Dan Connors/Steve Allison: "[The Adventure genre] doesn’t need us anymore."
Is Telltale quitting the genre just to concentrate on more dynamic adventures?
What will happen to King's Quest?
Quote:
But I’ve gotta say… for somebody who loves adventure games, Tim’s gonna do a game, Al Lowe is going to be involved in a game. [The genre] doesn’t need us anymore. [laughs]
Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/discussing-the-walking-dead-fables-and-the-rebirth-of-adventure-games-with-telltales-ceo/#ixzz1zwWaKoiG
What will happen to King's Quest?
Quote:
But I’ve gotta say… for somebody who loves adventure games, Tim’s gonna do a game, Al Lowe is going to be involved in a game. [The genre] doesn’t need us anymore. [laughs]
Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/discussing-the-walking-dead-fables-and-the-rebirth-of-adventure-games-with-telltales-ceo/#ixzz1zwWaKoiG
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Comments
Bt
I think you're misinterpreting the quote. But at the same time, TTG has made other statements indicating they're distancing themselves from the adventure genre -- read the final Q&A of that article, for example.
To my own way of thinking about adventure games, which regards a robust, non-linear gameworld with interconnected puzzles (and, optionally, other gameplay elements) as fundamental, TTG stopped making adventure games some time ago.
It's a real shame that they seem to want to move away from that now as they really pushed the whole adventure thing when they first got going and it's one of the reasons I think the adventure community backed them so hard in the beginning because they promised to bring back P&C.
OK we have a new Tex, Space Quest (er Venture), Jane Jensen Project, Schafer/Gilbert collab and Larry game to keep us occupied. but what then?
I know Jane (Pinkerton) and The Two Guys have started Studios and intend to make more game in the future. Replay say they are going to remake all 6 Larry's before starting on a new one and we have no idea what Big Finish intend to do after Fedora comes out and Doublefine just seem to go from strength to strength.
Much as I am stoked for this mini revival of our favourite game style if the kickstarter projects do not sell well commercially when they are released it'll all be for nought.
Their opening press release states they would "focus on the under represented adventure game market". But if you look at recent news announcements and other media wherein they describe themselves, there is rarely any mention of adventure games.
Yes, it is a shame. I think this sense of betrayal, without so much as a nod towards the disaffected, contributes to the degree of harshness seen in anti-Telltale sentiment. Or at least it certainly contributes to mine.
I don't think it'll all be for naught: DFA will sell a ton, Moebius will do very well in the European AG market, SpaceVenture could easily catch on among mainstream gamers (assuming it gets on Steam), etc. And your list is not exhaustive of all that's going on in adventure gaming; it only covers the "big names". There's Amanita, Deck13, Her Interactive, all the German studios, the British guys doing ghost-story games, Frogwares, Phoenix Online, two QFG-like games... Telltale was never the only company keeping the genre alive, as an earlier post here claims. The "loss" of Telltale is a setback, sure, but it's hardly the end; the genre has survived far worse. The biggest danger I see is developers following Telltale's lead in dumbing down their games, eg. as in the highly disappointing Book of Unwritten Tales.
For my money, the most promising adventure game company right now (at least until Pinkerton, Andromeda, and Big Finish make their initial releases) is Wadjet Eye. Resonance is an awesome game, better than Gemini Rue, which I also thought was great (though not unflawed). Rich, varied, innovative gameplay, non-linear gameworld, no hand-holding... It comes a hell of a lot closer to Golden Age adventure gaming than Telltale ever did.
Yuck. They need to re-think that plan.
For my part, I'm happy to be working on one of the "two QFG-like games."
I've heard the Blackwell games are awfully easy. I also believe that Blackwell, Gemini Rue, and Resonance all had different primary designers, with some overlap or cooperation in development efforts.
Maybe one or more of these will be on deep discount when the Steam Summer Sale starts (tomorrow?).
My understanding is that Gemini Rue was independently developed and Wadjet Eye mostly contributed the voice acting and, of course, publishing. The Blackwell games are developed by Wadjet Eye's founder, Dave Gilbert; I wouldn't say they're difficult, but neither is Gemini Rue, really. (I've actually gotten stuck more in the Blackwell series, unsure what to work on next, than I did in Gemini Rue, though that may speak more to differences in design and plotting.) I just bought Resonance this week when it finally arrived on Steam -- it was begun by another developer but brought in-house to get it finished. Da New Guys was, I believe, developed externally and published by Wadjet Eye.
IMO Wadjet Eye's games are more about character development and storytelling than puzzles per se; being observant and experimental (and persistent) usually suffices. I appreciate the company's retro style, it's a nice complement to the Nancy Drew and Telltale games that otherwise dominate my current-release adventuring time.
If you see games like Resonance and Gemini Rue as "about" character development and storytelling, rather than as whole adventure games, then I'd say you're seeing only what you want to see. I also think you're seriously short-changing the designers of both games. At least it seemed to me that a great deal of thought went into gameplay design, as they did an excellent job in creating compelling gameworlds with a great deal of interactive complexity (especially Resonance), in which players need to figure out how to make the story happen on their own initiative. (Moreover, I personally don't think the character development in Resonance was anything to write home about, but neither do I regard that as a flaw given the nature of the game.)
Same could be said of King's Quest.