superior to Red Baron."[5] In March 1993 Fick reported that he enjoyed the WWII: 1946 expansion disk, but wished that it included a mission builder as with Red Baron. He concluded that "It serves as a nice addition ... but is not essential".[6] A 1993 wargame survey by the magazine gave the game four stars out of five, calling it "the flight simulator of World War II".[7] The game received 5 out of 5 stars in Dragon.[8] The editors of PCGames nominated Aces of the Pacific for their award for the best flight simulator of 1992, but gave the prize to Falcon 3.0.[9]

In 1994 PC Gamer US named Aces of the Pacific the 12th best computer game ever. The editors wrote, "With its unsurpassed variety of aircraft and mission types, Aces of the Pacific may well be the most gratifying air-combat simulation ever made."[10] In 1996 Computer Gaming World ranked it as the 47th best game of all time, for setting "new standards for graphics and performance."[11] In 2003 IGN ranked it as the 92nd top game, stating: "Realism, aircraft, technology, multiplayer and many ways to kill many a folk made Aces of the Pacific an immediate hit. (...) Better flight sims have come and gone, but this was one of the first truly glorious ones and its brand is still burnt in our minds."[12]

References

  1. ↑ Rigby, Paul (March 1992). "Aces of the Pacific preview". Dynamix. http://amr.abime.net/review_16073. Retrieved 9 August 2018. 
  2. ↑ MacDonald, Duncan (September 1992). "Aces of the Pacific". Zero (35): 70–71. https://archive.org/details/Zero_Issue_35_1992-09_Dennis_Publishing_GB/page/n69/mode/2up. Retrieved August 24, 2021. 
  3. ↑ Ritchie, Craig (September 2010). "From the Archives; Dynamix". Retro Gamer (80): 54–58. 
  4. ↑ Fick, Douglas (September 1992). "Aces of the Pacific from Sierra/Dynamix". Computer Gaming World (98): 112. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=98. Retrieved 3 July 2014. 
  5. ↑ Fick, Doug (December 1992). "Aces Takes Off ... Finally". Computer Gaming World: 76. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=101. Retrieved 5 July 2014. 
  6. ↑ Fick, Doug (March 1993). "A Flight into the Hypothetical with Dynamix's Aces of the Pacific Expansion Disk". Computer Gaming World: 116. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=104. Retrieved 6 July 2014. 
  7. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (September 1993). "Brooks' Book of Wargames: 1900-1950, A-P". Computer Gaming World: 118. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=110. Retrieved 30 July 2014. 
  8. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (December 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (188): 57–64. 
  9. ↑ Keizer, Gregg; Yee, Bernie; Kawamoto, Wayne; Crotty, Cameron; Olafson, Peter; Brenesal, Barry (January 1993). "Best of PCGames '92". PCGames: 20–22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32. 
  10. ↑ Staff (August 1994). "PC Gamer Top 40: The Best Games of All Time". PC Gamer US (3): 32–42. 
  11. ↑ "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World: 64–80. November 1996. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1996&pub=2&id=148. Retrieved 25 March 2016. 
  12. ↑ "IGN's Top 100 Games of All Time". Uk.top100.ign.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20131104104413/http://uk.top100.ign.com/2003/91-100.html. Retrieved 2013-11-06. 
  • 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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