Software:Starflyers

From HandWiki
Starflyers
From left to right: Io, Katie Cadet, Superspinner AJ, Klanker and Vexar.
Genre(s)Adventure, Arcade, Edutainment
Developer(s)Riverdeep (The Learning Company brand)
Publisher(s)Riverdeep (The Learning Company brand)
Platform(s)Windows, Macintosh
First releaseStarflyers Royal Jewel Rescue
June 2002[1]
Latest releaseStarflyers Alien Space Chase
July 2002

Starflyers is an edutainment software franchise created in 2002 by Riverdeep under their The Learning Company label. The franchise consists of two games, Starflyers Royal Jewel Rescue and Starflyers Alien Space Chase.

Concept

Plot

Katherine Diane Cadell (a girl with attitude) fantasizes herself and her best friend Ajay as intergalactic heroes Katie Cadet and Super Spinner AJ respectively teamed up with an alien dog named Io and a space robot named Klanker. Their missions consist of fighting against the evil Vexar (their neighborhood bully Victor Wexlar in reality). In "Starflyers Royal Jewel Rescue", Katie Cadet is on a search for Princess Popcorn's missing jewels, in real life searching for her mother's scattered jewels. In "Starflyers Alien Space Chase", Katie Cadet is tasked with rescuing the galaxy's missing ambassadors kidnapped by Vexar, actually the class pets that were let loose in the school by Victor Wexlar. She is the galaxy's most famous star pilot. She uses a vehicle (known as the "SnoozeCruiser") to transport her team to various parts of the universe.

Gameplay

Both games have a mixture of arcade and adventure elements in them. In each game, the player is required to play 8 arcade-style minigames. The minigames have three adjustable levels of difficulty. To progress in the games, the player will also need to collect a currency called Galaxy Seeds. The game interface includes a control menu for storing tools and items found until the player finds the right place to use them. There are also printable activities available.

Design

Development

Starflyers had been in the planning stage since 1998.[2] According to the teaser made around 1999 or 2000, the trailer was released under the working title Katie Cadet.[3] Following an agreement with Immersion Corporation, the Touchsense Technology was implemented in both games for easier use of the mouse.[4] When Riverdeep acquired The Learning Company in September 2001, they marketed the games under TLC's name.[1] Along with Carmen Sandiego, ClueFinders, and Reader Rabbit, the Starflyers games were licensed to the KidsEdge Website in 2002 where they were available to play among 170 games and activities.[5][6]

Art

Managing artist Fred Dinada designed the Katie Cadet in 2001. Some of his artwork was salvaged from concepts that were not used in his previous project Reader Rabbit Preschool.[7] Additional artwork was added by Cat & Dog Productions, Igloo Animations,[8] and Tim Nelson.[9] Some lineart was worked on by Gerald Broas who used a 2B pencil to hand draw the backgrounds and characters on 12 field animation paper.[10] Animations and background were worked on by Fred Dianda. To allow all the content to fit on CD, all digitised images had to been converted from True colors to 256 colors and simplicity was applied to reduce quality loss.[11] The animation was produced and led by Eileen Gay.[12]

Educational goals

The Starflyers games consist of a good mix of arcade and puzzle games without any pressuring time limit to enhance players' critical thinking and problem solving, memory sequencing and creativity skills[13] as well as developing eye-hand coordination for mastering basic computer skills.[1]

Reception

Critical reception

PC Magazine gave "Royal Jewel Rescue" 4 out of 5 stars, marking it as an Excellent game.[14] A few months later that same magazine gave both games combined 5 out 5 stars, marking them as Outstanding and an Editor's Choice.[15]

Awards and nominations

|- | 2002 | Starflyers: Royal Jewel Rescue | Parents' Choice Gold Award | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won[16] |- | 2002 | Starflyers: Alien Space Chase | Parents' Choice Gold Award | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won[16] |- | 2002 | Starflyers: Royal Jewel Rescue | Award of Excellence | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won[17] |- | 2002 | Starflyers: Alien Space Chase | Award of Excellence | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won[18] |}

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Riverdeep, Inc. (June 26, 2002). "Riverdeep Ships StarFlyers Alien Space Chase and Royal Jewel Rescue". http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/riverdeep-ships-starflyers-alien-space-chase-and-royal-jewel-rescue-77985622.html. Retrieved May 24, 2017. 
  2. ↑ Solveig Zarubin. "Solveig Zarubin - Profile". https://www.linkedin.com/in/solveigzarubin/de. Retrieved May 24, 2017. 
  3. ↑ ""Katie Cadet" Starflyers prototype preview". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHSTZx5kkBE. 
  4. ↑ San Jose & Novato (July 30, 2001). "Partnership Brings Sense of Touch to Children's Software Market". http://ir.immersion.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=111815. Retrieved May 27, 2017. 
  5. ↑ Impressive array of content gives KidsEdge a boost.(Arts and Lifestyle). 2003-02-23. https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-97983973.html. 
  6. ↑ "KidsEdge Home". MMIII Knowledge Kids Network, Inc.. http://kidsedge.com:80/cgi-bin/kidsedge/scripts/kidsedge/index.jsp. Retrieved May 28, 2017. 
  7. ↑ "An Interview with Fred Dianda". 22 July 2017. https://odysseynerds.wordpress.com/2017/07/22/an-interview-with-fred-dianda/. 
  8. ↑ "Igloo Animations - Cartoons". April 2017. http://www.iglooanimations.com/work/cartoons/. Retrieved May 24, 2017. 
  9. ↑ "Starflyers - Katie Cadet Design". April 2017. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4pry70_starflyers-featurette-the-design-and-animation-of-katie-cadet_shortfilms. Retrieved May 24, 2017. 
  10. ↑ "The Art of Gerald Broas". https://pixlanim8r.wordpress.com/tag/traditional-animation/. Retrieved February 5, 2017. 
  11. ↑ Fred Dianda. "Fred's Artwork". http://www.sk8nbike.com/Katie_Cadet_01.htm. Retrieved May 24, 2017. 
  12. ↑ "Eileen Gay - Reference". http://sierra-arts.org/wp-content/uploads/GayE_Res14.pdf. Retrieved May 28, 2017. 
  13. ↑ Ellen Beeman (March 2003). "Imagination Runs Wild at Broderbund/TLC". http://www.bradcook.net/games/articles/2003/03/tlc/. Retrieved May 24, 2017. 
  14. ↑ Sarah Pike (June 30, 2002). "PCMag - Starflyers Royal Jewel Rescue". https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,4850,00.asp. Retrieved May 27, 2017. 
  15. ↑ Carol Ellison (September 3, 2002). "PCMag - Starflyers". https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,429495,00.asp. Retrieved May 27, 2017. ""Altogether, this is the most imaginative new entry we've seen in the current year's lineup."" 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Media, Working Mother. "Working Mother: Dec 2002 - Jan 2003". https://books.google.com/books?id=dtc2LbUQE-8C&dq=%22cluefinders%22+%22award%22&pg=PA76. 
  17. ↑ "DiscoverySchool Royal Jewel Rescue - Review Corner". June 2002. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/parents/reviewcorner/software/starflyersjewel.html. 
  18. ↑ "DiscoverySchool Alien Space Chase - Review Corner". July 2002. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/parents/reviewcorner/software/starflyersalien.html. 
  • 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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