Software:Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD

From HandWiki
Short description: 2013 video game

Not to be confused with the 2010 video game Software:Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter.
Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD
Developer(s)Vogster Entertainment
Publisher(s)Vogster Entertainment
SeriesCarnivores
Platform(s)PlayStation 3
Release
  • NA: September 10, 2013
  • PAL: December 18, 2013
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD, sometimes known as Carnivores HD: Dinosaur Hunter, is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed and published by Vogster Entertainment. It is the sixth game in the Carnivores series of dinosaur-hunting games, serving as a sequel as well as a modern remake of the original game, Carnivores (1998). The game was released for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) via the PlayStation Network (PSN).

Gameplay

The game's premise is not told within the game itself. According to the PlayStation Network website, the player takes the role of a wealthy space-traveller in the future who hunts dinosaurs for sport on a distant planet similar to Earth.[1][2]

The game features three environments, including mesas and forests, each with a daytime, dusk, and fog setting.[2] The player is rewarded with gems and money after each hunt.[3] The amount rewarded depends on how well the player did on the hunt. Gems and points are used respectively to purchase new weapons and unlock new environments.[2][3] The player has access to a multi-purpose hunting device known as Gadget,[3][4] which features a map, and informs whether the player is being watched by a dinosaur or making too much noise.[5] The device can be updated to include features such as radar, using gems earned from the hunts.[2] The game does not feature any music, but includes dinosaur roars,[5] as well as the sounds of unseen birds, frogs, and insects.[2]

Dinosaurs include Ankylosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus rex.[4] The player has the ability to evacuate a hunt at any time. Whenever the player is killed by a dinosaur, the screen fades to blackness rather than depicting a death scene. The player starts out hunting only herbivorous dinosaurs, although a Ceratosaurus can rarely spawn on every map and time.[2] Killed dinosaurs are beamed up by the player's personal spaceship,[3] and the player receives trophy versions of each killed dinosaur and display them in a trophy room.[1] The game includes the "Observer Mode", which allows the player to explore a chosen environment and observe the dinosaurs rather than hunt them.[6] The player also has the option to tranquilize a dinosaur rather than kill it.[2]

Development and release

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD was developed and published by Vogster Entertainment.[5] It is a modern remake of the original 1998 Carnivores video game,[6] as well as a sequel in the Carnivores series.[7] In the US, the game was released for the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network on September 10, 2013.[5][8] After the game's North American release, Vogster Entertainment gathered user feedback to make further improvements to the game prior to its European release,[4] which occurred on December 18, 2013, through the PlayStation Network.[6]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic50/100[9]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Hardcore Gamer2.5/5[1]
IGN4/10[2]
Jeuxvideo.com15/20[10]
OPM (UK)6/10[3]
Push SquareStarStarStarStarStarStar[5]

The game received "mixed" reviews according to Metacritic.[9] Reviewers particularly criticized the game for its grinding gameplay.[1][2][3][5]

David Meikleham of PlayStation Official Magazine – UK noted that the game had "a pretty out-there premise". Meikleham criticized the high amount of gems and points needed to purchase and unlock parts of the game, such as weapons and levels. However, he also wrote, "Slow-burning, often unspectacular, this PSN hunter nevertheless has a charming depth if you've got the patience to unearth it."[3] Robert Ramsey of Push Square praised the scenery, but noted the "cheap and tacky" design of the game's menus. Ramsey also criticized the repetitive dinosaur roars and the lack of music.[5]

Kallie Plagge of IGN called the game "slow, aimless, bland, and not nearly as exciting as the name would have us believe." Plagge stated that despite the "HD" in its title, the game had "some truly awful" and outdated textures. Plagge praised the environmental exploration as the highlight of the game, but was critical of the rewards system. Plagge also criticized the ability to evacuate a hunt, stating that "removing any sense of danger or risk takes a lot of the fun out of playing." Additionally, Plagge criticized the lack of player death scenes, and stated that the game "fails to deliver in almost every way."[2]

Lee Cooper of Hardcore Gamer praised the controls but criticized some of the graphics as being "poorly rendered", and stated that while "the dinosaurs look pretty cool, and the environments are expansive and littered with detail, the game is simply not fun." Cooper also criticized the lack of an in-game storyline, but concluded that the game was the "best arcade-style dinosaur hunting game" available for the PS3.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Cooper, Lee (September 22, 2013). "Review: Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD". Hardcore Gamer. https://hardcoregamer.com/reviews/review-carnivores-dinosaur-hunter-hd/55563/. Retrieved January 3, 2023. 
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Plagge, Kallie (September 26, 2013). "Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD Review". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/27/carnivores-dinosaur-hunter-hd-review. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Meikleham, David (January 23, 2014). "Carnivores HD: Dinosaur Hunter PS3 review – Tense lizard blaster goes bland before its time". PlayStation Official Magazine – UK (Future plc). http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/review/carnivores-hd-dinosaur-hunter-ps3-review-tense-lizard-blaster-goes-bland-before-its-time/. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Kuryavchenko, Artem (December 10, 2013). "Carnivores HD: Dinosaur Hunter stomps onto PS3 next week". Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/archive/2013/12/10/carnivores-hd-dinosaur-hunter-stomps-onto-ps3-next-week/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Ramsey, Robert (September 23, 2013). "Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD Review". Gamer Network. https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/psn/carnivores_dinosaur_hunter_hd. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Kuryavchenko, Artem (December 18, 2013). "Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD arrives on PS3 today". Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/archive/2013/12/18/carnivores-dinosaur-hunter-hd-arrives-on-ps3-today/. 
  7. ↑ "Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD announced for PlayStation 3". September 3, 2013. http://carnivoreshd.com/content/news.html. 
  8. ↑ Gutierrez, Rey (September 8, 2013). "The Drop: Week of September 9th 2013 New Releases". https://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/09/08/the-drop-week-of-september-9th-2013-new-releases/. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Carnivores HD: Dinosaur Hunter for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Fandom. https://www.metacritic.com/game/carnivores-dinosaur-hunter/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-3. 
  10. ↑ RaptorClaw (December 23, 2013). "Test: Carnivores HD : Dinosaur Hunter" (in fr). Webedia. https://www.jeuxvideo.com/articles/0001/00019238-carnivores-hd-dinosaur-hunter-test.htm. 
  • 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 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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