Software:Dino Stalker

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Short description: 2002 video game

Dino Stalker
North American box art
Developer(s)TOSE
Publisher(s)Capcom
Director(s)Eiro Shirahama
Producer(s)Tatsuya Minami
Artist(s)Yoshihiro Ono
Shinkiro
Writer(s)Noboru Sugimura
Yasuyuki Suzuki
Composer(s)Hiroshi Nakajima
Tomoko Matsumoto
SeriesDino Crisis
Gun Survivor
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Release
  • JP: June 27, 2002
  • NA: September 17, 2002[1]
  • EU: September 20, 2002[2]
Genre(s)Light gun shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Dino Stalker[lower-alpha 1] is a 2002 light gun shooter video game developed by TOSE and published by Capcom exclusively for the PlayStation 2. It is an offshoot of the Resident Evil light gun shooter games, but based on the story of the Dino Crisis series. Though it can be played by other means, a light gun is recommended, as the game is one in a number of Capcom games that try to bridge the gap between light gun games and traditional games that allow the player greater range of control over their movements in the game.

Gameplay

Dino Stalker is a first-person shooter in which the player must use various weapons to defend against dinosaurs while progressing through the game. Dino Stalker supports the optional use of the GunCon light gun accessory.[3] The player can use a variety of weapons throughout the game, including bazookas, machine guns, and shotguns, but can only carry one weapon at a time.[4] The game takes place across various landscapes, including desert and jungle.[4] A two-player mode is unlocked upon completion of the game.[4]

The game's storyline focuses on Mike Wired, a World War II pilot. After being shot down during combat over the Atlantic, Mike is transported into the dinosaur-populated future from Dino Crisis 2.

Plot

Mike Wired, a World War II era fighter pilot is about to die in the sky in 1943, as bullets approach him before he can parachute to safety. Mike mysteriously somehow ends up being transported to a time with flying prehistoric reptiles, which he manages to kill. He meets Paula, a survivor from Dino Crisis 2 who speaks some English but is not able to speak long sentences. Traversing through the various stages under the guidance of Paula's father, Dylan, Mike defeats many different groups of savage dinosaurs using a special gun he gained, finally battling and defeating their intelligent leader, Trinity, which controlled the other dinosaurs. But despite falling in love with Paula, Mike must go back to just before his imminent death. Paula then edits the timescale to make the bullets vanish to prevent Mike from dying, and he is rescued by men on a boat, realizing that Paula was the one who saved him.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic50/100[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Edge6/10[6]
EGM5.5/10[7]
Eurogamer6/10[4]
Famitsu30/40[8]
Game Informer7.25/10[9]
GameProStarStarStar[10]
GameRevolutionD+[11]
GameSpot4.6/10[3]
GameSpyStarStar[12]
GameZone8.4/10[13]
IGN4/10[14]
OPM (US)StarStarStarHalf star[15]

Dino Stalker received "mixed" reviews, according to video game review aggregator website Metacritic.[5] On release, Famitsu gave the game a score of 30 out of 40 in Japan.[8]

Douglass C. Perry of IGN criticized the game's controls: "After the first mission, your hand is in pain. The Carpel Tunnel syndrome you didn't have before throbs in fiery extended agony as if to say hello, and you have just started. [...] In the dozen-plus levels you play through, the slow-paced, awkward control is not only annoying but it hurts you. [...] But at least there is some comic relief, and for the pure sake of flat-out lunacy, this game may be worth your while." Perry also criticized the game's poor graphics, writing that it "looks like it was designed as a PlayStation game and that it only recently made the transition to PlayStation 2. [...] It's an average looking game at best, and that's putting it nicely."[14]

Ryan Davis of GameSpot called the game's premise "bizarre and convoluted" with "not a lot of coherence." Davis criticized the game's selectable control schemes. Playing exclusively with the GunCon 2, Davis wrote that "using a single hand to move and shoot is difficult and will wear out your arm more quickly than your average light-gun game." Davis also criticized the alternative method of using a standard DualShock controller: "The targeting reticle is far too sensitive, and you'll often find yourself dealing with bouts of overcorrection while trying to draw a bead on a dino." Davis noted that the best option was to utilize both the DualShock and the GunCon 2 simultaneously, "But even this configuration does not compensate completely for the game's inherently slow movement or the inability to look up or down, and you'll spend an equal amount of time-fighting the controls as you will fighting dinosaurs." Davis also criticized the game's poor graphics, and wrote that the only notable sound effect throughout the game "is the 'reload' command you'll hear whenever you're out of bullets, and this is only because the computer voice noticeably mispronounces it." Davis concluded that the game would have been "infinitely more playable had Capcom discarded the Gun Survivor control scheme and just left the movement control on rails, like all other light-gun games. But with its needlessly frustrating control scheme intact, Dino Stalker's appeal is incredibly limited. Though the game is loosely affiliated with the Dino Crisis games, there's not a lot here to draw fans of that series, and with several superior light-gun games available on the PlayStation 2, there's little reason for anyone without a masochistic streak to play this game."

Louis Bedigian of GameZone praised the music and graphics and wrote that the control scheme "isn't bad, but it does take some getting used to. It's worth getting used to though, because this is the best dino-hunting game I've played since Dino Crisis 2."[13] Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer called it "easily the best yet" in the Gun Survivor series, and praised the game for "some stunning environments," but criticized its short length and some of the "rather bland" dinosaur designs.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Gun Survivor 3: Dino Crisis (Japanese: ガンサバイバー3 ディノクライシス[3], Hepburn: Gan Sabaibā Surī Dino Kuraishisu)

References

  1. ↑ "Press Releases". 2002-10-15. http://www.capcom.com/news/news.xpml?prid=450013. 
  2. ↑ "What's New?" (in en-gb). Eurogamer.net. 2002-09-20. https://www.eurogamer.net/article-46695. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Davis, Ryan (September 25, 2002). "Dino Stalker Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/dino-stalker-review/1900-2881580/. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Bramwell, Tom (October 1, 2002). "Dino Stalker Review". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_dinostalker_ps2. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Dino Stalker Critic Reviews for PlayStation 2". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/dino-stalker/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2. 
  6. ↑ "Dino Stalker". Edge (114). September 2002. 
  7. ↑ "Dino Stalker (PS2)". Electronic Gaming Monthly (160): 179. October 2002. http://www.1up.com/reviews/dino-stalker. Retrieved December 21, 2013. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "プレイステーション2 – ガンサバイバー3 DINO CRISIS". Famitsu 915: 92. June 30, 2006. 
  9. ↑ "Dino Stalker". Game Informer (114): 85. October 2002. 
  10. ↑ Fennec Fox (September 16, 2002). "Dino Stalker Review for PlayStation 2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps2/games/reviews/26227.shtml. 
  11. ↑ G-Wok (October 2002). "Dino Stalker Review". Game Revolution. http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/dino-stalker. 
  12. ↑ Villoria, Gerald (November 6, 2002). "Dino Stalker (PS2)". GameSpy. http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/dino-stalker/577434p1.html. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Bedigian, Louis (September 30, 2002). "Dino Stalker Review – PlayStation 2". GameZone. http://ps2.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r20238.htm. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Perry, Douglass C. (September 16, 2002). "Dino Stalker". IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2002/09/16/dino-stalker. 
  15. ↑ "Dino Stalker". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 140. October 2002. 
  • 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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