[booB]

Who really looks at cover art when deciding whether to buy a game these days? Most PC gamers these days shop online, where access to screenshots is just as easy as, and more informative than, looking at the cover art. The only gamers who are likely to be swayed are the adventure and casual gamers, and this art seems directed more at them than the "core" gamer crowd.

The days of GK2 and Phantasmagoria are LONG gone. The times, they are a-changin'.

[Little Writer]

I used to flip over the boxes to look at the back covers. That's where all the info was: screenshots, game descriptions and features, and of course system requirements. But it's true, now that everything's online I usually "choose" my games long before I actually buy them (and it's not like there are many adventure games sold in regular stores ...)

[Luther10]

I'm just saying that covers are there to attract non-fans of the genre. Why would these group of people even look up info of these said games on the net? We adventure game fans of course would know everything about the games well before they're released from the internet and so cover arts really do not affect us.

[UPtimist]

Originally Posted by Luther10

I'm just saying that covers are there to attract non-fans of the genre. [...] We adventure game fans of course would know everything about the games well before they're released from the internet and so cover arts really do not affect us.

Yes, I agree.

[SamandMax]

After reading the new preview on the front page, I'm really starting to get excited for this game. It has been frustrating waiting but the game really does look and sound great and might actually live up to the lofty expectations we all have for it. At the very least, it should be better than most of the commercial adventure games that are released these days.

[AndreaDraco83]

Am I allowed to tease a bit?

Originally Posted by SamandMax

At the very least, it should be better than most of the commercial adventure games that are released these days.

It is

[Lee in Limbo]

Really looking forward to this game.

[inm8#2]

Looks like the October release will hold true, according to the preview just posted here (and others elsewhere).

The magic system looks pretty damn cool.

[Gabe]

Visually excessive and tiresome hope Jensen's script still got what it takes.

[Lupin The Third]

Originally Posted by Jackal

I was responding to Owskie's dispute that we'd covered the game extensively. I can't imagine how we could have done any more than we have.

As for why it's being sheltered, I'm certainly not going to offer excuses for the marketing decisions, which are indefensible. But I just don't think it's a priority for the publisher, which has a pretty threadbare PR department and limited resources. I know the game is coming along nicely, and I guess that's where their full attention is going right now.

I still contend that it doesn't much matter what they do now. If they do a proper push with the right materials in the last two or three months before release, that's all that really counts.

But hey, there's still our new preview to look forward to.

Two questions. How does the "direct control" for the 360 work? Based on how it's described I think of Wallace and Grommitt's control scheme with it's "hotspots"....which is dumb....stupid...idiotic...as you can tell I hate it. Does the 360 control scheme work well?

Also, even if it does work well, can someone from AG ask that they include a classic p & c control option for the 360 version? Monkey Island: SE disproved the claim that point & click can't work on a console controller and I'd MUCH rather play the game with a traditional p&c interface on 360 than some idiotically designed "console-gamers-can't-point-and-click-so-we-came-up-with-this-BS-control-scheme" like W&G. Maybe someone from AG can pass along the fact that those of us who want to play this on the 360 would like an option to switch to the traditional interface. Which would take all of a day for the devs to properly implement.

[UPtimist]

I very much agree - like you said, MI:SE proved that point & click can work and it's much preferable than the direct-control thing that everyone seemed to hate ever since it first appeared in the likes of MI4 and Grim Fandango. Personally I don't hate it, but since point & click is possible, why make things more difficult just because you can?

And, like I mentioned ealrier when I talked about this, having hotspots sort of pop out ruins a lot of the immersion and just takes a lot from the experience, a bit like using a walkthrough.

[Lupin The Third]

Originally Posted by UPtimist

I very much agree - like you said, MI:SE proved that point & click can work and it's much preferable than the direct-control thing that everyone seemed to hate ever since it first appeared in the likes of MI4 and Grim Fandango. Personally I don't hate it, but since point & click is possible, why make things more difficult just because you can?

Agreed. If it's more like MI4 or Grim Fandango that doesn't worry me too much...but the last direct control adventure game I crossed paths with was W&G and I'm worried that a potentially amazing game will be marred by a control scheme that attempts to dumb things down to appeal to the average console gamer and instead merely results in breaking the whole experience for everyone. Especially when there's no reason to not also include an option to switch to a traditional control scheme.

[Jannik]

The problem with direct control in Wallace and Gromit (I've only played one episode, though), IMO, is that it didn't feel like the game was built from the ground up to take advantage of that control system. I think it worked much better in Broken Sword 3.

I should mention that I played W&G on a pc with keyboard and mouse and BS3 on the Xbox with a gamepad - but it felt like the problem in W&G was mostly the camera, I didn't have issues with the input-method.

Regarding revealed/visual hotspots, I don't think they brake the immersion, as long as you have to be (semi-)close to them before they're revealed.

[DustyShinigami]

Amazon have listed it properly now. They seem to have the 29 Oct. for a release date.

[kuze]

I hate plastic DVD boxes. Is there a collector's/limited edition planned?

[dekaneas297]

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

Amazon have listed it properly now. They seem to have the 29 Oct. for a release date.

Err... no Windows 7 support?

[Roper Klacks]

Originally Posted by dekaneas297

Err... no Windows 7 support?

Pretty sure Amazon forgot to include it on that page. But it says Vista so it should be ok.

[orient]

I'm not 100% sure how Gray Matter will control on Xbox360, but I think that directly controlling your character on a console (with the analog stick) feels better than dragging a cursor round the screen.

However, then there's the issue of selecting which hotspot you want. One solution would be to highlight hotspots within your characters "reach" and tap LB/RB to cycle through them, A to select.

Neither method is perfect, as point & click adventures are always designed for PC first, and Gray Matter doesn't seem any different. It's always best to play a game on the platform for which it was originally designed, unless a better piece of hardware comes along later, of course.

Ironically, one of the worst control schemes I've used was in the PC version of Tales of Monkey Island, where you click and drag Guybrush to guide him around like a drunken sailor.

[DustyShinigami]

Originally Posted by kuze

I hate plastic DVD boxes. Is there a collector's/limited edition planned?

Doubtful. It's not exactly a triple A title.

[Luther10]

So still no US publisher? that's disappointing...