Software:Falcon 3.0

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Short description: 1991 video game
Falcon 3.0
Developer(s)Sphere Inc.
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Scot Bayless
Designer(s)Gilman Louie
Les Watts
Programmer(s)Erick Jap
Kuswara Pranawahadi
Gary Stottlemyer
Composer(s)Paul Mogg
SeriesFalcon
Platform(s)MS-DOS
Release1991
Genre(s)Combat flight simulator
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Falcon 3.0 is a combat flight simulator video game developed by Sphere Inc. and published by Spectrum HoloByte in 1991 as third official main entry in the Falcon series of the F-16 Fighting Falcon simulators.

Gameplay

Cockpit view

Falcon 3.0 was claimed to have used flight dynamics from a real military simulator, and required a math coprocessor to enable the high fidelity flight mode. Even in less demanding modes, it was still virtually unplayable on computers slower than a 386. The recommended configuration was a 33 MHz 486, a top end machine at this time.

Falcon 3.0 offered "padlock" view, in which the player's POV is slewed in the direction of a selected target, scanning around the cockpit if necessary. It also offered players more natural looking topography than other commercial PC flight simulations at the time—with mountains, hills, valleys and other features having their own unique shapes.

The game includes a campaign engine that simulates fictional wars in Iraq, Israel, and Panama, with limited supplies of pilots, aircraft, and weapons that are periodically replenished. The game also includes a simulation of the Red Flag training exercise in Nevada.

Expansions

An expansion pack Operation Fighting Tiger was released in 1992. It contains several additional scenarios, including a future skirmish between Japan and Russia, which gave the player the Japanese F-16 variant, the "FSX".

Two more expansions were released in 1993: MiG-29: Deadly Adversary of Falcon 3.0 and Hornet: Naval Strike Fighter.

Art of the Kill, a video tutorial that teaches aerial dogfighting basics used Falcon 3.0's built-in ACMI recorder to reconstruct engagements, explains tactics and counter-tactics. Falcon 3.0 was also the subject of dozens of aftermarket books, some written by actual F-16 pilots. Only the Microsoft Flight Simulator series spawned more books.

The game was re-released in 1994 as Falcon Gold a compilation which included Art of the Kill video digitized on the CD collection, along with Operation Fighting Tiger and the announcement for Falcon 4.0. It noted for their early multiplayer support, as even the first version supported two players via a null modem serial port connection.

Reception

Falcon 3.0 sold 400,000 copies by March 1995.[1] Including its expansions, the full "Falcon 3.0 line" surpassed 700,000 copies in sales by December 1998.[2] According to GameSpot, Falcon 3.0 sold well for years after its initial release, and add-on products extended its longevity.[3]

Falcon 3.0 received 5 out of 5 stars in Dragon.[4] In 1992 Vermont Air National Guard F-16 pilot Doug Fick stated in Computer Gaming World that the game's flight model and avionics were very accurate, and praised the game's VGA graphics.[5] He was more critical in 1993, stating that "Spectrum Holobyte and the Falcon 3.0 team could learn something about realistic flight characteristics from" F-15 Strike Eagle III.[6] A 1992 survey in Computer Gaming World of wargames with modern settings gave the game four and a half stars out of five, describing Falcon 3.0 as not as a game system as it is a way of life, but as the most complex air simulator ever released for the commercial sector,[7] and the magazine named it the year's best simulation game.[8] In 1996, the magazine ranked Falcon 3.0 as the tenth best computer game of all time for its introduction of "the first truly realistic flight model" for a jet aircraft, useful wingman and dynamic flight sim campaign,[9] as well as the seventh most innovative computer game for setting a standard for realism and connectivity.[10] That year, Falcon Gold was also ranked as the 80th top game of all time by Next Generation.[11]

In 1994, PC Gamer US named Falcon 3.0 the 15th best computer game ever. The editors wrote at the time that no other jet simulation could surpass Spectrum Holobyte's Falcon 3.0 for its realism and detailed flight models.[12] In 1996, Next Generation listed Falcon 3.0 Gold as number 80 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time".[13] CNET Gamecenter named Falcon 3.0 one of the 10 most innovative computer games ever.[14]

Despite many bugs (Computer Gaming World reported that "some readers have suggested that we give Falcon 3.0 the award for 'The Buggiest Game Ever'"[citation needed]), Falcon 3.0 retained its reputation as the most realistic flight simulation for years.[citation needed]

The editors of PCGames named Falcon 3.0 the best flight simulator of 1992, calling it the most detailed and most realistic simulator.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Buchanan, Lee (March 1995). "The Falcon and the Sim Man". PC Gamer US 2 (3): 124. 
  2. ↑ "GAMECENTER.COM - Game News - Falcon: Then and Now". 12 October 1999. http://www.gamecenter.com:80/News/Item/0,3,0-2332,00.html. 
  3. ↑ GameSpot Staff (November 7, 2000). "The 15 Most Influential Games of All Time; Falcon 3.0". GameSpot. p. 7. http://www.gamespot.com:80/gamespot/features/pc/most_influential/p7.html. 
  4. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (December 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (188): 57–64. 
  5. ↑ Fick, Doug (April 1992). "Flight of the Falcon". Computer Gaming World (93): p. 30-32. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=93. Retrieved 24 November 2013. 
  6. ↑ Fick, Doug (April 1993). "The Eagle Has Landed...Slowly". Computer Gaming World: 142. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=105. Retrieved 7 July 2014. 
  7. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (June 1992). "The Modern Games: 1950 - 2000". Computer Gaming World: p. 120. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=95. Retrieved 24 November 2013. 
  8. ↑ "CGW Salutes The Games of the Year". Computer Gaming World: pp. 110. November 1992. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=100. Retrieved 4 July 2014. 
  9. ↑ "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World: pp. 64–80. November 1996. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1996&pub=2&id=148. Retrieved 25 March 2016. 
  10. ↑ "The 15 Most Innovative Computer Games". Computer Gaming World: pp. 102. November 1996. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1996&pub=2&id=148. Retrieved 25 March 2016. 
  11. ↑ Next Generation 21 (September 1996), p.64.
  12. ↑ Staff (August 1994). "PC Gamer Top 40: The Best Games of All Time". PC Gamer US (3): 32–42. 
  13. ↑ "Top 100 Games of All Time". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (21): 43. September 1996. 
  14. ↑ "GAMECENTER.COM - Features - The Hall of Game Innovation". 19 February 2001. http://www.gamecenter.com:80/Features/Exclusives/Hallofgame/ss10.html. 
  15. ↑ Keizer, Gregg; Yee, Bernie; Kawamoto, Wayne; Crotty, Cameron; Olafson, Peter; Brenesal, Barry (January 1993). "Best of PCGames '92". PCGames: 20-22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32. 
  • 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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