So.... what happens to Sierra?

thejobloshow · 05-13-2009, 08:14 PM

Sorry if this subject has been covered before, but where did all the characters, franchises and other creative rights go to after Sierra went defunct this year? Does it all now just sit in Activision's basement collecting dust?

AndreaDraco83 · 05-14-2009, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thejobloshow

Does it all now just sit in Activision's basement collecting dust?

Sadly but exactly

... Oh, except for the new Larry which was sold to Codemasters...

Elven · 05-14-2009, 01:56 AM

Ok from what I know, Massive (Ground Control/World in Conflict) were sold to Ubisoft. Homeworld went to THQ I think, so there's always chance of HW3...

As for the adventure games, gathering dust is probably about right. Maybe they'll sell the IP at some point, but even then would you trust whoever picks it up, if anyone?

After all, those games were sadly all dead, and there is far more profitable IPs out there gathering dust....

AndreaDraco83 · 05-14-2009, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elven

After all, those games were sadly all dead, and there is far more profitable IPs out there gathering dust....

Well... I politely disagree

Try to publish anywhere the news of Gabriel Knight 4 being in production... I have the feeling that whatever the community, it will be in uproar

Elven · 05-14-2009, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

Well... I politely disagree

Try to publish anywhere the news of Gabriel Knight 4 being in production... I have the feeling that whatever the community, it will be in uproar

Hehe, GK4 is the one exception I did have in mind... Though imagine if someone picks up the IP (or Activision Blizzard decide it's worth working on) and Jane Jensen's not involved.. Would you bother? I might not...

As for the other Sierra adventure games:
Quest for Glory - concluded, and I for one loved the final game.
King's Quest - ummm, I'd say concluded too... I thoguht Mask of Eternity was ok...
Leisure Suit Larry - that's still going on, and I think we all wish it would stop.
Phantasmagoria - No more...please!
Police Quest - became SWAT... Was it ever that good anyway?
Laura Bow - Never that good to begin with
Ecoquest - The first was great, the second was average, it died waaaaay before Sierra
Space Quest - that one was never concluded... but they made it clear they were not gonna make anymore

I bet I must have missed out a couple...

And I am wondering how the uproar will compare to the one that other 'abandoned' cult games were to receive if a sequel were announced. Think Wing Commander or Ultima for example.

AndreaDraco83 · 05-14-2009, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elven

Hehe, GK4 is the one exception I did have in mind... Though imagine if someone picks up the IP (or Activision Blizzard decide it's worth working on) and Jane Jensen's not involved.. Would you bother? I might not...

I try not to think about this scenario

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elven

As for the other Sierra adventure games:

Quest for Glory - I agree with you. The series is definitely concluded, but it would be nice to see more games with the same format and set in the same universe.
King's Quest - Well, since I utterly disliked MoE, I think this series deserves a proper conclusion.
Leisure Suit Larry - Agree. Better no Larry game, than these pseudo-Larry games.
Phantasmagoria - I would love to see a third Phantasmagoria!

Police Quest - I loved the classical PQ series (except for the fourth one), and I'd like to see another chapter with Sonny Bonds as protagonist.
Laura Bow - Agree with you (plus, we already know the end of her story from GK1)

ILoveYou · 05-14-2009, 05:33 AM

Activision/Vivendi killed Sierra ages back.

thejobloshow · 05-14-2009, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILoveYou

Activision/Vivendi killed Sierra ages back.

Yeah, Sierra died as soon as it was sold to Cendant - I respect Vivendi for at least attempting to retain the fan base through the forums and look into revivals (LucasArts had a similar fall from grace with its cancellations.)

Oh well, greener pastures ahead - there's Gray Matter on the horizon.

Tiocfaidh · 05-14-2009, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

Laura Bow - Agree with you (plus, we already know the end of her story from GK1)

what the ...
äh ... wha happened to her ?

AndreaDraco83 · 05-14-2009, 09:31 AM

While visiting Tulane University, you can read the board in the auditorium and find out that...

Spoiler:
She won the Pulitzer Prize and married Steve Dorian. Now, an happy octogenarian, she is about to give a speech at the University about investigation and journalism

Tiocfaidh · 05-14-2009, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

While visiting Tulane University, you can read the board in the auditorium and find out that...

Spoiler:
She won the Pulitzer Prize and married Steve Dorian. Now, an happy octogenarian, she is about to give a speech at the University about investigation and journalism

Cool

I have to check that out !

Jadefalcon · 05-14-2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thejobloshow

Yeah, Sierra died as soon as it was sold to Cendant - I respect Vivendi for at least attempting to retain the fan base through the forums and look into revivals (LucasArts had a similar fall from grace with its cancellations.)

Oh well, greener pastures ahead - there's Gray Matter on the horizon.

I remember eagerly awaiting Warcraft Adventures and Babylon 5:Into the Fire to come out when that happened. Apparently Codemasters was interested in B5 but Cendant refused to sell the materials.

OriginalGagBonkers · 05-14-2009, 01:43 PM

Wait...Since when did Codemasters get the rights to larry?

Agent5 · 05-14-2009, 03:24 PM

Though I can't give you a specific date a Codemasters publishing label, Funsta, acquired the rights and the then in development Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust in the aftermath of the Activision Blizzard merger. They just recently published the game, to less than stellar reviews.

peter.vullings · 05-14-2009, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent5

...to less than stellar reviews.

No surprises there. I must admit these games were appealing when I was a young teen for obvious reasons. Some of the dialog of the old games is still worth a laugh.

Elven · 05-17-2009, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

I try not to think about this scenario

Quest for Glory - I agree with you. The series is definitely concluded, but it would be nice to see more games with the same format and set in the same universe.
King's Quest - Well, since I utterly disliked MoE, I think this series deserves a proper conclusion.
Leisure Suit Larry - Agree. Better no Larry game, than these pseudo-Larry games.
Phantasmagoria - I would love to see a third Phantasmagoria!

Police Quest - I loved the classical PQ series (except for the fourth one), and I'd like to see another chapter with Sonny Bonds as protagonist.
Laura Bow - Agree with you (plus, we already know the end of her story from GK1)

Well I dont think MoE was meant to be the last necessarily... But I dont understand why everyone hated it so much. Yeah the graphics were quite bad (when it came out Quake 2 was a big thing, and that game looked worse than Quake 1!) and the puzzles were a joke, but it was fun anyway..
Also it's not like every single title in the KQ series was a masterpiece...quality varied quite a lot between them...

It's not like Roberta Williams struck gold with every single game she made...

As for Phantasmagoria - i liked 1 but 2 was just plain crap. If I drop my wallet under a couch I push the couch out of the way, I dont train a rat (that is actually smaller than the wallet) to go fetch it for me. Also why were the women in that game so horny and all over the skinny geeky main guy? And the Darth Vader voice??? The hell was that about?

This did remind me about Shivers though - A Sierra horror game (FMV too I believe?) that I never played.. Is that any good? I spent hours setting up Win 3.11 on a MS Virtual PC to be able to play Beast Within properly, so wouldnt mind playing some oldies!

And back on topic: does anyone remember the old Krondor games (RPGs)? Those would be well worth bringing back

UPtimist · 05-20-2009, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

I try not to think about this scenario

But could it really even happen? I mean, Jane already has the story ready, with very loose ends from GK3 and unlike (often?) developers in other game series she's been very important in and for all the previous GKs. There have been series where the makers have changed, but (at least to me) the Gabriel Knight series = Jane Jensen and there haven't even been that many other main developers in the games aside from her (and she's such a part in many different aspects of the game, not just story or something like that). I'm thinking it wouldn't be too easy to just have someone completely different just pick it up. Jane's been just too pivotal thoughout the series.

And if all the other reasons fail, at least it doesn't seem like a smart business move to alienate all the people who want Jane to be make the game. Of course there's the possibility that Jane would refuse, but I can't see that as very likely...

Or then I'm just "not in the know"

Hey, I'm not a part of the game industry, so I could just be optimistic here (and then again, this whole topic seems to be rather pointless considering the state... of things...)

(But I guess I'm getting off-topic)

nogwart · 05-21-2009, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elven

This did remind me about Shivers though - A Sierra horror game (FMV too I believe?) that I never played.. Is that any good? I spent hours setting up Win 3.11 on a MS Virtual PC to be able to play Beast Within properly, so wouldnt mind playing some oldies!

And back on topic: does anyone remember the old Krondor games (RPGs)? Those would be well worth bringing back

I consider Shivers one of my all-time favorites, and liked Shivers 2 almost as much. Definately worth trying both if you can.

I liked Betrayal At Krondor very much as well, and Betrayal At Antarra was pretty good, but I have been unable to find Return To Krondor anywhere (for a reasonable price) as of yet.

I'd say bring them ALL back!

inm8#2 · 05-21-2009, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nogwart

I consider Shivers one of my all-time favorites, and liked Shivers 2 almost as much. Definately worth trying both if you can.

I liked Betrayal At Krondor very much as well, and Betrayal At Antarra was pretty good, but I have been unable to find Return To Krondor anywhere (for a reasonable price) as of yet.

I'd say bring them ALL back!

See the sig regarding Shivers. To me that's the most underrated adventure game series ever (even if there were only 2).

Roper Klacks · 05-21-2009, 02:23 PM

I'm also a huge Shivers fan, although i didn't like the second one.

05-13-2009, 08:14 PM	#1
thejobloshow Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 303	So.... what happens to Sierra? Sorry if this subject has been covered before, but where did all the characters, franchises and other creative rights go to after Sierra went defunct this year? Does it all now just sit in Activision's basement collecting dust? Share Share this post on Twitter

05-14-2009, 01:56 AM	#3
Elven Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 15	Ok from what I know, Massive (Ground Control/World in Conflict) were sold to Ubisoft. Homeworld went to THQ I think, so there's always chance of HW3... As for the adventure games, gathering dust is probably about right. Maybe they'll sell the IP at some point, but even then would you trust whoever picks it up, if anyone? After all, those games were sadly all dead, and there is far more profitable IPs out there gathering dust.... Share Share this post on Twitter

05-14-2009, 05:33 AM	#7
ILoveYou Banned User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 382	Activision/Vivendi killed Sierra ages back. Share Share this post on Twitter

05-14-2009, 09:31 AM	#10
AndreaDraco83 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Italy Posts: 2,684	While visiting Tulane University, you can read the board in the auditorium and find out that... Spoiler: She won the Pulitzer Prize and married Steve Dorian. Now, an happy octogenarian, she is about to give a speech at the University about investigation and journalism Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Top Ten Adventures: Gabriel Knight Series, King's Quest VI, Conquests of the Longbow, Quest for Glory II, Police Quest III, Gold Rush!, Leisure Suit Larry III, Under a Killing Moon, Conquests of Camelot, Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist. Now Playing: Neverwinter Nights, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

05-14-2009, 01:43 PM	#13
OriginalGagBonkers Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 31	Wait...Since when did Codemasters get the rights to larry? Share Share this post on Twitter

05-14-2009, 03:24 PM	#14
Agent5 Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 10	Though I can't give you a specific date a Codemasters publishing label, Funsta, acquired the rights and the then in development Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust in the aftermath of the Activision Blizzard merger. They just recently published the game, to less than stellar reviews. Share Share this post on Twitter

05-21-2009, 02:23 PM	#20
Roper Klacks Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Portugal Posts: 344	I'm also a huge Shivers fan, although i didn't like the second one. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Favorite Adventures: Gabriel Knight series, The Longest Journey, Still Life, The Last Express, Shivers.

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