Software:Mean Streets (video game)

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Mean Streets
North American cover art
Developer(s)Access Software
The Code Monkeys (ports)
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Bruce Carver
Producer(s)Bruce Carver
Designer(s)Roger Carver
David Curtin
Brent Erickson
Kevin Homer
Artist(s)Douglas Vandegrift
John Berven
Jon Clark
Writer(s)Brent Erickson
Brian Ferguson
Chris Jones
SeriesTex Murphy
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga
ReleaseMS-DOS, C64
  • NA: 1989
  • EU: 1989 (C64 only)
Atari ST, Amiga
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Mean Streets is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Access Software for MS-DOS in 1989 exclusively in North America. It was ported to the Commodore 64, Atari ST, and Amiga in 1989 and 1990 by The Code Monkeys. Atari ST and Amiga ports were only released in Europe. The game, set in a dystopian cyberpunk neo-noir world, is the first in the series of Tex Murphy mysteries; its immediate sequel is Martian Memorandum. In 1998, Mean Streets was remade as Tex Murphy.

Plot

The player plays the role of Tex Murphy, a down-and-out private investigator living in post-apocalyptic San Francisco . Tex is hired by a beautiful young woman named Sylvia Linsky to investigate the death of her father, Dr. Carl Linsky, a professor at the University of San Francisco. Prior to his death, Carl would not talk to his daughter about the secret project he was working on, and days later, he was seen falling off the Golden Gate Bridge. Sylvia suspects murder, but the police say it was routine suicide. To help get him started, Tex is given $10,000 and a few leads. The player is referred to the game's manual for a list of their leads.

Gameplay

Inside the speeder (DOS version)

The game starts in Tex's speeder flying car, and the player can perform various functions, including moving the speeder backward and forward, raise or lower the altitude, switching between different views, and accessing the on-board computer. The player can also contact Tex's secretary and informant and receive faxes from them if they ask for information. His informant demands money for information, but there are subjects which his secretary has no information on and his informant does.

Questioning people often results in them giving out information that further deepens the plot or produces new leads. To question people, the player must type in the full name of the person or thing Tex is to ask about. The player has the option of offering them money or threatening them when they appear uncooperative.

In some instances, the player receives an address of the person whom they asked about. These addresses consist of a four-digit code which the player enters into the computer on-board their speeder. Once the code has been entered, the destination is marked by a flashing square, and the player must either guide their speeder to it or enable the autopilot. As a form of copy protection, the player is given no addresses to start with in-game, and must refer to the five addresses provided in the instruction manual.

When arriving in a dangerous area, the game transitions to a side-scrolling shooter stage. The player must navigate Tex from the left side of the screen to the right while an endless supply of enemies emerges from the right side to shoot at Tex. Both Tex and enemies can crouch to hide behind the boxes and other debris which litter the streets, protecting them from gunfire but preventing them from hitting their targets as well. Tex can withstand several shots without dying, and his health is replenished upon completion of the stage. However, his ammunition is limited, and more ammunition can only be acquired by finding one of the caches hidden in buildings or by completing one of the game's bounty hunter sidequests.

There are some situations where Tex has to search buildings to get further leads. The player moves Tex around the area, and can push a button to bring up a list of nearby objects. The player has the options of looking at, getting, opening, moving, turning on and off, and tasting each object, though not every option will yield useful results. Some actions may yield access to a new object (e.g. opening a drawer may reveal a note inside), which the player can apply the same set of actions to. The player's primary objective is to collect information about a scientist, Carl Linsky, and the conspiracy behind his apparent suicide.

The game has seven bounty hunter sidequests which are accessed by landing on black landing strips. These landing strips do not have navigation codes, but the coordinates for them are given in the manual. Each sidequest consists of a side-scrolling shooter stage in the usual format, but with enemies which fire much more rapidly than those found on the main story path. Completing sidequests rewards the player with cash and ammunition.

Development

Following the release of their 3D flight game Echelon, Access wanted to develop another 3D flight game, this time based on the story of a homemade movie that the developers had made in their spare time about a film noir detective.[citation needed] Eventually, adventure elements eclipsed the flight sim aspects.

Mean Streets incorporates Access Software's RealSound technology for the IBM PC version.[1]

Reception

Computer Gaming World's Charles Ardai praised the game's "exhilarating" interactivity, stating that "Mean Streets offers a fully realized environment ... this license, this freedom, is refreshingly adult", with excellent graphics and "authentic hardboiled attitude and voice". He stated that "mechanical" gameplay, such as repetitive room searches and interrogations, prevented it from being a great game.[2] In 1996, the magazine ranked it as the 139th best game of all time, saying that it set a new standard for 286 games and offered tribute to Raymond Chandler's novels.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Saturday Crapshoot: Mean Streets". https://www.pcgamer.com/saturday-crapshoot-mean-streets/. Retrieved 20 October 2018. 
  2. ↑ Ardai, Charles (January 1990). "Popcorn Not Included II / Access Software's "Mean Streets"". Computer Gaming World (67): 39. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1990&pub=2&id=67. Retrieved 15 November 2013. 
  3. ↑ "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. 
  • Mean Streets at Atari Mania
  • Mean Streets at Lemon 64
  • Mean Streets at Lemon Amiga
  • 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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