SeaBlade

SeaBlade
Developer(s)	Vision Scape Interactive
Publisher(s)	NA: Simon & Schuster Interactive EU: TDK Mediactive Europe
Platform(s)	Xbox
Release	NA: November 20, 2002 EU: March 28, 2003
Genre(s)	Shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player

SeaBlade is a video game developed exclusively for the Xbox by Vision Scape Interactive and published by Simon & Schuster in 2002, and by TDK Mediactive Europe in Europe in 2003. The game is a shooter game in which players complete missions using craft named SeaBlades that engage in combat in flight and underwater, with seamless transition between air and ocean. SeaBlade was developed by Vision Scape Interactive, a 3D animation studio with minor development experience.^[1] Upon release, SeaBlade received negative critical reception, with reviewers critiquing the generic nature of the game, poor utilisation of the air and ocean navigation concept, and poor control scheme.

SeaBlade is a vehicular combat shooter game in which players operate the titular SeaBlades, craft that can transfer from flight through the air and submerge into the sea. The game consists of 39 missions across 6 environments in which players perform various tasks, including reaching checkpoints, dropping equipment, and rescuing civilians, whilst avoiding enemy ships and fighters.^[2] Players control their craft using the two analog sticks to strafe and turn. Combat in SeaBlade is fought against other enemy SeaBlades and turrets, and is performed using a default weapon, a gatling gun, with additional weapons acquired through collecting power-ups hidden in the level. The player can use a targeting feature in the HUD that provides the direction of the nearest attacking SeaBlade. The game also features a multiplayer mode, including 'Chaos Reigns', a deathmatch mode, 'Tag', a mode with a time bomb swapped between players that explodes in a time limit, and 'Moving Target', where players compete to first eliminate a computer controlled target.^[3]

In the 24th Century, the polar ice caps have melted, leading to an outbreak of war across Earth's submerged cities between countries in the northern and southern hemispheres. The southern inhabitants in the Southern Alliance enjoy a peaceful existence, whilst the Northern Warlords, driven by war and conquest, threaten to invade the south. The player is David Pierce, a pilot and commander of a squadron of Southern Alliance pilots, tasked with putting an end to the destruction waged by the three Northern Warlords. Stationed on the warship Argosy, the Alliance pilots deploy vehicles named SeaBlades to perform rescue and reconnaissance work in the North.

The game received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic, with an average score of 48% from 11 reviews.^[4] Many reviewers critiqued the gameplay of SeaBlade, finding little to distinguish the game from other titles. Describing the game as "bland" and "devoid of any sort of creativity", Greg Orlando of Electronic Gaming Monthly critiqued the game for its "dull power-ups" and "uninspired blast-em-up missions".^[5] Alex Navarro of GameSpot described the game as a "pretty dull experience", noting the "sloppy execution and boring gameplay mechanics", noting the "disappointing" underutilisation of underwater combat.^[2] IGN critiqued the "little variety" in the missions, writing "most of the time you'll be flying back and forth through the levels, acting as a high-tech chauffeur."^[8] Nebojsa Radakovic of Game Revolution similarly described the gameplay as "frustrating" and "flat", finding that the game lacked "cool nautical battles" and featured an "invisible ceiling that is not very high at all, robbing the player of any grueling aerial escapes high in the sky."^[7]

Reviewers also faulted the game's control scheme. Alex Navarro of GameSpot wrote "much of the combat in SeaBlade leans more toward frustration than actual difficulty, as controlling your ship is a pretty harrowing experience", describing the controls as "ridiculously loose, leading to tons of missed turns and power-up items in times of desperation."^[2] Paul Byrnes of Xbox Nation wrote "the controls are difficult and unintuitive", citing the game's lack of inverted control options.^[10] GameZone wrote that "the controls are what kill this game", describing them as "un-user friendly" and that "players will spend more time fighting with the controller trying to fly the ship than fighting enemies and accomplishing their mission objectives."^[3] Greg Orlando of Electronic Gaming Monthly noted that the use of the analog stick to control acceleration was "extremely taxing on the thumbs to do continually."^[5] Whilst IGN found the controls to be "tight and mostly responsive", they faulted the game's control scheme as "challenging" and the targeting system as an "exercise in frustration".^[8]

• 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.

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 lengthy 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.

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]

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

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