Software:M1 Tank Platoon

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M1 Tank Platoon
Cover art
Developer(s)MPS Labs
Publisher(s)MicroProse
Designer(s)Arnold Hendrick
Scott Spanburg
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
Release1989
Genre(s)Simulation, real-time tactics
Mode(s)Single-player

M1 Tank Platoon is a tactical simulator of tank warfare developed and published by MicroProse for the Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS in 1989. The game features a mixture of first-person, third-person tank warfare, and tactical simulation gameplay. It was followed by a sequel, M1 Tank Platoon II, released by MicroProse in 1998 for Windows. M1 Tank Platoon was sold to Interplay Entertainment in 2009.[1] M1 Tank Platoon is available on Steam and Epic Games services. [2]

Gameplay

M1 Tank Platoon screenshot showing the gunners view

The player is put in the position of a main battle tank platoon commander in charge of four U.S. M1 Abrams tanks in a fictional campaign of battles against the Soviet Army in Central Europe. The player can give orders to friendly units via a tactical map of the battle area as well as taking control of a single tank - assuming the role of either the tank commander, driver or gunner. Between the battles, surviving crew members increase in military rank and skill—giving the player an incentive to keep their team alive.

Depending on the player's tastes, the whole game can be played more like an action/simulation game or like a strategy game. As platoon commander, direct control is limited to the four M1 tanks, however depending on the mission, support units like recon and attack helicopters, M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, MLRS artillery systems or other older M60 Patton tanks are available and can be given orders via the tactical map.

One feature of the game is the ability to change the viewpoint to a supporting unit to get a "recon" from that unit's perspective. According to the manual, doing this from the M1 tanks was supposedly approximate to a tank commander standing on his tank hull to get a better perspective. The external view is also able to track other objects in the centre of the view; this is not limited to vehicles but can actually track missiles or even tank rounds.

The Campaign typically depicts the rush across the Rhine by the numerically superior enemy forces. The Campaign starts as defensive with the challenge being to use technologically superior NATO vehicles to stem the "wave" of Warsaw Pact vehicles. Success may result on the scenarios gradually putting NATO on the offensive side with objective waypoints to reach/hold.

Terrain is a very important factor as going hull down was a critical strategy to surviving. Full use of the supporting forces makes success easier with even the infantry disembarking from their IFVs to use M47 Dragon anti-tank launchers. However, leaving them in one position too long invited an artillery barrage from the opposing force.

Reception

A United States Army Reserves officer and graduate of Armor School, Evan Brooks, stated in Computer Gaming World that M1 Tank Platoon was the first computer tank game to give the player control over four tanks instead of one. He favorably reviewed the game's documentation, internal and external graphics, and depiction of interdependent combat arms, and concluded that it was "the best armor simulator currently available".[3] A General Dynamics Land Systems Simulation Lab software engineer, Dana Cadman, compared M1 Tank Platoon to other tank games of the time and the Army's SimNet training network in a later Computer Gaming World article.[4] 1992 and 1994 surveys by the same author of wargames with modern settings gave the game four stars out of five.[5][6] The game got 5 out of 5 stars in Dragon.[7]

In 1990 Computer Gaming World named it as Simulation Game of the Year,[8] and in 1996, the magazine ranked it as the 32nd best PC game of all time.[9] In 1991, PC Format placed M1 Tank Platoon on its list of the 50 best computer games of all time. The editors wrote, "This is both a tank simulator and an excellent land combat game. Great graphics, gorgeous heavy weaponry, lots of strategy involved — can't go wrong really."[10]

The game sold 400,000 copies worldwide.[11]

Further reading

  • Jeux & Stratégie nouvelle formule #2[12]

Sequel

Main article: Software:M1 Tank Platoon II

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Interplay". http://www.interplay.com/about/article.php?id=25. 
  2. ↑ "M1 Tank Platoon on Steam". https://store.steampowered.com/app/776150/M1_Tank_Platoon/. 
  3. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (December 1989). "M1 Tank Platoon". Computer Gaming World (66): 24. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1989&pub=2&id=66. Retrieved 4 November 2013. 
  4. ↑ Cadman, Dana (September 1991). "TANK SCHOOL 101". Computer Gaming World: 91–92. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_86.pdf. 
  5. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (June 1992). "The Modern Games: 1950 - 2000". Computer Gaming World: 120. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=95. Retrieved 24 November 2013. 
  6. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (January 1994). "War In Our Time / A Survey Of Wargames From 1950-2000". Computer Gaming World: 194–212. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=114. 
  7. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (February 1990). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (154): 76–83. 
  8. ↑ "CGW's Game of the Year Awards". Computer Gaming World: 70. September 1990. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1990&pub=2&id=74. Retrieved 16 November 2013. 
  9. ↑ "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World: 64–80. November 1996. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1996&pub=2&id=148. Retrieved 25 March 2016. 
  10. ↑ Staff (October 1991). "The 50 best games EVER!". PC Format (1): 109–111. 
  11. ↑ ""Wild Bill" Stealey to Launch iM1A2 Abrams at E3 Show I-Magic's New Title May Be Next Blockbuster Tank Simulation". September 30, 1996. Archived from the original on June 19, 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/19970619000055/http://www.imagicgames.com/pr.dir/prabrams.html. Retrieved May 28, 2022. 
  12. ↑ "Jeux & stratégie NF 2". December 1989. https://archive.org/details/jeux-et-strategie-nf-2/page/20/mode/2up. 
  • 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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