|
|
|| Adventure Links || Archives || Articles || Independent Developers || Interviews || JA Forum ||
|| JA Staff/Contacts || The JAVE || Letters || Reviews || Search || Upcoming Releases || Walkthroughs ||
|| What's New / Home || Play Games! ||
| Over 1 Million Visitors a Month! |
|
The Chatter
Box
Volume 1
November 7, 2001
by Adam Rodman
For Adventure's Sake, Do Something Different!
Welcome to the first article of The Chatter Box, a monthly column written by the premier Just Adventure reviewer, international male model, super-stud, and part-time super-duper-secret world leader Adam Rodman (take a guess who's writing these italics). So, what is The Chatter Box? Besides the obvious (a box that chatters, which I believe means to ramble on and on and on and on). The Chatter Box is a monthly adventure opinion and article column. This month: what's wrong with the adventure genre.
Adventure ain't the hottest thing right now in the gaming industry; it has the overall public appeal of a somewhat lukewarm and partially decomposed mackerel. Compared to seven or so years ago, when adventures had the appeal of Cindy Crawford in a French maid's uniform (or Antonio Banderas or Janet Reno is a French maid's uniform, whatever floats your boat), that's a somewhat stinky situation.
But why should adventures suffer in the 21st century? Logically, they shouldn't. The basic form of an adventure has changed very little since the days of Zork. Sure, games got graphics, which evolved to pretty graphics, which evolved to downright sexy graphics, but gameplay remains basically unchanged.
But life ain't logical (or else we'd all look like Mr. Spock and wear spandex or mini-skirts), and that static-ness, that refusal to evolve, is slowly killing the genre. Even The Longest Journey (which could whoop the buttocks of almost any Sierra of LucasArts adventure) is a throwback from an earlier era. Are adventures doomed to rot in the trash bin with eight-track players, Crystal (clear) Pepsi, and Devo?
Obviously, adventure developers and publishers are doing something wrong. And as the old expression goes, "If it broke, fix it" (or is it, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Ah, screw it, they're both true.) The industry needs to change the ways it designs and markets adventure games if it ever wants adventures to clear "rotting fish" status.
What can designers do? Well, let's see: they can embrace and utilize the Internet (a la Majestic), abandon the "interactive slideshow", capitalize on existing franchises (imagine how much a Harry Potter adventure would sell!), hire famous writers, license existing 3D engines (think adventuring with Quake 3), make a sequel to a famous series (gee, maybe Gabriel Knight?), use celebrity voice-actors, use Top 40 hits for the MTV Generation, add a little … indecency for the guys and strong female characters for the girls, make modifiable games, insert a bit of non-linearity … and the list goes on and on.
In short, there are plenty
of things programmers, designers, and publishers can do to spice up
their games - if they're brave enough to enter new territory. Someday,
an adventure game will once again top the charts. Until then, enjoy
your fish.