Software:Powerslide (video game)

From HandWiki
Powerslide
Developer(s)Ratbag Games
Publisher(s)GT Interactive
Platform(s)Windows
Release
Genre(s)Racing

Powerslide is a post-apocalyptic Microsoft Windows racing game by Australian developer Ratbag Games. It was released in Australia, United States and Europe in 1998.[2] Powerslide was praised for its graphics and AI in particular. A sequel, Powerslide: Slipstream, was in development as of 2004, but Ratbag couldn't find a suitable publisher, and shortly after the company was shut down.[3] Powerslide was re-released on GOG.com in 2012.

Story

Powerslide is set in a dystopian future where the ozone layer has disintegrated, leading to worldwide poverty and a collapse of society. Society has rebuilt in two distinct factions - above and below ground. Below ground live the wealthy corporations, in a sterile and controlled environment, whilst above ground live feral communities.

The feral population have taken advantage of the abandoned roads and vehicles, joyriding through deserted streets and countryside, docklands, sewers, and multi-level parking lots. Known as "Powersliding" the races were originally held illegally by feral groups, however the underground corporations have now taken an interest in the sport as well.[4]

Gameplay

Powerslide is set in the near future. There are three main modes: single race, time trial, and championship. Single races can be played on any unlocked track, solo or in online multiplayer. Records can be set in this mode, and saved. Time trials involve only a lone player in a sort of practice run for any given track. Championships consist of consecutive sets of tracks, mainly the Novice, Advanced, and Expert championships. The Insane level can be attempted if the Expert championship is completed.

The game is a "drive anywhere" arcade racer; there are no invisible walls or track side facades holding the vehicle back, allowing the player to explore the tracks at will during races. Cheat codes, which can simply be typed in during a race, can be discovered by reaching out-of-the-way places across the tracks. By beating championships, new cars and tracks are unlocked. The supercar can be earned by beating the Expert championship.[5]

Powerslide's physics engine has four-wheel independent suspension, giving the cars full six degrees of freedom movement. The player is not stuck to a flat track, and the physics model realistically simulates powersliding over varying surface types and rugged terrains. The physics engine also allows driving over any in-game scenery such as mountains, walls and hidden areas.

Force feedback is generated from information supplied directly from the physics engine. Slide and deflection forces acting upon the front wheels are transmitted directly to the force feedback device. Forces are also generated from collisions with other cars or awkward landings from jumps. All of these forces are generated in response to the particular conditions the driver is experiencing at the time. As a result, force feedback adds valuable information to the driving experience and makes it easier to feel what the vehicle is doing. This is in contrast to most other racing games, in which a series of canned force feedback events are triggered by different terrains or generic game events.[5]

Powerslide supports up to 12 players via online modes. Two game modes are included in multiplayer: single race, and fox and hounds. In fox and hounds, one player is chased by the rest of the players. The player who catches the fox in turn becomes the fox. The aim is to be the first player to accumulate four minutes as the fox. The single races are like the races in the single player mode.[5]

Development

Powerslide was developed from the ground up as a 3D-card-only game for 3dfx Interactive's Voodoo Graphics chipset.[6] This enabled it to produce up to 300,000 polygons per second.[7] The bulk of the code was written to 3dfx's direct API, Glide.[6] The game was developed by 18 people.[8]

3dfx Interactive gave Powerslide a prominent place in its exhibit at E3 1997, sparking interest from a number of companies in publishing the game.[6]

The SFX had the ability to morph into their surroundings by becoming echo-like when in enclosed spaces, allowing the player to judge how far away opponent cars are and how fast they are travelling based upon the audio cues alone. The music in Powerslide is mostly a mixture of techno and rock.[5]

It was planned that PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and arcade versions would follow the release of the PC version,[6] but none of these were ever released.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings76%[9]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGSPStarStarHalf star[11]
CGWStarStarStar[12]
GameProStarStarStarStar[13]
GameRevolutionB+[14]
GameSpot7.5/10[15]
IGN8.5/10[16]
PC Gamer (US)78%[18]
PC Zone78%[19]

The game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[9] IGN called the visuals "beautiful" and "fully rendered".[16] The website later gave it the award for "Best Racing Game of the Year" at the Best of 1998 Awards.[20]

The game had 200,000 pre-orders.[21]

Powerslide: Slipstream

A follow-up sequel, Powerslide: Slipstream, as of 2004, was in development by the same company responsible for the original Powerslide. It was to feature enhanced graphics, more of the impressive AI, and online support. It was being developed for PlayStation 2 and PC, and possibly Xbox. However, Ratbag never found a suitable publisher for this game, and the studio was closed by the end of 2005.

References

  1. ↑ IGN staff (December 9, 1998). "News Briefs". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/12/10/news-briefs-225. "Interactive is now shipping Powerslide for Windows 95, an off-road racing game developed by an Australian company with the attractive name of Ratbag..." 
  2. ↑ "Powerslide (1998) Windows release dates". Blue Flame Labs. https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/powerslide/release-info. 
  3. ↑ "Powerslide: Slipstream". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/games/powerslide-slipstream. 
  4. ↑ Powerslide manual, 1998, page 2.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Powerslide Manual". http://dima241.narod.ru/ps_manual.htm. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "NG Alphas: Powerslide". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (35): 137–8. November 1997. 
  7. ↑ Ward, Trent C. (August 23, 1998). "Powerslide (Preview)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/08/24/powerslide-2. 
  8. ↑ Soropos, George (August 22, 1998). "Get in to the rat race". p. 203. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97866524/the-sydney-morning-herald/. Retrieved March 19, 2022. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Powerslide for PC". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/198337-powerslide/index.html. 
  10. ↑ Cirulis, Martin E. (February 4, 1999). "Powerslide". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/Reviews/Item/0,6,0-2460,00.html. 
  11. ↑ Altman, John (March 22, 1999). "Powerslide". Strategy Plus, Inc.. http://www.cdmag.com/articles/018/122/powerslide_review.html. 
  12. ↑ Todd, Brett (April 1999). "Mad Max Redux (Powerslide Review)". Computer Gaming World (Ziff Davis) (177): 207. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_177.pdf. Retrieved February 17, 2020. 
  13. ↑ Olafson, Peter (1999). "Powerslide Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro (IDG Entertainment). http://gamepro.com/computer/pc/games/reviews/889.shtml. Retrieved February 17, 2020. 
  14. ↑ Johnny B. (January 1999). "Powerslide Review". CraveOnline. https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/33009-powerslide-review. 
  15. ↑ Dulin, Ron (January 13, 1999). "Powerslide Review [date mislabeled as "May 2, 2000""]. CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/powerslide-review/1900-2545885/. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Blevins, Tal (December 22, 1998). "Powerslide". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/12/23/powerslide. 
  17. ↑ D'Aprile, Jason (February 1999). "Powerslide". PC Accelerator (Imagine Media) (6): 88. https://archive.org/details/PCXL06Feb1999/page/n87/mode/2up. Retrieved April 21, 2021. 
  18. ↑ Williamson, Colin (April 1999). "Powerslide". PC Gamer (Imagine Media) 6 (4): 113a. https://archive.org/details/PCGamer199904/page/n127/mode/2up. Retrieved February 17, 2020. 
  19. ↑ Vaughan, Craig (January 1999). "Powerslide". PC Zone (Dennis Publishing) (72): 89. https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_72_January_1999/page/n87/mode/2up. Retrieved April 21, 2021. 
  20. ↑ IGN staff (January 29, 1999). "IGNPC's Best of 1998 Awards". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/01/29/ignpcs-best-of-1998-awards. 
  21. ↑ "From Ratbag to riches". February 6, 1999. p. 197. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97863504/the-sydney-morning-herald/. Retrieved March 19, 2022. 
  • 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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