Software:Evolution Worlds

From HandWiki
Short description: 2002 video game
Evolution Worlds
North American box art
Developer(s)Sting Entertainment
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)GameCube
Release
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Evolution Worlds (known as Shinkisekai Evolutia (神機世界エヴォルシア) in Japan) is a role-playing video game developed by Sting Entertainment for the GameCube. It was first published in Japan in 2002 by Entertainment Software Publishing and later by Ubisoft in North America and Europe. The game was supposed to be released in North America on November 18, 2002, but was delayed by a few weeks.[3] The game contains an abbreviated version of Software:Evolution: The World of Sacred Device (1999) along with the full sequel Software:Evolution 2: Far Off Promise (1999) on the same disc. Both games were originally released on the Sega Dreamcast.

Plot

The game is set in the year of 930. An ancient civilization had met its demise one thousand years before. Special individuals are able to use Cyframes, ancient tools, which were excavated from the ruins of the ancient civilization. These individuals are known as Cyframe users or adventurers, and are assigned jobs from the Society, a research institute. The adventurers use their Cyframes to explore ruins. Some of the ruins have hieroglyphics that tell of a Cyframe called Evolutia that has tremendous power. Many search for the fabled Evolutia like the Launcher family and even the army.

Major characters

  • Mag Launcher: The only offspring of the renowned Launcher family, Mag lives in his parents' mansion west of Pannam Town. His dream is to become as famed and successful an adventurer as his father, Asroc, who was lost while adventuring and never returned. Now, Mag is the only one to lead the family; despite his talent and enthusiasm, the Launcher family has since spiraled into debt.
  • Linear Cannon: She is always following Mag around on his adventures. Three years before the events of Evolution Worlds, she appeared at the Launcher home with a letter from Mag's father, which requested that Mag protect her. When she first arrived Linear was afraid of everything around her, when Mag gave her an Ocarina she slowly started to feel safer. Linear is habitually shy and silent, only occasionally daring to voice her thoughts, but she wields mysterious healing powers. It is later learned that she is Evolutia, the god of evolution. After defeating Eugene, and revealing her true form, she begins to speak, addressing Mag only, and in combat, or when examining objects. Her sentences are still short.
  • Gre Nade: He is the Launcher family's butler. He watches over Mag and Linear with a stern eye, charged by Asroc Launcher with their safety. Gre is often strict, but skilled in all respects befitting a butler: he is good with money, a master chef, and in times of battle, an excellent shot with a rifle. Gre takes away no money when chosen for a dungeon.
  • Pepper Box: She is a wild adult adventurer with a bazooka-like Cyframe attached to her hip. Pepper is a beautiful and flirtatious young blonde woman who seems to have much experience as an adventurer. Her Cyframe, once sufficiently upgraded, can become extremely powerful. Pepper takes almost half of the prize money when completing a dungeon with her. She wears a stylish blue ensemble.
  • Chain Gun: A young girl whose family has always been rivals with the Launchers. Chain is brash and a little conceited, but she is always willing to help Mag on a trip into the ruins (in no small part because of her secret infatuation with him). The Guns had wanted a male heir to carry on their legacy, and when Chain was born, her parents raised her as something of a tomboy. Chain takes a small portion of the prize money when completing a dungeon with her.
  • Carcano: A mysterious but honorable bandit who raids the train Mag and friends are on to Museville. Mag later finds his hideout at Pine Village and defeats him. Near the end of the adventure, impressed with the young Launcher's strength and devotion, he joins Mag to defeat Yurka. Carcano can steal items from enemies, and he wields a devastating and versatile Cyframe that is fashioned after a drill.
  • Eugene: Refined and intelligent, Eugene holds unsurpassed military clout as the head of the 8th Imperial Army. He stations his troops in Pannam Town while searching for Evolutia, in hopes of harnessing its power as a source of unlimited energy. Disturbingly enamored with Linear, he eventually captures her, forcing Mag to confront and defeat him.
  • Yurka: The evolution of Destruction, he may also be Linear's brother. After visiting her a few times at hotel he convinces Linear to leave Mag under the presumption that if she stays with Mag he will be in danger. He later combines Linear's power and his own to power a machine called Ulticannon. Linear is brought out of a trance that Yurka put her in by Mag when he plays the Ocarina he gave her. When Linear leaves his jealousy and anger transforms the Ulticannon to a much darker form but is defeated by Mag and his friends.

Re-release

Evolution Worlds has several changes in its re-release of Evolution and Evolution 2. The first Evolution has no spoken dialogue, and the sequel has a Japanese voice track. Evolution Worlds uses newly recorded English voice acting for both games.

The Linear Watch was removed, due to lack of Dreamcast's portable memory cartridge, Visual Memory Unit. Due to limited disc space, the first part (re-release of Evolution) is highly trimmed down, eliminating almost all of its dungeon crawling and condensing the game's entire plot into fewer, but much longer, cutscenes.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic63 / 100[4]
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM4 / 10[5]
Famitsu28 / 40[6]
Game Informer7 / 10[3]
GameRevolutionC+[7]
GameSpot6.5 / 10[8]
GameSpyStarStar[9]
GameZone8.3 / 10[10]
IGN5 / 10[11]
Nintendo Power4.3 / 5[12]
Nintendo World Report6 / 10[13]
X-PlayStarStarStar[14]

The game received "mixed" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[4] Some magazines gave the game favorable reviews while it was still in development.[3][12] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40.[6] GamePro said that the game was "no evolutionary step in the world of RPGs, but it's solid fare for average GameCubers seeking turn-based adventure."[15][lower-alpha 1]

Notes

  1. ↑ GamePro gave the game two 4/5 scores for graphics and fun factor, and two 3.5/5 scores for sound and control.

References

  1. ↑ "Evolution Worlds Ships". NINWR, LLC. December 2, 2002. https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/pr/8078/evolution-worlds-ships. 
  2. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (March 7, 2003). "What's New?". Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/article-47530. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mason, Lisa (December 2002). "Evolution Worlds". Game Informer (GameStop) (116): 130. https://archive.org/details/game-informer-issue-116-december-2002/page/130/mode/2up. Retrieved April 22, 2025. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Evolution Worlds". Fandom. https://www.metacritic.com/game/evolution-worlds/. 
  5. ↑ Kuschner, Dave (February 2003). "Evolution Worlds". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (163): 144. https://retrocdn.net/images/c/c8/EGM_US_163.pdf. Retrieved April 22, 2025. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "July 21, 2002". July 21, 2002. http://www.the-magicbox.com/game072102.htm. 
  7. ↑ Liu, Johnny (December 2002). "Evolution Worlds Review". CraveOnline. https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/32424-evolution-worlds-review. 
  8. ↑ Kasavin, Greg (December 20, 2002). "Evolution Worlds Review". Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/evolution-worlds-review/1900-2907381/. 
  9. ↑ McConnaughy, Tim (January 2, 2003). "GameSpy: Evolution Worlds". IGN Entertainment. http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/evolution-worlds/498334p1.html. 
  10. ↑ Knutson, Michael (December 15, 2002). "Evolution Worlds – GC – Review". https://gamezone.com/reviews/evolution_worlds_gc_review/. 
  11. ↑ Buchanan, Levi (April 14, 2003). "Evolution Worlds". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/04/14/evolution-worlds. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Evolution Worlds". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 162: 220. November 2002. 
  13. ↑ Arushan, Zosha (January 5, 2003). "Evolution Worlds". NINWR, LLC. https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/4033/evolution-worlds-gamecube. 
  14. ↑ Hudak, Chris (January 17, 2003). "'Evolution Worlds' (GCN) Review". TechTV. http://www.techtv.com/extendedplay/reviews/story/0,24330,3413624,00.html. 
  15. ↑ Bro Buzz (March 2003). "Evolution Worlds". GamePro (IDG) (174). http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/gamecube/games/reviews/27385.shtml. Retrieved November 9, 2014. 
  • 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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