Software:Shivers II: Harvest of Souls

From HandWiki
Short description: 1997 video game
Shivers II: Harvest of Souls
Developer(s)Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s)Sierra On-Line
Producer(s)Wendy Albee
Designer(s)Marcia Bales
Willie Eide
Artist(s)Ron Spears
Writer(s)Marcia Bales
Jim Hicks
Composer(s)Guy Whitmore
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Shivers II: Harvest of Souls (known as Harvest of Souls in Europe) is a horror-themed point-and-click PC adventure game, released in 1997 by Sierra On-Line. It is the sequel to Shivers.

Gameplay

The game is played from a first-person perspective, like its predecessor and games like The 7th Guest and Myst. A series of rock music videos provide the player with clues to solving the game's puzzles.[3]

Plot

The game starts with the player checking into a motel in the sleepy town of Cyclone, Arizona, having been invited by their friends, members of the rock band Trip Cyclone, who are there filming a music video. Upon entering the motel, the player is greeted by a clerk who hands them a message that reads: "I have your friends, only a warrior can free them." The player walks into their room, sets down their bags and goes to bed. Once the player drifts to sleep, they have a strange dream involving a car wreck and a dead body. Once awake, the player is free to explore the town, which is now completely abandoned.

The player will quickly discover that their immediate goal is to find the twelve bahos (prayer sticks) scattered throughout the town and return them to the sacred kiva in Devil's Mouth Canyon just outside town. The bahos have been hidden by the villain known only as Darkcloud, a mysterious figure who wears a kachina mask, in order to test the player so that they may become "the warrior". The player is assured that once they become "the warrior", they will be able to free the members of Trip Cyclone, who have been transformed into petroglyphs. The player must ultimately deduce the true identity of Darkcloud and discover his actual plan.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Adventure GamersStarStarStar[4]
AllGameStarStarStarStar[5]
GameSpot8.7/10[6]
Next GenerationStarStar[7]
CD-Action7/10[8]

Next Generation rated it two stars out of five, and stated that "It might be the best puzzle game of its type, but it's still just a puzzle game that involves lots of mouse-clicking and leaps of logic to uncover its ancient mystery."[7]

References

  1. ↑ "News from Sierra". Sierra On-Line. http://sierra.com/info/press.html. 
  2. ↑ Staff (April 9, 1997). "Power Chess a Best Seller". PC Gamer US. http://www.pcgamer.com:80/news/news0407.html#10. 
  3. ↑ "NG Alphas: Shivers II: Harvest of Souls". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (24): 157. December 1996. 
  4. ↑ "Shivers 2: Harvest of Souls review". 20 May 2002. https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/17524. 
  5. ↑ House, Michael L. (11 February 2021). "Shivers Two: Harvest of Souls". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141117025309/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=6693&tab=review. 
  6. ↑ Hunsanger, Kevin (May 1, 2000). "Shivers II: Harvest of Souls Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/shivers-ii-harvest-of-souls-review/1900-2532986/. Retrieved March 14, 2021. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Finals". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (32): 124. August 1997. 
  8. ↑ "Shivers Two: Harvest of Souls". CD-Action (Silver Shark) 5/97 (12): 60–61. May 1997. 
  • 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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