Software:The Town with No Name

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Short description: 1992 video game
The Town with No Name
Cover artwork
Developer(s)Delta 4
Publisher(s)On-Line Entertainment
Director(s)Fergus McNeill
Producer(s)Clement Chambers
Composer(s)Fergus McNeill (credited as "The Jester")
Platform(s)CDTV, MS-DOS
Release1992: CDTV
1993: MS-DOS
Genre(s)Action-adventure, point-and-click

The Town with No Name, also published as Town with No Name, is a Western action-adventure point-and-click game developed by Delta 4 in 1992 for the Commodore CDTV. A version for MS-DOS was released in 1993. It follows an unnamed drifter who comes into conflict with an outlaw gang after arriving in the titular town and must duel with the gang members in quick-time events to survive.

The Town with No Name received mostly negative critical reception on release. In retrospective reviews it was noted for its surreal humour and perceived lack of content.

Plot

In the American frontier, a drifter with a John Wayne-esque voice referred to as "the Man with No Name" gets off a train at the station outside the Town with No Name. Upon entering the town, he is confronted by a gunman. Once No Name kills him, an unnamed man with a cigarette reveals that the attacker was the youngest brother of Evil Eb, the leader of the Hole-in-the-Head Gang, and hints that Eb will send his bandits after No Name. No Name then explores each of the town's buildings, either by interacting with the residents or by playing minigames, and duels with gang members usually after leaving the buildings.[1][2]

After killing every outlaw except Evil Eb, No Name confronts Eb himself but only shoots off his hat. Eb, having dropped his gun in surprise and resigning to his defeat, asks No Name to kill him, believing he is a man called Billy-Bob, whom he had earlier challenged to a duel. No Name explains that he is not Billy-Bob and came to town to meet his sister, believing he is in a town called Dodge Gulch. Eb tells him in turn that Dodge Gulch is at another train station 20 miles away. No Name spares Eb because of their mutual misunderstanding, and they go into the saloon for whiskey.[1][2]

If the player chooses to leave town via train at any point prior to No Name's encounter with the bandit "Wildcard" Willy McVee in the saloon, an alternate ending will take place. As the train departs, a small boy yells, "Come back, Shane!", prompting No Name to shoot the child and tell him that his name is not Shane,[3] after which the train flies off into outer space.[2]

Gameplay

Screenshot of The Town with No Name
Gameplay of The Town with No Name. (left) The "Where Now?" menu with eight selectable places (right) the quick-time event of Nasty Ned during a duel.

The gameplay is divided into two main forms: a point-and-click format with menus containing multiple options, followed by short animated scenes based on the player's selections; and a light gun-type interface where the player must quickly shoot a target before the target shoots back, ending in defeat. Minigames include three-card monte, Chase the Ace, and a quick time event where the player must click a moving drink that the bartender in the saloon slides towards No Name so he can catch it.[1][4]

The duels with the gang members are typically triggered by entering and leaving buildings. However, the order in which the buildings are entered and the activities that can be done in each have no effect on when, or in which order, the bandits appear; the player can simply enter and leave any combination of buildings and fight the bandits in the same sequence. The exception after killing some of the bandits in the street is the required encounter with "Wildcard" Willy McVee in the saloon; any subsequent attempts to leave will trigger the last few duels, culminating in the showdown with Evil Eb. The one optional duel involves Immortal Isaac, a knife-thrower concealed in shadows in an upstairs room in the saloon. When bandits are killed, their wanted posters in the jailhouse are marked with red X's, with the exception of Isaac, whose poster is marked with a question mark. If the player dies at any point, they must restart from the beginning.[4]

Development

Director of The Town with No Name, Fergus McNeill in 2017.

The Town with No Name was conceived by Fergus McNeill, who came up with the idea when he saw a friend wearing a pair of cowboy boots. "My mind was turned towards the whole genre of Spaghetti Western", he explained. "It was begging for me to do something with it."[5]

According to the Making of The Town with No Name short included in the game's bonus features, main antagonist Evil Eb was originally named "Three-Gun Theo" and had an extra hand, enabling him to carry three pistols at once.[6] In a 2021 tweet, McNeill confirmed that he was the composer of The Town with No Name, credited as "The Jester".[7]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameZoneD+[9]
Amiga Joker52%[11]
PC Review3/10[12]

The Town with No Name had a mostly negative critical reception. Critics highlighted its lack of longevity and its poor 3D animations.[3] Dave Winder of Amiga Computing was more positive, stating that it is "let down by its lack of real lasting gameplay, but the interactive elements and the fact that there is so much humour and so many hidden sequences lift it above being just another game."[13]

Retrospective reviews of The Town with No Name noted its surreal humour and perceived lack of content; while Tanner Fox of Game Rant did speculate on the developer's intentions, he otherwise opined how it was hard to tell if Delta 4 deliberately conceived it as a parody or not.[14] Time Extension called it "Hypnotically Awful".[3] Since then, The Town with No Name has become subject of internet memes online, due to its unintentionally hilarious quick-time events, such as the bartender drink quick time event and cutscenes, such as the alternate ending.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Tilt rated it 13/20 for graphics, 14/20 for animation, and 16/20 for soundtrack.[10]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Town With No Name (Game)". Giant Bomb. https://www.giantbomb.com/town-with-no-name/3030-14393/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "The Town With No Name Review". Ghetto Gamer. January 2020. https://ghettogamer.net/2020/01/01/the-town-with-no-name-review/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Extension, Time (2023-01-10). "Hypnotically Awful CDTV Game 'The Town With No Name' Receives Unity Fan Remake" (in en-GB). https://www.timeextension.com/news/2023/01/hypnotically-awful-cdtv-game-the-town-with-no-name-receives-unity-fan-remake. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Delta 4. The Town With No Name. CDTV. On-Line Entertainment. 
  5. ↑ The One staff (March 1992). "High Noon". The One (EMAP) (42): 14. ISSN 0955-4084. OCLC 500102497. https://archive.org/details/The_One_Issue_042/page/n13/mode/2up. 
  6. ↑ Delta 4 (1992). The Town with No Name. In-game Making Of The Town With No Name.
  7. ↑ McNeill, Fergus [@fergusmcneil]. "The Jester was the pen-name of some skinny kid who always more Marillion t-shirts. I think he's number 10 in that lineup". https://twitter.com/fergusmcneil/status/1404837585181159424.  Missing or empty |date= (help)
  8. ↑ Noonan, Damien (October 1992). "Town With No Name". Amiga Format (Future plc). http://amr.abime.net/review_2655. Retrieved September 23, 2021. 
  9. ↑ Miller, Geoff (October–November 1994). "Reviews: Town with No Name". Amiga Game Zone (Amiga Game Zone) (3): 27. OCLC 972162878. https://archive.org/details/Amiga_Game_Zone_Issue_3_1994-10_Amiga_Game_Zone_US/page/n27/mode/2up. 
  10. ↑ Harbonn, Jacques (October 1992). "Town With No Name" (in fr). Tilt (106). https://archive.org/details/Tilt106/page/n97/mode/2up. Retrieved 23 August 2025. 
  11. ↑ "Town With No Name" (in de). Amiga Joker (3). March 1992. https://archive.org/details/Amiga_Joker_1992-03_Joker_Verlag_DE/page/n51/mode/2up. Retrieved 23 August 2025. 
  12. ↑ Carrington, Tim (September 1992). "A Town with No Name". PC Review (EMAP) (11): 60–1. ISSN 0964-4547. OCLC 420940727. https://archive.org/details/PC_Review_Issue_11_September_1992/page/n59/mode/2up. 
  13. ↑ Winder, Dave (September 1992). "Smokin' CDTV". Amiga Computing (Europress) (52): 115. ISSN 0959-9630. OCLC 648004040. https://archive.org/details/AmigaComputingIssue052Sep92/page/n113/mode/2up. 
  14. ↑ Fox, Tanner (2022-05-01). "10 Video Games That Are So Bad They're Good" (in en). https://screenrant.com/best-video-games-so-bad-hilarious-still-good/. 
  • 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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