Software:Galleon (video game)

From HandWiki
Galleon
Developer(s)Confounding Factor
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Toby Gard
Platform(s)Xbox
Release
  • EU: June 11, 2004
  • NA: August 3, 2004
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Platformer
Mode(s)Single-player

Galleon is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Confounding Factor and published by SCi Games and Atlus for the Xbox. Designed by Toby Gard as his first independent project after leaving Core Design, the game was announced in 1997, but suffered several delays and changes in the consoles it would be released to. It was released in Europe on June 11, 2004, and in North America on August 3 to mixed reviews from critics. A mobile spin-off entitled Galleon: Dawn was released on August 26, 2004.

Plot

Rhama Sabrier has received a letter from Dr. Areliano, stating that he is fascinated about his ship and its origins, and wants Rhama to come help investigate this situation. Arriving at dock, Rhama is introduced by Dr. Areliano's servant, Jabez. He is in quite a hurry, as he is aware that Areliano would be back soon, however Rhama would like to visit the shop, as he is low on stock.

Jabez notices that Rhama's ship is behind his, so he consumes another herb, starting a massive storm. While trying to help steer the ship, Rhama falls off. He manoeuvres through the water so that he isn't blown away by the wind. Eventually, Rhama arrives at land, exhausted.

Development

Announced in Edge in 1997, the game went through various incarnations and publishers. The designer of Lara Croft, Toby Gard left Core Design shortly after the character's first game, Tomb Raider, was released. Galleon was to be his first independent title following Tomb Raider. Galleon started development on PC and moved to Dreamcast, then GameCube (as Galleon: Islands of Mystery[1][2]) and eventually to the Xbox. The title was originally going to be published by Interplay[3] but after numerous delays was cancelled and subsequently picked up by SCi. Gard's company Confounding Factor closed its doors after the release and he returned to Eidos Interactive as a design consultant for the Tomb Raider franchise. The graphical style of the game was intended to have a comic book feel as well as being influenced by Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad films and Burt Lancaster vehicles.[4] The soundtrack was originally composed by Lee Nicklen, and has since been made available for free.[5]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
mobileXbox
1Up.comN/AC+[6]
EdgeN/A7/10[7]
EGMN/A4.5/10[8]
EurogamerN/A6/10[9]
Game InformerN/A4.25/10[10]
GameSpot7.2/10[11]7/10[12]
GameSpyN/AStarStarStarHalf star[13]
GameZoneN/A7.5/10[14]
IGNN/A8.2/10[15]
OXM (US)N/A6.8/10[16]
The TimesN/AStarStarStarStar[17]
Aggregate scores
GameRankings72%[18]67%[19]
MetacriticN/A67/100[20]

Galleon: Islands of Mystery received "average" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[20]

References

  1. ↑ IGN staff (October 17, 2001). "Galleon: Islands of Mystery (Preview)". http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/10/17/galleon-islands-of-mystery-2. Retrieved June 17, 2014. 
  2. ↑ "The Ultimate Next Generation Action Game From the Lead Designer of The Original Tomb Raider Coming This Winter to the Nintendo Gamecube". Cision. August 20, 2001. Archived from the original on August 22, 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010822194055/http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010820/lam021_2.html. Retrieved July 2, 2019. 
  3. ↑ "In the Studio". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (36): 24. December 1997. 
  4. ↑ "Toby Gard: Let the battle begin". The Independent. April 18, 2004. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/toby-gard-let-the-battle-begin-6171048.html. 
  5. ↑ "Kayotix - Lee Nicklen - Music, Multimedia, Web and Design". http://www.kayotix.com/news/galleon/. Retrieved January 6, 2022. 
  6. ↑ Irwin, Mary Jane (August 9, 2004). "Galleon [Islands of Mystery"]. http://www.1up.com/reviews/galleon_3. 
  7. ↑ Edge staff (June 2004). "Galleon". Edge (137): 98. http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/reviews/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=30482&subsectionid=1606. Retrieved December 20, 2015. 
  8. ↑ EGM staff (November 2004). "Galleon: Islands of Mystery". Electronic Gaming Monthly (184): 150. 
  9. ↑ Reed, Kristan (June 21, 2004). "Galleon". http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_galleon_x. 
  10. ↑ Miller, Matt (October 2004). "Galleon [Islands of Mystery]". Game Informer (138): 140. 
  11. ↑ Mearls, Mike (August 26, 2004). "Galleon: Dawn Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/galleon-dawn-review/1900-6105839/. Retrieved December 20, 2015. 
  12. ↑ Navarro, Alex (August 6, 2004). "Galleon: Islands of Mystery Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/galleon-islands-of-mystery-review/1900-6104350/. Retrieved December 20, 2015. 
  13. ↑ Turner, Benjamin (August 6, 2004). "GameSpy: Galleon [Islands of Mystery"]. GameSpy. http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/galleon/536486p1.html. 
  14. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (August 5, 2004). "Galleon [Islands of Mystery - XB - Review"]. GameZone. http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/galleon_xb_review. 
  15. ↑ Perry, Douglass C. (August 4, 2004). "Galleon: Islands of Mystery". http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/08/05/galleon-islands-of-mystery. Retrieved December 20, 2015. 
  16. ↑ "Galleon: Islands of Mystery". Official Xbox Magazine: 74. September 2004. 
  17. ↑ "Galleon". The Times. June 19, 2004. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/galleon-3qpz9rdf27z. Retrieved December 20, 2015. 
  18. ↑ "Galleon: Dawn for Mobile". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/mobile/920681-galleon-dawn/index.html. Retrieved December 20, 2015. 
  19. ↑ "Galleon: Islands of Mystery for Xbox". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/xbox/374075-galleon-islands-of-mystery/index.html. Retrieved December 20, 2015. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Galleon: Islands of Mystery for Xbox Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/galleon/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox. Retrieved December 20, 2015. 
  • Official website
  • 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 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]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

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. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.



Warning: Default sort key "Galleon (Video Game)" overrides earlier default sort key "Mobygames".



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Galleon_(video_game)&oldid=760631"