Software:Olympic Hockey '98

From HandWiki
Short description: 1998 ice hockey video game
Olympic Hockey '98
North American cover art
Developer(s)Treyarch
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)Nintendo 64
Release
  • NA: February 23, 1998
  • EU: April 1998
  • JP: July 16, 1998
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Olympic Hockey '98 is an ice hockey game for the Nintendo 64 that was released in 1998. It is a re-release of Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98, but this time not endorsed by Wayne Gretzky and featuring the license for the 1998 Winter Olympics that were celebrated in Nagano, Japan . It was the video game developer debut of Treyarch.[1] Besides the box art, in-game titles, and some minor graphic changes (such as team logos and colors), every single aspect of the game is practically identical to Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98. Due to this fact, it received highly negative reviews, with IGN rating Olympic Hockey Nagano '98 a zero.[2]

Gameplay

Olympic Hockey '98 features 20 playable national teams from the 1998 Winter Olympics: Austria, Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

While the gameplay is very similar to Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey, there are minor differences. The rink is bigger than the rink in the previous game (since it is Olympic sized). The game also lists the names of the players below the players.[3]

Release

In Japan, the game was localized and published by Konami under the name Olympic Hockey Nagano '98 (オリンピック ホッキー NAGANO98 (ナガノ98), Orinpikku Hakkī Nagano 98) on July 16, 1998.[4]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings44%[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarStar[6]
EGM4.625/10[7]
Famitsu24/40[4]
Game Informer4/10[8]
GameSpot5/10[9]
IGN0/10[10]
N64 Magazine60%[11]
Next GenerationStar[12]
Nintendo Power6.5/10[13]

Olympic Hockey '98 was panned by critics for being essentially a rebranding of Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98, which had itself been widely criticized for offering too little improvement over the original Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey. All four members of the Electronic Gaming Monthly review team decried its lack of change from the two Gretzky games, with John Ricciardi being particularly vehement: "This kind of shameless rehashing of the same game over and over makes me sick. Did you buy Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey or its incredibly unoriginal sequel with the '98 slapped on the box? If so, stay away from this baby, 'cause it's (once again) the same game."[7] IGN gave it a very rare 0 score, making it the lowest-rated game currently reviewed,[14][15] stating in its concise review: "We'll post a new review when Midway releases a new game."[10] Next Generation ran a similarly concise review, remarking, "Imagine Midway took the tired Gretzky engine, added Olympic uniforms, replaced trading with 'defections,' and released it without tweaking anything but the default ring size. Well, you don't have to imagine because Midway did it."[12]

GamePro took a more positive angle on the game. While agreeing that it was virtually identical to Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98, they argued that it was reasonably distinct from the original Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey. Since the '98 game was recent enough that many interested players would not yet have bought it, they reasoned that Olympic Hockey '98 was a worthwhile alternative for those who preferred Olympic hockey to the NHL rosters.[16] Nintendo Power was also relatively positive, praising the simulation feel of the Olympic mode, but also commented that "Olympic Hockey is so similar in most respects to the Gretzky games that Gretzky owners should think twice before making the investment."[13] In his review for GameSpot, Kraig Kujawa acknowledged that if one ignored the two Gretzky games and judged Olympic Hockey '98 on its own terms, it was a decent game, but argued that any rating for the game had to also take into account its lack of change from those games, especially since Midway could easily have put both NHL and Olympic teams into one game, effectively making Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98 and Olympic Hockey '98 a single release.[9] The game held a 44% on the review aggregation website GameRankings based on six reviews.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Hannley, Steve (August 22, 2016). "Call of Duty Developer Treyarch Celebrates 20th Anniversary". Hardcore Gamer LLC. https://www.hardcoregamer.com/2016/08/22/call-of-duty-developer-treyarch-celebrates-20th-anniversary/222218/. 
  2. ↑ Robinson, Martin (October 15, 2014). "F1 2014 review". Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-10-15-f1-2014-review. 
  3. ↑ "Olympic Hockey Nagano '98 Review". http://n64paradise.tripod.com/reviews/olympic.html. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "オリンピックホッケー NAGANO98 [NINTENDO64"] (in ja). Famitsu (Enterbrain). https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=14534&redirect=no. Retrieved November 26, 2020. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Olympic Hockey 98 for Nintendo 64". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/n64/198232-olympic-hockey-98/index.html. 
  6. ↑ Cook, Brad. "Olympic Hockey 98 - Review". All Media Network. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=7512&tab=review. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Review Crew: Olympic Hockey '98". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (104): 116. March 1998. 
  8. ↑ "Olympic Hockey 98". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (58). February 1998. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Kujawa, Kraig (April 23, 1998). "Olympic Hockey 98 Review". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/olympic-hockey-98-review/1900-2544943/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Casamassina, Matt (January 1, 1998). "Olympic Hockey Nagano '98 [sic"]. Ziff Davis. http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/01/01/olympic-hockey-nagano-98. 
  11. ↑ Kitts, Martin (May 1998). "Olympic Hockey Nagano '98". N64 Magazine (Future plc) (15): 64. http://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-496-64.jpg. Retrieved August 27, 2018. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Olympic Hockey '98". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (41): 108. May 1998. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_41/page/n109/mode/2up. Retrieved November 26, 2020. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Olympic Hockey '98". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 105: 93. February 1998. http://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-347-98.jpg. Retrieved August 27, 2018. 
  14. ↑ "Video Game Reviews" (in en). https://www.ign.com/reviews/games. 
  15. ↑ Clayman, Ryan Geddes, David (2009-07-15). "The Wednesday 10: Best Worst Game Reviews" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/07/15/the-wednesday-10-best-worst-game-reviews. 
  16. ↑ The Rookie (March 1998). "The Gold Medal Is in Sight with Olympic Hockey". GamePro (IDG) (114): 105. 
  • 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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