The State of Adventure Gaming

By Randy Sluganski
February 2000

Don't Call Me Francis!

So I receive this official email from Infogrames asking that we don't refer to Alone in the Dark 4 as Alone in the Dark 4 even though it is the fourth installment in the series. Instead, we are asked to just refer to it as the new Alone in the Dark game until they come up with a suitable subtitle. Then it will be called Alone in the Dark: [subtitle here]. Always wishing to be cooperative, I have decided to take things one step further. From this point on I will no longer refer to Infogrames by name; they will instead be, "that French company." GT Interactive will heretofore be known as "that piece of crap American company that that French company bought out." When Duke Nukem Forever is released, we will refer to it as "that stupid game from that piece of crap American company that that French company bought out." Oh, and if you have read this silliness this far, if you are the first person to email me and tell me where the line, "Don't Call Me Francis!" is from, I will send you a new copy of SouthPeak's Wild, Wild West.

March Madness

In the United States, March Madness refers to the NCAA college basketball playoffs. At Just Adventure, we are going to start our own form of March Madness a week early next Friday as we begin a new four-part series called "(Not) Playing the Game" that we guarantee will be the talk of the Internet. We will show you the industry like no other web site or magazine has ever had the guts to do. We will go behind closed doors and break every taboo as we take you inside the restricted world of magazines, websites, and gaming corporations. We will attempt to discern why the adventure game has become the bastard son and what we can do to change this image. Be here next Friday as we rock the industry and boldly go where no webzine has gone before.

Ray Ivey

We would like to extend a warm Just Adventure welcome to Ray Ivey, our newest and most prolific reviewer. While most of us are sound asleep in bed, Ray is catching up on the missed years of adventure gaming. Years wasted watching movies, eating gourmet meals, and reading books are now being atoned for by all-night playing sessions of Spud, The Orion Conspiracy, and Silverload. The best, most-read adventure site on the Internet just got a whole lot better with the addition of Ray. Keep an eye on those pictures of himself he includes in every review; I have a funny feeling they may figure in a future contest.

JA Goes International

Coming next month: reviews of Paris 1313 from France, Case Closed from Australia, New Robinson and Barmalei 99 from Russia, and Murder Mystery Party from Pittsburgh! If they won't bring the adventure games to the United States, then Just Adventure will bring the United States to the games. Back home, we will have an exclusive review with Jane Jensen and offer all of our readers the opportunity to have their own questions answered by Jane. Plus, inside stories on The Devil Inside from Cryo and Time Warrior from Stock's Eye. Guest appearances, more reviews, and tons of previews (and of course "(Not) Playing the Game") will round out the month and leave you wondering how you ever made it through the day before Just Adventure.

Double the Pleasure

We were the first adventure site to offer first-person reviews (Blackstone Chronicles, Trespasser), the first adventure site to offer dual reviewers (Timelapse), and the first to present a review hosted by Space Ghost (Legend of Lotus Spring), and now in our continuing effort to be progressive we have decided to offer two reviews for every game. Most sites offer one review only, and if you don't like the reviewer or the site, then you must visit elsewhere to obtain another viewpoint. Not us. We want to continue to be your one-stop adventure site--and don't forget our new policy of offering trading stamps for every review you read.

R.I.P. Guy, Manny, and Ben

After the uproar after Sierra's announcement that they would not be creating any more adventure games, we are shocked that there are not the same protests over LucasArts. Not that they have publicly announced that they will not be making any more adventure games, but with the recent defections of Tim Schafer (Full Throttle, Grim Fandango) and Aric Wilmunder and the appointment of a new president, Simon Jeffrey, and a new VP of worldwide sales and marketing, Mary Bihr, and half the public relations staff leaving, we are left to wonder if so many new staff members would be willing to put their livelihood on the line by developing a new adventure game that may be a low seller that could cost them their jobs. Of course, this is all speculation on our part, but ...

This Bites

After our recent review of Dracula Resurrection, we received numerous emails asking where this game could be ordered. If you can't wait for a North American distribution date (which we have on good word is a strong possibility), then the Internet is your best bet. But, try as we may, we have not been able to track down one online site anywhere in the world offering this game for sale. If you are aware of such a site, please let us know so we can share the information with our readers who are still sleeping at night wearing a necklace of garlic.

A Two-Bagger

The response to The Ugly Americans article has been overwhelming, to say the least. Emails from around the world have arrived vowing to support The Longest Journey if it ever gets a North American distributor. Numerous industry professionals have written voicing their dismay and thanking us for running the article. The Longest Journey does not yet have a distributor, but the chances of it being released in the U.S. are looking brighter! Thanks to everyone who has responded to the article either in a positive or negative manner. We don't ask that you agree with everything that we write, but we do hope that we encourage intelligent, heartfelt conversation.

WEGOTZ UGTZ

That's right--the Used Game Trading Zone (UGTZ) and Just Adventure are teaming up! Bill Marrs has invited Just Adventure to be the official adventure site for UGTZ, and we have proudly accepted. Starting soon, any adventure game that is for trade will also provide a link to a Just Adventure review that will help you decide whether or not you want to swap for that particular item. Hey, I'll give you two goats and some slightly used Q-tips for the PC version of Spider-Man and the Sinister Six.

Drum Roll, Please

The Adventure Coalition would like to welcome our newest member to the fold--Adventure Gamer. Edited by Lasse Ojanen and Marek Bronstring, Adventure Gamer is one of the largest adventure sites on the Internet. To facilitate your visits to all of the Adventure Coalition sites, we are soon to announce a new URL that will provide updates all of our members' content. Remember, if you didn't read it in on an Adventure Coalition member's site, then it ain't adventure!

Survey Says!

We want to make Just Adventure a better site, and to do so we are soon going to run a survey that will go a long way in determining our future. We want to know how you feel about letter grades, would you play an on-line adventure game, should we bring back Pamela Anderson Lee, and other earth-shattering questions. Please take time out from one of your busy days and help us and other adventure gamers by letting us know what you think.