Software:Wizard Warz

From HandWiki
Short description: 1987 video game
Wizard Warz
Developer(s)Canvas Software[1]
Publisher(s)GO! Media Holdings[2]
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
Release1987[3][4]
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Wizard Warz is a 1987 role-playing video game developed by Canvas Software and published by GO! (a label of U.S. Gold).

Gameplay

Wizard Warz is a role-playing game with real-time combat. The player is an apprentice wizard whose objective at level 1 is to collect six items by defeating six monsters and return the items to their respective cities. At level 2, the objective is to collect further three magical items. At level 3, the aim is to defeat seven wizards. The spells belong to one of three categories: physical, spiritual and mental. The player has points in each of the categories that are drained by casting the spells.[5][6]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
ACE612/1000[7]
Crash70%[9]
Zzap!6430%[11]
Amstar (magazine) (fr)13/20[12]
Commodore User7/10 (C64)[6]
40% (Amiga)[13]
Datormagazin (sv)2.5/5[14]

Zzap!64 called Wizard Warz "A very poor interpretation of an excellent concept."[11] Commodore User noted it as a good game and recommended it to beginner RPG players.[6] Another reviewer from the magazine said the role-playing aspects are extremely bad and categorized the game as an arcade adventure.[13] ACE called it a standard RPG.[7] ST Action said the most annoying thing about the game is when the player dies, the game has to be rebooted from the desktop.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Canvas Software (1987). Wizard Warz. MS-DOS. GO! Media Holdings. Level/area: Title screen. "Game Design by Gary Bolton, Programming by Steve Ward, Graphics by Martin Holland, © 1987 Canvas" 
  2. ↑ "Wizard Warz [advertisement"]. Computer and Video Games (73): 121. November 1987. https://archive.org/details/c-vg-73-1987-11/page/n119/mode/2up. "GO! Media Holdings Ltd.". 
  3. ↑ "Wizard Warz [ZX Spectrum"]. https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/59862/Wizard%20Warz/. 
  4. ↑ "Wizard Warz [Commodore Amiga"]. https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/7947/Wizard-Warz/. 
  5. ↑ "Wizard Warz". Manual (GO! Media Holdings). 1987. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 McMahon, Ken (June 1988). "Screen Scene - Wizard Warz". Commodore User (EMAP): 39. https://archive.org/details/Commodore_User_Magazine_Issue_057a/page/n37/mode/2up. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Connor, Pete (July 1988). "Screen Test - Wizard Warz". ACE (Future plc) (10): 68. https://archive.org/details/ACE_Issue_10_1988-07_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n67/mode/1up. 
  8. ↑ Vill, Klaus (June 1988). "Fantasy-Zauber" (in German). Aktueller Software Markt (Tronic-Verlag) 3 (7): 14-15. "Preis/Leistung: 8". 
  9. ↑ "Reviews - Wizard Warz". Crash (Newsfield Publications) (54): 82-83. July 1988. https://archive.org/details/Crash36Jan87/Crash/Crash54-Jul88/page/82/mode/2up. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Reviews - Wizard Warz". ST Action (Gollner Publishing) 1 (8): 94. December 1988. https://archive.org/details/st-action-8-1988-12/page/94/mode/2up. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Gordon, Houghton; Paul, Glancey (July 1988). "Test - Wizard Warz". Zzap!64 (Newsfield Publications) (39): 25. https://archive.org/details/zzap64-magazine-039/page/n23/mode/2up. 
  12. ↑ "Banc D'essai Logiciels - Wizard Warz" (in French). Amstar (magazine) (fr) (Faurez-Mellet) (27): 116. November 1988. https://archive.org/details/amstar-magazine-27/page/n125/mode/2up. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Patterson, Mark (November 1988). "Screen Scene - Wizard Warz". Commodore User (EMAP): 24. https://archive.org/details/commodore-user-magazine-62/page/n23/mode/2up. 
  14. ↑ Pruzeliuz, Fredrik (1988). "Spel - Wizard Warz" (in Swedish). Datormagazin (sv) (Bröderna Lindströms Förlags AB (sv)) (7): 8. https://archive.org/details/Datormagazin1988/Datormagazin_1988_nr07/page/n7/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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