Type of site | Gaming, Parenting |
---|---|
Owner | News Corporation |
Created by | John Davison, Ira Becker |
URL | www.whattheyplay.com |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Optional (required for contributing reviews) |
Launched | November 12, 2007 |
What They Play was a video game-centric website, aimed at helping parents learn about content in video games, and also to help them decide what games their children should play. It was the first of several websites to launch under "What They Like, Inc.", other sites featuring books, movies and music followed.
The site was launched in 2007 by two former Ziff Davis members, Ira Becker, executive vice-president of the Game Group, and ex-1UP.com writer and Senior vice-president of the Game Group John Davison. [1] Davison announced his departure from Ziff in August 2007, with Becker's announcement soon following. The two raised over $3 million to fund the creation and launch of the site. [2] The site was launched in beta in on November 12, 2007. [3]
On September 24, 2009, the site was acquired by News Corporation. [4] As of September 2011, the site no longer appears operational, and all links redirect to IGN.com or its affiliates. The site's Twitter account has been inactive since February 2011, though no official word of closure exists; it is unclear when and why the website shut down.
The site contained a database of over 16,000 games divided by console, genre and ESRB rating. [5] The site employed a small editorial staff of seven to play and review games based on their content, but also allowed parents to leave comments and reviews under each game describing their thoughts on the game's content and/or their child's reaction to the game. [6] Parents could also submit an age-appropriateness rating, assigned on a scale from 1-17.
Mother is a video game series that consists of three role-playing video games: Mother (1989), known as EarthBound Beginnings outside Japan, for the Family Computer; Mother 2 (1994), known as EarthBound outside Japan, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System; and Mother 3 (2006) for the Game Boy Advance.
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 1999's Grand Theft Auto 2, and the fifth instalment overall. Set within the fictional Liberty City, the story follows Claude, a silent protagonist who, after being betrayed and left for dead by his girlfriend during a robbery, embarks on a quest for revenge that leads him to become entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare, and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Its open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main areas.
Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, internet connectivity services, gaming and entertainment brands, and cybersecurity and martech tools. Previously, the company was predominantly a publisher of hobbyist magazines.
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1Up.com was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, 1Up.com provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused content. Like a print magazine, 1Up.com also hosted special week-long online cover stories that presented each day a new in-depth feature story, interview with the developers, game screenshot gallery, game video footage, and video of the game studio and creators. On February 21, 2013, Ziff Davis announced it would be winding down the site, along with sister sites GameSpy and UGO.com.
Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and the eleventh entry overall. Set in the fictional Liberty City, based on New York City, the single-player story follows Eastern European war veteran Niko Bellic and his attempts to escape his past while under pressure from high-profile criminals. The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main islands, and the neighbouring state of Alderney, which is based on New Jersey.
UGO Entertainment, Inc. was a website that provided coverage of online media in entertainment, targeting males aged 18–34. The company was based in New York, New York, United States.
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