Software:Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective

From HandWiki
For other uses, see Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (disambiguation).
Short description: 1991 video game
Sherlock Holmes:
Consulting Detective
Developer(s)ICOM Simulations
Publisher(s)ICOM Simulations
Sega (Sega CD)
Director(s)Kenneth Tarolla
Producer(s)Kenneth Tarolla
Programmer(s)Fred Allen
Michael Manning
Artist(s)Katherine Tootelian
Michael Manning
Writer(s)Laurie Rose Bauman
Annie Fox
Platform(s)FM Towns, CDTV, DOS, TurboGrafx-CD, Macintosh, Sega CD, DVD, iPad, Microsoft Windows, OS X
Release
  • DVD
  • iPad, Windows, OS X
Genre(s)Adventure, interactive movie
Mode(s)Single-player

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a full-motion video game released in 1991. It is based on a tabletop game-gamebook hybrid of the same name first published in 1981, and features the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur Conan Doyle.

The video game was originally developed by ICOM Simulations for the FM Towns computer and later ported to DOS, Macintosh, Commodore CDTV, TurboGrafx-CD, Sega CD and Tandy Video Information System with all versions being distributed on CD-ROM. The game was re-released as a DVD for use with a standard DVD player and television in 1999. A high resolution and re-mastered version of the game for iPad, Microsoft Windows, and OS X was released in September 2012.[1]

Premise

The game uses live actors and sets as the player controls Sherlock Holmes and his longtime partner Dr. Watson, trying to solve three separate crimes by visiting various locations, listening to the dialogue, reading the included mock London newspapers, and, when the player gets enough evidence, answering the judge's questions.

Gameplay

At the beginning of each case, a full motion video clip depicts Holmes and Watson meeting a client and learning a few background clues about the case. The player must then choose a particular location or person from the directory to visit, read the London newspapers for clues or ask one of the young Baker Street Irregulars to investigate. A full motion video clip will play each time the player visits a relevant person or location. Selecting an irrelevant location to visit results in a short audio clip of dialogue between Holmes and Watson, and impacts the player's score. The object of each case is to gather enough clues in the lowest number of visits possible, then go before a judge who will then ask the player to answer the important questions about the case. If the player is successful, Dr. Watson will reveal the player's score, based on the number of visits it took to solve the case. The player can view a full motion video clip set in Holmes' and Watson's study where they will review the events that transpired.

There are several general informants (also portrayed by actors) who can be visited in multiple cases across the Consulting Detective games, including characters from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, namely Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, former criminal Shinwell Johnson, and gossip columnist Langdale Pike.[2]

Story and setting

The Mummy's Curse

This investigation is set on 12 April 1889.[2] Holmes and Watson learn about a series of mysterious deaths of three men who were part of an archeology trip to Egypt. Each man was found strangled and found with a sheath of a mummy's wrapping present at each murder. The London Times reports the deaths were caused by an ancient mummy, reducing their credibility. Holmes and Watson decide to take on the case to find the real culprit, but they face a challenge as all three murders were respectively orchestrated in London, Egypt and at sea.

The Mystified Murderess

This case takes place on 4 July 1888.[2] Francis Nolan is found hovering over the body of her lover, Guy Clarendon, in a London hotel with a pistol in her hand. She is arrested for Guy's murder, despite having no memory of ever being there, nor purchasing the gun that was bought in her name. She insists that she is innocent as Holmes and Watson take on the case to see if she is telling the truth. Along the way, Holmes and Watson learn about Guy Clarendon's dubious activity at night.

The Tin Soldier

The investigation takes place on 10 June 1890.[2] An old general is murdered in his home by a mysterious visitor who quickly vanishes from the scene of the crime. Holmes and Watson investigate to see whether the crime was due to the general's part in a Veteran Tontine lottery, a book he was writing on a missing diamond, a disgruntled marriage, or some hidden scandal deep in his past.

Development

The game had a budget of more than $2 million.[3]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarHalf star (Sega CD)[6]
DragonStarStarStarStarStar (TurboGrafx-CD)[4]
WizardB (Sega CD)[5]

The three volumes of Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective sold over 360,000 copies across all platforms by 1994.[7]

Dragon gave the TurboGrafx-CD version of Sherlock Holmes 5 out of 5 stars.[4] Computer Gaming World favorably described the game's videos' production values as "low-end television production quality ... equal to an average public television production". The magazine recommended the game "with qualifications", calling it "a ground-breaking product with whiz-bang technology that demonstrates the full potential of multimedia", but with "limited play life" due to lack of replayability.[8] In a review for Wizard, Glenn Rubenstein listed the use of live actors and the absence of slow down in the Sega CD version as strong points, but remarked "the interactivity level is lacking", and that the Sega CD version offered nothing new to those who had played any of the game's previous versions. He gave it a B.[5] In a retrospective review, Jonathan Sutyak of Allgame gave the Sega CD version a score of 2.5 out of 5 stars praising the actors and the dialogue being clear and well acted, although commenting that there is a large amount of FMV and little gameplay and felt the game does not offer the player enough to do. He thought that Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective will probably bore those who like detective and adventure games.[6]

Reviews

  • Ação Games (December 1993)[9]
  • Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (May 1993)[10]
  • MegaTech (April 1993)[11]
  • TurboPlay (April 1991)[12]
  • Power Play (December 1992)[13]

Legacy

Sequels

A sequel to the game was released in 1992 called Software:Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. II, with three new cases to be solved. A third entry, with three new cases, was also released, albeit not for the Sega CD nor the Turbografx-CD.

In April 1994, Computer Gaming World said that video quality had improved during the three games of the series, with each offering "solid and professional" acting. The magazine added that the chief strengths of these games were the challenging cases for the players to solve.[14]

Kickstarter

In March 2012, a Kickstarter campaign was launched by David Marsh and his company Zojoi to help fund a high resolution and remastered version of the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Adventure Mysteries. The campaign was unsuccessful, as it was only able to attain a third of its $55,000 goal. Even though the Kickstarter was unsuccessful, the remastered version was still released. According to developer David Marsh, the Kickstarter money was never needed to fund the games, and Zojoi was just using the Kickstarter to raise awareness about them.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Zojoi FaceBook Page". June 4, 2012. https://www.facebook.com/zojoigame. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective - Sega CD - Manual". ICOM Simulations. pp. 5–7. https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Sega_CD/manual/Formated/Sherlock_Holmes-_Consulting_Detective_-_1992_-_Sega.pdf. 
  3. ↑ Schwabach, Bob (November 7, 1993). "Custom keys can simplify your board". p. 90. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92250457/arizona-republic/. Retrieved January 10, 2022. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (November 1991). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (175): 57–66. https://archive.org/stream/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine175#page/n61/mode/2up. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Rubenstein, Glenn (January 1993). "At the Controls". Wizard (Wizard Entertainment) (17): 21–24. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sutyak, Jonathan. "Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective (Sega CD) Review". http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12726&tab=review. 
  7. ↑ Screen Digest. Screen Digest Limited. 1994. p. 110. https://books.google.com/books?id=WVnvAAAAMAAJ. "VNM has shipped over 360,000 units (including bundling) of its three-volume Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective on MPC, Macintosh, VIS, CDTV, FM Towns and PC Engine." 
  8. ↑ Lombardi, Chris (June 1992). "The Mysteries of the Jewel-Case". Computer Gaming World (95): 74, 76. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=95. Retrieved 24 November 2013. 
  9. ↑ "Ação Games". https://archive.org/details/acao_games_50/acao_games_49/page/n31/mode/2up. 
  10. ↑ "Sherlock Holmes". https://retrocdn.net/images/3/32/MDAG_UK_09.pdf#page=50. 
  11. ↑ "MegaTech Issue 16". April 1993. https://archive.org/details/mt-16/page/32/mode/2up. 
  12. ↑ "Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective". http://archives.tg-16.com/archive-two/TP-06-11.jpg. 
  13. ↑ "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". http://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=3490&s=3. 
  14. ↑ "Invasion Of The Data Stashers". Computer Gaming World: 20–42. April 1994. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=117. 
  15. ↑ "Sherlock Holmes Kickstarter Fails, But Games Will Appear". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 2012-04-30. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04/30/sherlock-holmes-kickstarter-fails-but-games-will-appear/. 
  • 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 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. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.





Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Sherlock_Holmes:_Consulting_Detective&oldid=4140224"