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-   -   What became of the adventure game (https://adventuregamers.com/archive/forums/adventure/23442-what-became-adventure-game.html)

dazsin 10-12-2008 07:29 AM

What became of the adventure game
 
Quite an interesting little article

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/a...ture-game.html

WRMW 10-12-2008 08:33 AM

Quote:

and the final chapter of the Gabriel Knight trilogy is really one Sierra would rather forget.
Woah... what??

AndreaDraco83 10-12-2008 09:28 AM

I totally refuse to comment.

Misinformation aplenty. Trash-bin material.

Jonatan 10-12-2008 10:41 AM

but... you just did?

Collector 10-12-2008 11:06 AM

Also obviously a LucasArts fan.

AndreaDraco83 10-12-2008 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonatan (Post 484577)
but... you just did?

I know. Sorry. Sometimes it's hard to contain. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collector (Post 484578)
Also obviously a LucasArts fan.

I know. :frusty:

Keregioz 10-12-2008 08:19 PM

Here we go again....


Also, collector, yes he seems like a lucas arts fan (as most adventure gamers), what's wrong with that?

Collector 10-12-2008 08:46 PM

Nothing, I like the Lucas Arts games, too. I'm not going to get into a flame war. It just explains something about his tone about the Sierra games.

tsa 10-12-2008 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazsin (Post 484560)
Quite an interesting little article

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/a...ture-game.html

Nice article. For a high-school student with absolutely no knowledge about adventure games, who did one afternoon of research, that is. But for 'the UK's largest independent entertainment website' it's a disgrace.

Keregioz 10-12-2008 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collector (Post 484603)
Nothing, I like the Lucas Arts games, too. I'm not going to get into a flame war. It just explains something about his tone about the Sierra games.


Didn't notice anything bad about his tone about sierra games to be honest...Seems to me he liked them too.

Christian IV 10-12-2008 11:48 PM

I would say a junior High school level essay that would appropriately recieve a C+ for effort and an F for accuracy and value of content. Sigh.

AndreaDraco83 10-13-2008 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christian IV (Post 484609)
I would say a junior High school level essay that would appropriately recieve a C+ for effort and an F for accuracy and value of content. Sigh.

Wonderfully said, Christian.

F for accuracy is somehow a good rank, compared to the severe misinformation of the article!

tsa 10-13-2008 07:53 AM

Really, I just read it 'diagonally'. I saw Lucasarts Lucasarts Lucasarts, one mention of Sierra and I thought: "OK, misinformed, not worth reading for real," and dismissed it.

anyname 10-13-2008 08:10 AM

so the golden years are behind us. fans of every genre you can put a name on is saying the same thing each and everyday. for every gem in a genre these writers don't seem to want to point out the dogs that are turning people off. not every fps is/was doom or halflife.

DEMON 10-13-2008 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83 (Post 484572)
I totally refuse to comment.

Misinformation aplenty. Trash-bin material.

While I would agree the overall quality of it is not too high, I would shun from calling it utter rubbish. (Or, in your words, trash-bin material.)
Anyway, when mentioning your beloved GK 3, I believe the author was merely stating that the conversion to 3D has hurt the game, not that the game itself was bad in all aspects.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsa (Post 484631)
Really, I just read it 'diagonally'. I saw Lucasarts Lucasarts Lucasarts, one mention of Sierra and I thought: "OK, misinformed, not worth reading for real," and dismissed it.

The words LucasArts/Lucasfilm are metioned exactly 10x in the article, while Sierra is mentioned 9x + there is a part about On-Line Systems "founded by Ken and Roberta Williams".
Thus, I believe both companies are getting an even share of space in this article.

PS: I have absolutely nothing to do with the aforementioned article, or its author, I just don´t like the way you startet bashing him from all sides.

dazsin 10-13-2008 12:51 PM

3D wrecked the adventure game in my opinion.

Not every other genre going to 3D - but adventure games trying to follow.

I had high hopes for So Blonde but they appear to have made a mess of the install so i'm sending the damn thing back and just buying fifa 09 instead!

AndreaDraco83 10-13-2008 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEMON (Post 484657)
Anyway, when mentioning your beloved GK 3, I believe the author was merely stating that the conversion to 3D has hurt the game, not that the game itself was bad in all aspects.

I disagree. I think that he was pretty clear about it.

Oh, and I don't think that me, or Collector, or Tsa were referring to actual number of times of each mention.

rtrooney 10-13-2008 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christian IV (Post 484609)
I would say a junior High school level essay that would appropriately recieve a C+ for effort and an F for accuracy and value of content. Sigh.

I'm hard pressed to find any serious inaccuracies, other than those that might be opinion related.

One might make a case that Phantasmagoria was the first CD-only game ported to PC and not MYST. But MYST was a CD-only game only avaiable on Mac's 18 months earlier. It's a factual quibble.

One can certainly argue the statement that Sierra regretted releasing GK3, but that's an argument of opinion rather than an argument of fact. The author may, in fact, be right. If one looks at the gnashing of teeth in another thread regarding Vivendi pulling the plug on the GK support forums, one might easily hear someone at Vivendi saying, "If we hadn't released that game, (GK3,) we could have been out of this business, and never had to look back!"

Almost fifteen years after the original Sierra sale people are still clamoring for more of what came before, only better. (Thus the fan games.)

If this was truly a Jr High School essay assignment, I would rate it an A and not an A+ because of some typos. An A- on facts, only because of the Phantasmagoria question. And certainly an A based on background being given by two of the big guys that were around at the time, Al Lowe and Ron Gilbert.

That said, if this was a High School essay, or above, I might give it a C+. Al Lowe and Ron Gilbert do not define the adventure industry. There should have been more investigation. Where are the quotes from Ken and Roberta?

Keregioz 10-13-2008 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazsin (Post 484663)
3D wrecked the adventure game in my opinion.

Not every other genre going to 3D - but adventure games trying to follow.

I had high hopes for So Blonde but they appear to have made a mess of the install so i'm sending the damn thing back and just buying fifa 09 instead!


Nahhh....you're better off with PES2009....fifa sucks! :)

dazsin 10-13-2008 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keregioz (Post 484686)
Nahhh....you're better off with PES2009....fifa sucks! :)

I havent tried it - I found PES 2008 virtually unplayable, but i might download the demo :)

Christian IV 10-14-2008 09:02 AM

There are enough good new adventure game titles either in development or already out both 2D, 2 1/2 D and 3D to put to rest the overridden dead horse that Adventure Games is a genre are passe .. Wake up and smell the coffee critics and would be critics :) It is alive and well and getting better for the challenges and the tough competition......in the end, a good story makes a great game if done well.

Mozart The Last Secret GameCo
Theseis Track37
Once Upon a Time in Japan Earth Abborado Studios
So Blonde Wizarbox/DTP

and many more....

but i like to say, my opinon may vary from yours and i think the discussions and the variety of thought is very very healthy and great to read :)

tsa 10-14-2008 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtrooney (Post 484672)
I'm hard pressed to find any serious inaccuracies, other than those that might be opinion related.

If this was truly a Jr High School essay assignment, I would rate it an A and not an A+ because of some typos. An A- on facts, only because of the Phantasmagoria question. And certainly an A based on background being given by two of the big guys that were around at the time, Al Lowe and Ron Gilbert.

That said, if this was a High School essay, or above, I might give it a C+. Al Lowe and Ron Gilbert do not define the adventure industry. There should have been more investigation. Where are the quotes from Ken and Roberta?

I agree. The article is too narrow. The history is only about adventures on the PC, and even in the early days there were more players than Sierra and Lucasarts, although they sure were big back then. Like I said, it's not a bad article for someone who did one afternoon of research, but one might expect more info from the UK's biggest entertainment website.

Maruca 10-15-2008 01:42 AM

yes, way too narrow, I agree Tsa.

I don't know that much about Adventure Games, I am still a newbie and there are still a lot of games I have to play, but even I thought while reading the article, that the author forgot loads of companies and games worth mentioning in an article like this one.
Yes the adventure games industry had its downs but it's getting better and better... So this guy knows about the Myst games and the secret of the monkey island *clap clap*, but what about "Syberia" or "Dreamfall" etc. ? These are the kind of games even some of my friends who normally play shooter games liked a lot and that got them into playing adventure games... Would have been worth mentioning I guess...

mart 10-15-2008 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83 (Post 484572)
I totally refuse to comment.

I can understand you quite well. How can a person be so uniformed and superficial. Wouldn't call it "Digital Spy" but "digital m.ron"
Except for the bad analysis and arguments, basic facts are neglected too. I have been wondering last years about the amount of money I am spending on games. At least 30 new adventure games in the past two years, and it becomes more and more. I keep mailing to Dave (Interact!) can't it be a bit less? I get your packages in at the beginning and the end of each week now. I am a very sloppy and unorginazed person sometimes,
so forgive the errors, typos and outdated info in the short and unchecked note I use (below) just to try to keep track of all the new games that are announced. Even if half of the list is published, it will be an impressive list. "Declining?" Come on!

A Stroke of Fate
Adam Syndrome
Agatha Christie: Death On The Nile
Aankh 3 Battle of the gods
Blackwell Convergence
Ceville
Conspiracies II
Corrosion: Cold Winter Waiting
Darkness Within 2
The Dead Device
Destinies
Evil Days of Luckless John
Fatman sos
Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge
Gray matter
Inhabited Island: The Earthling
Inherent Evil 2: Dark Whispers
The Judgment of Quintus
Julia
Kaptain Brawe
Last Half of Darkness: Tomb of Zojir
The Legend of Crystal V
Lost: The Video Game
Machinarium
Mata Hari
Mayabin
Memento Mori
A New Beginning
Mozart
Night Watcher
Once Upon a Time in Japan
The Path
Pieces of eight
Prominence
Ravens Hollow
Resonance
Rinascimento
Runaway 3
Secret files 2
So Blonde
Simon the Sorcerer 5 (and 4 USA)
Still Life 2
Stonewall Penitentiary
Testament of sin
Theseis
Treasure Island
Vampyre Story, A
The Whispered World
Yoomurjak's Ring
Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

tsa 10-15-2008 06:08 AM

Even if it's not complete, that sure is a nice list to have, thanks mart! And it looks so much more when you post it twice, lol ;) . Oh boy there are far too many games that I would really like to play in that list. So many games, so little time...

mart 10-15-2008 06:31 AM

Indeed, posted it twice, thanks for the understanding! I believe I managed to delete the double posting now.

Keregioz 10-15-2008 07:47 AM

Yes, I agree that adventure games are definitely not dead.
There are too many adventure games coming out every year.
However the problem is not the quantity but the quality...
Occationally some great adventure games are released...about 2-3 a year but a really good adventure that will satisfy almost all adventure gamers and it will be good enough to catch the attention of gamers and reviewers from other genres is extremely rare. The last IMO was TLJ. Dreamfall attempted to do the same and although I believe it was almost as good as TLJ it wasn't as successful.

Ariel Type 10-16-2008 01:43 PM

Quote:

and the final chapter of the Gabriel Knight trilogy is really one Sierra would rather forget.
before criticizing this statement, please read this:
http://www.drizzle.com/~scottb/publi...rtem_draft.htm
Quote:

Budget: originally well below $2 million, final budget over $4.5 million.
other then that, the article is really narrow-minded and sometimes misleading

tsa 10-16-2008 06:41 PM

That is a great article Ariel. I always had the impression that GKIII was unpolished and maybe rushed out the door too fast. Now I know where that comes from. Very interesting read.

DomStLeger 10-17-2008 02:16 PM

Personally I love GK 3, I think it's a superb game. Unfortunately it was released at a time when the race for gorgeous 3D graphics was all that mattered (arguably that's still true today) and so suffered badly when it didn't meet peoples expectations. I don't think the wider gaming community gave it a fair chance because they were instantly put off by the ugly artwork.

And it suffered badly at the hands of Sierra's management. As I recall they had to redo the entire artwork for the game at relatively short notice, and then it was rushed out despite numerous graphics bugs. But at its core it's a really great story with superb and original gameplay (with perhaps one or two moustache shaped exceptions). And I still think the game's interface is the best way to achieve point and click in 3D; or certainly on the right track.

I think it's very sad; it's a diamond in the rough but a diamond none the less. Strangely some of the biggest flops in adventure gaming have been some of the best games released in my opinion. The Last Express anyone?

rtrooney 10-17-2008 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ariel Type (Post 484841)
before criticizing this statement, please read this:

I don't think anyone criticized the statement. Although, again, there might be any number of reasons Sierra might have regretted GK3, it they did. Many of which might be totally unrelated to what is related in the article.

Although, if the article is factually correct, which I have no way of corroborating without the ability to interview others on the development team, the bottom line may simply be that the game cost too much to produce. And the returns were insufficient. For many companies, that's more than enough reason to regret something with 20/20 hindsight.

AndreaDraco83 10-18-2008 02:39 AM

I think that the article's writer wasn't talking about production costs or so, I think that - with his statement about GK3 - he was judging the game itself, thus demonstrating a lot of professionalism.

skaata 10-18-2008 02:12 PM

" LucasArts’ Escape From Monkey Island was seen as a most unwelcome departure for Guybrush, and the final chapter of the Gabriel Knight trilogy is really one Sierra would rather forget."

Honestly, saying that about gabriel knight3 must be like saying half-life 2 is the worst shooter ever or civilization is the worst stragegy game ever invented. I agree, I love the gabe-games unconditionally, but stiil. Like someone said, this article is kinda not well written to state the obvious.
S

ozzie 10-18-2008 04:29 PM

Yeah, in combination with the statement about MI4 it's pretty clear that he talked about quality, not financial issues.

I think I could have written a better article and you shouldn't have such a feeling after having read a retrospective and look in the future of a prominent entertainment magazine.

rtrooney 10-18-2008 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83 (Post 484920)
I think that the article's writer wasn't talking about production costs

Then what was the relevance? If the premice is that Sierra regretted releasing GK3...Why?

AndreaDraco83 10-19-2008 03:16 AM

If I understand your question, my answer is the same that Ozzie give in his last post.

AdrianWerner 10-19-2008 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keregioz (Post 484686)
Nahhh....you're better off with PES2009....fifa sucks! :)

Not anymore, as shocking as it is, FIFA 09 completely blows away PES 2009, it's not even close. I never thought I would see this happening.

And the article, it seems like the last time the author has looked at the genre on PC was many years ago

Christian IV 10-19-2008 10:30 AM

There have been a stream of What happened to the Adventure game....for years, from inside and outside the industry....

here are several:

http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html
2000-09-11
Death of Adventure Games
2000-09-11


http://grumpygamer.com/2152210
May 22, 2004
Why Adventure Games Suck
Ron Gilbert

including one by Mr Gilbert himself....however, careful reading of these and others all over the place, many if not most just dont realize that THEY do not hold the sacred truth or establish it by writing or speaking......the modern critic in many fields seems to have got a serious God complex. WE the game players vote with our purchases and our wishes. And WE are the best place to see that Advventure story based games with nice settings and fun dynamic story lines and either action or puzzles or a combo of both still is way up there in the desires of the public. True, the MMO's right now have massive casual players, but from studying them, there is a high turnover as the grinding and faction bashing grows old for many....and the Gold Standard remains a good story in an excellent setting.

JackVanian 10-19-2008 02:14 PM

I agree with Christian and despite of what some people say i think the high number of upcoming adventures ( some games included with a potentially high level of quality) shows that adventures are everything but dead.
I´m really curious how A Vampyre Story will do financially, since this one seems to have a lot of mainstream appeal (judging on how much coverage the german mainstream media is doing ) , especially because of the Lucas Arts connection and the circumstance that the visual aspect seems to appeal to quite some non adventure players.
Still what i´m missing is more adventures with mature storylines, that make you notice the high quality of the author that wrote them, when it comes to mature storytelling there is still a LOOONG way to go for the genre.
But coming back to GK3. To me it´s still one of the best games out there, eventhough i prefer part 1 and 2.
I always found the GK games to be very mature and serious, and somehow with the graphic style of part 3 it seemed like it lacked that seriousness a bit.
But then on the other hand the story was done in such an excellent way, that the story made me forget that minor flaw .
So i´d say aswell as the first 2 parts when it comes to the story, GK3 proved how complex and well thought you could use the element of storytelling in adventuregames and how they can soak you up like a good book, if done as impressively as in these examples.
And i think the way some of the puzzles were integrated into the game´s world, was more than impressive, so i´d definetely put the whole Le Serpent Rouge thing on my nr.1 spot when it comes to puzzles/riddles in adventuregames. So , it may not have done well from a financial aspect ( like any other adventure at the time) but from the art standpoint i think it´s a great game and a worthy sequel , even if not 100 procent on the same level as part1 and2 .

rtrooney 10-19-2008 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83 (Post 484992)
If I understand your question, my answer is the same that Ozzie give in his last post.

If what you're referring to is the statement "Yeah, in combination with the statement about MI4 it's pretty clear that he talked about quality, not financial issues." I have to quibble.

There is no reason "corporate" is ever concerned about "quality issues". At least as it applies to Adventure Game develpment. Witness some real "clunkers" that have come to market.

That is something that applies, if ever, to the people producing the product.

If the girl, dropping a stitch in China, while manufacturing a shirt for Lands' End feels guilt, it is not shared by the folks in Hoffman Estates, IL.

Their only regret is that the shirts were ordered in the wrong color


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