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King’s Quest licensing speculation
I couldn’t agree less with the opinion that 2D games are inferior to 3D games. I like both, but it really depends on what sort of game we’re talking about. I couldn’t imagine any 3D version of say Curse of Monkey Island ever having the same great look or feel as the 2D version, no matter the budget.
2D and 3D are good at different things. When 3D is just used to ape the look and feel of 2D games I don’t think it’s used to its advantage. Instead it should make use of the third dimension in a way that 2D can’t realistically (and shouldn’t) do.
I actually kind of prefer 3D exploration over 2D even though 3D will never look as good to me as beautifully hand crafted 2D sprites.
I’ve been harping on about this for years though - why does every first person game have to be a shooter?
And the great thing about 3D is that the player can put together the story through the environment - they don’t need to sit and listen to large chunks of dialogue. It’s greatly untapped.
That’s kinda what Bioshock does. Yes, there is shooting, but the atmosphere and environment really tell a part of the story too.
As for the whole 3D/2D thing. They’re both great. There’s things 2D can do that 3D can’t and vice versa.
Recently completed: Game of Thrones (decent), Tales from the borderlands (great!), Life is Strange (great!), Stasis (good), Annas Quest (great!); Broken Age (poor)
I actually kind of prefer 3D exploration over 2D even though 3D will never look as good to me as beautifully hand crafted 2D sprites.
Right. When the differences are superficial (like with most 3D adventures), I actually prefer 2D, but when the 3D elements actually become part of the gameplay, it can add a lot.
Back on topic, here’s a Paul Trowe quote from a conversation I had with him on the subject:
Paul: When I spoke to Scott [Murphy] in January when I was assembling this team, I said “Listen, we’re going to redo Leisure Suit Larry, and Josh, Al, Leslie, and Sabina are on board, and I want you on board because I want to license the Space Quest franchise.” I had a really great meeting with Steve Allison from Telltale, who had gotten all the rights to King’s Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest, and Quest for Glory.
Me: They had the rights to all those? I had heard conflicting reports about that.
Paul: No, that’s true, because I know John Stanislaw, the licensing guy at Activision and I used to work with Steve Allison when I was at Accolade. Telltale licensed all those games, but because Walking Dead, Jurassic Park, and Back to the Future were doing so well, they didn’t have the capacity to do the Sierra games. So Bob Loya, who is John’s boss, said that they didn’t want Telltale sub-licensing the rights to us, that they were going to revert the rights back to Activision and [wait to see how a third-party’s project turns out] and that will determine what they want to do with [the Sierra licenses].
I said “Bob, I spoke to you when you were at Vivendi 10 years ago, and you said you were going to make Sierra games then, and now you want me to wait another 2 years? This was back in like March [2012].
So when he was talking to me, he not only didn’t mention any plans to do a new King’s Quest, but said explicitly that they wouldn’t even be considering it for at least a year or two. Kind of different than his more recent quote where it sounds like he’s just announcing a new King’s Quest for Activision.
If you read between the lines, it also seems like Replay may have boned the deal for Telltale, because AV didn’t like the idea of them sub-licensing them out.
Here’s what I think (this is pure speculation):
I think that Jane Jensen’s Mystery Game X is Gabriel Knight 4, which Activision has licensed her to do. She’s going to do it with POS, and the financial success or failure of that game is going to determine the future of Sierra IP revivals.
So take that as you will. 
How many teams do you think Phoenix Online has?
How many teams do you think Phoenix Online has?
Not that many. More just multiple people working on multiple projects. But I doubt Mystery Game X is much beyond the concepting and writing stages, which would be mostly Jane working alone.
How many teams do you think Phoenix Online has?
Not that many. More just multiple people working on multiple projects. But I doubt Mystery Game X is much beyond the concepting and writing stages, which would be mostly Jane working alone.
Given that MGX is supposed to launch before Moebius, I would find that scheduling to be curious.
As I understand, MGX has been done for a while, at least the first episode (or first few episodes). The voices and music were recorded ages ago, which means that all the design had been done.
Whatever it is, I doubt POS is working on it. It’s probably another team.
Ah, well that would certainly make it less likely. I obviously haven’t been following the Jensen stuff too closely. 
I’ve understood that MGX is devloped by an another team. Phoenix is just doing Moebius, as they’re a small team.
But at this point my interest towards MGX does not exist beyond knowing that it might or might not come out at some point in the future.
But at this point my interest towards MGX does not exist beyond knowing that it might or might not come out at some point in the future.
Hey, that was more than enough for people to throw hundreds of thousands of dollars at Jane Jensen’s not-really-a-creative-project Pinkerton Road kickstarter.
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