Software:Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak

From HandWiki
Short description: 2002 video game
Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak
Developer(s)Pax Softnica
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Mariko Yumoto
Producer(s)Shigeru Miyamoto
Kenji Miki
Masahiro Tatemoto
Writer(s)Ritsuko Kawai
Composer(s)Satoko Yokota
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance
Release
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak[lower-alpha 1] is a video game in the Hamtaro game series for Game Boy Advance developed by Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo, as the sequel to Tottoko Hamutaro: Tomodachi Daisakusen Dechu and Software:Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!. It was the second Hamtaro game released in America and Europe, but the third released in Japan. It was released in Japan on May 3, 2002, in North America on April 7, 2003, in Australia on May 30, 2003, and in Europe on June 27, 2003. Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak was followed by Software:Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue.

Like its predecessors, Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak is an adventure game. Set in the world of the Hamtaro books and anime, the player controls the hamster ("Ham-Ham", as the hamsters tend to call themselves) Hamtaro. The game expands on the gameplay of the earlier titles by adding Bijou, a friend of Hamtaro who has a crush on him, as a partner. Together, they have to save the other hamsters' relationships from Spat, an evil hamster with a hatred for any kind of relation.

Synopsis

Storyline

At the start of the game, Hamtaro is having a nightmare. Spat, a hamster dressed in a black devil costume holding a trident, is destroying the relations of various hamsters. Then, Spat notices Hamtaro and attempts to attack him. Hamtaro is awakened by Boss, to whom he tells his dream.[5] Hamtaro later finds Bijou, and the two of them must stop Spat and fix the problems he has made.

Characters

Being of the Hamtaro franchise, Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak features many characters (hamster anthropomorphs) also seen in the books and anime. Many of them need help, like Pashmina and Penelope, but some, like Boss and Snoozer, also offer help. Apart from the main cast, the game also features several new Ham-Hams only seen in it, including the antagonist, Spat, and his opponent, Harmony. However, hamsters aren't the only characters in the game as it features other animals as well.

Setting

The game takes place in the "normal world". However, because hamsters are quite small, the world appears to be bigger. Sunflowers, grass, acorns and human toys all are larger than they would've been from a human perspective.

Gameplay

The goals in Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak are to defeat Spat once and for all and to repair all the destroyed relations. A third quest, that supports those two, is to obtain all the "Ham-Chats".[6] Ham-Chats are words, but also much more than that. At the start of the game, Hamtaro accidentally causes almost all the Ham-Chats in his Ham-Ham Dictionary to vanish, starting the hunt to fill the dictionary. Each Ham-Chat represents both a word (for communicating) and an action and/or motion. For instance, Lookie means to look. It is one of the most common Ham-Chats in the game, and solely has an action function. In that sense, action Ham-Chats often come with the necessary item (which is part of the Ham-Chat motion and doesn't show up in the inventory) and therefore, go another way than other adventure games in which the player already has all the actions available, but still has to get the required items. The other kind of Ham-Chat can only be used in conversations. A Ham-Chat like Perksie (Listen) for instance, only has value for conversations. New Ham-Chats are necessary to gain access to new parts of a conversation and get another Ham-Ham to do or give something.

Apart from Ham-Chats, the player also is required to obtain items (like a more conventional adventure game), though most of them are merely needed to complete minigames/side-quest. They are divided in inventory items, songs, currency and gems. Inventory items function like they do in any other adventure game and need to be combined with the Ham-Chats in order to proceed.

As in its predecessor, Ham-Hams Unite, this game allows you to put together the actions for Ham-Chat words to create dances, with a room just for this purpose in the Clubhouse. In Ham-Ham Heartbreak, however, there is an additional feature relating to "Ham-Jams."

You can pick up a variety of items such as sunflower seeds on the ground by selecting hif-hif or digging for them with digdig. Rocks can also be found in this game, but they serve a different purpose in Heartbreak. You can take the rocks and polish them in the RubRub Room in order to uncover gems.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic72/100[7]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer8/10[8]
IGN8/10[9]
Nintendo Power3.8/5[10]
Nintendo World Report5/10[11]

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[7] It was praised for reflecting the personality and wit of the show, but was criticized for being a bit repetitive.

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Tottoko Hamutaro 3: Love Love Daibōken Dechu (Japanese: とっとこハム太郎3 ラブラブ大冒険でちゅ)

References

  1. ↑ Metts, Jonathan (March 19, 2003). "GameCube Sales Double in February". https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/8412/gamecube-sales-double-in-february. 
  2. ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/ah3j/index.html
  3. ↑ "Heal the Heartbreak!". May 30, 2003. http://nintendo.com.au:80/nintendo/news/index.php. 
  4. ↑ "Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak". https://www.eurogamer.net/games/hamtaro-ham-ham-heartbreak. 
  5. ↑ Boss: "Hamtaro, what's wrong? You look awful... Oh? You had a bad dream? You were chased by a hamster wearing a devil costume?" Nintendo (2007-03-03). Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak. Nintendo. 
  6. ↑ "Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak GBA Review". Kidzworld. December 27, 2006. http://www.kidzworld.com/article/3525-hamtaro-ham-ham-heartbreak-gba-review. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Hamtaro: Ham Ham Heartbreak for Game Boy Advance Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/hamtaro-ham-ham-heartbreak/critic-reviews/?platform=game-boy-advance. 
  8. ↑ Taylor, Martin (August 26, 2003). "Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_hamtaroheartbreak_gba. 
  9. ↑ Harris, Craig (April 4, 2003). "Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak". IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2003/04/04/hamtaro-ham-ham-heartbreak. 
  10. ↑ "Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak". Nintendo Power 167: 135. April 2003. 
  11. ↑ Shughart, Ty (April 24, 2003). "[Hamtaro] Ham-Ham Heartbreak". Nintendo World Report. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/4081/ham-ham-heartbreak-game-boy-advance. 
  • 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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