Starfire Soccer Challenge

Starfire Soccer Challenge
Developer(s)	Purple Moon
Release	1998

Starfire Soccer Challenge is a video game by Purple Moon, released in November 1998.[1]

Plot and gameplay

The game sees the player control an all-girls soccer team. The game sees a continuation of the characters from Rockett's New School and Secret Paths.[2]

Production

The game's pioneering design was, like other Purple Moon titles, built off of years of research.[2][3] At the time, American women were close to winning the World Cup, and women's soccer had become important to the target market.[4] The research impacted both the plot and the user interface (UI) of the title.[4] It became the first sports CD-ROM designed for girls.[5] While boys' sports games have superstar athletes, this game was designed to have girl next door characters that the player could relate to.[5] Sarah Stocker served as the game's producer.[6]

Critical reception

The game received a more positive reception from feminists than Purple Moon's other games.[1] Brenda Laurel: Pioneering Games for Girls noted the game took a fresh take on the sports game.[2] The journal article Stuck on Screens: Patterns of Computer and Gaming Station Use in Youth Seen in a Psychiatric Clinic described the game as an "outstanding example of digital technology supporting positive emotional development".[7]

The game received a nomination for "PC Children's Entertainment Title of the Year" at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[8]

References

1. Hafner, Katie (10 September 1998). "Girl Games: Plenty And Pink". The New York Times.
2. Kocurek, Carly A. (9 February 2017). Brenda Laurel: Pioneering Games for Girls. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781501319792 – via Google Books.
3. Laurel, Brenda (2 April 2018). Utopian Entrepreneur. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262621533 – via Google Books.
4. "Q&A with Brenda Laurel: We "brought girls roaring into the online game space"". 2 March 2009.
5. "Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan on October 13, 1998 · Page 31". 13 October 1998.
6. Jonric, Richard Aihoshi- (1 May 2002). "Sarah Stocker (Stormfront Studios) Interview".
7. Kutcher S (May 2011). "Stuck on screens: patterns of computer and gaming station use in youth seen in a psychiatric clinic". Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 20 (2): 95. PMC 3085683. PMID 21541097.
8. "Second Interactive Achievement Awards - Personal Computer". Interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on November 4, 1999. Retrieved 28 December 2022.