Software:Big Beach Sports

From HandWiki
Short description: 2008 video game
Big Beach Sports
Developer(s)HB Studios
Publisher(s)THQ
Platform(s)Wii
Release
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Big Beach Sports is a sports game for the Wii developed by HB Studios and produced by THQ. The game is a collection of six beach sports simulations, in which players compete on a beach resort location. The sports include: American football, volleyball, soccer, bocce, cricket and disc golf. The games are not highly realistic simulations of the sports, but more orientated towards unrealistic physics, stylized beach scenarios, and a simplified rule set. It is most notable for being the third Wii game (the first being Pokémon Battle Revolution and the second being Software:Geometry Wars: Galaxies) to feature connectivity to the Nintendo DS. Big Beach Sports also features the first cricket game on the Wii. It was released on 24 June 2008.

DS to Wii Connectivity

The DS application downloads a small application from the Wii, which allows the player to draw the created character's face (eyes, ears, nose, mouth and eyebrows) and upload it back from the Nintendo DS to the Wii. The character will then appear that way in the game. This application does not require any DS game to be inserted into the Nintendo DS.

Gameplay

All of the games allow up to 4 players playing at the same time, or in the case of Bocce and Disc Golf, taking alternate turns. All the games use the Wii Remote only, no games require the use of the Nunchuck or any other peripheral.

After creating a character, the player can compete in tournaments against increasingly tougher opponents in any of the sports. Playing Quick Play games and Tournament games earns the character Skill Points. These are then used to calculate the difficulty of the CPU opponent for future Quick Play matches. Hence, after completing all tournaments for all the sports in Big Beach Sports, where each game has a preset difficulty, the player can then return to Quick Play and continue to max out Skill Points (999 points) for each of the six sports. In the case of most of the sports, however, the game becomes extremely challenging and the AI opponents are much tougher to beat after reaching 900 skill points.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic44/100[2]
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameSpot4.5/10[4]
GameZone4.0/10[5]
IGN2.5/10[3]
VideoGamer.com6/10[6]

Big Beach Sports received a fairly poor reception from critics, with an average Metacritic score of just 44%.[2] IGN was scathing, deriding the game as a "true cash-in project that ignores some of the great control fundamentals laid down with Nintendo's game for an unintelligent waggle-and-win design".[3]

THQ CEO Brian Farrell referred to the game as "an unmitigated success" in the company's Q1 2009 earnings call[7] and referred to it in his strategic plan at the end of 2008.[8] It received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[9] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[10]

Sequel

A sequel, Big Beach Sports 2, was released for the Wii in 2010.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Big Beach Sports Related Games". GameSpot.com. 24 June 2008. http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/bigbeachsports/similar.html?mode=versions. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Big Beach Sports" (in en). https://www.metacritic.com/game/big-beach-sports/critic-reviews/?platform=wii. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Big Beach Sports Review". 19 August 2008. http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/900/900232p1.html. 
  4. ↑ Cocker, Guy (27 June 2008). "Big Beach Sports Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/big-beach-sports-review/1900-6193069/. 
  5. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (29 August 2008). "Big Beach Sports Review". http://wii.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r34856.htm. 
  6. ↑ Orry, Tom (27 June 2008). "Big Beach Sports Review". https://www.videogamer.com/reviews/big-beach-sports-review/. 
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". http://i.bnet.com/pdf/225044-THQ_Inc._Q1_2009_Earnings_Call_Transcript.pdf. 
  8. ↑ "THQ Reports Fiscal 2009 Third Quarter Results". http://www.smallcapwatch.com/pressRelease.asp?ID=78947. 
  9. ↑ "ELSPA Sales Awards: Platinum". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090515224703/http://www.elspa.com/?i=3944. 
  10. ↑ Caoili, Eric (26 November 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status in UK". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170918063107/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/112220/ELSPA_Wii_Fit_Mario_Kart_Reach_Diamond_Status_In_UK.php. 
  11. ↑ "THQ Announces Big Beach Sports 2 Exclusively for Wii – IGN". April 2010. https://uk.ign.com/articles/2010/04/01/thq-announces-big-beach-sports-2-exclusively-for-wii. 
  • Big Beach Sports on IMDb
  • 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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