[cygma]

I thing eXo just skipped all the previous posts, ignored them and noted his own conclusions ingoring all the afformentioned facts.

Originally Posted by eXo

But just because someone can list a couple games that have been released (hotel dusk, ace attorney, runaway, whatever) doesn't mean there is some thriving adventure game market out there.

In the 90's there were hundreds of these games released. Is someone here actually trying to convicne me that a genre which once consisted of 20-30 titles per year is still viable due to a measly 3 or 4 games?

So you define that a scene is alive by means of released products.So how many games were published then and how many now? I would say about 40 games (i didnt count them but a good approximation) in 1995 and 25 in 2006. There is a drop here but in terms of quality how many were good (and were selling then and now). The same figure here about 8-9 per year.

Originally Posted by eXo

It means that studios no longer find it viable to release adventure titles for profit.

Now you turn it to sales figures. If you have studied them most companies filled for bankruptcy in 97-98. So they didnt have a profit then. Now most of companies are consistent and except microids who was sold, no other major studio has closed in the past 3-4 years because of economical reasons.

Originally Posted by eXo

Most games released these days are by fans - for fans. Just because some company cranks out nancy drew games doesnt mean the entire industry isn't dead - it just means that one company is taking advantage of the obvious void and making a couple bucks off of it.

And this indicates that ag are dead? So back then sierra , lucasart and legend staff werent fans of adventure genre themselves?You should take some history lessons man.The main fact in a marketing concept is that the products are tailored to the needs of the customer and only with them in mind. The fans are buying them and the game should focus on them. So it is a GOOD fact that these games are being released by adventure's afficionates with ag in mind.

Originally Posted by eXo

Vivendi Universals recent handling of the sierra game compilations is a perfect example of just how significat adventure games are to the commerical video game market - ie: null. We got crappy boxes with pdf manuals, missing titles (ll7, original non-vga versions), buggy versions (kq7), and even stripped down versions (ll6 voices missing).

If the adventure game wasn't 'commercially dead' then we (the adventure game community) wouldnt have been treated to such a half-assed release.

who cares about vivendi? how many bought this crappy collections?
They were totally ignored because of the reasons you said yourself. The product is not just a game ,but there are other parameters as well in the product-mix. When you dont have a market strategy and youre not putting any effort( promotion, packaging, no added value ) you will fail. The market ignored them. If you dont know how to make something dont do it.

Originally Posted by eXo

Again - to repeat - just becasue a small developer puts a game together and sells it for $20 does NOT mean that adventure games are not commercially dead.

In niche markets the gross margin is usually bigger than in competing markets.
it doesnt matter how much you sell compared to another but how much profit you are making compared to another company.

Originally Posted by eXo

To say otherwise is ignoring:
A: release figures
B: reviews of a majority of recent games (see last post on this for further details)
C: complete disregard of old titles by BOTH Lucasarts AND Sierra.

A. do you have them?
B. As you said in your last paragraph there is no problem with that. I agree with that.

Originally Posted by eXo

I believe there is still a great level of artistry in the genre

C. But these are old products! How on earth could a 1990 game sell in 2006.Why promote that? The fans respect those games , but the companies cannot make any money out of them anymore.It pure logic. But consider the example of telltale. Why a NEW company created such a buzz because of the fact that it was founded by ex-lucas emploees? EVERYONE in the community respects them and their game, just EVERYONE!

Originally Posted by eXo

Now, if thats not economically dead, then what is? And seriously - selling any game for $5-15 bucks is a bloody joke, thats just covering the cost of pretzels and twinkies consumed during the proggraming, it's definately not paying anyone's rent.

sorry but your comment is a bloody joke! Where can you base your assumptions? Personnally i think selling a game 40-50 bucks ,you are ripping-off your customer. Are you irritated by low selling value? then buy Tomb raider XXXIVV for just 60 bucks and enjoy it.