Software:Trouballs

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Trouballs is a 2001 Game Boy Color puzzle game developed by Paragon Five and published by Capcom Entertainment. The game was developed out of Paragon Five's studio in Wrocław, Poland, founded and led by Paul Bragiel.

Gameplay

A screenshot of Trouballs depicting the puzzle gameplay.

Similar in design to Tetris and Puyo Puyo, Trouballs requires players to match balls of the same color into boxes of four or six, which then disappear. Players manipulate the balls on the screen through turning wheels. Additional features include falling balls, moving winches and gears.[1] The game has two modes: a "set number" mode with a fixed number of balls on screen, requiring the player to arrange them into rectangles until they vanish; and "ever more balls", in which balls keep falling into play and the player must prevent the screen from filling up before the time limit expires.[2]

Development

Paragon Five was founded in 1999 by Paul Bragiel, an entrepreneur and game developer from Chicago, Illinois, who had spent the mid-1990s deeply involved in the demoscene.[3] It was through Bragiel's demoscene connections that the Wrocław team behind Trouballs was assembled. Pawel Kopinski, who served as the studio director, later described the game as the starting point of his entire career in the industry, recalling that he and several colleagues from the demoscene came together under Bragiel's Paragon 5 banner specifically to build it for the Nintendo Game Boy Color.[4]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarHalf star[5]
GameProStarStarStar[6]
IGN7/10[7]
Game Boy Xtreme80%[1]

Trouballs received mixed reviews upon release. On the positive side, Ian Osborne of Game Boy Xtreme called it a "fun game" and a "solid, playable puzzler", awarding it 80%.[1] Craig Harris of IGN gave it a 7 out of 10, describing it as a "decent package with a lot of decent puzzles to complete".[7]

Critical responses were more divided on the game's presentation and staying power. GamePro gave it three out of five, arguing that its Tetris-style backdrops and monotonous music failed to sustain engagement over longer sessions.[6] Allgame was harsher, awarding it 2.5 out of 5 and pointing to structural frustrations — in particular the time limit forcing rushed play, and the mechanic of sending players back to the first level upon losing all lives, which the reviewer estimated could mean spending over half an hour just to advance past the second level.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Osborne, Ian (2002-04-01). "Trouballs". Game Boy Xtreme (10): 49. 
  2. ↑ Trouballs: Instruction Booklet. Capcom. 2001-11-01. https://archive.org/details/book_20201219/page/n1. 
  3. ↑ "Paul Bragiel — Founding Partner at Sisu Game Ventures". https://theorg.com/org/sisu-game-ventures/org-chart/paul-bragiel. 
  4. ↑ Kopinski, Pawel (2018-05-01). "Gry VR muszą być tworzone przez ludzi, którzy rozumieją to medium" (in pl). https://blog.kurasinski.com/2018/05/pawel-kopinski-superbright-gry-vr-musza-byc-tworzone-przez-ludzi-ktorzy-rozumieja-to-medium/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Miller, Skyler. "Trouballs". http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=31433&tab=review. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Trouballs". GamePro (153): 99. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Harris, Craig (2001-10-18). "Trouballs". https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/10/17/trouballs. 
  • 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 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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