Software:Microshaft Winblows 98

From HandWiki
Short description: 1998 parody video game
Microshaft Winblows 98
Developer(s)Parroty Interactive
Publisher(s)Palladium Interactive[1]
Director(s)Steven Horowitz
Producer(s)Dale Geist
Programmer(s)WayForward[2]
Writer(s)Tony Camin
Ian Deitchman
J. P. Manoux
Kristin Rusk
Brian Posehn[3]
Composer(s)Chronic Music[2]
Platform(s)Windows, Macintosh
ReleaseJanuary 5, 1998[4]
Mode(s)Single-player

Microshaft Winblows 98 is a 1998 interactive comedy video game for Windows and Classic Mac OS. It parodies the then-upcoming Windows 98 operating system, as well as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.[5][6] Released by Palladium Interactive during the United States v. Microsoft Corp. case and at a time when Microsoft, Windows, and Gates were easy targets for jokes, the game attempted to offer a satirical take on the subject matter.

Developed by Parroty Interactive, the self-professed National Lampoon of the interactive media industry, Microshaft Winblows 98 became the company's fourth interactive comedy video game, after Pyst, a clone of adventure video game Myst, Star Warped, a satire of science-fiction film series Star Wars, and The X-Fools, a spoof of supernatural TV series The X-Files, respectively.[7] Initially released on January 5, 1998 before gaining further exposure through being present at Macworld Expo, Microshaft Winblows 98 was praised by magazines and newspapers, mostly for its clever and blunt humor.

Concept and gameplay

Bill Gates while in a district court for United States v. Microsoft Corp, which focused on controversial business practices by him and Microsoft that Microshaft Winblows 98 pokes at.

Despite Microsoft being the target of jokes for a considerable period of its then 23-year history,[7] Microshaft Winblows 98 was released at a specific point in time when Microsoft and Bill Gates were in the news for controversial reasons. In particular, Gates was in legal trouble with the Justice Department in terms of the court case United States v. Microsoft Corp surrounding the company's alleged unfair leveraging of its market dominance. The Buffalo News noted that Gates had been embroiled in issues with "competitors, the feds and industry pundits".[8] Microshaft Winblows 98 came into existence as a response to this and a way to "mock [Gates'] entire existence" in a humorous and intelligent way,[9] serving as a parody of the "company, the software and the man".[7] Palladium officials noted that the game was influenced by the "public's fascination with this cultural phenomenon",[10] although they claimed the timing of the game was "dumb luck".[7]

Ed Bernstein, founder and CEO of Palladium Interactive had long-wanted to create works which emulated the parody located in Mad magazine, and felt this game could be his "piece de resistance", further commenting that his company would have been able to "sell the empty boxes" due to the game cover humor alone.[7] Elizabeth Wasserman of Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News cited various examples of this including the tagline "Who does he want to own today?", a parody of Microsoft's own "Where do you want to go today?", and the version, listed as "98 or 99 or 00 or 01".[7]

Describing itself as "rated for teenagers" due to its "comic mischief" and "suggestive themes",[11] the game opens with the fictitious Microsoft janitor Graham and Bill Gates' personal assistant Meg (played by J. P. Manoux and Tamara Bick respectively) with a dialogue on the program. When started, the game presents a bootsplash much like the one on the Windows 9x operating systems before presenting the user with a desktop from which various "applications" can be launched; these include spoofs of computer games (such as Doom), Microsoft software (such as Internet Explorer), and even sometimes popular fads of the time (such as a "Billagotchi" that spoofs the Tamagotchi and Bill Gates).[12][13] The game also has a storyline, in which players start out as tech support employees and must work their way up to a meeting with Bill Gates. In addition to containing a series of minigames, the game also offered enhancements to Windows 95, while extra content was available via the official website.[14]

Release and promotion

Reception
Review score
PublicationScore
MacAddict2/4[15]

The game's publication took place in Spencer, Indiana,[16] and upon its release was shipped to retail chains such as Fry's Electronics, Egghead Software and CompUSA. The design of the game cover closely mimicked that of the Windows 95 packaging.[7] During development, Parroty Interactive had planned to promote the game at the COMDEX computer expo by Fall in 1997.[17] The presentation was to include a Bill Gates lookalike, however the staff were expelled by security from the convention and the distribution plan was shut down.[18]

Despite this setback, the company presented their product at the Macworld expo in Silicon Valley,[19] San Francisco next January, receiving praise from Macintosh users.[20] At the event they demoed the CEO-themed Tamagotchi spoof "Billagotchi", and "Winblows Exploder" game where the player blows away error messages. CD copies of the game were sold in a booth for $20 each.[3] Microsoft also debuted some new products at Macworld such as Office 98 and Internet Explorer 4.0.[7] While noting that he was yet to examine the Palladium Interactive title, Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray commented "ours are probably a little more serious" than Microshaft Winblows 98, and the corporation "tr[ies] to have a sense of humor about this sort of thing".[7] The product was also released in the French language.[21]

Reviews in professional publications upon the game's publication were extremely positive. A common praise was the game's humor,[7][22][23][24] which was described as "clever",[3][8] "twisted",[11] "relentlessly ... lampoon[ing]", "edgy", "offen[sive]",[8] "first-rate",[25] and comparable to the comedy group Monty Python.[11] The Washington Times reviewer Joe Szadkowski described it as "devastatingly witty", "delightfully cruel", and the "coolest parody ever created", while hoping that Steve Jobs would find the title funny. Szadkowski thought Billagotchi was a "wicked takeoff" of the Tamagotchi, found the Bill Gates' eyeroll response in the pinball minigame to be a "visual highlight", and wrote that Gates TV became his favorite part of the program due to its "great character voices and hilarious artwork".[9] David Duberman of Spectrum thought the game was Palladium Interactive's best work, praising its "fun ... surprises" and "clever, if not side-splitting, wordplay",[3] and MacLedge's Michael Dixon found the minigames both "enjoyable" and "quite replayable".[25]

In contrast, a MacAddict journalist was not as appreciative of the game's cruel comedy as other critics, giving the product an overall indifferent review,[26][15] and ThemeWorld thought the program was not comprehensive enough to be considered a complete theme package.[27] A 2011 retrospective review from PC Gamer panned Microshaft Winblows 98 for feeling made by "non-technical people desperately trying to write [tech geek] jokes in what may as well be a foreign language".[28]

References

  1. ↑ "Parroty Interactive Humor". Palladium Interactive. http://www.palladium.net:80/Palladium/products/parroty/cat_f.htm. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Microshaft Winblows 98 (1998) Windows credits - MobyGames". http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/microshaft-winblows-98/credits. 
  3. ↑ "Now Shipping". Imagine Publishing. January 5, 1998. http://www.pcgamer.com/news/news-1998-01-05.html. 
    Now Shipping: "Winblows 98, the Microsoft, Windows and Bill Gates parody from Parroty Interactive".
  4. ↑ "Breaking Windows (Microshaft's Winblows '98 is a game that satirizes Microsoft Corp.) (Brief Article)". Newsweek. January 26, 1998. https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20154159.html. 
  5. ↑ Rothstein, Edward (January 12, 1998). "Technology: Connections; A time for sympathy, yes, sympathy for Microsoft in its lonely stand". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/12/business/technology-connections-time-for-sympathy-yes-sympathy-for-microsoft-its-lonely.html. 
  6. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 Wasserman, Elizabeth (January 5, 1998). "Company's Spoof of Microsoft: Microshaft Winblows". San Jose Mercury News. https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20112728.html. 
  7. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Kilsheimer, Joe (January 31, 1998). "Take a Break From Life's Grimmer Side". Orlando Sentinel. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1998-01-31-9801300977-story.html. 
  8. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Szadkowski, Joe (February 9, 1998). "Advice Etc.;roming the Galaxy". The Washington Times. https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-58385325.html. 
  9. ↑ "Parroty Interactive Ships "Microshaft Winblows 98"; CD-ROM Parodies Microsoft, Bill Gates and Windows". The Free Online Library. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Parroty+Interactive+Ships+%22Microshaft+Winblows+98%22;+CD-ROM+Parodies...-a020108385. 
  10. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Cook, Peter; Manning, Peter (January 22, 1998). "The Philadelphia Inquirer CompuDudes Column". The Philadelphia Inquirer. https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20167171.html. 
  11. ↑ "Microsoft bashers aren't welcome inside electronics show". The Augusta Chronicle. Associated Press. November 21, 1997. http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/11/21/tec_217871.shtml. 
  12. ↑ Marriott, Michel (March 19, 1998). "As Big as Microsoft: Ribbing Gates". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/19/technology/as-big-as-microsoft-ribbing-gates.html. 
  13. ↑ Fagan, Peter (March 9, 1998). "An Easy Target, But a Moving One: Palladium's Timely "Winblows 98"". SFGate. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/An-Easy-Target-But-a-Moving-One-Palladium-s-3012450.php. 
  14. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Microshaft Winblow". MacAddict (21): 52. May 1998. https://archive.org/stream/MacAddict-021-199805/MacAddict-021-199805-BobKiwi-v1#page/n53. Retrieved July 7, 2017. 
  15. ↑ "Microshaft Winblows 98". Computer History Museum. 1997. http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102713577. 
  16. ↑ Naify, William (November 16, 1997). "Parroty Interactive Unveils Upcoming Title At COMDEX/Fall '97" (Press release). Palladium Interactive. Archived from the original on December 3, 1998. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  17. ↑ Naify, William (November 19, 1997). "Promoters of Microsoft® Parody ejected from COMDEX show floor" (Press release). Palladium Interactive. Archived from the original on December 5, 1998. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Booted At Comdex, Company Turns To Macworld". The Mac Observer. December 18, 1997. https://www.macobserver.com/archive/1997/december.shtml. 
  19. ↑ Naify, William (April 21, 1998). "Publisher of "Microshaft Winblows™ 98" laughs along with Bill Gates and COMDEX attendees as Windows® 98 crashes" (Press release). Palladium Interactive. Archived from the original on December 7, 1998. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Microshaft Winblows 98: Jusqu ou Iront Ils Jeu PC" (in fr). Price Minister. Rakuten. http://www.priceminister.com/offer/buy/1023253/Microshaft-Winblows-98-Jusqu-ou-Iront-Ils-Jeu-Pc.html. 
  21. ↑ "Microsoft Spoof: Microshaft Winblows 98 Bill Gates' Empire Is The Target Of Latest Parody By Cd-Rom Maker Palladium Interactive". The Spokesman-Review. January 6, 1998. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/jan/06/microsoft-spoof-microshaft-winblows-98-bill-gates/. 
  22. ↑ "Sending Up The Lords Of Software". Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1998-01-26/sending-up-the-lords-of-software. 
  23. ↑ Furchgott, Roy (March 2, 1998). "Guess The Check Is In The E Mail". Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1998-03-02/guess-the-check-is-in-the-e-mail. 
  24. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Dixon, Michael (June 16, 2000). "Microshaft Winblows '98-Mac Review". MacLedge. http://macledge.com/Reviews/winblows/winblows.html. 
  25. ↑ Reynolds, David (November 1, 2004). "Microshaft Winblows 98". MacAddict. http://www.macaddict.com/issues/9805/rev.winblows.html. 
  26. ↑ "Microshaft Winblows 98". June 28, 1998. http://www.themeworld.com/reviews/shaft98.html. 
  27. ↑ Cobbett, Richard (November 2, 2019). "Crapshoot: Microshaft Winblows 98, the parody that forgot the jokes". PC Gamer. http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/02/05/saturday-crapshoot-microshaft-winblows-98/. Retrieved February 1, 2013. 
  • 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. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

Template:Atari





Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Microshaft_Winblows_98&oldid=3952222"