Software:Barbie and Her Magical House

From HandWiki
Short description: 1994 video game
Barbie and her Magical House
Developer(s)The Cute Company
Publisher(s)Hi Tech Entertainment
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Macintosh
ReleaseOctober 1994[1]
Genre(s)Educational
Mode(s)Single-player

Barbie and Her Magical House is a 1994 video game developed by The Cute Company and published by Hi Tech Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. It was the first Barbie-licensed CD-ROM.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

Players use point and click controls to decorate 150 elements across thirteen interactive scenes of Barbie's house, including her bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room.[2][3] The game features several minigames, including 'What Should I Wear?', 'Popping Bubbles', a matching game with Barbie's clothes, and jigsaw puzzles.[3]

Development

Barbie and Her Magical House was developed by The Cute Co., a children's entertainment and educational software developer later acquired by Davidson & Associates,[4] hired by New York company Hi Tech Entertainment.[5] The game was produced by Hi Tech Entertainment alongside Sega Genesis titles Software:Barbie: Vacation Adventure and Software:Barbie: Super Model,[6] and was the first Barbie-licensed CD-ROM title.[6][7] Hi Tech Entertainment producer Leila Chang stated Barbie manufacturer Mattel was "very strict" about how Barbie should be represented, suggesting to The Cute Co. to make design changes to Barbie's face, hair and dress.[5] The game was showcased at the Summer 1994 Consumer Electronics Show in June,[5] and slated for an October 1994 release.[1]

Reviews

Cynthia Sorrels of Games Domain Review said she was "pleasantly surprised" by the program due to the "thoughtful [and] entertaining" puzzles and activities, although she criticized the lack of a storyline or plot.[8] Carrie St. Michel of The Salt Lake Tribune found the decoration gameplay simple and "hardly challenging".[2] Stating the game "wasn't anything special at all" and "sort of tedious", Mattel Interactive designer Nancie Martin stated that she felt the game did not address what girls were interested in, which led to a different direction in the development of the next Barbie title, Barbie Fashion Designer.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Starting Young". Electronic Entertainment (9): 60. September 1994. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 St. Michel, Carrie (6 April 1995). "Laugh Lines: Cyberspace Barbie to the Rescue for Techno-Dummies". Salt Lake Tribune. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/laugh-lines-cyberspace-barbie-rescue-techno/docview/288624116/se-2?accountid=196403. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Princeton Multimedia, ed (1995). "Barbie and Her Magical House". CD-ROM Review. Harper Perennial. pp. 256. https://archive.org/details/cdromreviewonly00prin/page/256/mode/2up?q=%22barbie+and+her+magical+house%22. 
  4. ↑ Duttenhaver, Linda (2 March 1995). "Davidson & Associates Inc. acquires The Cute Co.". PR Newswire. https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/davidson-amp-associates-inc-acquires-cute-co/docview/448731981/se-2?accountid=196403. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Children's Software Firm Looking for Sweet Success". Hartford Courant: 17. 2 June 1994. https://www.newspapers.com/image/175674920/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Barbie Video Games Let Girls Play, Too". The Daily Chronicle. 26 October 1994. https://www.newspapers.com/image/128307065. 
  7. ↑ Seremet, Patricia (2 June 1994). "Cute? Yes, and Looking for Sweet Success". Hartford Courant. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/cute-yes-looking-sweet-success/docview/255442100/se-2?accountid=196403. 
  8. ↑ Sorrels, Cynthia (1996). "Barbie and Her Magic House". Archived from the original on 21 December 1996. https://web.archive.org/web/19961221111843/http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/gdreview/zones/reviews/pc/may96/barbie.html. Retrieved 1 May 2026. 
  9. ↑ Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins, ed (1999). "An Interview with Nancie S. Martin (Mattel)". From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. pp. 138. https://archive.org/details/frombarbietomort00cass/page/137/mode/2up?q=%22barbie+and+her+magical+house%22. 
  • 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 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]

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.[18]

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. 
  18. ↑ "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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