Articles

Well, I’m back again. Those of you who follow JA on a regular basis are probably aware that this column has for the most part been incorporated into the weekly Eye on Adventure, but there is such an overload of information right now that only a new State of Adventuring Gaming could contain the overflow of news. So let’s get going…

WHAT TIME IS IT BOYS & GIRLS? ITS JUST ADVENTURE TIME!

Just Adventure reader Tom Stetar was kind enough (and very astute) to send us the following,

While playing the new Nancy Drew game last weekend, Danger on Deception Island, I noticed a plug for Just Adventure in the game… look at the bottom of the calendar in the lighthouse.

Now I ask you, what else would a lonely lighthouse keeper do late at night than surf Just Adventure - and thanks to Her Interactive for including us in their game!

HOW MANY MISTAKES CAN YOU FIND IN THIS PARAGRAPH?

Sierra is developing a new Leisure Suit Larry game without Al Lowe. Sierra refuses to respond to any queries about said game. Sierra, apparently not aware that there are now sites on the Internet that exclusively cover adventure games, funnels information about the game only to a magazine. The cover of the magazine is then suspiciously ‘leaked’ to the Internet three weeks before the magazine’s street date.

If you guessed ‘all of the above’ then contact Sierra’s public relations department as they don’t seem to have a clue on how to market an adventure game.

RAZZIN’, FRAZZIN’ NO GOOD FOR NOTHINGS…

As everyone knows, the PC Gamer staff is the biggest. . . Huh? What’s that? The December, 2003 issue of PC Gamer claims that ‘Your best bet for all things adventure-related is the website run at JustAdventure.com. It’s a handy repository of all things adventure-related and is the indispensable online destination for PC adventure seekers.’

As I was saying, as everyone knows, the PC Gamer staff is the biggest, most wonderfulest group of people in the world and their taste in adventure game webzines is impeccable.

DON’T SING THE ‘NAME GAME’ WITH CHUCK OSBORN

We have never hesitated in the past to point out the bias that is often evident in adventure game reviews, so it’s only fair to point out Chuck Osborn’s exemplary review of Darkfall in PC Gamer’s November issue. The game is reviewed on its own merits with suggestions offered for improvement and shows a true appreciation of the adventure genre. And not once does he use that hoary cliché employed by hacks everywhere…well, we’ll take more about that phrase in our next article.

But first, everybody sing - Chuckie, Chuckie, bo buckie, fee fi….

SILLY RABBIT

C’mon, you knew I wasn’t going to keep blowing kisses for this entire column. As we pointed out in the September 24th Eye on Adventure, numerous magazine reviewers seem to have a stock phrase they use to showcase their ignorance of the adventure genre. We would like to thank Computer Gaming World for providing the following hilarity in their November issue. Here is the opening line from a 2-page preview of Broken Sword: Sleeping Dragon. Now sing along again as we follow the bouncing ball…

Adventure games are a dieing breed here in the United States; just a handful come out each year, and fewer still are any good. Why? To be blunt point-and-click graphic adventures just don’t work anymore.

Well, wasn’t that fun boys and girls? A ‘handful’ of adventure games - what planet is this author from? I can easily list twenty adventure games that will be released this year alone. Then, as justification for his opening line, the author then totally misinterprets Charles Cecil’s now infamous ‘point-n-click adventures are dead’ remark. Maybe someone should hire Scooby Doo to solve this mystery of the supposedly dead genre. Personally, I think Mother Theresa was behind the entire conspiracy as I hear she was a big fan of fraggin.

WELL SLAP MY BUTT AND CALL ME SKINNIE MINNIE

Not to be outdone, the same issue features a well-written review of Darkfall, but this time the opening line takes on a new twist:

With some of the bigger developers abandoning adventure games for other genres, amateur independents have stepped forward to fill the gap…

Zzzzzzzz….oh, sorry, I dozed off there for a moment. Yes, there have been some independent developers step forward, but exactly what ‘bigger developers’ have abandoned the genre? Ubi Soft – one of the largest developers in the world – released CSI earlier this year, has Uru due out in November, Uru Live early next year and is committed to at least two more entries in the Myst series. Lucas Arts is hard at work on Sam & Max 2. Sure, Full Throttle 2 was cancelled, but guess what – wasn’t an adventure game. Dreamcatcher, not only one of Canada’s largest developers, but also one of their fastest growing companies, has at least ten different adventure games in various stages of development. Microids – anyone ever hear of Syberia 2? Electronic Arts – other than some great Sherlock Holmes games about 10 years ago, they’ve never really been known as adventure game developers. So who does that leave? Oh that’s right – Sierra. Hot news flash for the staff of CGW – up until this past week, Sierra abandoned the adventure genre five years ago! Get over it already, everyone else has.

BANG, BANG YOU’RE DEAD!

One of our favorite people, Hubert Chardot - the creator of the Alone in the Dark series - sent us this artwork from his newest project, a French western comic book titled The Last Ride. When does this guy sleep? He’s just written a comic book, finished a script for a werewolf movie and is working on a new game.

SAM & MAX & BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE & KATE

Kudos to Lucas Arts for their innovative marketing of 2004’s second most anticipated adventure title, Sam & Max Freelance Police. Everyone who pre-orders their upcoming Armed & Dangerous (one of the best games we played at the E3) receives a free preview disc that also contains the full version of the original Sam & Max Hit the Road and a sneak peak trailer of Freelance Police - which you can also download from the front page of JA! This is the trailer that had previously been posted on the internet. We received ours this week and it’s great. Now that’s how you market an adventure game!

Speaking of innovative adventure marketing, cheers also to Microids for opening a Syberia 2 forum months in advance of 2004’s most anticipated release in an attempt to build a strong fan-base. Isn’t it great that these companies are finally listening to the marketing suggestions of adventure gamers!

HITCHCOCK EVEN MAKES A GUEST APPEARANCE IN THE GAME!

Is anybody else as impressed with the box for Conspiracies as I am? Not only is it a real eye catcher, but it also evokes memories of Hitchock’s classic Vertigo. Sometimes all it takes is a memorable box cover to sell a game.

RED HERRINGS

• We have some great stuff coming your way for the rest of this year, but the biggest news of all may be the new JA Game Portal. Be here next week as both JA and adventure gaming go mainstream.
• Our new Just Adventure Developers section is also about to open. If you are a independent developer who would like to get maximum exposure for your game, then shoot me an email.
• It looks like online adventure games may finally make an impact in the adventure community. Not only do we predict that Uru will be a huge hit, but Agon has proved to be very popular and we also know of a few other online games in development.