Software:Courier Crisis

From HandWiki
Short description: 1997 video game
Courier Crisis
Developer(s)New Level Software
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)PlayStation, Sega Saturn
ReleasePlayStation
  • NA: November 14, 1997[1]
  • EU: November 1997
Sega Saturn
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player

Courier Crisis is an action video game developed by American studio New Level Software for PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1997.

Publisher BMG Interactive closed down its U.S. operations in mid-1997,[4] and sold the U.S. publication rights for Courier Crisis to GT Interactive.[5]

Gameplay

The player is given a set amount of time to deliver a set amount of packages. Money can be earned to buy new bikes.

Development

The game was originally scheduled to release in October 1997 for both PlayStation and Saturn.[6] In June 1997, GT Interactive acquired the North American publishing rights to the game.[7][8]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings54% (PS1)[9]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Consoles +85%[10]
EGM5.25/10 (PS1)[11]
Famitsu25/40 (SAT)[12]
23/40 (PS1)[13]
Game Informer4.5/10[14]
GameFan68% (PS1)[15][lower-alpha 1]
GameSpot2.3/10 (PS1)[16]
Next GenerationStar (PS1)[17]
OPM (UK)6/10 (PS1)[18]
Sega Saturn Magazine48% (SAT)[19]

Courier Crisis was almost universally reviled by critics. The PlayStation version held a score of 54% on the review aggregation website GameRankings based on five reviews, even with an outlier of 89.5.[9] Critics generally remarked that while the game's premise is fresh and promising, the execution is poor on nearly every front, bemoaning everything from rough graphics which hearken back to the PlayStation and Saturn's launch window titles,[11][14][16][20][17][19][21] to voice clips which repeat frequently enough to be a serious annoyance,[11][20][21] to frustrating, poorly responsive controls.[11][16][20][17][19] Next Generation elaborated that "The bike handles terribly, responding to turns as if it were being ridden through sand. There's a quick-turn button, but this turns the bicycle so sharply that players inevitably end up stuck facing the wall." The reviewer also opined that the game's concept would have worked better as a bonus stage in a broader delivery game than as a standalone game.[17] GameSpot summed it up as "A fantastic concept with endless possibility, but one that was executed so poorly here, even the most radical bunny-hop couldn't save the resultant product."[16]

Most critics remarked that the game offers fleeting moments of fun, but soon becomes dull due to the repetitive level designs and lack of variety in the objectives.[11][16][20][19] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly also noted Courier Crisis has a sharp difficulty slope, being boringly easy for the first four stages before a spike in challenge in stage five. Dan Hsu enjoyed the challenge of the later stages, saying it requires the player to learn bike tricks to progress, but suspected that many players would give up on the game before reaching this point, while co-reviewer Crispin Boyer felt that the early stages and later stages represent two unpleasant extremes.[11] Several critics also found the music terrible,[11][20][19] though GamePro called it "rousing". However, GamePro also cited draw distance problems which make it unreasonably difficult to avoid hazards.[lower-alpha 2][21] Other technical issues cited in reviews include slowdown,[20] inaccurate collision detection,[14][19] and a choppy frame rate.[11][16][20]

The British Sega Saturn Magazine called Courier Crisis "the worst Saturn game we've received this year by some considerable way", and rebuked Sega of Europe for their decision to localize the game while passing on acclaimed overseas Saturn releases such as Grandia, Dead or Alive, and Vampire Savior.[19] In Japan, where the PlayStation version was localized and published by BMG Interactive on February 19, 1998, followed by the Saturn version on March 26, 1998, Famitsu gave it a score of 25 out of 40 for the latter,[12] and 23 out of 40 for the former.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ In GameFan's viewpoint of the PlayStation version, one critic gave it 70, and the rest gave it each a score of 67.
  2. ↑ GamePro gave the PlayStation version 3.0/5 for graphics, 3.0/5 for fun factor, 3.5/5 scores for sound, and 3.5/5 for control.

References

  1. ↑ GameSpot staff (November 14, 1997). "VGS Game Calendar [date mislabeled as "April 26, 2000""]. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 8, 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/19990208233914/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_11/14_vcal/index.html. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  2. ↑ "sega-europe.online". 1998-12-02. http://www.sega-europe.com/saturn/satinfo.html. 
  3. ↑ "Courier Crisis". 1998-02-10. http://www.sega-saturn.com/saturn/software/couriercrisis.htm. 
  4. ↑ "Cleaning Time: Corporations Slim Down". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (31): 22–23. July 1997. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_31/page/n23/mode/2up. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  5. ↑ "GT Interactive Buys Singletrac, Makes Agreements with BMG and Warner Bros. Interactive". GamePro (IDG) (108): 20. September 1997. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_108_Volume_09_Number_09_1997-09_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n21/mode/2up. Retrieved March 8, 2021. 
  6. ↑ Fielder, Joe (June 2, 1997). "Pedal to the Mettle". Archived from the original on December 5, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19981205214838/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_06/02_courier/index.html. Retrieved July 25, 2022. 
  7. ↑ "GT Interactive strikes publishing agreement with BMG Interactive for 'Courier Crisis' for PlayStation". June 26, 1997. Archived from the original on May 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130514053827/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/GT+Interactive+strikes+publishing+agreement+with+BMG+Interactive+for...-a019532184. Retrieved July 25, 2022. 
  8. ↑ Johnston, Chris (June 26, 1997). "GT Interactive Takes On Courier Crisis". Archived from the original on January 19, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19980119050248/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_06/26_courier/index.html. Retrieved July 29, 2022. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Courier Crisis for PlayStation". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190501150641/https://www.gamerankings.com/ps/196985-courier-crisis/index.html. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  10. ↑ Gia (December 1997). "Courier Crisis (PS)" (in French). Consoles + (71): 182. http://download.abandonware.org/magazines/Consoles%20Plus/consoleplus_numero071/Console%2B_N71-Page%200178.jpg. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 "Review Crew: Courier Crisis". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (104): 121. March 1998. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "クーリエ・クライシス [セガサターン"] (in Japanese). Famitsu (Enterbrain). https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=15283&redirect=no. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "クーリエ・クライシス [PS"] (in Japanese). Famitsu (Enterbrain). https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=16947&redirect=no. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "Courier Crisis". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (56). December 1997. Archived from the original on September 10, 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/19990910170455/http://www.gameinformer.com/cgi-bin/review.cgi?sys=psx&path=dec97&doc=ccrisis. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  15. ↑ Halverson, Dave "E. Storm"; Jevons, Dan "Knightmare"; Griffin, Mike "Glitch" (November 1997). "Viewpoint". GameFan (Metropolis Media) 5 (11): 18. https://archive.org/details/Gamefan_Vol_5_Issue_11/page/n19/mode/2up. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Soete, Tim (January 23, 1998). "Courier Crisis Review". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/courier-crisis-review/1900-2547103/. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 "Courier Crisis". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (37): 151. January 1998. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_37/page/n151/mode/2up. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  18. ↑ "Courier Crisis". Official UK PlayStation Magazine (Future Publishing) (27): 113. December 25, 1997. https://archive.org/details/opm027/page/n109/mode/2up. Retrieved November 23, 2020. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 Nutter, Lee (June 1998). "Review: Courier Crisis". Sega Saturn Magazine (EMAP) (32): 64–65. https://archive.org/details/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_032/page/n63/mode/2up. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named IGNPS
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 The Shadow Dragon (January 1998). "PlayStation ProReview: Courier Crisis". GamePro (IDG) (112): 98. 
  • 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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