Everything Old Shall Be As New Again

By Randy Sluganski

This article began life as a review of the repackaging of Space Ace. Then it struck me: I'm reviewing a game that is almost twenty years old! What can I say that has not already been said better a thousand times before? Then I had an epiphany. Digital Leisure feels strongly enough about this product that they are willing to rerelease not only Space Ace, but also Dragon's Lair I & II and A Fork in the Tale on the new DVD format. Adventure gamers are constantly hashing and rehashing what must and should be done to preserve the genre. Well, I think that by the end of this article, the light at the end of the tunnel will have become a little brighter.

To paraphrase a saying, "everything old shall be as new again," and that certainly seems to apply in this case as a trio of games that revolutionized the industry in the early 1980s has been revitalized and may just provide the impetus to totally reinvent the manner in which games are presently marketed. Don Bluth and Rick Dyer's Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were the world's first laserdisc-based arcade games. Young and old alike stood in line for hours (I was one of them) waiting their turn to play while watching and memorizing the moves necessary to complete the game. The animation was, and still is, beautiful, but some players were put off by the full-motion (animation) based gameplay that restricted movements to only five options: go up, down, left, right or shoot (Space Ace). Millions of players, though, were entranced by the simple gameplay and made it their mission to commit to memory the progression of movements much as people memorized the patterns in Pac-Man. Yes, gameplay was restrictive, but in retrospect the most popular games of the past twenty years have all been based on the ability to memorize patterns that award the player with a feeling of accomplishment when completed. Tetris, Pac-Man and Dragon's Lair are three of the best-selling and well-known games with the general public. They have appeared on nearly every platform possible: from Gameboy to Nintendo 64, from Commodore 64 to IBM-compatible with 128 megs of memory and a 3D video card. Such longevity would be amazing in any medium, but it is even more impressive in the "hot today, forgotten tomorrow" short shelf life span of video and computer games. Is there anyone who honestly believes that we will be playing Shadow Man or Quake twenty years hence? No, but you can bet your mortgage that in one form or another--and my money's on holograms--we will still be playing Dragon's Lair, Pac-Man and Tetris.

So we have established that Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, et al., are classics. What exactly has Digital Leisure done to ensure that these games will seem fresh and vibrant to future generations of gamers? Quite simply, they have put them on DVD. So what, I hear you saying, SouthPeak rereleased Dark Side of the Moon on DVD-ROM and Access released Tex Murphy Overseer on DVD-ROM. But Digital Leisure has had the foresight to advance the gaming medium one step further. This version of Space Ace can be played on the DVD video player that is hooked up to your television. It can also be played on your DVD-ROM on your computer. Granted, you cannot yet save your game progress while playing on the DVD video player, but it is only a matter of time until someone has the ingenuity to create an adaptor that will plug into the back of the DVD video player to facilitate saving games. For now, though, you can actually play Space Ace on your DVD player just by using your remote control as a joystick! On your DVD-ROM, you do the same but use your mouse to click on the remote control icon. And not only can you play Space Ace, but you also have the option to sit back, relax and view the game in its entirety. This is the equivalent of watching a cartoon while simultaneously acquiring game tips for a point where you might otherwise be eternally stuck. But that is not all--there are also interviews with Don Bluth and Rick Dyer from the mid 1980s. Not only do these have great nostalgic value, but they are also a great source of information for game historians. But wait, there is even more, how about previews--or coming attractions if you will--of Dragon's Lair I & II and A Fork in the Tale. All of this for a suggested retail of $19.99. Again I hear you asking, where am I going with this?

First, DVDs have standard packaging. According to Elizabeth Foster of Digital Leisure, the plastic DVD video cases are referred to as "Amoray" cases and are what most people refer to as DVD movie cases. There is a theory in the computer gaming industry that bigger is better and that new release boxes must be of all shapes and sizes in order for the consumer to notice them on the store shelves. I believe that the popularity of the Playstation games and the fact that European games are standard size belies this. So now if everyone is on an equal playing field, how do you sell your product? Quality. Let's use the long-awaited Gabriel Knight 3 as an example. Currently GK3 will be shipping on three CDs. Already DVD has the advantage of a game being on only one DVD--no disk swapping. Let's add an interview with Jane Jensen (conducted, of course, by the Just Adventure staff). Not enough. How about Sierra adds some previews of their upcoming products. Need more. Why not receive a code so that when you beat the game, you input it, and you can sit back and watch the game in its entirety? Lastly, how about a hint system on the DVD to help with some of the tougher puzzles? It would cost very little to add these extra features and could possibly double the sales figures. Offer the consumer a regular CD-ROM version and an enhanced DVD-ROM version. How about all this for $39.99! If you have a DVD-ROM in your computer, which version would you purchase, and how many gamers would purchase DVD-ROMs just to be able to own the enhanced version? It can and should be done.

I have in front of me a DVD movie called The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. The production costs of the movie were over $40 million, and the movie grossed over $100 million. I can watch The Matrix on either of my DVD machines. For my DVD player, there are extra features such as a behind-the-scenes documentary, a music-only audio track, commentary by the cast and crew, filmographies, scene access and more. For my DVD-ROM player, there are storyboards, genre essays, trailers from the web site, chat room access with celebrity guests and more extras. The retail price of The Matrix is $24.99. I paid $11.26 for my copy from a DVD specialty site on the Internet. For that price, even if I never use half of the features on the DVD, I will always believe I got my money's worth.

SouthPeak will be releasing 20,000 Leagues exclusively on DVD next year. Bob Chase, SouthPeak's Media Relations Specialist, informed Just Adventure that this game would have had to ship on at least 15 CDs, thus the move to DVD. Now would be the perfect time for SouthPeak to consider turning what is now only a game into a multimedia experience. Why not include a virtual history of the book, movie and television versions of 20,000 Leagues? How about a behind-the-scenes tour highlighting the creation of the game? With some inventive marketing that takes advantage of the growing popularity of DVD-ROMs and players, SouthPeak could have a runaway hit on its hands. SouthPeak has already shown that it is prepared to lead the way with its purchases of the European adventure games Simon 3D and Rent-A-Hero, its conversion of Dark Side of the Moon and 20,000 Leagues to DVD, and its multimedia educational products. Now, let's hope it takes the initiative to push gaming to the next level.

We're just scratching the surface of possibilities. Just as Space Ace and the Dragons Lair games have been remastered for their DVD releases, so too could many other classics. Why not a reissue of all of the LucasArts adventure games on one DVD, replete with screen shots of the original box art, previews of coming attractions, etc? The only limitations will be the greed and/or the shortsightedness of the publishers. The DVD-ROM player will replace the CD-ROM in the near future. In fact, many of the new machines are being sold with only a DVD-ROM player. Now is the time for other companies to follow the path that Digital Leisure has blazed and use their rich pasts as a cornerstone to the future. When Bluth and Dyer introduced Dragon's Lair, lo these many years ago, little did they know the ramifications one game would have for decades to come.