Resurrecting the Adventure Game

Once upon a time, computers games were rarely about hacking, slashing, shooting, and looting. Before computers had the hardware to deliver lightening fast action, the adventure game was king. Games like “King’s Quest”, “Myst”, “Quest for Glory”, “Monkey Island”, “Rama”, and “Space Quest” dominated store shelves for both PC and Mac. They were about engaging in an interactive story, solving mysteries and puzzles, and exploring new worlds. They had developed characters, detailed settings, and complex story lines.

 

But sometime in the late 90’s, home computers became capable of the kind of action console systems provided. Actions games outsold adventures, and adventure game companies found it increasingly difficult to compete for the limited shelf space in stores. The adventure game fans didn’t go anywhere, but the new action market left little to no room for the “old” style of gaming.

 

There have been a few non-action game successes since then, like “The Sims” for example. People have started buying more of their computer games from online retailers too, allowing for a little more “shelf space” for “oddities” like adventure games. Of course online retailers still have real world warehouses with limited space, and buying inventory that might not sell is a risk. Downloadable versions of games gave a little more wiggle room, but the younger generation, who constitute the bulk of computer game consumers, just aren’t familiar with the adventure game concept. “Games with no fighting? No killing? No leveling? No scores? wtf?” They’re too used to jumping in and immediately trying to figure out how to kill stuff, or how to do the trickier moves and build points; finding the right buttons to push and then mashing them until they’ve won. Story doesn’t really enter into it, as least not as much more than an afterthought. People enjoy watching movies and TV shows, and despite the fact that adventure games are like getting to star in one, the concept hasn’t been able to regain very much ground with consumers.

 

Every once and awhile a new adventure game comes out, usually from a small “independent” studio, with little funding to produce and market their games. Just last week, Cyan (the creators of the “Myst” series of games) announced they’re making their third attempt at cult favorite “Uru”. “Uru” was originally published in 2003 by UbiSoft, but they cancelled the online component before it was even launched. Then, in 2006, Turner’s fledgling GameTap service gave it a go — lasting a little over a year, and ultimately deciding to cancel the online game for “business reasons” a couple of months ago. Now Cyan is attempting to publish the game themselves, using their own servers. This time they’re trying to pull it off with less than 10 people on the development team, with user-created-content being the primary source of new material. Uru’s rabid fan base are highly devoted to getting “their” game back, and seem more than willing to provide new content themselves. In fact, some have been producing new “Uru” content for years, adding their own “ages” using a hack for UbiSoft’s offline version of the game, and sharing the content with others. A prime example of how adventure gamers are absolutely starving for games to play.

 

Desperate as adventure gamers are for more products, there’s no sign of the market picking up any time soon. Demand, although it exists, isn’t even close to being high enough to make production feasible for most studios. The once colossal adventure market seems destined to be eclipsed by the action market for the foreseeable future, despite the fact that there are more adventure game fans now than ever before. We are a small market… but we are a devoted one.

~ by peoplephobe on July 8, 2008.