Software:Sid Meier's SimGolf

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Sid Meier's SimGolf
Developer(s)Firaxis Games
Publisher(s)EA Games
Producer(s)Nana Wallace
Designer(s)Bing Gordon
Sid Meier
Programmer(s)Sid Meier
Javier Sobrado
Jacob Solomon
Artist(s)Gregory A. Cunningham
Composer(s)Mark Cromer
SeriesSim
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: January 23, 2002
  • EU: July 12, 2002
Genre(s)Simulation, sports
Mode(s)Single player

Sid Meier's SimGolf is a video game developed by Firaxis and published by Electronic Arts in 2002. Players must successfully design golf courses and play them with their default professional golfer Gary Golf. Played in a near-isometric dimetric view, the game runs on fairly low system specs, and only at an 800x600 resolution.

Gameplay

The game features a complete system that allows the player to build their own golf empire. Players begin with some money and choose a country to begin building the players' course. Once there, players begin by placing a teeing ground and a putting green for Hole One and are then allowed to go on adding or modifying what lies between: fairways, trees, rough, bunkers (or sand traps), landmarks, benches, paths, flowerbeds, terrain and just about anything players would normally see in a golf course. Players are advised not to waste money because if the budget stays in the red long enough, the game is over. If players design the course well, they can manage to build an entire 18-hole course while obtaining profits. Players can also populate their course with a variety of staff, such as groundskeepers who will pull out any unsightly weeds, greeters that will talk to customers, marshals to maintain pace of play, and drinks vendors to help golfers quench their thirst.

Player designed golf course.

Everything players add (or fail to) will modify the overall mood of the golfers; the main goal of the player is to make the course "look hard and play easy". Keeping them happy will allow them to invest in the players' course or donate a valuable landmark. Reward buildings, such as marinas, airstrips, and hotels, will be provided and may be used to beautify the landscape. Other facilities made available as players progress through the game include a snack bar, a putting green, a tennis court and homes to parodies of Hollywood stars or other international celebrities, such as Robin Williams, Bruce Springsteen, Pamela Anderson, or Rosie O'Donnell. These landmarks have different properties that help the environment in some way, improving unpopular spots and otherwise calming down angry golfers (Every part of the course is rated in this way, so that players have to raise its value with fun, skill and intelligence to have customers like it). There is an "aura" overlay that displays areas that tend to generate favorable, neutral or unfavorable responses from golfers.

The game also enables the player to save their professional golfer and then play championships with him to earn some extra money to further embellish or expand the course. On the official website players can visit the exchange part and enter a huge archive of player-designed Championship courses for players to download and play. Further adding to its depth, golfers play in pairs and usually talk about their own interests. If players put the proper landmarks in the proper places, these stories may progress and have a happy ending, which also adds to players' course. There is also a 'sandbox' mode, which allows players to play the game with an infinite amount of money, so they can hone their designing skills.

SimGolf calculates the skill rating of your course. There are three skills all golfers either have or don't have: length, accuracy, and imagination. Length is the ability to hit the ball a long way, accuracy the ability to hit the ball straight, and imagination is the ability to "shape" shots the way you want to and put spin on the ball. The skill rating of a hole is determined by the average score of people with each skill compared to the average score of people without each skill. For example, if the average score of people with length is 4, and without length is 4.5, you have a length rating of 4.25. The skill rating of your hole is the rating in all three categories added together, and the skill rating of your course is the ratings of all your holes added together.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic84/100[1]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarStarStarHalf star[2]
CGWStarStarStarStarStar[3]
Game Informer9.25/10[4]
GameRevolutionB+[5]
GameSpot8.8/10[6]
GameSpy80%[7]
GameZone8.7/10[8]
IGN8.5/10[9]
PC Gamer (US)76%[10]
X-PlayStarStarStarStar[11]
Maxim10/10[12]

The game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[1]

SimGolf was nominated for Computer Gaming World's 2002 "Strategy Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Freedom Force.[13] It was also a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Single-Player Strategy Game on PC" award, losing to Medieval.[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sid Meier's SimGolf for PC Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/sid-meiers-simgolf/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  2. ↑ Miller, Skyler. "Sid Meier's SimGolf - Review". AllGame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=34922&tab=review. 
  3. ↑ Smolka, Rob (April 2002). "Sid Meier's SimGolf". Computer Gaming World (213): 97. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_213.pdf. Retrieved May 26, 2017. 
  4. ↑ "Sid Meier's SimGolf". Game Informer (107): 86. March 2002. 
  5. ↑ Liu, Johnny (February 2002). "Sid Meier's SimGolf Review". Game Revolution. http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/sid-meiers-simgolf. 
  6. ↑ Park, Andrew (January 30, 2002). "[Sid Meier's SimGolf Review"]. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/simgolf-review/1900-2843958/. 
  7. ↑ Lackey, Jeff (February 20, 2002). "Sid Meier's SimGolf (PC)". GameSpy. http://archive.gamespy.com/reviews/february02/simgolfgspy/. 
  8. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (January 13, 2002). "Sid Meier's SimGolf Review - PC". GameZone. http://pc.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r18674.htm. 
  9. ↑ Butts, Steve (January 29, 2002). "Sid Meier's SimGolf". http://www.ign.com/articles/2002/01/30/sid-meiers-simgolf. 
  10. ↑ Preston, Jim (March 2002). "Sid Meier's SimGolf". PC Gamer: 62. http://www.pcgamer.com/archives/2005/06/sid_meiers_simg.html. Retrieved January 27, 2015. 
  11. ↑ Bub, Andrew (February 8, 2002). "'Sid Meier's SimGolf' (PC) Review". X-Play. http://www.techtv.com/extendedplay/reviews/story/0,24330,3370695,00.html. 
  12. ↑ Boyce, Ryan (January 25, 2002). "Sid Meier's SimGolf". Maxim. http://www.maximonline.com/entertainment/reviews/review_games_2525.html. Retrieved January 27, 2015. 
  13. ↑ Staff (April 2003). "Computer Gaming World's 2002 Games of the Year". Computer Gaming World (225): 83–86, 88, 89, 92–97. 
  14. ↑ GameSpot Staff (December 30, 2002). "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002". GameSpot. http://gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/bestof2002/. 
  • Official website (archived)
  • 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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