Software:Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge

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Short description: 1997 adventure video game
Koala Lumpur: Journey To The Edge
European cover art
Developer(s)Media Concrete
Colossal Pictures
Publisher(s)Broderbund
Producer(s)Pola Ayllon
Programmer(s)Bob Arient
Dan Kelmenson
Artist(s)James S. Baker
Composer(s)Greg Hale Jones
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseFebruary 7, 1997[1]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Koala Lumpur: Journey To The Edge is software company Broderbund's first comedy adventure video game released for the PC in 1997. The name of the lead character is a pun on Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

Plot

The game centres around a Zen Master koala named Koala Lumpur (Phil Robinson) and his friend, a dingo named Dr. Dingo Tu-Far (John Stevenson) in their quest to prevent the apocalypse caused by Koala Lumpur's mistaken utterance of a mystic incantation. To perform this feat, Koala and Dr. Dingo must collect pieces of the lost scroll of cartoon prophesies spread out over four stages: Search for Dr. Dingo, Land of Lost Things, Stream of Consciousness, and Eye in the Sky.

Gameplay

Koala Lumpur stores any items picked up in his seemingly bottomless fez. The player character is a fly which at several points must be flown into Dr. Dingo's brain.

Development

Colossal Pictures employee James Baker originally worked on Koala Lumpur as a TV pitch for LA network executives. The project was about a mystical problem solver that was a mixture between Yoda and Mandrake the Magician, who had an Indiana Jones-esque sidekick named Dr Dingo. He ultimately failed in getting it off the ground. A couple of years later, Colossal's interactive unit led by Stuart Cudlitz found the old pitch materials and thought the "goofy investigative team" would make for a good video game. While Baker knew nothing about games, he figured its creation might make networks more open to a TV show down the track. The team pitched KOALA LUMPUR: MYSTIC MARSUPIAL to Broderbund, who greenlit the project.[2] During the game's production, Colossal Pictures filed for bankruptcy, which made it difficult and stressful to complete the project.[2]

Critical reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameSpot7.8/10[3]
Next GenerationStarStarStar[4]

Rebecca Anderson of GameSpot praised the game for its silly and satirical tone, noting that it demonstrates Broderbund's willingness to experiment beyond its earnest educational titles with a comedic video game.[3] PC Power spoke highly of the game's "difficult and challenging" puzzles, and thought it had high replayability.[5] Next Generation enjoyed the characters for their depth, charm, and "corny one-liners". While he criticized that some of the puzzles are illogical, he found most of them inventive and concluded that the charm of the characters helps the player get past the stumbles in the gameplay.[4] The Computer Show reviewer Al Giovetti complimented the voice cast on their vocal performance including accents and funny inflections.[6] Game Revolution praised the game's wackiness, though thought it could become stale after a while.[7] The Tap Repeatedly review was scathing; the site ultimately gave it the lowest rating of "double cornpoop".[8] Similarly Jenny Guenther of Just Adventure offered a rating of F−, deeming it unrecommendable.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Online Gaming Review". 1997-02-27. http://www.ogr.com/news/news0297.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Koala Lumpur: Mystic Marsupial" (in en-AU). 4 October 2007. http://www.james-baker.com/news/koala-lumpur/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Anderson, Rebecca (February 4, 1997). "Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge Review" (in en). http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/koala-lumpur-journey-to-the-edge-review/1900-2535639/. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Finals: Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (30): 126, 128. June 1997. https://archive.org/stream/NextGeneration30Jun1997/Next_Generation_30_Jun_1997#page/n127. 
  5. ↑ Slydos. "Koala Lumpur - Journey to the Edge - Review englisch". http://www.adventure-archiv.com/k/koalareviewe.htm. 
  6. ↑ "Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge review by Al Giovetti". http://www.thecomputershow.com/computershow/reviews/koalalumpurjourney.htm. 
  7. ↑ "Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge Review". http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/koala-lumpur-journey-to-the-edge. 
  8. ↑ "Four Fat Chicks -- Koala Lumpur Review". http://www.tap-repeatedly.com/Reviews/Koala_Lumpur/Koala_Lumpur.shtml. 
  9. ↑ "Review: Review: Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge". 2001-07-21. Archived on 2001-07-21. Error: If you specify |archivedate=, you must also specify |archiveurl=. http://www.justadventure.com/reviews/Koala_Lumpur/Koala_Lumpur_Review.shtm. 
  • 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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