Software:Murder on the Mississippi

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Short description: 1986 video game
Front cover of the Commodore 64 version
Developer(s)Activision
TOSE (Family Computer)
Publisher(s)Activision, Jaleco
Designer(s)Brad Fregger (producer)
Adam Bellin (designer)
Rob Swigart (storywriter)
Hilary Mills (graphic designer)
Composer(s)Ed Bogas
Platform(s)Apple II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, MSX2 (Japan-only), Famicom (Japan-only)
ReleaseOctober 31, 1986[citation needed] (FC)
1987 (MSX2)
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Murder on the Mississippi, fully titled as Murder on the Mississippi: The Adventures of Sir Charles Foxworth, is a 1986 detective adventure game developed and published by Activision for the Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and the Apple II computers, and licensed by Jaleco exclusively in Japan for the Famicom and MSX2 as Mississippi Satsujin Jiken (ミシシッピー殺人事件, lit. "Mississippi Murder Case"). It is an adventure game in which the player must solve a murder mystery on the luxury ship "Delta Princess". The story is based loosely on the Agatha Christie novel Death on the Nile.

The game is particularly notable in Japan for being known as a kusoge (i.e. a terrible game).[1][2]

Plot

While heading to New Orleans from St. Louis on the ship "Delta Princess", detective Sir Charles and Watson are caught up in the midst of a murder case by chance, that they must solve.

Characters (passengers and crew)

  • Sir Charles (チャールズ卿)

Not Holmes. Becomes the second victim. His appearance is similar to that of a painting of Sherlock Holmes by Charles Doyle (Arthur Conan Doyle's father).

  • Watson (ワトソン)

Known as "Regis" in the Activision version. Only a few of his memos can be taken. He occasionally takes walks by himself without any notice. After Charles' death, he longs to do everything over again the right way.

  • Dizzy (ディジー)

A prostitute, staying in Room 8. Going to New Orleans to visit her Aunt Pearl. Her aunt's secret formula for Okra soup is popular among the passengers.

  • Taylor (テーラー)

Prostitute from Nevada. Staying in Room 2F20.

  • Carter (カーター)

Judge staying in Room 9. Has a reputation for drinking.

  • Helen (ヘレン)

The widow of a millionaire, staying in Room 2F23. Has a very bad reputation amongst the passengers.

  • Nelson (ネルソン)

The captain. Speaks of the incident even before entering the cabin and discovering the body.

  • William (ウィリアム)

Philanthropist staying in Room 2F15. His hobby is shooting, and he often hits birds.

  • Henry (ヘンリー)

Crew member staying in Room 1F27. Brown's illegitimate son. Is in love with Taylor.

  • Brown (ブラウン)

The victim, found dead in Room 4. Owner of the Delta Princess, which he co-manages with Nelson. Also managed many additional businesses.

Gameplay

Trap

Pitfalls exist in Room 1 and Room 14. Falling through one of these holes results in death and an instant game over. There is also a trap in Room 16, in which a knife flies through the air towards Sir Charles immediately after he enters. Unless the knife is dodged it hits Sir Charles in the head and kills him, resulting in another instant game over. While solving the case reveals the true criminal, the identity of the person that set these traps remains a mystery.

Re-interviewing characters

Each suspect can only be spoken to once per piece of new information— consequently, if there is a piece of information missed the first time around, since it is impossible to talk to them again this can lead to the player becoming impossibly stuck in the game and unable to progress any further.

Reception

Compute! called Murder on the Mississippi "a rich, enjoyable adventure game".[3]

In Japan, the Famicom version of the game is widely known as a Script error: The function "nihongo_foot" does not exist.[1] or even Script error: The function "nihongo_foot" does not exist.[2] kusoge (i.e. terrible game). Reasons cited include that the lack of a save feature, necessitating that the game be replayed from the beginning every session; the instant-death traps being unreasonable; the specific order of steps being required to complete the game being unreasonably particular; re-interviewing characters being impossible despite the information they offer changing based on ostensibly illogical requirements; and adult themes and language being used despite the Famicom's young audience.[1][2]

Notes

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "伝説のクソゲー『ミシシッピー殺人事件』のクリア手段が狂ってる──"自作攻略本"をまとめながら2年の月日を費やしてクリアを果たしたとある投稿者の話" (in ja). Niconico. June 30, 2022. https://originalnews.nico/372062. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 (in ja) 懐かしファミコンパーフェクトガイド. Magazine Box. April 21, 2016. p. 15. ISBN 978-4906735891. 
  3. ↑ Yakai, Kathy (August 1986). "Murder On The Mississippi For Commodore And Apple". Compute!: pp. 58. https://archive.org/stream/1986-08-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_075_1986_Aug#page/n59/mode/2up. Retrieved 9 November 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 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]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

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. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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