Software:Putt-Putt Joins the Parade

From HandWiki
Short description: 1992 children's video game
Putt-Putt Joins the Parade
Windows / Macintosh cover art
Developer(s)Humongous Entertainment
Publisher(s)Humongous Entertainment[lower-alpha 1]
Director(s)Ron Gilbert
Designer(s)
  • Laurie Rose Bauman
  • Annie Fox
  • Ron Gilbert
  • Shelley Day
Writer(s)Laurie Rose Bauman
Annie Fox
Composer(s)Tom McMail
EngineSCUMM
Platform(s)MS-DOS, 3DO, Macintosh, Windows, Linux, Steam
Release
  • November 6, 1992 (MS-DOS)
  • 1993 (3DO)
  • 1995 (Mac, Windows)
  • April 17, 2014 (Linux)
  • April 17, 2014 (Steam)[1]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Putt-Putt Joins the Parade is a 1992 video game and the first of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. Upon release, the game sold over 300,000 copies.[2] The combined sales of Putt-Putt Joins the Parade, Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon and Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo surpassed one million units by June 1997.[3] This is also the first game produced by Humongous Entertainment.

Plot

On a sunny morning in Cartown, Putt-Putt turns on his radio and hears an announcement about a pet parade event. Putt-Putt becomes interested in participating but acknowledges that he doesn't have a pet. He decides to visit Smokey the Fire Engine, who is in charge of the parade, to talk to him about it. Smokey tells Putt-Putt that he will need to bring a pet and a balloon, as well as get a car wash. He suggests to Putt-Putt that he try mowing lawns for money to pay for the car wash (even letting Putt-Putt borrow his lawn mower), as well as helping Mr. Baldini, the owner of the local grocery store, deliver groceries to friends.

While completing his goals, Putt-Putt helps Mrs. Airbag by finding her lost son, Baby Beep, in the movie theater, getting a balloon as a reward, and meets a stray puppy in a cave, whom he befriends by giving him a bone (which he found while mowing a lawn) and names him "Pep". After Putt-Putt does all the tasks he needed to do, Smokey signs him up for the parade and even lets him lead in it. The cars in the parade all drive off as the sun sets and the credits roll.

Gameplay

The game plays like a typical point-and-click adventure game with the player moving Putt-Putt from one location to the next, picking up items and using them with mouse clicks. Putt-Putt places collected items in his glove box, which serves as a simple heads-up display. In the 3DO version, the on-screen pointing cursor is moved with the D-pad and a button is used to click on what the cursor is pointing at.

The game has three tasks that must be completed in order to complete the game, involving getting a carwash, a balloon, and a pet. An optional substitute for the carwash task is getting a paint job at the Cartown Color building, where Putt-Putt can change his color. Puzzles include having to remove obstacles from street paths. The player can visit Smokey's Fire Station at any time for advice. A variety of minigames are also playable.

Putt-Putt can also collect coins to pay for going in the Cartown Carwash and, or the Cartown Color (entering the former costs two coins, while the latter costs three). One coin can be found in Putt-Putt's garage, while more can be earned by mowing the lawns of other cars or delivering groceries for Mr. Baldini.

Release

After the game's creation, Humongous Entertainment had intended to get Electronic Arts to distribute the product, invoking a lawsuit from Lucasarts over the ownership of the SCUMM game engine and disruption from press release.[4]

When a demo of the game was completed, it was uploaded to CompuServe. It took time before a single user downloaded the game, then gave a lengthy review which gave a steady increase in audience.[5]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings50% (PC - 1 review)[6]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Adventure GamersStarStarHalf star[7]
IGN8.2/10 (PC)[8]
MacUserStarStarStarStarStar[9]
Awards
PublicationAward
Choosing Children’s Software1999 Best Picks for the Holidays Award[10]
Anders CD-ROM Guide1997 Medallion Award[10]
Sesame Street Parents1997 Reviewer's Choice Award[10]
CES1994 Innovations Showcase Award Winner[10]
CNETTop 100 CD-ROMs Award
Buy It! Award[10]
MacUserFive Mouse Award
Best New Children’s Program[10]
KidsoftMember's Choice - Early Learning[10]
PC EntertainmentBest PC Educational Game[10]
Compute!Best Educational Program[10]
CD-ROM WorldThe CD-ROM 100 Best[10]
Family Fun MagazineSoftware of the Year[10]
Parents' ChoiceParent's Choice Award[10]
Home PCTop 100 Products[10]
Family PCFamily Tested-Recommended[10]

In 1997, a study conducted by the University of Texas at Austin compared children's reception of educational games with their professionally assigned developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) ratings. Of the thirteen programs selected, Putt-Putt Joins the Parade ranked as the most frequently played game.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade on Steam". Steam. http://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Humongous%20Entertainment. 
  2. ↑ Robert Sorbo. "Cyber Elite - Shelley Day". http://time.com/time/digital/cyberelite/24.html. 
  3. ↑ People Staff (June 2, 1997). "The Little Car that Could". People. http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-main-bytes-vol-47-no-21/. 
  4. ↑ "Lucasarts vs Humongous Entertainment". http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/870/285/1648288/. 
  5. ↑ "An Interview with Ron Gilbert". Game Bytes (9). March 13, 1993. https://archive.org/details/game-bytes-9. 
  6. ↑ "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade for PC - GameRankings". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/583418-putt-putt-joins-the-parade/index.html. 
  7. ↑ "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade Information, Screenshots & Media". Adventure Gamers. http://www.adventuregamers.com/games/view/24272. 
  8. ↑ "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade Review". http://www.ign.com/games/putt-putt-joins-the-parade/pc-800952. 
  9. ↑ LeVitus, Bob (December 1995). "The Game Room". MacUser. http://macuser.zdnet.com:80/mu_1295/personal/gameroom.html. 
  10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 Humongous Entertainment® Hall of Fame 1993-2000. pp. 9–10. 
  11. ↑ Escobedo, Theresa H.; Evans, Sharon (1997-03-28) (in en). A Comparison of Child-Tested Early Childhood Education Software with Professional Ratings. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED411060. Retrieved 2019-02-14. 
  1. ↑ The 3DO version was published by Marubeni. The Steam release was co-published by Tommo and Night Dive Studios.
  • 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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