It’s An Adventure Out There
Part 1
By Dan Benge
November 10, 1998
Finger Cramps
A few naysayers on the newsgroups are in a tizzy about Grim Fandango’s
lack of mouse support. Now I’m a part of a generation of gamers who
started out with nothing but a keyboard and our imaginations. Even when
King’s Quest came out, you still needed the keyboard to type and
to move your character around the screen. So now we’ve come full circle
to where we need to use the keyboard (or a gamepad) to move Manny Calavera
around the screen to help him to get to his final resting place. Well
wouldn’t you know it, thanks to the mouse, we now live among the keyboard-challenged
who refuse to buy or have taken back Grim Fandango because of the
lack of mouse support. They are going as far as posting messages under
the header “No Grim for Me!” as if they are refusing to eat
their broccoli at the dinner table.
I’m sort of in agreement with the person who replied, “what a bunch
of whiners!” In the genre where the pickings are slim, and with a
game that has proved to be everything LucasArts was hyping it to be, not
playing it because it uses the keyboard or gamepad is like disliking the
Mona Lisa because the frame is ugly.
I think what’s even more disturbing is that someone has labeled the game
as “it sucks” when they took it back the moment they found out
it didn’t use a mouse. How can you judge a game’s merits simply because
you can’t figure out how to press the arrow keys on the keyboard? Just
because I’m not good at flight sims (with all those keyboard assignments)
doesn’t mean they “suck.”
The most disturbing part of all this is that we’ve known about the mouseless
interface since LucasArts announced Grim Fandango. So why do we
have people who are surprised when they finally open the box? This was
an issue that should have been brought up shortly after the demo arrived,
not after LucasArts has put the game on the shelves.
I think that part of it also boils down to is how opposed people are
to change. Way back when, LucasArts took a chance on Maniac Mansion
with its point and click interface, and even then it took some time
to get used to. I used to complain about how it was faster for me just
to type out the darn commands then have to construct them with the joystick
(on my C-64). But after a while, you learned to appreciate its simplicity
and when you got good with the interface, it turned into a no-brainer.
This is the same thing. We have some people who think they know exactly
what an adventure game should be–which are probably the very same boring
concepts which have been slowly killing the genre–and now they are forced
to think differently and they are digging in their heels every inch of
the way. If we want our favorite genre to survive, then some of us are
going to have to compromise a little bit. There is a saying that goes
“progress starts with the unreasonable man,” and I sure hope
Tim Schaefer is unreasonable enough to ignore these cries for mouse support.
Run Newbie! Run!
There are a lot of resources for information on adventure games. There’s
JA, of course, as well as Quandary and numerous webzines with articles and reviews, etc.
However, sometimes it can take forever for a site to put up a new review,
so the first place I turn to are the newsgroups. Not only is this information
quick, it’s generally unbiased and straight from the consumer’s mouth.
Unfortunately I’m finding out that newsgroups aren’t very safe havens
for newbies. It’s rather disappointing with the threat of our genre completely
dying that those who could help rebuild the interest are more likely to
be turned away by flat-out rudeness.
For example, a few weeks ago on one of the newsgroups, a person came
in with the revelation that indeed the words in Grim Fandango were
Spanish and that the subject matter was about the Day of the Dead in Mexico.
Here is a sample of that thread (all parties will remain anonymous):
“Grim = grim
Fandango = party
Calavera = skull (Manny Calavera is the dude’s name)It will be released around November 2, the Mexican Day of the Dead
(Los dios de los muertes)In the demo, all the things and words you see are in Spanish. Pretty
cool Lucas Arts even knows about Day of the Dead!!”
And here was the first reply:
“You are an un-cultured MORON who takes others knowledge for IDIOCY.
You haven’t stated anything but the obvious. Damn. And I don’t care
if I am flamed. JEEZUS! Thanks for letting us know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
NEW!”
Is this really what we want the industry to think we are? Here is just
someone who hadn’t caught onto Grim Fandango just making an innocent
comment (not to mention enthusiastic) and someone else shooting him down
because he already knew this.
I don’t think this kind of behavior really helps promote the genre that
we are all trying to revitalize–especially if newbies think that we are
all like this and are afraid to ask questions.
This has been happening more and more to the point where I’ve even taken
a hit from mentioning the fact that I thought Trespasser looked
bad at E3. The point was that it didn’t look any different six months
ago. Yet someone turned it into an ego trip on my part about being able
to go to E3. It’s as if people are just waiting to pounce.
These people are representing those who love adventure games and it’s
a well-known fact that the industry pays attention to those newsgroups.
Do we want the kind of response like the one above to tell the industry
that this is the attitude of its most ardent fans?
Warning: Could Be Habit Forming
Going to EB has been an excruciating experience, only because this is
the time of year when you will go software shopping only to find that
you have to decide between three or four titles. Unfortunately I’m the
type who can rationalize buying four games all at the same time (I mean,
I really don’t need to eat this week, do I?).
However, EB’s made it a bit easier by sending me a flyer full of coupons
good for a rebate on Grim Fandango, and $10 off two Playstation
games and well, a $20 title that was just $20 so what the heck (there’s
that rational voice talking again). Oh, and that was on top of my 5-percent
frequent buyers discount! So I guess I’ll just have a bag of chips for
my lunches this week.
We all have our excuses, so now I present the Top 10 excuses of why you
can buy that game when you have so many to finish already:
10. It’s on Sale!
9. I won’t start it until I finish at least one other game I own!
8. I could just cut back on groceries this week!
7. I need a new game to review!
6. I can save 5%!
5. I’ll just start my 401k next quarter!
4. It will keep me in this weekend, and I will save money by not going
out and doing other things!
3. It’s the last copy in the store!
2. It’s replayable and I won’t have to buy another game for a long time!
1. Because I’m a “Collector,” damn it!
Well, that’s it for this week, I’m outta here!
