Software:Great Football

From HandWiki
Short description: 1987 video game


Great Football
Developer(s)SEGA
Publisher(s)SEGA
Platform(s)
  • Master System
  • Mega-Tech
Release1987
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Great Football is a 1987 sports video game developed and published by SEGA for the SEGA Master System and SEGA Mega-Tech.

Gameplay

Great Football is a basic sports game based on American football, allowing up to two players, and is viewed from a top-down angle, featuring a horizontally oriented field.[1] Each game is divided into four quarters, each lasting 15 minutes (although the game progresses at three times the speed of real time).[2] There are no fouls in the game.

In one-player games, the game begins in the fourth quarter with the computer team leading by a random number of points, and the player has to surpass the computer's score during the duration of the quarter.[1] If the player fails to gain ten yards after a set of four downs, instead of losing possession to the computer team (as is customary in real football), the player incurs a penalty of 10 yards and is given a new set of downs. Consequently, the player is perpetually on offense, and the only opportunities for the computer to score arise if the player's team is tackled in their own end zone for a safety or if the computer intercepts a pass and returns it to their end zone for a touchdown.

In two-player games, players play a conventional game of four quarters, beginning with both players having zero points.[1] The second player opens the game with the kick-off, allowing the first player to start on offense. As in real football, if the player on offense completes a set of four downs without gaining 10 yards, the other team gets possession of the ball.[3]

Reception

Bill Kunkel for ANALOG Computing said, "Great Football is not exactly great, but offense junkies and players who can find opponents should get off on it."[4] Julian Rignall for Computer + Video Games rated it 82%.[1] Génération 4 gave it 69% overall.[5] Mean Machines gave it 55% and said, "Suffering exactly the same problems as Joe Montana Football but even more so, Great Football is a limited, ugly-looking game which offers little in the way of excitement. Buy the far superior American Pro Football instead."[6] Power Play rated the game with 4 joysticks.[7] Sega MegaZone said, "Games that have a large amount of playability can often be forgiven for not having lush graphics. In this case it doesn't matter – the only thing worse than the graphics is the playability".[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Great Football review". February 1989. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230529204741/https://amr.abime.net/review_24112. Retrieved March 30, 2026. 
  2. ↑ "Sega Great Football" (in da). March 1989. p. 10. Archived from the original on June 30, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240630114923/https://retrocdn.net/images/1/1b/SoftToday_DK_03.pdf#page=10. Retrieved March 30, 2026. 
  3. ↑ "Great Football". August 1990. p. 17. Archived from the original on August 4, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240804142936/https://retrocdn.net/images/5/58/StheSegaMagazine_UK_09.pdf#page=17. Retrieved March 30, 2026. 
  4. ↑ "Great Football". June 1988. pp. 90,91. https://archive.org/details/analog-computing-magazine-61/page/n89/mode/2up. Retrieved March 30, 2026. 
  5. ↑ "Great Football" (in fr). 1988. Archived from the original on October 13, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20051013101635/http://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=27&num=391. Retrieved March 30, 2026. 
  6. ↑ "Great Football". February 1992. p. 73. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220303080028/https://retrocdn.net/images/3/3f/MeanMachines_UK_17.pdf#page=73. Retrieved March 30, 2026. 
  7. ↑ "Great Football" (in de). April 1989. https://archive.org/details/powerplay_1989-04/page/n63/mode/2up. Retrieved March 30, 2026. 
  8. ↑ "Great Football". June 1995. p. 44. https://archive.org/details/megazoneau52/page/n43/mode/2up. Retrieved March 30, 2026. 
  • 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. 
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