Software:Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World

From HandWiki
XPLORA1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World
Developer(s)Real World Media
Publisher(s)MacPlay
Designer(s)Peter Gabriel
Platform(s)Macintosh, CD-i, PC
Release21 December 1993 (Macintosh)
9 March 1995 (Windows)
Genre(s)Music Game
Mode(s)Single-player

XPLORA1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World (or simply XPLORA1) is a musical computer game designed by musician Peter Gabriel.

Summary

The game was intended to promote his 1992 album, Us, and the success of Xplora1 would prompt him to release a similar musically themed interactive game entitled EVE in 1996 as the second of his post-WOMAD projects. The game was first released for Macintosh in 1993, followed by Windows in 1994 and CD-i in 1995, in which the project was completed in collaboration with Brilliant Media under Gabriel's own label Real World Records.[1]

The game was conceived by Brilliant Media's Steve Nelson and pitched to Peter in 1990. The project was developed at Brilliant Media's offices in SOMA, San Francisco, CA. The design and coding for the initial release on Mac CDROM, was created in HyperCard. Footage included WOMAD and on location at the studio in Bath, UK. The branding, marketing and retail distribution was led by Jane Lalonde at Brian Fargo's Interplay Studios. The gameplay consists of a number of sub-games such as scavenger hunts, sliding mixes, music, a secret world, puzzles, etc.[2] In interactive mode the player may watch video interviews with Peter Gabriel, and can explore brief summaries of a number of musicians Gabriel has performed with in the past. As the player completes puzzles and accomplishes goals new areas of the CD are unlocked featuring new content for the player to explore.[3]

Reception

Computer Gaming World said in March 1994 that while the backstage footage was interesting, "explorers will have the most fun remixing their own Peter Gabriel music videos and joining in on jam sessions. Multimedia is a much abused term, but this beautiful work deserves the title".[4]

Xplora1 received 3 awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences[5] for:

  • Best Interactive Product of 1994,
  • Best Musical, and
  • Best use of Music

The game sold more than 100,000 copies globally and more than 2,000 copies in Australia.[6]

See also

  • 77 Million Paintings - A computer software program featuring music by Peter Gabriel's contemporary, Brian Eno, amongst artwork
  • MusicVR - A similar series of musical concept games designed by fellow musician, Mike Oldfield.
  • Prince Interactive - A similar game designed by the musician, Prince.

References

  1. ↑ Niemla, Karen (2010-01-04). "XPLORA 1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World". Adventure Classic Gaming. http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/reviews/483/. 
  2. ↑ Xplora 1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World . MobyGames. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  3. ↑ Pinto, Martha. XPLORA1 Peter Gabriel's Secret World. University of Michigan. 1995.
  4. ↑ "Taking A Peek". Computer Gaming World: 174–180. March 1994. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=116. 
  5. ↑ XPLORA1 Peter Gabriel's Secret World Genesis Discography. 1994.
  6. ↑ Love, Sue (September 13, 1994). "Long-time Apple deal sours". p. 27. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87053277/the-sydney-morning-herald/. Retrieved October 15, 2021. 
  • 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. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.




Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Xplora1:_Peter_Gabriel%27s_Secret_World&oldid=716358"