Software:Cookie's Bustle

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Cookie's Bustle: Mysterious Bombo World
Developer(s)Rodik
Publisher(s)Rodik
Director(s)Keisuke Harigai
Designer(s)Aki Harigai
Programmer(s)
  • Keisuke Harigai
  • Kouhei Kanai
Artist(s)
  • Aki Harigai
  • Yoi Hibino
  • Mikiko Kondo
  • Makoto Chiba
  • Naotsugu Yabe
Writer(s)Keisuke Harigai
Composer(s)Kouhei Okamura
EngineMacromedia Director[1]
Platform(s)
Release
  • JP: December 9, 1999
[1]
Genre(s)Adventure game[1]

Cookie's Bustle: Mysterious Bombo World[lower-alpha 1] is a 1999 Japanese point-and-click adventure game created by Keisuke Harigai and published by Rodik[2] on Windows and Mac OS.[3] The game has had a resurgence in 2022 for persistent use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to remove traces of the game's existence off of the internet.[4]

Gameplay

Cookie's Bustle is a point-and-click adventure game where the player controls the title character, Cookie Blair, with the mouse by having her interact with items and non-player characters by walking into them.[5] Cookie's Bustle also uses several survival mechanics where the player must find food, drink, restrooms, and places for Cookie to rest, as well as kiss her by clicking her when she gets lonely.[3] If the player fails to do so, Cookie will return home, ending in a game over. Conversely, the player can have Cookie eat too much or hazardous things, thereby reducing her skills in the sports mini games. Dialogue and events for plot-irrelevant non-player characters are randomized.[3] The cut scenes in the game utilize QuickTime.

Plot

Setting

A hundred years prior to the events of the game, aliens crash-landed on Bombo World, a fictional island country in the South Pacific. In exchange for the aliens' technology, the President of Bombo World gave them the northern part of the island, where the aliens established Derocity. However, some of the Bombo World citizens opposed this exchange and has resulted in terrorist activity against the Bombo World government and the aliens.

Synopsis

Cookie Blair (voiced by Racco Guma), a five-year-old girl from New Jersey who believes she is a bear, travels to Bombo World to compete in the Bombo World Olympics, a sports event held in Derocity every four years. After arriving in Bombo World, which is still in a state of political unrest, Cookie plans on meeting her grandmother, Nancy Blair (voiced by Miyuki Ichijō (ja)). However, Cookie learns that Nancy has gone ahead into Derocity, and its entrance has been shrouded by fog. A novelist named Unmo Sable (voiced by Shigeru Shibuya (ja)) tells Cookie that she must have a strong heart before she is allowed to pass.

While exploring Bombo World, Cookie meets Dr. Right (voiced by Mugihito) and Mr. Goldman (voiced by Kōsei Tomita), the latter of whom she convinces to become her coach. In addition, after Cookie reattaches a missing part to a statue, the statue tells her to look for the grave of John Simpson, the leader of the terrorists. Near Mt. Bombo, Cookie frees Mu, a groundhog, with the help of the goddess of the Rainbow Waterfalls. After lifting the cross on Simpson's grave, his ghost tells her the location of the N66 bomb to pass it on to his allies inside Derocity. Cookie learns that the goblins are in possession of the N66 and trades for it. Afterwards, she is able to cross into Derocity, and the aliens confiscate the N66 from her.

After winning the gold medal at the Bombo World Olympics, the goddess notifies Cookie that the aliens have captured Dr. Right. Cookie arrives at Dr. Right's prison cell too late, but before Dr. Right dies, he informs her that the aliens plan on destroying Earth and the only way to stop the bomb is with the passcode "Nancy" — named after Cookie's grandmother. Cookie also frees a singer named Jessica (voiced by Satomi Kōrogi), but the former is arrested by the police and is trapped in prison for three days until Mu saves her. Once Cookie finds Jessica, Jessica gives her a music sheet, telling her that music can convey love. The aliens begin activating the bomb, starting a countdown in Derocity. Cookie briefly reunites with Nancy, who is being pursued by the police for her research with Dr. Right, and the latter gives her an ID card to enter the bomb chamber.

Cookie disarms the bomb in time, but the aliens approach her and reveal that they came to Earth and held the Bombo World Olympics to observe humanity. However, because humans are divided by religion and politics, the aliens have decided to destroy Earth, to which Cookie begs them to give humanity a second chance. Once she returns to Bombo World, during a press conference celebrating her gold medal win, she tells the world that they must stop the war and prove they can be united to prevent the aliens from destroying the world, but the citizens become even more divided. As humanity is erased, Cookie is then pulled into virtual space and remembers from Jessica that music can unite humanity, prompting her to play her song on a piano that is heard by everyone in the world. With the Earth saved, Cookie joins the aliens as they leave for another galaxy.

Production

Cookie's Bustle was designed and conceptualized by Keisuke Harigai, who was also in charge of planning and control.[1] It was produced as Rodik's first video game, a company of which at the time had a total of eight employees.[1] The game took about 2.5 years to develop.[1] Harigai stated that the game was developed with Macromedia Director instead of C++ because of its "multi-platform capability" and effective in reducing development time.[1] Harigai coded the game in Windows while the game assets were created through Macintosh.[1] The 3D assets were created through 3D Studio Max and Poser.[1] The dialogue for Cookie and the non-playable characters were programmed with Lingo so that various conversations can be held between them.[1] Harigai stated in 2001 that Cookie's Bustle was originally targeted to the European market.[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: Kukkīzu Bassuru: Nazo no Bonbo Wārudo (クッキーズ・バッスル～謎のボンボワールド～)

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Camacho, Carlos (2001-04-28), Japanese Mac game developer Keisuke Harigai, http://www.idevgames.com/articleshow.php3?showid=31, retrieved 2023-02-15 
  2. ↑ "ロディック ホームページ". April 2, 2002. http://www.rodik.com:80/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Kalata, Kurt (2019-04-17). "Cookie's Bustle". http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/cookies-bustle-japanese-video-game-obscurity/. 
  4. ↑ McFerran, Damien (2023-01-18). "Someone Is Trying To Erase This Obscure Japanese Video Game From The Internet" (in en-GB). https://www.timeextension.com/news/2023/01/someone-is-trying-to-erase-this-obscure-japanese-video-game-from-the-internet. 
  5. ↑ "【90年代PCゲーム男】かわいいクマの女の子が主人公の冒険アドベンチャーゲーム『クッキーズ・バッスル～謎のボンボワールド～』" (in ja). Retro Gamer. 2020-02-07. https://retro-gamer.jp/?p=3219. Retrieved 2023-03-18. 
  • 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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