Software:Marble Madness

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Short description: 1984 video game
Marble Madness
Artwork of a vertical rectangular advertisement flyer. Pictured is an image of an arcade cabinet in front of an image of red, blue, and silver marbles on a gridded plane. The top left corner displays the Atari logo, while the top right corner reads "System I". Below the logo reads "Marble Madness".
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)Atari Games Inc.
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Mark Cerny
Programmer(s)Bob Flanagan
Artist(s)Mark Cerny
Sam Comstock
Composer(s)Brad Fuller
Hal Canon
Platform(s)
Release
Genre(s)Platform, racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemAtari System 1

Marble Madness is a 1984 platform game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games Inc. for arcades. Set in an isometric perspective, the game tasks the player with guiding a marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a trackball. Marble Madness is known for using innovative game technologies: it was Atari's first to use the Atari System 1 hardware, the first to be programmed in the C programming language, and one of the first to use true stereo sound (previous games used either monaural sound or simulated stereo).

In designing the game, Cerny drew inspiration from miniature golf, racing games, and the art of M. C. Escher. He aimed to create a game that offered a distinct experience with a unique control system. Cerny applied a minimalist approach in designing the appearance of the game's courses and enemies. Throughout development, he was frequently impeded by limitations in technology and had to forgo several design ideas.

Upon its release in arcades, Marble Madness was commercially successful and profitable. Critics praised the game's difficulty, unique visual design, and stereo soundtrack. The game was ported to numerous platforms and inspired the development of several similar games. A sequel was developed and planned for release in 1991, but was canceled when location testing showed it could not succeed in competition with other titles.

Gameplay

Horizontal rectangular video game screenshot of the arcade version that is a digital representation of a grided plane with ramps and spikes. A blue marble is near the center of the screen, with moving green tubes below it.
The blue, player-controlled marble (center left) traverses an isometric course. Scores and available time are tracked at the top of the screen.

Marble Madness is an isometric platform game in which the player manipulates an onscreen marble from a third-person perspective. In the arcade version, a player controls the marble's movements with a trackball; most home versions use game controllers with directional pads. The player's goal is to complete six maze-like isometric race courses before a set amount of time expires. With the exception of the first race, any time left on the clock at the end of a race is carried over to the next one, and the player is granted a set amount of additional time as well. The game allows two players to compete against each other, awarding bonus points and extra time to the winner of each race; both players have separate clocks.[14][15][16][17]

Courses are populated with various objects and enemies, designed to obstruct the player, as well as track surfaces that make control of the marble more difficult. As the game progresses, the courses become increasingly difficult and introduce more enemies and obstacles. Each course has a distinct visual theme. For example, the first race (titled "Practice") is a simple course that is much shorter than the others, while the fifth race (named "Silly") features polka-dot patterns and is oriented in a direction opposite that of the other courses.[14][15][16][17]

Development

alt=Portrait photo of a white man with dark brown hair wearing a striped dress shirt.
Mark Cerny (shown in 2010)
Portrait photo of a white man with short dark gray hair and a full beard wearing a blue polo shirt.
Brad Fuller (shown in 2005)
Marble Madness's development team included Mark Cerny, who was the lead designer and a programmer, and Brad Fuller, who was a composer.

Marble Madness was developed by Atari Games, with Mark Cerny as the lead designer and Bob Flanagan as the software engineer.[18] Both Cerny and Flanagan handled programming the game.[15] It uses the Atari System 1 hardware, which was an interchangeable system of circuit boards, control panels, and artwork.[19] The game features pixel graphics on a 19-inch Electrohome G07 model CRT monitor and uses a Motorola 68010 central processing unit (CPU) with a MOS Technology 6502 subsystem to control the audio and coin operations.[20] Marble Madness was the first arcade game to use an FM sound chip produced by Yamaha, similar to a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, which created the music in real time so that it was synchronized with the game's on-screen action.[15][21] The game's music was composed by Brad Fuller and Hal Canon; both spent a few months becoming familiar with the sound chip's capabilities.[15]

Cerny and Flanagan first collaborated on a video game based on Michael Jackson's Thriller. The project was canceled, and the two began working on an idea of Cerny's that eventually became Marble Madness. Development lasted 10 months.[18] Following the video game crash of 1983, game development within Atari focused on providing a distinctive experience through the use of a unique control system and by emphasizing a simultaneous two-player mode. Cerny designed Marble Madness in accordance with these company goals. He was first inspired by miniature golf and captivated by the idea that a playfield's contours influenced a ball's path. Cerny began testing various ideas using Atari's digital art system. After deciding to use an isometric grid, Cerny began developing the game's concept. His initial idea involved hitting a ball in a way similar to miniature golf, but Atari was unenthusiastic. Cerny next thought of racing games and planned for races on long tracks against an opponent. Technology limitations at the time were unable to handle the in-game physics necessary for the idea, and Cerny switched the game's objective to a race against time.[15]

Close up of a small dark grey rectangular microprocessor chips with small gold-colored metallic prongs extending from the side downward. The top has a small gold plate in the middle that reads "MC68010L8, 1TA28552".
The Motorola 68010 (pictured) allowed the developers to program in the more user-friendly C programming language but at the expense of the game running at half the speed of other arcade games.

The development toolkit for the Motorola CPU included a compiler for the C programming language, which the two programmers were familiar with. After Atari had conducted performance evaluations, it approved usage of the language.[18] Cerny and Flanagan's decision to program Marble Madness in the C language had positive and negative consequences. Atari games had previously been programmed in assembly language. The C language was easier to program but was less efficient, so the game operates at the slower speed of 30 Hz instead of the normal 60 Hz frequency of arcade games at the time. Cerny decided to use a trackball system (marketed by Atari as Trak-Ball) to give the game a unique control system, and he chose a motorized trackball for faster spinning and braking when the in-game ball traveled downhill and uphill, respectively. As it was building the prototypes, Atari's design department informed Cerny that the motorized trackball's design had an inherent flaw—one of the four supports had poor contact with the ball—and the use of a regular trackball was more feasible. Additionally, Cerny had anticipated the use of powerful custom chips that would allow RAM-based sprites to be animated by the CPU, but the available hardware was a less advanced system using ROM-based static sprites.[15]

A group of four boxes with a hand-drawn diagram and text description in each box.
Concepts for Marble Madness were outlined in an extensive design document. The document contains a number of ideas, like the tilting ramp (top right) and see-saw scale (bottom right), that were not used in the final product.

These technical limitations forced Cerny to simplify the overall designs. Inspired by M. C. Escher, he designed abstract landscapes for the courses. In retrospect, Cerny partly attributed the designs to his limited artistic skills.[15] He was a fan of the 3D graphics used in Battlezone and I, Robot, but Cerny felt the visuals lacked definition and wanted to create a game with "solid and clean" 3D graphics.[22] Unlike most arcade games of the time, the course images were not drawn on the pixel level. Instead, Cerny defined the elevation of every point in the course and stored this information in a heightmap array. The course graphics were then created by a ray tracing program that traced the path of light rays, using the heightmap to determine the appearance of the course on screen. This format also allowed Cerny to create shadows and use spatial anti-aliasing, a technique that provided the graphics with a smoother appearance. Cerny's course generator allowed him more time to experiment with the level designs. When deciding what elements to include in a course, practicality was a big factor; elements that would not work or would not appear as intended were omitted, such as an elastic barricade or a teeter-totter scale.[15] Other ideas dropped from the designs were breakable glass supports, black hole traps, and bumps and obstacles built into the course that chased the marble.[22]

Cerny's personal interests changed throughout the project, leading to the inclusion of new ideas absent from the original design documents. The game's enemy characters were designed by Cerny and Sam Comstock, who also animated them. Enemies had to be small in size due to technical limitations. Cerny and Comstock purposely omitted faces to give them unique designs and create a minimalistic appearance similar to the courses.[15] Atari's management, however, suggested that the marble should have a smiley face to create an identified character, similar to Pac-Man. As a compromise, the cabinet's artwork depicts traces of a smiley face on the marbles.[22] Flanagan programmed a three-dimensional physics model to dictate the marble's motions and an interpreted script for enemy behavior.[18] As Marble Madness neared completion, the feedback from Atari's in-house focus testing was positive. In retrospect, Cerny wished he had included more courses to give the game greater longevity, but extra courses would have required more time and increased hardware costs. Atari was experiencing severe financial troubles at the time and could not extend the game's development period as it would have left their production factory idle.[15]

Release

A Marble Madness arcade cabinet in Shinjuku, Japan

The game was originally released in arcades in December 1984.[22] Beginning in 1986, Marble Madness was released for multiple platforms with different companies handling the conversions; several home versions were published by Electronic Arts,[23] Tiger Electronics released handheld and tabletop LCD versions of the game,[24] and was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System by Rare, to the Sega Mega Drive in Japan by Tengen, and to the Sega Genesis by Electronic Arts.[25] The Commodore 64 and Apple IIe versions have a secret level not present in other versions.[26][27]

Beginning with the 1998 title Software:Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2, Marble Madness has been included in several arcade game compilations.[28] In 2003, it was included in the multi-platform Midway Arcade Treasures, a compilation of games developed by Williams Electronics, Midway Games and Atari.[29] Marble Madness was also included in the 2012 Midway Arcade Origins collections.[30] THQ Wireless released a mobile phone port on the Java ME platform in 2004.[31][32] Electronic Arts released a mobile phone port in 2010 that includes additional levels with different themes and new items that augment the gameplay.[33][34]

Reception

Marble Madness was commercially successful following its release in December 1984, and was positively received by critics.[15][22][35] Around 4,000 cabinets were sold, and it soon became the highest-earning game in arcades. However, the game consistently fell from this ranking during its seventh week in arcades where Atari tracked the game's success.[15][22] Cerny attributed the six-week arcade life to Marble Madness's short gameplay length;[22] he believed that players lost interest after mastering it and moved on to other games.[15] In Japan, Game Machine listed the game as the second most successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of April 1985.[36]

Many reviewers felt that the high level of skill required to play the game was part of its appeal.[16][37] In 2008, Levi Buchanan of IGN listed Marble Madness as one of several titles in his "dream arcade", citing the game's difficulty and the fond memories he had playing it.[37] Author John Sellers wrote that difficulty was a major reason that players were attracted. Other engaging factors included the graphics, visual design and the soundtrack.[14] Retro Gamer's Craig Grannell, in referring to the game as one of the most distinctive arcade games ever made, praised its visuals as "pure and timeless".[15] In 1995, Flux rated the game ninety-ninth on its "Top 100 Video Games".[38] In 1996, Next Generation ranked the arcade version of Marble Madness as 15 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time".[39] In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly listed it as the tenth-best arcade game of all time.[40] In 2003, Marble Madness was inducted into GameSpot's list of the greatest games of all time.[41] In 2008, Guinness World Records listed it as the number seventy-nine arcade game in technical, creative and cultural impact.[42] Marble Madness was one of the first games to use true stereo sound and have a recognizable musical score.[16][21] British composer Paul Weir commented that the music had character and helped give the game a unique identity.[21] A common complaint about the arcade cabinet was that the track ball controls frequently broke from repeated use.[37][43]

Home versions

The different ports were met with mixed reception. John Harris of Gamasutra thought the arcade's popularity fueled the sales of the home versions, while Thomas Hanley of ScrewAttack commented that most versions were not as enjoyable without a track ball.[16] Grannell echoed similar statements about the controls and added that many had poor visuals and collision detection. He listed the Amiga, Game Boy and Sega Genesis ports as the better conversions, and the ZX Spectrum, IBM PC compatibles and Game Boy Advance versions among the worst.[15] MegaTech reviewers rated the Sega Genesis release favorably.[44] Next Generation staff also liked the Sega Genesis version, but noted that the experience is better when playing with the original trackball controls.[39]

Compute! writers called the Amiga version's graphics and gameplay "arcade-quality".[45] Reviewing for Computer Gaming World, Roy Wagner stated that the Amiga version was superior to the arcade original.[46] Bruce Webster of Byte wrote that the graphics of the Amiga version of Marble Madness in December 1986 "are really amazing". While criticizing the lack of a pause function or a top scores list, he said that it "is definitely worth having if you own an Amiga".[47] Bil Herd recalled that the Amiga version was so popular at Commodore International that employees stole the required memory expansion from colleagues' computers to run the game.[48] Benn Dunnington of Info gave the Amiga version four-plus stars out of five, describing it as "a totally faithful adaptation", and hoped that a sequel was in development.[49] The magazine staff rated the Commodore 64 version a three-plus stars out of five, describing it as "just a shadow of the arcade original and the excellent Amiga version" and inferior to Spindizzy. The magazine liked the graphics, but criticized "marbles that handle like intoxicated turtles".[50] Dragon's three reviewers—Hartley, Patricia and Kirk Lesser—praised the Apple IIGS port, calling it a "must have" title for arcade fans.[51] It received a Your Sinclair Megagame award.[52]

Legacy

Marble Madness inspired other games that involve navigating a ball through progressively more difficult courses.[15][42][43] Melbourne House's Gyroscope and Electric Dreams Software's Spindizzy were the first such games; both met with a good reception.[15][53][54] In 1990, Rare released Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, which incorporated elements similar to Marble Madness.[55] The Super Monkey Ball series uses similar gameplay based on rolling a ball, but adds other features such as minigames and monkey characters.[15][43] An iOS port was in development by Handheld Games,[56][57] but was never released.

Unreleased sequel

An arcade sequel titled Marble Man: Marble Madness II was planned for release in 1991, though Cerny was not involved in its development.[15][35] Development was led by Bob Flanagan who designed the game based on what he felt made Marble Madness a success in the home console market. Because the market's demographic was a younger audience, Flanagan wanted to make the sequel more accessible and introduced a superhero-type main character. Marble Man expanded on the gameplay of the original game with new abilities for the marble such as invisibility and flight, added pinball minigames between sets of levels, and allowed up to three players to traverse isometric courses. Flanagan intended to address the short length of the first game and, with the help of Mike Hally, developed seventeen courses.[58]

Atari created prototypes for location testing, but the game did not fare well against more popular titles at the time such as Street Fighter II. Atari assumed the trackballs accounted for the poor reception and commissioned a second model with joystick controls. Because the new models were met with the same poor reception, production was halted and the focus shifted to Guardians of the 'Hood, a beat 'em up game.[35][59] Arcade system boards for the sequel were rumored to have been destroyed to clear inventory for tax purposes in 1996, but Cerny has called the destruction an urban legend, indicating that at most 12 prototypes' boards were produced.[60] These prototypes have since become collector items.[61] In 2022, a prototype of the joystick-controlled version of Marble Madness II was leaked online.[62]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer. August 1986. p. 14. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/77c4214a-d40f-4697-b5ef-0366b03963c9. Retrieved August 20, 2025. 
  2. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 5 (7): p. 14. October 1986. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/ed58a5c7-0521-4d9e-8bf2-222ddaa7ecec. 
  3. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 5 (12): p. 14. March 1987. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/2d528d85-9f3a-4c01-88eb-18fee7cf4843. 
  4. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer. June 1987. p. 14. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/223b8697-9fc7-471f-8603-20725c45c99a. 
  5. ↑ "NES Games". Nintendo of America. https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/nes_games.pdf. 
  6. ↑ "Game Boy (original) Games". Nintendo of America. http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/dmg_games.pdf. 
  7. ↑ "The Release Schedule". Computer Trade Weekly (Opportunity Publishing) (378): 15. 16 March 1992. https://retrocdn.net/images/4/42/CTW_UK_378.pdf. Retrieved 25 February 2025. 
  8. ↑ "Software List (Software Licensee Release)" (in ja). Sega Corporation. https://www.sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html. 
  9. ↑ "Marble Madness - Sega Review". Mean Machines (21): 72-73. June 1992. http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/pdf/marblemadnessms.pdf. 
  10. ↑ "Sega Game Gear Year-End Preview". GamePro (International Data Group): p. 91. July 1992. https://retrocdn.net/images/c/c0/GamePro_US_036.pdf. 
  11. ↑ "Marble Madness". Game Zone (Dennis Publishing) (11): p. 63. September 1992. https://retrocdn.net/images/b/b0/GameZone_UK_11.pdf. 
  12. ↑ "Game Boy Color Games". Nintendo of America. http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/cgb_games.pdf. 
  13. ↑ Harris, Craig (September 14, 2005). "Marble Madness/Klax". http://ign.com/articles/2005/09/14/marble-madnessklax. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Sellers, John (August 2001). Arcade Fever: The Fan's Guide to The Golden Age of Video Games. Running Press. pp. 142–143. ISBN 0-7624-0937-1. 
  15. ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 15.15 15.16 15.17 15.18 15.19 Grannell, Craig (August 2008). "The Making of Marble Madness". Retro Gamer (Imagine Publishing) (53): 82–87. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Hanley, Thomas (August 16, 2007). "Video Game Vault: Marble Madness". ScrewAttack. GameTrailers. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/video-game-screwattack/23633. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Marble Madness". Nintendo Power (Nintendo): 56–59. January–February 1989. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Drury, Paul (2009). "Desert Island Disks: Bob Flanagan". Retro Gamer (Imagine Publishing) (67): 81–84. 
  19. ↑ Ellis, David (2004). "A Brief History of Video Games". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. p. 11. ISBN 0-375-72038-3. https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi/page/11. 
  20. ↑ "Marble Madness". Killer List of Videogames. http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8618. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Morris, Dave (2004). "Funky Town". The Art of Game Worlds. HarperCollins. p. 168. ISBN 0-06-072430-7. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 Orland, Kyle (March 4, 2011). "GDC 2011: Mark Cerny Discusses Marble Madness' Turbulent Development". http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33375/gdc_2011_mark_cerny_discusses_.php. 
  23. ↑ "MobyGames Quick Search: Marble Madness". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/search/quick/p,-1/q,marble%20madness/showOnly,9/. 
  24. ↑ Ellis, David (2004). "Classic Handheld and Tabletop Games". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. p. 243. ISBN 0-375-72038-3. https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi/page/243. 
  25. ↑ "Marble Madness - Releases". https://www.mobygames.com/game/466/marble-madness/releases/. 
  26. ↑ Ardai, Charles (May 1987). "Titans of the Computer Gaming World / Part II of V: Ardai on Electronic Arts". Computer Gaming World (37): pp. 28. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_37/page/n27/mode/2up. 
  27. ↑ "Marble Madness (Apple II) secret level (Water Maze)". YouTube. June 2, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-11-14.
  28. ↑ "PlayStation Previews: Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (103): 72. February 1998. 
  29. ↑ Harris, Craig (August 11, 2003). "Midway Arcade Treasures". http://ps2.ign.com/articles/433/433090p1.html. 
  30. ↑ Claiborn, Samuel (November 13, 2012). "Squeezing 30 fridge-sized games onto a disc proves difficult". IGN Entertainment, Inc.. http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/11/14/midway-arcade-origins-review. 
  31. ↑ "E3 2004: Marble Madness". Imagine Media. 15 May 2004. https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/05/15/e3-2004-marble-madness. 
  32. ↑ "Marble Madness". THQ Wireless. http://www.thqwireless.com/minisite.asp?ProdID=162. 
  33. ↑ "EA Mobile Marble Madness". Electronic Arts. http://www.eamobile.com/mobile-games/marble-madness. 
  34. ↑ "Marble Madness specifications". http://download.cnet.com/Marble-Madness/3010-2095_4-75219948.html?tag=contentBody;sideBar. 
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 Fahs, Travis (May 5, 2008). "Beta Blues, Vol. 1". http://retro.ign.com/articles/871/871646p2.html. 
  36. ↑ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - アップライト, コックピット型TVゲーム機 (Upright/Cockpit Videos)". Game Machine (Amusement Press, Inc.) (259): 21. May 1, 1985. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Buchanan, Levi (September 15, 2008). "Dream Arcades". http://retro.ign.com/articles/910/910219p1.html. 
  38. ↑ "Top 100 Video Games". Flux (4): 32. April 1995. https://archive.org/details/flux-issue-4/page/n31/mode/2up. 
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "Top 100 Games of All Time". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (21): 66. September 1996. https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-021/page/n69/mode/2up. 
  40. ↑ "The 10 Best Arcade Games of All Time". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (100): 130. November 1997. 
  41. ↑ "The Greatest Games of All Time: Marble Madness". http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/p-29.html. 
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Craig Glenday, ed (March 11, 2008). "Top 100 Arcade Games: Top 100–51". Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008. Guinness World Records. Guinness. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-904994-21-3. https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0/page/231. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 Harris, John (May 30, 2008). "Game Design Essentials: 20 Atari Games". https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/game-design-essentials-20-atari-games. 
  44. ↑ Staff (June 1992). "Review". MegaTech (Emap International Limited) (6): 79. 
  45. ↑ Bateman, Selby (October 1986). "A Great Year For Games". Compute! (77): pp. 18. https://archive.org/stream/1986-10-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_077_1986_Oct#page/n19/mode/2up. 
  46. ↑ Wagner, Roy (November 1986). "Amiga Preferences". Computer Gaming World (32): pp. 38. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_32/page/n37/mode/2up. 
  47. ↑ Webster, Bruce (December 1986). "Season's Greetings". BYTE: pp. 305. https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1986-12/1986_12_BYTE_11-13_Graphics_Algorithms#page/n319/mode/2up. 
  48. ↑ Herd, Bil (29 April 2017). "C128 AMA from Bil Herd". Reddit. https://np.reddit.com/r/c128/comments/682da4/c128_ama_from_bil_herd/dgx5875/?context=3. 
  49. ↑ Dunnington, Benn; Brown, Mark R.; Malcolm, Tom (January–February 1987). "Amiga Gallery". Info (13): 90–95. https://archive.org/stream/info-magazine-13/Info_Issue_13_1987_Jan-Feb#page/n89/mode/2up. 
  50. ↑ Dunnington, Benn; Brown, Mark R.; Malcolm, Tom (January–February 1987). "64/128 Gallery". Info (13): 14–21. https://archive.org/stream/info-magazine-13/Info_Issue_13_1987_Jan-Feb#page/n13/mode/2up. 
  51. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (March 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (TSR, Inc.) (131): 84. 
  52. ↑ Your Sinclair magazine, Reviews section, issue 12, page 47
  53. ↑ Hjul, Alison (January 1986). "Screen Shots: Gyroscope". Your Sinclair (Dennis Publishing) (1): 38. http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/gyroscope.htm. Retrieved November 16, 2008. 
  54. ↑ South, Phil (July 1986). "Screen Shots: Spindizzy". Your Sinclair (Dennis Publishing) (7): 60–61. http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/spindizzy.htm. Retrieved November 16, 2008. 
  55. ↑ Edge Staff (August 29, 2006). "A Short History of Rare". Edge. http://www.next-gen.biz/features/short-history-rare. Retrieved October 14, 2008. 
  56. ↑ Boon, Ed [@noobde] (6 December 2008). "Totally excited by how Marble Madness is turning out on the iPhone. PERFECT use of the accelerometer!!". https://twitter.com/noobde/status/1042221676. 
  57. ↑ Kim, Arnold (4 June 2025). "E3: ‘Marble Madness’ Coming Soon to iPhone". https://toucharcade.com/2009/06/04/e3-marble-madness-coming-soon-to-iphone/. "Mobile developer Handheld Games has been working with Midway to bring Marble Madness to the App Store." 
  58. ↑ Wild, Kim (October 2008). "Whatever happened to... Marble Madness II: Marble Man". Retro Gamer (Imagine Publishing) (55): 64–65. 
  59. ↑ "Marble Man: Marble Madness II". http://cheats.ign.com/objects/142/14245889.html. 
  60. ↑ "Williams 'Cements' Reputation as Ball Breaker". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (26): 43. February 1997. https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-26/page/n43/mode/2up. 
  61. ↑ Ellis, David (2004). "Arcade Classics". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. p. 355. ISBN 0-375-72038-3. https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi/page/355. 
  62. ↑ Orland, Kyle (May 26, 2022). "After 30 years, the world can now play the lost Marble Madness II". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/05/after-30-years-the-world-can-now-play-the-lost-marble-madness-ii/. 

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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