The State of Adventure Gaming

By Randy Sluganski

Scoop of the Millennium

Okay, I can't hold this in any longer. For reasons that will become obvious when we run it, we are currently sitting on an exclusive interview with Ragnar Tornquist, the creator of The Longest Journey. One tidbit of information that all of our readers should find most heartening, though, was the following exchange between me and Ragnar:

JA: Was The Longest Journey conceived with the intent of it being a continuing series? If so, how many parts do you envision?

Ragnar: Yes and no. We designed TLJ to be a stand-alone product, with a beginning, middle and end, but April's story doesn't conclude with this first game, as I'm sure you know by now. We have the storylines ready for both a prequel and a sequel, and in the tradition of all things George Lucas-y, TLJ was conceived--at least in theory--as a potential trilogy.

Yes, you read that right, two more games are in the planning stages to follow up on the best adventure game of the year. Let's hope that next time they receive simultaneous worldwide distribution.

Richard Simmons, Eat Your Heart Out!

Okay, adventure gamers, we all know that sitting around all day solving puzzles and saving the world is having an adverse effect on our physiques. Many of us are sporting blubber butts and little rolls around our midsections, if you catch my drift. So we here at JA have come up with the Adventure Gamer's Exercise Program. We can now play and exercise at the same time.

Keeping your right hand on the keyboard, put that left hand in the air and count off the number of Gabriel Knight games with your fingers. One-two-three. Now put that left hand on the keyboard and use that right hand to thrust a nacho cheese Dorito into your mouth. Now crunch the number of number of Monkey Island games. Crunch crunch crunch crunch. Good. Now let's work on that midsection. Raise your right foot in the air until your big toe can press the button on your CD drive. Now comes the difficult part--bend forward from the waist and put that CD in the drive and then push that drive door shut with your index finger. Whew! I don't know about you, but I'm pooped. Time for a swig of cola and then maybe a nap.

(The complete Adventure Gamer's Exercise videotape can be yours for only $19.99. Just call 1-800-JADVNTR and have your credit card handy. Order before noon today and receive a free Exercise Walkthrough with your order.)

It's Not Easy Being Me

Phone calls at all hours of the night. Hounded in public like the Beatles in their prime. What brought on all of this notoriety? Blame PC Gamer (sung to the tune of Blame Canada). Sure, we always knew in our hearts that Just Adventure was the best adventure site on the Web, but when PC Gamer says so, well, people sit up and listen! We have fought tooth and nail for over a year to have adventure games viewed in a positive light, and our efforts finally seem to be reaping rewards. Now it is time for us to publicly thank Michael Wolf and Rob Smith, PC Gamer Editor-in-Chief, for recognizing not only Just Adventure but also our legion of die-hard fans. Thanks, guys. What we would appreciate most, though, is if you, our readers, could take a moment and drop a thank you note to Michael at alternatelives@pcgamer.com and Rob at ednote@pcgamer.com and show them that adventure gamers can be appreciative. Now if you'll excuse me, it's my turn to strut my stuff for the staff. Where's that danged Coconut Monkey costume?

Adventure Island Survivor

You've seen it on television, you've read about it in the newspapers, now join in the fun. We've put eight adventure characters on an island. Now it is up to you to decide who survives. Every Wednesday we'll provide a synopsis of who was kicked off the previous week and what activities are planned. You must then decide who stays and who leaves. One reader who, by August 13th (which, coincidentally, is also my birthday--I just thought I would mention that so you can begin your shopping early), sends us an email that correctly guesses the identity of the lone survivor along with the most ingenious reason for that character's survival, will win a sparkling, brand new adventure game. Now pass me that fried rat leg, please.

(Not) Playing the Game Followup

Back in March when we ran our popular four-part "(Not) Playing the Game" articles, we received numerous emails accusing us of racism and sexism (not to mention our participation in the Lindbergh baby kidnaping and JA's appearance on the grassy knoll) when we insinuated that the gaming industry was a closed shop controlled by white twenty-something males. It was with great interest that we read the July 1 issue of Game Business magazine containing author Marc Saltzman's article entitled "Game Innovation: Where Will it Pop up Next?" Let's get right to the nitty gritty and join in as Marc speaks with Mike Wilson, CEO of the Gathering of Developers (G.O.D.)

Wilson believes games are being written by a very narrow group of designers--white males for the most part--with an almost universal interest in science-fiction, technology and gaming. "Almost no women, almost no minorities, almost no influences from outside our little group are targets," he observes. "When the demographics of the creators change, that's when we'll see true inspiration and innovation geared for the rest of the world. All the other genres of interest have yet to be explored, really--love stories, comedy, horror, music, etc. We're just getting started.

Gee, it seems that even the CEOs of major companies are part of this conspiracy theory!

They Must Be Sniffing the Printer's Ink

Suddenly, many of the gaming magazines seem to have undergone a complete about-face in their opinion of adventure games.

Not only does the August issue of PC Gamer have the aforementioned adventure article by Michael Wolf, but there is also a balanced review of Martian Gothic, and we happen to know that a favorable review of Dracula Resurrection will appear in the September issue.

The August issue of Computer Games Magazine has a wonderful 17-page preview of adventure games at the E3, and the September issue promises exclusive stories about Escape from Monkey Island and Myst 3.

Even Next Generation has a nice two-page article about Michael Crichton's Timeline adventure project.

Let's just hope that, in all this enthusiasm, these companies don't forget where the grass-roots efforts to rejuvenate the genre originated.

Imagine There's No Ziff-Davis, It's Easy If You Try

I recently had the opportunity to deal with the two of the giants of gaming publishing--Imagine Media (PC Gamer, Next Generation, et al.) and Ziff-Davis (Computer Gaming World, Gamespot, et al.). Heaven and Hell have never been more clearly defined. Imagine Media was quick to respond, attentive, and immediately answered and resolved all of my inquiries. Kudos to Daniel Nelson, employee exemplar at Imagine Media.

Ziff-Davis's Director of Communications obviously is not familiar with the "Communications" part of her title, as she responded to only one of four emails with a snooty, "I'm not quite sure what you want," and when my simple request was reiterated, again there was no response. Long-distance phone calls to their San Francisco and New York offices resulted in passing the buck and unreturned voice mail messages.

For reasons that Ziff-Davis probably can't fathom, my subscriptions to all Ziff-Davis magazines have been canceled. I'll use the refund check to send Daniel a gift certificate for lunch.

Adventure Games Killed the Radio Star

I've been told I have a face made for radio, and on Sunday, July 30, the world will be my judge as yours truly appears nationwide on Dave Graveline's "IntoTomorrow" radio show. Heard nationwide on 77 stations and worldwide on the Armed Forces Radio and Television Networks, this is one show you don't dare miss. Adventure gamers from around the world will be able to partake of the fun as we discuss adventure games and give away prizes. If "Into Tomorrow" is not available locally in your area, then make sure to link directly to the live broadcast from the Just Adventure site on Sunday, July 30, from 3 to 5 pm EST. After Hollywood catches a whiff of my charm and good looks, I may be offered a starring role with Julia Roberts.

Things That Make You Go Hmm ...

According to the financial statements in the Statement of Ownership supplied by the (rumored) recently canceled Incite magazines, Electronic Arts paid Incite $350,000 to have their newest Tiger Woods game featured on the cover. I wonder what page the companies that didn't ante up appeared on?

The Letters to the Editor column in the August Next Generation features a reader questioning the magazine's integrity in naming a noninteractive movie of Konami's Metal Gear Solid 2 as best game of show at E3. Next Generation responds that, "If someone had played it and it played like crap, it wouldn't get game of the show," and stands by their decision. Bets are now being taken as to which month Metal Gear Solid 2 will be on the cover of Next Generation.

Maybe Next Generation should hire the unemployed staff of Incite, and together they could produce an issue of nothing but covers.

Cheap, Shameless Plugs

Lately, there has been an influx of rare adventure games like Pilgrim, Queen the Eye, and others. (By the way, if anyone out there has boxed originals of Touche, Hopkins FBI, Treasure Hunter, or Duckman, and would like to sell or trade them, please contact me at randy@justadventure.com. We would like to have them for the virtual encyclopedia we are constructing). Much of this is due to adventure gamers worldwide finally linking together thanks to sites like Just Adventure and the GameBoomers message board. Even more can be attributed to the dedication of people like the Jensens, owners of CD Access, who go out of their way to acquire adventure games for their customers. Once hard-to-get games like Rent-A-Hero and Ecstatica 2 are now readily available, and games otherwise not for sale in the U.S. like Pompeii and The Time Machine are yours for the same price they sell for in Europe. Not to mention that every game you buy at CD Access by using the link from JA (cheap, shameless plug follows) helps us to not only stay in business but to grow as we receive a percentage of that total purchase (end of cheap, shameless plug).

Over at Playing Games, Alan McDonald is also doing his part to supply obscure adventure games by offering you the chance to purchase previously unobtainable games like The Quivering, The Arrival, Spud, and The Time Warrior. Do yourself, and us, a favor and stock up on some of these older adventure games in anticipation of a rainy day.

Is it Just Me?

The July issue of PSM (Playstation Magazine) has a six-page spread of video and computer game heroines posing in their swimwear (and less). Yep, the women of Resident Evil and Final Fantasy are but a few of the featured bathing beauties. Virtual cleavage? Yuck. Call me old-fashioned, but I think I prefer the real thing. Even shameless hussies need loving.

It is rumored that the movie rights for the forthcoming Electronics Art's game American McGee's Alice have been acquired by Miramax. The game is a twisted look at the world created by Lewis Carroll and has Alice return to Wonderland only to find it a bloody, demented holocaust. Miramax has previously produced such films as Shakespeare in Love and Pulp Fiction. Seems they now consider Alice Oscar material. Gwyneth Paltrow as Alice, anyone?

Waiter, There's a Fly in My Game

One thing that adventure gamers have never had to suffer is buggy computer games. With the exception of the faulty seventh disk of Black Dahlia, I am hard-pressed to immediately remember an adventure game that needed a patch or new disk to complete. It seems, though, that the carefree days of bug-free adventure games may be at an end. The U.K. version of The Longest Journey has adventure fanatics in a tizzy as sound stuttering is causing tintinnabulation on their trip to Arcadia. The problem is currently being addressed by the programmers at Funcom. Apparently, some product also shipped with a badly pressed disk 2. These disks are being replaced by the Empire Interactive, the U.K. distributor.

Another recent release, Cryo's Devil Inside, has a show-stopper of a bug that has already been addressed with a patch on the Cryo website. Problem is, though, that the patch does not seem to be working for everyone. Reader Steve Armstrong did tell us that if you play as Deva during the attic sequence, the patch works fine, but if you play as Dave, it does not. Cryo has assured me that the US version of Devil Inside will be bug-free.

Let's hope this is not the start of a new, unwelcome trend, and if you run across any new adventure games that have a bug, let us know and we'll contact the company and see if we can offer a solution.

Coming Attractions

Previews of Rome, The Insider, Tales of Chivalry, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Reviews of Paris 1313, The Louvre, Pompeii, The Devil Inside, Vampire Masquerade, and one of the neatest games I have played in years, The Odyssey. Interviews with Ragnar Tornquist of Funcom, the Simon 3D staff, and the creators of Stupid Invaders. A week of Monkey Island Madness with LucasArts and special Myst 3: Exile behind-the-scenes articles. Adventure games on the Gameboy and Dreamcast. The Just Adventure Virtual Encyclopedia of Adventure Games, The Mother of All Adventure Quizzes (yeah, I keep fooling you on this one), Rate the Adventure Game, and a new and improved links page. So buckle those seatbelts--we're on the fast track to adventure nirvana.

That's it--be here next month for more inane gibbering about adventure games, the world, and everything else.