Software:The Blackwell Convergence

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Short description: 2009 video game
The Blackwell Convergence
Developer(s)Wadjet Eye Games
Publisher(s)Wadjet Eye Games
Designer(s)Dave Gilbert
Composer(s)Thomas Regin
SeriesBlackwell
EngineAdventure Game Studio
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
iOS
Android
OS X
Linux
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
July 22, 2009
iOS
July 10, 2014
Android
September 23, 2014
OS X, Linux
October 8, 2014
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The Blackwell Convergence is a 2009 graphic adventure game developed and published by Wadjet Eye Games. It is the third entry in the Blackwell series, following The Blackwell Legacy and Blackwell Unbound.

Plot

The Blackwell Convergence takes place six months after the events in Legacy. While visiting a gallery for a preliminary viewing, Rosa starts to investigate a possible lead of a ghost's presence from a director at a film company. She soon finds out that an actor from their recent film has been murdered. Later, Rosa also finds out about an old murder of a researcher whose work was stolen to benefit a rival corporation. Finally, on the gallery's opening night, The Countess, now a ghost, and kills the artist whose paintings are on display.

Joey explains to Rosa her aunt's story and history with the Countess. Now understanding that the Countess is responsible for all three deaths and is using another human as an unwitting medium, Rosa works to track down the connection between the three individuals who died to end the threat of the Countess, who is clearly able to outright kill corporeal humans despite being a ghost.

In all three cases, the companies were funded by the venture capitalist firm Meltzer Foundation and Rosa finds out that they had benefited greatly from all three deaths. The company is run by a team of two brothers. The older brother believes Rosa to be making false accusations and claims zero responsibility for any of the deaths. Rosa later realizes that Charles Meltzer, the younger brother, is the medium, who guides the Countess by emailing the next victim. However, unlike The Countess's previous mediums, Charles is fully aware of his newfound power and used it deliberately to benefit himself and the company, with his older brother none the wiser. He then tries to kill Rosa as well, but The Countess's old spirit guide Madeline interferes and Rosa helps her to break the bond between The Countess and Charles Meltzer. Freed from the bond, The Countess tries to take revenge on Charles, shocking the older brother in the process, but is stopped by Rosa and Joey. Rosa helps the Countess to pass on. In the aftermath, Rosa decides to advertise her services as a medium online, as she finds chasing vague leads through one individual at a time tiring.

Rosa would later learn that The Countess was originally a medium just like Rosa, and worked together with Madeline during the Roaring 20s. However, The Countess, young and resentful of her responsibilities as a medium, forcibly cuts her ties to Madeline by trapping her inside the space where ghosts pass on. The void left behind by this severance would later be the reason as to why the Countess went mad and kept looking for new mediums. [1]

Development

Two real people are included in the cast of characters: writer Joseph Mitchell returns, as well as New York eccentric Joe Gould. This game was originally to be released sometime around June 2008, but was delayed for a variety of reasons. The game was released on July 22, 2009.[2][3][4] It received a port for iOS on July 10, 2014, one for Android on September 23, 2014, and versions for Linux and OS X on October 8, 2014.[5][6][7][8]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings76%[9]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Adventure GamersStarStarStarHalf star[10]
Just AdventureA[11]
GameZeboStarStarStarStar[12]

The Blackwell Convergence received a score of 76% on review aggregator GameRankings, indicating favorable reviews.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Wadjet Eye Games (22 July 2009). The Blackwell Convergence. PC. 
  2. ↑ "The Blackwell Convergence Release Information for PC - GameFAQs". https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/971347-the-blackwell-convergence/data. 
  3. ↑ "The Blackwell Convergence" (in en). https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-blackwell-convergence/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  4. ↑ "The Blackwell Convergence (2009) - Game details" (in en). https://adventuregamers.com/games/view/16247. 
  5. ↑ "First Three 'Blackwell' Adventure Games Coming to App Store July 10th – TouchArcade" (in en-US). 25 June 2014. https://toucharcade.com/2014/06/25/blackwell-trilogy-release-date/. 
  6. ↑ WadjetEyeGames (2014-09-23). "Blackwells 1-3 are part of the Humble Bundle with Android" (in en-US). http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/2014/09/23/blackwells-1-3-part-humble-bundle-android/. 
  7. ↑ "The Blackwell Legacy for Linux - GameFAQs". https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/unixlinux/862599-the-blackwell-legacy. 
  8. ↑ "The Blackwell Legacy for Macintosh - GameFAQs". https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/mac/862595-the-blackwell-legacy. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Blackwell Convergence for PC". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/971347-the-blackwell-convergence/index.html. Retrieved September 27, 2018. 
  10. ↑ "The Blackwell Convergence review". 17 August 2009. http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/18322. 
  11. ↑ "The Blackwell Convergence Review: Just Adventure - Reviews Walkthroughs and AdventureNews!". http://www.justadventure.com/reviews/BlackwellConvergence/BlackwellConvergence.shtm. 
  12. ↑ "The Blackwell Convergence Review | Gamezebo". http://www.gamezebo.com/games/blackwell-convergence/review. 
  • Official website
  • 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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