Greetings Everyone =) Some of you may know who I am, and what my team and I are trying to acomplish, we are working on our first title, Morning's Wrath, things are looking really good at the moment, and the game should be released this fall. Now, what has been gnawing at my mind lately is the question... "Are Adventure games really dead?" And tonight I decided to try and get an answer to my question. At first thought, I would say, No. high profile companies are no longer making (classic style(Sierra,LucasArts)) adventure games, BUT, there are many people out there who still appreciate the genre, but dont have (many) new games to go to. To give you an idea of where I am coming from, I am 21 years old, and the first adventure game I ever played was Monkey Island 1 (the CD version), I grew up experiencing many other titles including... Monkey Island- 2 and 3 Iniana Jones and the fate of atlantis Sam and Max The Dig Full Throttle Kings Quest 1-7 Return to Zork Zork Nemesis to name a few, All fine examples of the classic era of Graphic Adventure. Morning's Wrath, is a fusion of two game genres, Real Time 3rd person Isometric RPG and Classic Graphic Adventure, it is as if Diablo 1 and Kings Quest VI slamed into each other. It will have lots of fighting and lots of challenging puzzles, this is a slight deviation from classic adventure, and a great improvement from the all too often weak storylines in games like Diablo. So I guess what I want to know is, what the heck happened? why did companies stop making adventure games? was it because game companies got too greedy and realized that adventure games wouldnt give them enough sales, so instead moved into the console'esc realm, where action games require far less thought and commitment, and appealed to a larger populous? when did it all become about more money, and stop being about the love of games? Or is it because most people now-a-days would rather spend time shooting things, than actualy having to unravel secrets and solve puzzles, immersing themselvs into a story? We feel that MW will maybe satisfy both of these needs. Who out there still yearns to play an adventure game, but find that the industry has forgotten them? Please give us your feedback, since your comments will help to shape our game. Thank you for your time, Morning's Wrath, Pre-Launch website

I too, have noticed this void in said genre.

I think (and have always thought) that all corporations are and will always be biased towards the genres with the largest demand. This means genres, like the FPS and RPGs, which make them millions, will be continued in quest for the next "Final Fantasy" or "Resident Evil".

Adventure games, sadly, (as I have seen) are not as appreciated by the public, and thus, are not appreciated by the corporate publishers. And that's the sad reality of it.

But should a ground-breaking adventure game come along, I am willing to bet some serious cash that this will change; clones and ripoffs will appear, and people will attempt to cash in on them by making their own.

But first we need a ground-breaking adventure game...

(and what about Siberia 1&2?)

People unfortunately don't buy games any more, they buy graphic engine demos. Gameplay value, originality and replayability have all but vanished from the gaming industry to give way for more and more advanced 3D graphics, wich in turn drive the graphics hardware market.
The big name companies don't want to risk releasing something that is not a first person shooter with ridiculously high hardware requirements, they know that said fps will sell millions of copies, but they can't be sure anything else will.

The answer is to an extent, yes, the adventure game genre is all but gone, but it would take just one incredibly successful adventure game to turn the tide of boring "haven't we seen this eleven-teen times before" FPS's.

It could also have something to do with the fact that Adventure games have no way (or at least no one has come with the way) to become multiplayer games, how would it? there are no levels to gain , bases to smash or people to shot at, the idea of following clues to a murder with someone (other player) always being where the next clue is to ruin it for me is not too plesant.

That said, I would like to play a good adventure game the likes of Police Quest, Space Quest or another Grim Fandango, even though once you play them once, there is not much replayability involved.

Well, I guess that the principal problem is money. Nowadays money moves the world. You know, here in Guatemala RPGs are games that nobody plays, so I guess Adventure games are the kind of games only fans played.

I'm no Adventure Games fan, but I see those games like RPGs without battles (And RPGs are my favorite!).

Me. Wants. Play. New. Adventure. Game.

*sob*

Ah, Well good,

Thats what I wanted to hear, we are not looking to grab up a huge percent of market share, just enough to survive and be able to make more games that we love, so from the sound of things, my suspicions have been reenforced, that there IS an adventure game population out there, that is enough of a drive for me to put my fears to rest, perhaps our new blend of RPG and Adventure will re-ignite people's interest in adventure.

I have not played Siberia 1 or 2, but rumor has it that they are great games, but from looking at them they make me feel like 3rd person versions of MYST.

well, wish us luck on Morning's Wrath,
and be sure to check it out when it's done =)

Nice to know someone is still carrying the torch [grin]

It's a shame Lucasarts has scrapped its adventure game heritage in favour of more and more average star wars games [sad]. I do like Revolutions Broken Sword series though. Good luck with your game, be sure to announce it here when its done.

I'd love to see new quality games in the style of Monkey Island and Simon the Sorcerer. I spend hours on those games back in the day *sigh

The first game I ever played was Monkey Island 1. Then Loom, then Shadoan (I remember it being fun...but the screen shots make it not seem so great.) Kings Quest Collectors Edition CDs...and....*cries*

Oh god...please...bring back SCUMM! I need more SCUMM!