The State of Adventure Gaming

By Randy Sluganski
July 1999

The
Adventure Coalition

We have been threatening it for months, and finally
the day that will go down in infamy has arrived. If you check the bottom of our
main page, you will see a running banner advertising other Internet adventure
sites. Adventure sites from Europe, Canada, Greece, Australia and the United States
have joined together to have our voice heard as one (if you have an adventure
site and would like to be part of the Coalition, drop me a line)! Adventure gamers
and webzines must unite if we are to preserve our favorite genre. We have taken
the first step and now we ask for your help. We are all running a sales banner
for Cracking the Conspiracy, an adventure game created by two brothers.
But let’s not only support this “garage” effort by purchasing CTC,
let’s also support the “big” companies and order a copy of Discworld
Noir from Software First.
Just because major companies like Hasbro and GT refuse to support the adventure
genre in North America, this does not mean we have to give up the fight. Let’s
turn the tables on the corporate suits who cannot see beyond a dollar sign and
give them what they want. If we can show viable sells figures for games as diverse
as Discworld Noir and Cracking the Conspiracy, then maybe we can
convince the nay-sayers that the adventure genre is still alive and kicking in
the United States! Our pocketbooks do have the final say!

Pamela Anderson
Lee Cindy Margolis

Imagine my dismay when I learned that the prestigious
Wall Street Journal had retracted its claim that Pamela Anderson Lee was
the Internet Poster Girl and now claims that Cindy
Margolis is Queen of the Internet. Now I have to be honest–I had never even
heard of Cindy Margolis until I read this article, but we at Just Adventure want
to assure you, our dear reader, that we would never stoop so low as to gratuitously
include Cindy Margolis’s name on our site solely for the reason of acquiring more
hits. Rest assured that our high moral standards and commitment to adventure gamers
worldwide would prohibit us from ever abusing the name of Cindy Margolis in such
a despicable fashion. Our heartfelt apologies go out to Cindy Margolis for the
misuse that her name, Cindy Margolis, seems to encourage among those with little
or no principles.

Good Gosh, I Hate UGTZ!

Honest! I really
do! Ever since I discovered the Used
Games Trading Zone, my life at work and at home have been in disarray. I have
become a UGTZ junkie! I have to constantly check to see what new games are being
offered for trade, has anyone posted a “wanted” listing for something
on my available list, is Myst still the most offered game and Metal
Gear Solid the most wanted? If you don’t have a clue as to what I am rambling
on about, then take a look at UGTZ. On second thought, don’t, or you may never
return to Just Adventure (hmm … I wonder if Cindy Margolis has become a member
of UGTZ yet?).

Mac Attack

All of you Mac gamers out there who
have emailed and asked when we will be reviewing some Mac adventure games: well,
now is your opportunity. I have in my possession two new Mac-only adventure releases
and I need a talented adventure gamer with a flair for writing–who only incidentally
happens to own a Mac–to review them! This is your chance to be a celebrity, a
legend in your own time! You could be the next Cindy Margolis of Just Adventure!
If you are interested, drop me a line.

Adventure
Game Nirvana

July and August promise to be interesting months here at
JA. We will have reviews of adventure games that you have never seen reviews of
anywhere before. Like what? How about exclusives of Johnny Quest, Evidence,
Safecracker, Nancy Drew and Dead of Night. Plus, we will have reviews
of games that you have to search high and low to find mentioned anywhere else.
Pilgrim, 3 Skulls of the Toltecs, Dinotopia and Noir are but a few
of the hard-to-find treasures we have lined up for our devoted readers. Previews
and interviews galore, the introduction of the Just Adventure Game Museum (wait
until you see this!) and all of our usual tomfoolery makes me wonder where else
would anyone go for their daily dose of adventure gaming news and Cindy Margolis
updates but Just Adventure!

Discworld Not and Simon No-D!

As
you are aware by now, Discworld Noir and Simon 3D will not be distributed
in the United States. No big deal, right? After all, they are only games. Yet
it is not that they will not be distributed that bothers me, but more the reasoning
behind this decision. Mr. Bill was told by one executive that “this country
only has 17- to 28-year-old action/arcade gamers that spend money on games.”
Another public relations manager wrote to me and said that adventure gamers need
to “get a life” and that if I “… want to take a stand, do
so for a good cause that could sincerely use your time and energy i.e like feeding
the poor or curing cancer.” Well, I already do charity work, but my leisure
time is important to me also and I do not want to spend it fragging monsters.
It is about time that adventure gamers got off their asses. Let’s take Josh Mandel’s
advice and send personal letters to Hasbro and GT. It’s not like we are too busy
playing all of the new adventure releases. Get a stamp and an envelope; the addresses
are below.

Send your letters requesting North American distribution of Simon
3D to:

Stephen Arthur, David Etheredge or J. Sutyak

c/o Hasbro, Inc.
50 Dunham Road
Beverly, MA 01915

Send
your letters requesting North American distribution of Discworld Noir to:

Dan Harnett
Director of Communications
GT Interactive
417 Fifth
Avenue
New York, NY 10010

Matt Broughton
PR Manager – UK & Export
Division
GT Interactive Software
116 Baker Street,
London. W1M 1LB

United Kingdom

If we don’t make ourselves heard now, then we
may not have to worry about choosing what adventure game to play at this time
next year, for there won’t be any to choose from.

National “Tell
a Friend About JA” Day–August 13

That’s right–August 13 has been
declared “Tell a Friend About JA” Day. (In an eerie coincidence, it
is also my birthday.) Do us and yourself a favor and tell a friend, lover or spouse
(or both your lover and spouse) about Just Adventure and help keep the genre alive.
(You may also want to tell them that I want a laptop for my birthday!)