Software:Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

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Short description: 1998 video game
Shogo: Mobile Armor Division
Developer(s)Monolith Productions
Hyperion Entertainment (Amiga)
Publisher(s)
Titan Computer (ports)
Producer(s)John L. Jack
Designer(s)Craig Hubbard
Programmer(s)Kevin Stephens
Composer(s)Guy Whitmore
Daniel Bernstein
EngineLithTech 1.0
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS, WarpOS, Linux
ReleaseWindows
Macintosh
  • NA: December 21, 2000[2]
  • EU: December 2000
Linux
  • EU: February 2001
Amiga
May 2001
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Shogo: Mobile Armor Division is a first-person shooter video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Monolith and Interplay Entertainment in 1998. The game features on-foot first-person shooter action, and combat with anime-style bipedal mechs. Shogo is a combat system that features the possibility of critical hits, whereby attacking an enemy will occasionally bring about a health bonus for the player. Players take on the role of Sanjuro Makabe, a Mobile Combat Armor (MCA) pilot and a commander in the United Corporate Authority (UCA) army, during a brutal war for the planet Cronus and its precious liquid reactant, kato. Players must locate and assassinate a rebel leader known only as Gabriel. At two pivotal points in the game, the player also has the opportunity to make a crucial decision, which can alter the game's ending.

Shogo was initially known as Riot: Mobile Armor, and it is heavily influenced by Japanese animation, particularly Patlabor and Appleseed, and the real robot mecha genre. It is the first game to use the LithTech game engine.[3] The game was received positively by critics, and it shipped 100,000 units of the game to retailers in the game's debut week. It underperformed commercially, selling roughly 20,000 units in the United States during 1998's Christmas shopping season. Despite this, Shogo's critical success led to Monolith's development of a later game, Software:The Operative: No One Lives Forever. Shogo was ported to the Amiga PowerPC platform in 2001 by Hyperion Entertainment. Hyperion also made the Macintosh port and the Linux port of Shogo.

Gameplay

An inherent feature of the combat system in Shogo is the possibility of critical hits, whereby attacking an enemy will occasionally bring about a health bonus for the player while the enemy in question loses more health than usual from the weapon used. However, enemy characters are also capable of scoring critical hits on the player.

Plot

The game revolves around the struggle to secure reserves of "kato", an energy source that makes interstellar travel possible. Players take the role of Sanjuro Makabe, a Mobile Combat Armor (MCA) pilot and a commander in the United Corporate Authority (UCA) army, during a brutal war for the planet Cronus.Originally intended as a joint venture that would ensure the continued profitability of the three organizations that founded it, the UCA is now independent, and the dominant military power in existence. Most of the game takes place on Planet Cronus or the spaceship Leviathan.[4]

Players must locate and assassinate a rebel leader known as Gabriel, who leads the terrorist group known as The Fallen. Prior to the game's first level, Sanjuro had lost his brother, Toshiro; his best friend, Baku; and his girlfriend, Kura, during the war. He is now driven by revenge and his romantic relationship with Kathryn, Kura's sister; in Sanjuro's words, "It's kinda complicated."[5]

At two pivotal points in the game, the player also has the opportunity to make a crucial decision, which can alter the game's ending. While the first decision is almost purely a narrative decision, the second decision actually determines who the player will be facing the rest of the game and how the game will end.[6]

Development and release

Shogo was originally known as Riot: Mobile Armor.[7] It has heavy influences from Japanese animation, particularly Patlabor and Appleseed and the real robot mecha genre.[8] The game runs on a proprietary engine known as LithTech.[9]

The game's lead designer Craig Hubbard expressed that Shogo "(although critically successful) fell embarrassingly short of [the team's] original design goals", and "it is a grim reminder of the perils of wild optimism and unchecked ambition" exercised by the relatively small development team.[10] According to Hubbard, "The whole project was characterized by challenges. We had issues with planning, prioritization, ambition, scope, staffing, inexperience (including my own), and just about everything that can go wrong on a project. I think what saved the game was that we realized about six months before our ship date that there was no way we could make the game great, so we just focused on making it fun."[11] This involved the team putting "all [their] energy in making the weapons really fun to use."[12]

A later game developed by Monolith ended up becoming Software:The Operative: No One Lives Forever, released in 2000. During the development of that game, it took a long time for Monolith to find a publishing partner. According to Hubbard, during this time, the game that became No One Lives Forever "mutated constantly in order to please prospective producers and marketing departments. The game actually started off as a mission-based, anime-inspired, paramilitary action thriller intended as a spiritual sequel to Shogo and ended up as a 60s spy adventure in the tradition of Our Man Flint and countless other 60s spy movies and shows."[10] (Parts of the initial "paramilitary action thriller" concept evolved into F.E.A.R., another Monolith game, released after the No One Lives Forever series, in 2005.)[13]

Cancelled expansion packs

The expansion pack Shugotenshi would have given more insight into Kura's roles. It would have been six or eight levels of Kura fighting and coming to terms with the death of Hank. Some features of that game would have been various body armor for Kura and new enemies and weapons for her.[14]

Legacy of the Fallen would have moved away from the fighting of Cronus and taken the player to the remote kato mining facility at Iota-33. It would just show how well organized the Fallen actually were and the weapon capabilities of an Ambed (Advanced Mechanical Biological Engineering Division) team. Legacy of the Fallen was to have an entirely new cast of characters, five new mecha to choose from, six new on foot weapons, five new mecha weapons, several new enemy aliens, and levels that played out more like Half-Life's levels in structure.[15] Legacy of the Fallen was cancelled in March 1999.[16]

Ports

Shogo was ported to the Amiga PowerPC platform in 2001 by Hyperion Entertainment. Hyperion also made the Macintosh and Linux ports of Shogo.[17][18] The game had not sold as well as had hoped, most notably on Linux, despite becoming a bestseller on Tux Games. Hyperion has put some of the blame on its publisher Titan Computer and because Linux users were likely to dual boot with Windows. A version for BeOS was also in development in 1999 by Be Inc. and Wildcard Design.[19][20]

Reception

Reviews

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic88/100[21]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarStarStarHalf star[22]
CGSPStarStarStarStar[24]
CGWStarStarStarHalf star[25]
Edge7/10[26]
Game Informer8/10[27]
GameProStarStarStarStarHalf star[28]
GameRevolutionA−[29]
GameSpot8.1/10[30]
IGN9/10[31]
Next GenerationStarStarStarStar[32]
PC Gamer (US)90%[34]
The Cincinnati EnquirerStarStarStar[35]

The game received "favorable" reviews, two points shy of "universal acclaim", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[21] Next Generation said, "Obviously there are a lot of alternatives in this market, with Half-Life and SiN releasing at the same time, but Shogo has clear merits and stands up on its own. It's an excellent game and it will be a fine contender."[32]

Sales

Monolith shipped 100,000 units of the game to retailers in the game's debut week, following its launch in early November 1998.[36][37] However, the game underperformed commercially.[38][39] It sold roughly 20,000 units in the United States during 1998's Christmas shopping season, a figure that Mark Asher of CNET Gamecenter called "disappointing". Combined with the failure of competitors SiN and Software:Blood II: The Chosen, these numbers led him to speculate that the first-person shooter genre's market size was smaller than commonly believed, as the "only FPS game that has done really well [over the period] is Half-Life."[39] Shogo's low sales resulted in the cancellation of its planned expansion pack.[38]

Analyzing Shogo's performance in his 2003 book Games That Sell!, Mark H. Walker argued that it "never sold as well as it should have" because of Monolith's status as a small publisher. Shelf space for games was allotted based on a market development fund (MDF) system at the time: major retailers charged fees for advertising and endcap shelving, which publishers were required to pay before a game would be stocked. Because larger publishers could afford greater MDF spending than Monolith, Walker believed that Shogo "just couldn't get widespread distribution" in mainstream retail stores compared to its competitors.[40]

References

  1. ↑ Gentry, Perry (October 16, 1998). "What's in Stores This Week". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/News/Item/0,3,0-2190,00.html. 
  2. ↑ Largent, Andy (December 21, 2000). "Mac Shogo Released". https://www.insidemacgames.com/historical/news/story.php%3FID=1733.html. 
  3. ↑ Lane, Rick (17 July 2017). "SHOGO: Mobile Armor Division - Monolith's forgotten mech shooter". Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/shogo-mobile-armor-division-monoliths-forgotten-mech-shooter. 
  4. ↑ "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division on Steam" (in en). https://store.steampowered.com/app/610860/Shogo_Mobile_Armor_Division/. 
  5. ↑ "Storyline". http://www.shogomad.com/storyline.php. 
  6. ↑ "Game Info 2, Storyline". Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080103000712/http://www.planetshogo.com/gameinfo/gameinfo2.shtml#storyline. Retrieved October 16, 2011. 
  7. ↑ "Riot: Mobile Armor". Imagine Media. 1997. http://www.pcgamer.com/features/riotma-01.html. 
  8. ↑ Sabbagh, Michel (December 17, 2015). "Effort Upon Effort: Japanese Influences in Western First-Person Shooters". Worcester Polytechnic Institute. http://users.wpi.edu/~mksabbagh/docs/Sabbagh_IQP_MBJ_1603.pdf. 
  9. ↑ Rutabaga (2020-11-21). "[DOSSIER Les FPS Oubliés #2 : Shogo: Mobile Armor Division - NoFrag"] (in fr-FR). https://nofrag.com/dossier-les-fps-oublies-2-shogo-mobile-armor-division/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hubbard, Craig (June 8, 2001). "Postmortem: Monolith's No One Lives Forever". http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3069/postmortem_monoliths_no_one_.php. 
  11. ↑ Ruhland, Perry (4 October 2016). "Craig Hubbard Talks SHOGO". https://techraptor.net/gaming/interview/craig-hubbard-talks-shogo. 
  12. ↑ Lahti, Evan (9 August 2013). "How F.E.A.R. and No One Lives Forever are shaping Betrayer". https://www.pcgamer.com/how-f-e-a-r-and-no-one-lives-forever-are-shaping-betrayer/. 
  13. ↑ Booker, Logan (June 24, 2005). "Engine room: F.E.A.R. Factor". Atomic MPC. http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Feature/23495,engine-room-fear-factor.aspx. 
  14. ↑ McClellan, Keith (April 7, 1999). "Interview with David Gallay of Nevolution". Tweak3d.net. http://www.tweak3d.net/joomla/features/interviews/interview-with-david-gallay-of-nevolution. 
  15. ↑ "Blue's News - December 12–18, 1998". https://www.bluesnews.com/archives/dec98-2.html. Retrieved March 16, 2011. 
  16. ↑ Gasking, Frank (20 June 2025). "Legacy of the Fallen". https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2025/06/legacy-of-the-fallen/. 
  17. ↑ "Shogo: MAD Now Shipping". January 9, 2001. https://www.insidemacgames.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=1845. 
  18. ↑ Ajami, Amer (April 26, 2000). "Shogo Goes Linux". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shogo-goes-linux/1100-2455403/. 
  19. ↑ "Be Incorporated and Monolith Productions Announce Development of Monolith Productions' Shogo: Mobile Armor Division for BeOS.". September 7, 1999. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Be+Incorporated+and+Monolith+Productions+Announce+Development+of...-a055662940. 
  20. ↑ Mullen, Micheal (April 27, 2000). "Shogo coming to Be". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shogo-coming-to-be/1100-2450024/. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division". CBS Interactive. https://www.metacritic.com/game/shogo-mobile-armor-division/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  22. ↑ House, Michael L.. "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division - Review". All Media Network. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=14306&tab=review. 
  23. ↑ Cirulis, Martin E. (October 27, 1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/Reviews/Item/0,6,0-2213,00.html. 
  24. ↑ Cross, Jason (October 9, 1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division". Strategy Plus, Inc.. http://www.cdmag.com/articles/014/170/shogo_review.html. 
  25. ↑ Nguyen, Thierry (January 1999). "Let's Go Shogo! (Shogo: Mobile Armor Division Review)". Computer Gaming World (174): 312–13. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_174.pdf. Retrieved April 13, 2021. 
  26. ↑ Edge staff (Christmas 1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Command [sic"]. Edge (Future Publishing) (66): 96. https://archive.org/details/edgeuk066/page/n79/mode/2up. Retrieved April 13, 2021. 
  27. ↑ Bergren, Paul (February 1999). "Shogo [Mobile Armor Division"]. Game Informer (FuncoLand) (70): 50. https://archive.org/details/Game_Informer_Issue_070_February_1999/page/n51/mode/2up. Retrieved April 13, 2021. 
  28. ↑ Hudak, Chris (1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro (IDG Entertainment). http://www.gamepro.com/computer/pc/games/reviews/787.shtml. Retrieved April 13, 2021. 
  29. ↑ Johnny B. (October 1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division Review". CraveOnline. https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/32812-shogo-mobile-armor-division-review. 
  30. ↑ Kasavin, Greg (October 13, 1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division Review [date mislabeled as "November 9, 2000""]. CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/shogo-mobile-armor-division-review/1900-2532993/. 
  31. ↑ Blevins, Tal (November 6, 1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/11/07/shogo-mobile-armor-division. 
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Shogo: Mobile Armor [Division"]. Next Generation (Imagine Media) (50): 105. February 1999. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_50/page/n105/mode/2up. Retrieved April 12, 2021. 
  33. ↑ Lee, Ed (December 1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division". PC Accelerator (Imagine Media) (4): 90–91. https://archive.org/details/PCXL04Dec1998/page/n89/mode/2up. Retrieved April 12, 2021. 
  34. ↑ Vaughn, Todd (December 1998). "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division". PC Gamer (Imagine Media) 5 (12): 176. https://archive.org/details/pcgamer199812/page/n203/mode/2up. Retrieved April 13, 2021. 
  35. ↑ Hopper, D. Ian (1998). "Bringing out the big guns". The Cincinnati Enquirer (Gannett Company). http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/games/reviews/hopper/shogo.html. 
  36. ↑ GameSpot staff (November 13, 1998). "Shogo's Super Sell-In". Ziff Davis. http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_11/13_pc_shogo/index.html. 
  37. ↑ Laprad, David (November 13, 1998). "Shogo Ships 100,000 Units". NewWorld.com, Inc.. http://www.avault.com/news/displaynews.asp?story=11131998-155547. 
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 IGN staff (May 25, 1999). "News Briefs". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/05/25/news-briefs-322. 
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Asher, Mark (February 17, 1999). "Game Spin: The Daikatana Demo". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/News/Item/0,3,0-2505,00.html. 
  40. ↑ Walker, Mark H. (June 25, 2003). Games That Sell!. Wordware Publishing. pp. 190–91. ISBN 155622950X. 
  • Official announcement for Shugotenshi on web.archive.org
  • 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 lengthy 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]

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. 
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