Software:Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf

From HandWiki
Short description: 1989 golf video game
Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf!
Developer(s)Sega
Publisher(s)Sega
Composer(s)Tokuhiko Uwabo
Platform(s)Genesis
Release
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf is a golf video game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.

It was known as Ozaki Naomichi no Super Masters (尾崎直道のスーパーマスターズ, Ozaki Naomichi no Super Masters) in Japan, bearing the name of Naomichi Ozaki. It is one of the early Sega sports games where a celebrity athlete's name was added to the title when it was localized from Japan (the other two games being Tommy Lasorda Baseball and Pat Riley Basketball).[4] Although Arnold Palmer is shown on the box cover and title screen, he is not referenced in the game itself.

Gameplay

The player must be aware of the wind conditions in addition to the amount of strength that is applied to the golf clubs while swinging.

The game features two game play modes: tournament and practice. Tournament mode consists of 12 rounds, each with 18 holes of golf. There are three different golf courses, one each in the United States, Japan, and Great Britain (though the scenery and the background does not vary). As the player progresses in the tournament mode, their skill level is increased allowing them to hit the ball further with greater control. They can also upgrade their golf clubs from the initial black carbon club set, to glass fiber and ceramic clubs. This also increases the distance the player is able to hit the ball. Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf has no save feature, but instead provides a password after each round of the tournament that allows the player to pick up where they left off.

In practice mode, one or two players can play a complete 18 rounds of golf on one of the three courses. Each player can set their skill level and use any of the three golf club sets available in the game.

Before each turn, the player's caddy will give advice based on its skill level. At first, the caddy can only give the distance from the ball's current position to the tee. As the game progresses, more skilled caddies can give distances to various landmarks and information about how the ball is lying. The player then selects which club to use during the shot. After this, the player can adjust their golfer's stance in order to put a draw or fade on the ball (all golfers in the game are right-handed).

To control the swing, the player uses a power gauge to select the strength and height of the shot. When the player first presses the shot button, a marker starts to move upwards to the top of the gauge. If the player hits the shot button again before it reaches the top (this controls how hard the shot will be), the marker will then move back down towards the starting position. The player then must hit the button a third time inside of a green area on the power gauge (this controls how high the shot will go in the air). If the player fails to hit the shot button a third time, the sequence will start over from the beginning.

When the ball reaches the putting green, a close-up of the screen will appear. The game will first show the distance from the ball to the tee, and then show a simple diagram of the lie on the green. The player will then be able to select how hard to hit the ball and in what direction.

Connections to Sega franchises

Pressing the start button allows the music to be changed and also whether a cheer from the gallery or not upon completing a hole is heard. Opa-Opa, the player-character from the Fantasy Zone series, is the cursor in the pause menu. Also, a trick allows the player to play a secret Fantasy Zone level by hitting the ball 100 times on the first hole of any course without holing out, then entering up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, and A on the game over screen. The special level freezes after a certain number of enemies have been killed, but it is impossible to return to the golf game without resetting the system. In addition, Alex Kidd makes appearances in the Tournament Mode after nine holes have been played in each round (called "Coffee Breaks").

  • 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.[5] 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".[6] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[7] 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.[8] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[9]

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.[10][11] 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.[9] 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.[9]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[12] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[11] 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).[13] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[14] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[11]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[15] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[16][17][18] 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.[5] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[19]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[20] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[21]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[22]

See also

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

References

  1. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 8 (9): 14. December 1989. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/2b0f3849-6358-4d5e-930b-77877546a547. 
  2. ↑ "Software List (Sega Release)" (in ja). Sega Corporation. https://www.sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software.html. 
  3. ↑ "Arnold Palmer's Golf - MegaDrive Review". Mean Machines (3): 58-60. December 1990. http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/pdf/arnoldpalmermd.pdf. 
  4. ↑ Sega Genesis Sports Game Advertisement from 1989 - Fors Yard
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 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/. 
  6. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  8. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  10. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  12. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  13. ↑ 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. 
  14. ↑ 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. 
  15. ↑ "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. 
  16. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  17. ↑ "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/. 
  18. ↑ "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/. 
  19. ↑ 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/. 
  20. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  21. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  22. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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References



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