Software:Tass Times in Tonetown

From HandWiki
Short description: 1986 video game
Tass Times in Tonetown
Developer(s)Interplay
Brainwave Creations
Publisher(s)Activision
Designer(s)Michael Berlyn
Muffy McClung Berlyn
Programmer(s)Rebecca Heineman
Platform(s)Atari ST, Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Mac.
Release1986
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Tass Times in Tonetown is an adventure game published by Activision in 1986. It was designed by Michael Berlyn and Muffy McClung Berlyn and programmed by Rebecca Heineman of Interplay (credited as Bill Heineman) in cooperation with Brainwave Creations.[1]

Tass Times was released for the Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Mac, and IBM PC compatibles. It was the first commercial game for the IIGS.[1]

Plot

The plot of the game involves the player getting sucked into Tonetown, a surreal alternate world seemingly based on a distillation of 1980s culture, with overtones of punk and new wave culture (such as pink hair, etc.). The word "Tass" in the title refers to an adjective used within the parallel world of Tonetown. Its basic meaning is somewhat akin to "cool" or "hip". Game designer Michael Berlyn gives the following source for the word:

The game's narrative begins with the player character inside a cabin belonging to "Gramps", a relative and inventor who has gone missing. While searching the cabin, the player activates one of Gramps' latest inventions: a device that resembles an electronically powered hoop. Gramps' pet dog, Spot, jumps through the active hoop and disappears. The player follows him and is transported to the mysterious Tonetown world alongside Spot, discovering that "Spot", in this world, is not only sentient and capable of speech but is actually a celebrity resident named "Ennio the Legend". Ennio travels along with the player, providing commentary and advice as well alerting the player to danger.

The player learns that Gramps' mysterious disappearance extends even into the Tonetown world, and may have been arranged by the villainous Franklin Snarl. Snarl, a surreal combination of a pig, a raccoon and (most obviously) a crocodile, is a ruthless business magnate. He is also a murderously hostile Tonetown nativist, openly violent to most "tourists" (foreigners) he encounters. His negative effects on the local culture had begun to attract media attention against him, culminating in the disappearance of Gramps.

To progress in the game, the player must assimilate into Tonetown's culture, using guitar picks as currency and partaking in its party scene, its "tass" music, including the popular band The Daglets, and such delicacies as "GloBurgers". The player encounters technology unique to Tonetown such as the "zagtone" (a device that plays variable notes depending on what object it is struck against), as well as bizarre creatures including the cute but destructive "blobpet" and dangerous monsters. The blobpet also makes an appearance in the animated intro exclusive to the Apple II, Commodore 64, and PC ports.

Gramps is eventually revealed to be Snarl's prisoner, held captive in an island office tower. After rescuing him, the player brings the group to a final confrontation with Snarl at his mansion, with Snarl possessing the Tonetown world's iteration of the hoop device. While Ennio holds Snarl at bay, Gramps activates the hoop and the player throws Snarl through it. The player enters the hoop and is returned to the "normal" world just outside Gramps' cabin, discovering that Snarl's arrival into the normal world has transformed him into three separate creatures - which the game's narrator describes as "a cute little pig, a darling raccoon, and a little crocodile shedding a few tears".

Talking to Snarl during the final sequence reveals that Gramps himself had created him, using the hoop device and the three original animal specimens, and that he had captured Gramps with the intention of continuing his work at any cost. It is also hinted that Tonetown itself may have been created entirely by Gramps' imagination, who then discovered a way to physically travel to it.

Gameplay

Starting location (Apple IIGS)

The game is an example of the graphical text adventure genre. Somewhat like classical text adventures or the early Sierra games, players use text commands (e.g. "TAKE HOOPLET") to interact with the game, but like LucasArts adventure games (or the later Sierra games), they also use an intuitive GUI. The player viewed the world of the game through a small window at the top left of the screen in which their surroundings were displayed. Much like The Bard's Tale, this view was static (or mostly so); it was not animated, though it was context-sensitive (players could click on objects in this window rather than typing their names).

Like many text adventures of this era, Tass Times had its share of possible unwinnable situations in which players can discover themselves trapped. The most infamous of these is Gramps' lab book, which is found in his cabin at the start of the game, and is used to complete the game at almost its very end. Hapless players can leave the book behind only to realize it is needed for game completion right when they are on the verge of completing it. Other scenarios include many possible instances of saving the game in situations in which death can never be avoided in time, such as in a location too far away from the shopping boutiques, so that Snarl will kill a player still deemed a "tourist" before Tonetown apparel and hairstyles can ever be purchased.

Ports

Reception

Compute! stated that the Amiga version of Tass Times in Tonetown was a "fascinating new game" with "superb color graphics", calling the story "unusual".[3] Hartley and Pattie Lesser similarly commented on the game in their "The Role of Computers" column in Dragon #116 (1986), stating "This one is truly bizarre".Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

Macworld reviewed the Macintosh version of Tass Times in Tonetown, calling it a "Challenging, unique game with [a] sense of humor." Macworld praises its gameplay, puzzles, and atmosphere, stating that "the game demands that you familiarize yourself with a vernacular and logic particular to Tonetown. ... Tass Times in Tonetown grows much tricker as you progress. What makes the game so challenging is also what makes it unique: the novelty of Tonetown, its mores, and its inhabitants. These same qualities make many clues difficult to decipher." Macworld compares Tass Times in Tonetown's gameplay to other adventure games, including Déjà Vu, Uninvited, and Mindshadow. Macworld notes that Tonetown lacks an 'operate' command as Déjà Vu and Uninvited do, instead requiring context-sensitive verbs for actions, i.e typing "unlock" to unlock a door. Macworld criticizes Tonetown's difficulty, as well as its graphics, expressing that "The games's graphics, although imaginative and professionally constructed, sometimes lack detail and are relegated to a small part of the screen", and suggests that a zoom feature would remedy this.[4]

Macworld inducted Tass Times in Tonetown into its 1987 Game Hall of Fame in the Adventure Game category, ahead of runners-up the Infocom text adventures released over the preceding year, in particular Bureaucracy and Stationfall. Macworld called Tass Times in Tonetown "something that seems a cross between Raw magazine, The Face, and the Bizarro World of DC Comics" and praised it as a fun game with a user-friendly interface.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 WHAT IS THE APPLE IIGS?, Tass Times in Tonetown
  2. ↑ Tass Times trivia from MobyGames
  3. ↑ Bateman, Selby (October 1986). "A Great Year For Games". Compute!: pp. 18. https://archive.org/stream/1986-10-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_077_1986_Oct#page/n19/mode/2up. Retrieved 9 November 2013. 
  4. ↑ DeMaria, Rusel (June 1987). "Stranger in a Strange Town: Tass Times in Tonetown Review". Macworld (Mac Publishing): 165-166. https://archive.org/details/MacWorld_8706_June_1987. 
  5. ↑ Levy, Steven (December 1987). "The Game Hall of Fame". Macworld (San Francisco, CA: PCW Communications, Inc) 4 (12): 122. https://archive.org/details/MacWorld_8712_December_1987/page/n133/mode/2up. 
  • 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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