Software:Midway Arcade Treasures

From HandWiki
Midway Arcade Treasures
Original cover art
Developer(s)Digital Eclipse
Publisher(s)Midway Home Entertainment
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Microsoft Windows
ReleasePlayStation 2
Xbox
GameCube
Microsoft Windows
  • NA: August 31, 2004
  • EU: October 22, 2004
Genre(s)Various
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Midway Arcade Treasures is a video-game compilation of 24 arcade games, emulated from the original PCBs. The overall release was developed by Digital Eclipse and issued by Midway Home Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, Xbox (not compatible with Xbox 360), GameCube, and Microsoft Windows.

Midway followed up the Arcade Treasures with successive compilations featuring different games: Midway Arcade Treasures 2 in 2004, Midway Arcade Treasures 3 in 2005, the portable Midway Arcade Treasures, and the Windows-exclusive Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition in 2006.

After Midway's bankruptcy, Warner Bros. owns the rights and released another arcade compilation called Midway Arcade Origins in 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which includes 29 select games from MAT 1 and 2 plus Super Off Road from 3. It also contains Vindicators Part II which replaced the original Vindicators from Midway Arcade Treasures.

The compilation was later re-released as Midway Arcade Treasures 1, the title and packaging being changed slightly to match the succeeding volumes, but the lineup of games remained the same.

Features

The compilation plays similarly on all three consoles, but the Xbox version has the extra ability to upload scores to an online scoreboard. The special features on each version of the game are the same. These include game histories, developer interviews and other documents. This compilation is a combination of the games included in Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits, Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits, and Arcade Party Pak for the original PlayStation and PC and each contain exactly the same extras from those collections. Additionally, there are eleven more games included that are not found in those collections.

While the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions can be played on the earliest models of the PlayStation 3 and Wii respectively (due to their backwards compatibility), the Xbox version is not Xbox 360 compatible.

Games

Re-release cover art, designed to match that of the later volumes in the series.

The collection consists of the following 24 arcade games:

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
PublicationScore
GCPS2Xbox
GameRankings75.31%[5]73.86%[3]75.02%[4]
Metacritic72/100[8]76/100[6]74/100[7]

Midway Arcade Treasures received mixed, but generally positive reviews from reviewers at GameRankings with a 75.31% of the GameCube version, 73.86% of the PlayStation 2 version, and 75.02% of the Xbox version. Criticisms are the poor menu layout, slowdown in Smash TV, for the documentaries and interviews having video quality that is grainy and unrestored, as well as the documentaries and interviews being rehashed from previous Midway collections.

Midway Arcade Treasures also received mixed and positive reviews from review aggregator Metacritic, with a score of 76 for the PlayStation 2 version, a score of 74 for the Xbox version, and the lowest being a score of 72 for the GameCube version. The reviews were mostly the same as GameRankings, stating the game's positive and negative points. Many of the complaints were based on the DVD content having poor, and stuttering quality, the menu being not pleasant to look at, and some of the games being difficult to control (with Vindicators as the main point of focus). Reviewers concluded that the collection was worth getting.

The compilation sold more than 1 million units by August 2005.[9]

Similar collections

Game Center USA: Midway Arcade Treasures

A similar collection of Midway arcade games was also released exclusively in Japan by Success under the title Game Center USA: Midway Arcade Treasures, which compiled 32 select games from the original Midway Arcade Treasures and Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and was released for the PlayStation 2 on September 21, 2006.[10]

The included games are 720°, A.P.B., Arch Rivals, Bubbles, Championship Sprint, Cyberball 2072, Gauntlet, Gauntlet II, Hard Drivin', Joust, Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest, Klax, Kozmik Krooz'r, Marble Madness, Paperboy, Pit-Fighter, Rampart, RoadBlasters, Robotron, Root Beer Tapper, Satan's Hollow, Splat!, Spy Hunter, Spy Hunter II, Super Sprint, Timber, Toobin', Total Carnage, Vindicators, Wacko, Xenophobe, and Xybots.

Midway Arcade

In 2012, another similar collection titled Midway Arcade was released for iOS devices. It is the first of the series to be published by Warner Bros. which acquired all the assets due to Midway's bankruptcy. The compilation only includes 5 games from the original Midway Arcade Treasures: Defender, Joust, Rampage, Root Beer Tapper, and Spy Hunter, as well as Arch Rivals from Midway Arcade Treasures 2.

The compilation also included four traditional arcade games: Air Hockey, Arcade Basketball (themed after Arch Rivals), Pool, and Roll Ball, a redemption center where players would purchase prizes using tickets, and a jukebox that allowed players to play music from their iTunes library.

Two packs containing three additional games were also purchasable from the App Store: the Action Game Pack contains A.P.B., NARC, and Total Carnage from Midway Arcade Treasures 2, while the Adventure Game Pack contains Gauntlet from the original Midway Arcade Treasures, as well as Gauntlet II and Wizard of Wor from Midway Arcade Treasures 2.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "What's New?" (in en-gb). Eurogamer.net. 2004-02-06. https://www.eurogamer.net/news060204whatsnew. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Midway Press Release: PR 2003-11-18 A". 2006-11-11. http://www.midway.com/rxpage/mpr_982.html. 
  3. ↑ "GR_PS2". GameRankings. https://www.gamerankings.com/ps2/917854-midway-arcade-treasures/index.html. Retrieved February 7, 2019. 
  4. ↑ "GR_XBOX". GameRankings. https://www.gamerankings.com/xbox/917855-midway-arcade-treasures/index.html. Retrieved February 7, 2019. 
  5. ↑ "GR_NGC". GameRankings. https://www.gamerankings.com/gamecube/917856-midway-arcade-treasures/index.html. Retrieved February 7, 2019. 
  6. ↑ "MC_PS2". https://www.metacritic.com/game/midway-arcade-treasures/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2. Retrieved February 7, 2019. 
  7. ↑ "MC_XBOX". https://www.metacritic.com/game/midway-arcade-treasures/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox. Retrieved February 7, 2019. 
  8. ↑ "MC_NGC". https://www.metacritic.com/game/midway-arcade-treasures/critic-reviews/?platform=gamecube. Retrieved February 7, 2019. 
  9. ↑ Dickerson, Justin (August 17, 2005). "Old-school video games move to the head of the class". https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/products/games/2005-08-17-old-school-games_x.htm. Retrieved August 19, 2021. 
  10. ↑ "The Game Center of USA: Midway Arcade Treasures". Play-Asia.com. http://www.play-asia.com/the-game-center-of-usa-midway-arcade-treasures-paOS-13-49-en-70-1g7h.html. Retrieved 10 September 2013. 
  • Official Website
  • 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:Midway_Arcade_Treasures&oldid=774742"