The REAL Sierra

I'm not sure what the average age is on this forum so you may not know what I'm talking about but here goes:

I'm 28. The first video game I was ever exposed to was a little sci-fi title called Space Quest. It was for the computer; a computer with a 5.25" diskette drive and no hard drive. The back of the box proclaimed it had been made by "two guys from Andromeda." It was about a janitor in space who having been thrust into a galactic conflict was the galaxy's only hope. You used the directional keys to move around and typed all the commands for your hero Roger Wilco. Not only were there puzzles to be solved, it was funny; very much like the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy was funny. Space Quest became a series and as the graphics in computers improved so did the interface in the games. Typing evolved into point and click. Soon voice was added. The entire series was incredibly good. I owe my addiction to games to that one series.

The game was published by a small grassroots company named Sierra. Ken and Roberta Williams started this fantastic company. That was the REAL Sierra. In the time they were in charge of the company it made many great games like Space Quest, King's Quest (the same concept as Space Quest but fantasy based), Police Quest, and Heroes' Quest. They were adventure games. You just don't see games like them anymore.

You don't see creative games like those anymore because companies like Sierra have been absorbed and diluted by giant corporations like Vivendi. Sure Assault Heroes and Mini Golf are fun, but they are forgettable and don't hold their value after the first play through. Let's see more games like Space Quest and King's Quest released on XBLA. With the soon to be released QWERTY clip-on keyboard for the 360 gamepad, you could even type commands into the interface like these old classics.

Make no mistake, the games made by the true original Sierra are classics. If we can get missile commander and pac-man on XBLA there surely there is room for Roger Wilco.

-qor

Ah, the memories. I may be younger than both of you (^_^), but the games of Sierra were integral in my gaming history. I played many games before the adventure games of Sierra, but I loved those games.

My personal perference for series was the Hero's Quest/Quest for Glory series, but I also greatly enjoyed the Space Quest and King's Quest games. Hell, I even played the original Police Quest games.

And it's true that for all the battling with syntax you did with the text and arrow key based originals, the mouse just kinda destroyed the genre somehow. The gameplay just fell flat something. Strange, right?

Hopefully, we'll get some old-school adventure games on some modern platform but unfortunately, we are a rare-breed and adventure games don't make money anymore. *sigh*

The first videogame I remember being exposed to was an early video pinball machine.... in the late 70's. I was like 3.

That didn't impress me as much as the Superman game my parents got on the atari 2600. I was too young to realize how much it sucked.

As for adventure games. I think that they were just a crutch really. Not that they were bad. I had a lot of fun with a lot of the games, espicially the early Police Quest games...

But I think they were a crutch trying to bring good experiences to old technology that wasn't quite ready for real games, rendered in 3D where the player had true freedom.

Certain elements of adventure games still exist, but they've all been integrated into games that are more fun, and less frustrating, to actually play.

They'ld be great on the arcade, but honestly I was always more of a fan of the LucasArts adventure games.