How Not to Sell Adventure Games
A (Not) Playing
the Game Followup

By Randy Sluganski

Chips
& Bits is an online store that offers computer games (and products for other
gaming platforms) for sale at competitive rates. They are a pleasure to deal with
and offer first-rate service. In response to many of our readers inquiring as
to a source to order adventure games, Just Adventure has featured a Chips &
Bits banner at the bottom of our front page for almost the past year. Every time
a reader clicks on this banner and then orders a game or games from Chips &
Bits, we receive a 20% commission through their affiliate program. We have made
some (not a lot) of money through this affiliate program.

Chips & Bits
is also the publisher of Computer Games Magazine (see (Not) Playing the
Game–Part 1) and Computer
Games Online–both highly respected in the industry. As such, they also send
out weekly newsletters related to the different genres (action, adventure/RPG,
etc.) that they cover. I do not know, nor is it any of my business, how many subscribers
their newsletter reaches, but I am sure it is more than the 1,700 subscribers
registered for the weekly Just Adventure newsletter.

Just Adventure is
not affiliated with, sponsored by, or financially backed by anyone. We are not
part of a chain, nor do we belong to any of the Internet affiliations such as
UGO or IGN. Though we will accept advertising, we are not contractually obligated
to sell games for anyone, nor do we have a problem with anyone who is part of
such an arrangement. What we do have a problem with is adventure game bashing,
and once again it has reared its ugly head–this time, in the most unlikely
of places.

CGO (Computer Games Online) emails a weekly adventure/RPG newsletter
to interested subscribers. This particular newsletter is authored by Cindy Yans,
who also writes for Computer Games Magazine and Computer Games Online.
What should be cut-and-dried information pointing readers to reviews/previews/articles
has instead turned into a platform to ridicule adventure games and adventure game
companies. As a case in point, let’s take a look at an excerpt from this past
week’s newsletter:

Hmm … now everything was fine until that last sentence. I did wonder
about the use of the word “afterbirth.” Was it meant in a negative connotation
or tongue-in-cheek? According to my dictionary, afterbirth is “the placenta,
umbilical cord and ruptured membranes which become detached from the uterus and
expelled soon after birth.” It is also a slang word for garbage or waste,
something that is not wanted. Was I perhaps overreacting? Well, emails from a
few irate readers who were acting as “watchdogs” for the genre seemed
to suggest otherwise. I then read the above to three female co-workers and asked
for their opinions. None of them are at all familiar with gaming so they had no
preconceptions as to whether or not a game was good or bad. All three scrunched
their faces in disgust, and one questioned the maturity of the author.

Now
to this point, I still have not presented much evidence to support my supposition.
So let’s take a look at another section of the newsletter. Some plugs for previews/reviews/articles
that have appeared on CGO follow:

So far, so good. Basically
a short impartial description of the games and what to expect in the accompanying
article. Now let’s look at one that injects humor into the description:

Funny stuff. Uses a pop culture reference to describe an RPG set in
ancient times. Obviously, the writer has a finely honed sense of humor and knows
of what she writes. Now let’s look at the adventure game references:

No, we are not claiming
that anyone’s opinion should be denied. But why is it only the adventure games
that are ridiculed? What purpose has it served to offer such bitterly descriptive
phrases? I would surely not want to read the preview/review/article that follows
since the author has already made known her prejudices. After reading these blurbs,
do you now see the “afterbirth” remark in a different light? Was the
author assuming that this new batch of Cryo/Dreamcatcher games would be garbage
only because she had disliked their previous efforts? And if so, how can you make
such an assumption before you have even played the game? Once again, it all adds
upon to unfair adventure game bashing, but this time from someone who purports
to support the genre. Of course, if I remember correctly, was it not this same
journalist who attacked The Longest Journey simply because it was a 2D
adventure and then later printed a retraction after Funcom complained? Why review
adventure games if you do not like them?

So now I ask you, the watchdogs
of the industry, should we remove our link for Chips & Bits? Is this a matter
that should be pursued further? Drop me a line at [email protected]
and tell me if you agree or disagree, and if you would like to complain directly
to the author of the newsletter, then send your emails to [email protected]
or [email protected]. Either way,
make your opinion heard.