Monopoly (1995 video game)

Monopoly
Developer(s) Westwood Studios
Publisher(s) Hasbro Interactive
Series Monopoly
Platform(s) Macintosh, Windows
Genre(s) Strategy, board game

Monopoly is a 1995 video game based on the board game Monopoly. Developed by Westwood Studios and published by Hasbro Interactive, this title was one of many inspired by the property.

Gameplay

The game is an adaption of the board game of the same game, with the components of physical gameplay given automation and digital representations. 3D animations are provided for player movement across the board. Up to six human players can play either on the same computer or over LAN.[1] The game's music was in a MIDI format and had a ragtime theme,[2] while the sound effects were in WAV. Like the board game, players roll the dice, travel around the board to collect properties, and aim to bankrupt their opponents.[3]

Development

The game was developed by Las Vegas software development company Westwood Studios, on behalf of publisher Hasbro Interactive.[2] The division was created by Hasbro in 1995 to create video game adaptions of their most popular titles.[4] In a May 1995 edition of Bangor Daily News, it was reported that Hasbro Interactive was currently testing the game, which the company claimed would be the first to have a multiplayer feature allowing players to verse each other over the Internet.[2] While Hasbro stockholders expected to see the game during the company's annual New York City meeting on May 12, 1995, the game was officially previewed at the 1995 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Monopoly was released in September 1995 to coincide with the board game's 60th anniversary, allowing over 23 million players to players in a variety of languages; the game offered immediate translations of currency exchange and properties, allowing international players to view regional versions of the game when playing.[2]

Critical reception

Trent Ward of GameSpot wrote that while the notion of making a video game adaption of Monopoly was a "simple concept", the version that the developers came up with was "brilliant" because they "set their minds to it".[5] The Jerusalem Post wrote that the "wonderful" adaption "loses nothing" from its source material, and added that its only disadvantage was that observant Jews couldn't play the game during Shabbat.[6] The Washington Times thought the developer brought the board game "to a new level", and noted that the digital version takes away the intrusive issue of "Who's going to be the banker?".[7]

According to Media Matrix Inc., Monopoly was the 20th top game played by U.S. Home PC users across March 2000, with 454 unique persons, 0.52% share across PC users, and 0.94% share across PC game users.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Mplayer's Hot Line-up: About The Games. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Bangor Daily News - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  3. ↑ "Mplayer's Hot Line-up: About The Games. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  4. ↑ Moore, Michael E. (2006-01-01). Introduction to the Game Industry. Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 9780131687431.
  5. ↑ "Monopoly Review". Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  6. ↑ "Go directly to jail on CD-ROM". 1999-01-06.
  7. ↑ "Arts & Entertainment;roming the Galaxy". 1997-04-28.
  8. ↑ "Microsoft Leads the PC Games Market by a 10-1 Margin, According to Media Metrix; Nearly Four in Five PC Game Users Play a Microsoft Game. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.