Software:Daley Thompson's Decathlon

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Daley Thompson's Decathlon
Developer(s)Ocean Software
Konami (license)[1]
Publisher(s)Ocean Software
Programmer(s)Paul Owens, Christian Urquhart, Dan Hartley[2]
Artist(s)David Thorpe
Composer(s)David Dunn, Martin Galway
Platform(s)Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Release
Genre(s)Sports (Olympics)
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Daley Thompson's Decathlon is an Olympic-themed sports video game developed and released by Ocean Software in 1984.[3] It was released in the wake of Daley Thompson's popularity following his gold medals in the decathlon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. The game is a licensed adaptation of Konami's 1983 arcade game Track & Field.[1][4]: 42, 106 

A second game, Daley Thompson's Super-Test, was released the following year. The third title, Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge, was released in 1988 to coincide with the 1988 Olympic Games.

Gameplay

The player takes part in the ten events of the modern decathlon:

  • Day 1: 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400 metres
  • Day 2: 110 hurdles, pole vault, discus, javelin, and 1500 metres

The player starts the game with three lives; failure to reach the minimum standard in an event results in the loss of one life. Success in the 1500 metres event results in the game returning to Day 1 to repeat the events with more difficult qualification criteria.

Depending on the computer, running is simulated by hitting two keys (representing the left and right leg) alternately and as quickly as possible or by moving the joystick from side to side as quickly as possible. The game rapidly gained a reputation among players as a "joystick killer" because of the constant vigorous waggling of the joystick required during many of the events.

The Spectrum version was the first game to use Speedlock, a fast loader on the computer.[5]

Music

The soundtrack of the C64 version of the game was composed by David Dunn. The introduction music, by Martin Galway, is based on the 1978 electronic music piece "Rydeen" by Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO).

Reception

Daley Thompson's Decathlon was the ninth best-selling computer game of 1985 in the United Kingdom.[6]

Sinclair User gave the game a score of 8/10.[1] The game won the award for Best (Overall) Arcade Game in the Crash magazine Readers Awards 1984[7] and was the Best Arcade-Style Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.[8] The One magazine in 1991 rated the game two out of five stars for the Amiga and Atari ST.[9]

In 1985, Ocean acquired the rights to produce official conversions of Konami's games[10][11] starting with the arcade follow-up to Track and Field, Hyper Sports. Their officially licensed versions of Track and Field were finally released for the Commodore 64[12] in 1987, and Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum in 1988.[13]

In 2017, the game was placed on Eurogamer's "10 games that defined the ZX Spectrum" list.[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Daley takes the gold". Sinclair User (EMAP) (32): 26. November 1984. https://archive.org/stream/sinclair-user-magazine-032/SinclairUser_032_Nov_1984#page/n25/mode/1up. Retrieved 3 April 2020. 
  2. ↑ "News". Crash (Newsfield) (9): 41. October 1984. https://archive.org/stream/crash-magazine-09/Crash_09_Oct_1984#page/n40/mode/1up. Retrieved 3 April 2020. 
  3. ↑ Bourne, Chris (November 1984). "Daley takes the gold". Sinclair User (EMAP). http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/032/ssftwre.htm. 
  4. ↑ Wilkins, Chris; Kean, Roger M (2013). Ocean - The History. Revival Retro Events. https://archive.org/details/The_History_of_Ocean_Software_Retro_Fusion_Books. 
  5. ↑ Eddy, Richard (1987). The One David. Crash. http://www.crashonline.org.uk/44/david_aj.htm. Retrieved 9 January 2013. 
  6. ↑ "News Desk: Exploding Fist tops Gallup 1985 charts". Popular Computing Weekly: 4. 20 March 1986. https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1986-03-20/page/n3. 
  7. ↑ "Crash Readers Awards 1984". Crash (Ludlow, Shropshire: Newsfield Ltd.) (12): 96. Christmas 1984. https://archive.org/stream/crash-magazine-12/Crash_12_Jan_1985#page/n95/mode/2up. Retrieved 2016-08-11. 
  8. ↑ "News". Computer & Video Games (EMAP) (44): 121. June 1985. https://archive.org/stream/computer-video-games-magazine-044/CVG044_Jun_1985#page/n121/mode/1up. 
  9. ↑ Presley, Paul (28 March 1991). "The Price is Right". The One (EMAP Images) (31 (April 1991)): 80–1. https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-31/page/n79/mode/2up. 
  10. ↑ "Ocean's Hypersports". Computer Gamer (Argus Specialist Publications): 6. July 1985. https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1582&page=6. 
  11. ↑ "Hypersports". Computer and Video Games (EMAP): 46. August 1985. https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1497&page=10. 
  12. ↑ "Track and Field". Zzap64 (Newsfield): 16. December 1987. http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/displaypage.pl?issue=033&page=014&thumbstart=0&magazine=zzap&check=1. 
  13. ↑ "Compilation City". Computer and Video Games (EMAP): 113. January 1989. https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1538&page=113. 
  14. ↑ Mason, Graeme (9 April 2017). "10 games that defined the ZX Spectrum". Gamer Network. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-04-09-10-games-that-defined-the-zx-spectrum. 
  • 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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