Software:Cold Winter

From HandWiki
Short description: 2005 video game
Cold Winter
Developer(s)Swordfish Studios
Publisher(s)Vivendi Universal Games[lower-alpha 1]
Director(s)Julian Widdows
Writer(s)Warren Ellis
Composer(s)Mark Willot
EngineRenderWare
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Release
  • NA: May 10, 2005[1]
  • EU: June 3, 2005
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Cold Winter is a 2005 first-person shooter video game developed by Swordfish Studios and published by Vivendi Universal Games for the PlayStation 2. Its story was written by Warren Ellis.

Plot

Andrew Sterling is a former British SAS soldier working for MI6, who has been captured in the People's Republic of China and jailed in Chang political prison; MI6 destroyed all files on Sterling to prevent an international incident. He is rescued the night before his execution by an old female acquaintance named Kim and a former fellow SAS soldier Daniel Parish. To repay his debt to Parish for saving his life, Andrew agrees to work for his private security agency. Sterling then travels to Egypt to eliminate the leaders of an arms dealing cartel, who possess a missile guidance system called Octopus. He completes his mission, but at the cost of Kim's life.

The antagonist is John Grey (voiced by Tom Baker), who as a young man was enlisted in the RAF to defend Britain at the height of World War II. Horrified by nuclear weapons John Grey formed a secret society, "Greywings" inspired by the heroes of the H. G. Wells novel The Shape of Things to Come. Greywings sought out and destroyed nuclear threats but ultimately came to the conclusion that the only way to abolish nuclear warfare would be to create a nuclear winter leaving the survivors afraid of nuclear warfare. Greywings planned on initiating their plan codenamed Operation: Cold Winter by providing world powers with the Octopus guidance systems.

It turns out that Grey hired Parish to liquidate the Egyptian arms ring because they stole an Octopus unit which was intended for world superpowers rather than the third world countries its thieves planned on selling it to. Grey soon after betrays his own organization to save the life of his infant granddaughter. Sterling is sent to Greywing's headquarters in the Himalayan mountains where he destroys the facility's power core and escapes in Parish's helicopter. Grey is then seen in the game's last scene on a bench in Prague where his former subordinates murder him.

Gameplay

The game uses the Karma physics engine, allowing for interactivity with items in the game world and for ragdoll effects. Cover can also be improvised by using objects in the environment; for example, the player can flip a table to provide cover or grab a table and block a door. Additionally the game features dismemberment system similar to the one used in Soldier of Fortune. Over 30 weapons are available and player can craft gadgets and explosives from items scattered around the levels.

The game offers a multiplayer component that supports up to four players offline and eight players online; in the offline mode, human players may be substituted for CPU-controlled. There are a dozen maps and six modes, including deathmatch and king of the hill.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic73/100[2]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Edge6/10[3]
EGM6.83/10[4]
Eurogamer7/10[5]
Game Informer8.25/10[6]
GameProStarStarStarStarHalf star[7]
GameRevolutionC−[8]
GameSpot7.5/10[9]
GameSpyStarStarStarHalf star[10]
GameTrailers6.9/10[11]
GameZone7.4/10[12]
IGN7.5/10[13]
OPM (US)StarStarStarHalf star[14]
The Sydney Morning HeraldStarStarStarHalf star[15]
The TimesStarStarStar[16]

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[2]

It was one of the five games nominated by GameSpot for the title of Best Story of 2005, with a comment: "A poignant, well-told story penned by Warren Ellis helps make Cold Winter a more engaging experience than your average first-person shooter."[17] The website considered the game to be sonically and graphically average, but an enjoyable straightforward shooter with a decent online mode. Whilst not the best game of its type it was "definitely worth playing".[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Cold Winter for PS2 has Gone Gold" (in en-US). April 12, 2005. https://www.gamezone.com/news/cold_winter_for_ps2_has_gone_gold/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Cold Winter for PlayStation 2 Reviews". CBS Interactive. https://www.metacritic.com/game/cold-winter/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2. Retrieved November 27, 2016. 
  3. ↑ Edge staff (July 2005). "Cold Winter". Edge (Future plc) (151): 88. 
  4. ↑ EGM staff (June 2005). "Cold Winter". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (192): 101. 
  5. ↑ Reed, Kristan (June 3, 2005). "Cold Winter". Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_coldwinter_ps2. Retrieved November 27, 2016. 
  6. ↑ "Cold Winter". Game Informer (GameStop) (146): 129. June 2005. 
  7. ↑ Deuce Magnum (June 2005). "Cold Winter Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro (IDG Entertainment): 74. Archived from the original on May 26, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20050526122130/http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps2/games/reviews/45225.shtml. Retrieved November 27, 2016. 
  8. ↑ Hurh, JP (June 8, 2005). "Cold Winter Review". CraveOnline. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151009190956/http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/cold-winter. Retrieved October 5, 2018. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mueller, Greg (May 13, 2005). "Cold Winter Review". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/cold-winter-review/1900-6124484/. 
  10. ↑ Fischer, Russ (May 13, 2005). "GameSpy: Cold Winter". IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 15, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060115015702/http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/cold-winter/613532p1.html. Retrieved November 27, 2016. 
  11. ↑ "Cold Winter Review". Viacom. May 13, 2005. Archived from the original on December 18, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061218184915/http://gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=235. Retrieved November 27, 2016. 
  12. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (May 15, 2005). "Cold Winter - PS2 - Review". Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081230152726/http://ps2.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r22250.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2016. 
  13. ↑ Sulic, Ivan (May 10, 2005). "Cold Winter". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/05/11/cold-winter. Retrieved November 27, 2016. 
  14. ↑ "Cold Winter". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (Ziff Davis): 92. June 2005. 
  15. ↑ Hill, Jason (June 9, 2005). "Conspiracy-laden plot". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924193841/http://www.smh.com.au/news/Games/Conspiracyladen-plot/2005/06/08/1118123845067.html. Retrieved October 5, 2018. 
  16. ↑ Miles, Stuart (June 11, 2005). "Cold Winter". The Times. https://www.thetimes.com/article/cold-winter-9gm5sc32pkx. 
  17. ↑ "GameSpot's Best of 2005 - Special Achievement Awards (Best Story)". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 9, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120509173658/http://www.gamespot.com/pages/features/bestof2005/index.php?day=2&page=4. Retrieved November 18, 2011. 
  1. ↑ Released under the Sierra Entertainment brand name
  • 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. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

Template:Atari



Template:Warren Ellis



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Cold_Winter&oldid=4139600"