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Nintendo To Be the Hero of the Adventure Genre?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the riding-to-the-rescue dept.

DreamWinkle writes "If you've spent the last few years playing old King's Quest VGA updates and longing for Space Quest and Day of the Tentacle, you'll be interested to know that the Adventure genre might be facing a resurgence — at Nintendo's hand. The adventure game was killed off by the console (poor controls and too much competition), and so it's ironic that Nintendo might be able to pull it from the grave. An article at About.com looks at how Nintendo could use its virtual console to make adventure games profitable again." From the article: "The reason that adventure games are disappearing is because they don't compete well with other genres. Trying to create an adventure game that meets the graphical standards of an audience taught to expect Elder Scrolls IV makes the whole endeavor far less appealing. However, building a product to compete with Geometry Wars might be more doable. Adventure games are not disappearing because no one is buying them; they're disappearing because people are buying other types of games far more often. "

18 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. I know this is Slashdot, but... by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What about the multiple adventure games that appeared on the Xbox? Surely Syberia made at least enough sales to warrent a sequel.

    In any case, saying that consoles killed-off adventure games when you can buy adventure games for a console right now is a bit ... wrong.

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    Comment of the year
  2. Zelda by anjin-san+3 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The popularity of the adventure genre may come and go, but there will always be Zelda

    1. Re:Zelda by sesshomaru · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's a sad thing that your adventures have ended here!

      --
      "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
  3. I GUESS it's possible... by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Considering that the internet has existed as a distribution method for adventure games for...oh, over a decade now and that there hasn't been a huge resurgence, I've got my doubts here. Don't get me wrong - I love the genre and would applaud its rebirth. But when you've got a title like Sam and Max, that was close to 90% done with years of anticipation behind it...well, you lose faith. I'm not sure what it'll take to revive the genre, but we haven't hit on it yet. But on the other hand...the Wii's controller is definitely suited towards a point and click interface. ;)

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.
    1. Re:I GUESS it's possible... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 2, Informative
      Considering that the internet has existed as a distribution method for adventure games for...oh, over a decade now and that there hasn't been a huge resurgence, I've got my doubts here.
      There hasn't?

      I'm not sure what it'll take to revive the genre, but we haven't hit on it yet.
      How about a nice letter to SciFi Channel Productions saying that we love this game and we want an official one created just like it? Preferrably with the humor intact, and without all the Three-Dee crud all the game companies try to shove down our throats. Far too many attempts at reviving the genre tend to throw away the very elements that made it entertaining to begin with.
      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  4. Graphical quality? by Drachemorder · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think graphical quality is any impediment to making good adventure games that can compete. I can certainly imagine a Monkey Island game in beautiful 32-bit color at 1280x1024 resolution, with smooth professional animation. Far from being obsolete, I think computers are at a point where it's possible to do adventure games with very high-quality artwork. Realtime-rendered 3D games might be the fad right now, but realtime 3D rendering still has some visual limitations. A 2D adventure game could very well look better and handle better than most 3D games if done properly.

    1. Re:Graphical quality? by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Disagree, I just played (and completed) Curse of Monkey Island which used Hollywood quality 2D animation, and then played the demo of Escape from Monkey Island which used 3D. Curse ruled, Escape demo sucked, no two ways about it. The 3D models didn't have anywhere near the charm of the 2D characters and looked incredibly ugly to boot. Walking around in a 3D environment was just a distraction.

      Also, you can have fundamentally resolution independent 2D graphics, not sure why you think that's restricted to 3D (which isn't res independent anyway as textures are always bitmaps). I'd love to see a renaissance of Curse style games, and if Nintendo can do that then bring it on.

    2. Re:Graphical quality? by shimage · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Look at Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero on the GameCube and tell me that their engine wouldn't be perfect for an adventure game. The backgrounds are 2D, but the 3D models blend into them perfectly, and the graphics are quite stunning.

      As I recall, this is how (off the top of my head) Grim Fandango, Monkey Island 4, and Longest Journey worked. I never played Siberia, so I wouldn't know how they did it. Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon was full 3D, and it wasn't so bad, although I thought it was a PITA to use the "absolute" controls. (In Grim Fandango the controls were relative to the character, so pushing the "up" arrow key made the guy walk forward, not "up".) Basically, every "modern" adventure game does this (with varying degrees of success); I really don't think that graphics are what's holding the genre back. I don't know what is, but I think it has more to do with the success of RPGs as a genre than anything else.

      Also, since when did anyone play adventure games on a console anyway? I thought this was pretty much a PC-only genre.

    3. Re:Graphical quality? by Das+Modell · · Score: 2, Informative
      Haven't played them so I can't really comment. I remember it being pretty easy to tell what was 3D and what was 2D in the PS1 Resi games.

      Have a look at this, this or this. The characters blend very well. The difference between the original and the remake are pretty obvious.

      It's a good point rhough - Resident Evil games (pre Resi 4) are basically adventure games with extra zombies. The genre seems less dead the more you think about it.

      If Resident Evil had lots of dialogue, it wouldn't be much different from Dreamfall.
  5. About.com should die. by Impotent_Emperor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They've ruined so many internet searches for me. Their "articles" rarely provide any in-depth knowledge and just take up space. The major search engines should combine their forces to wipe about.com from the face of the net.

    Why, oh why, is slashdot taking them as a primary source of information?

    1. Re:About.com should die. by revlayle · · Score: 2, Funny

      GREAT! Then they'll become AskAbout.com and really make the interwebs useless! ;)

  6. #1 reason Wii will be good for adventure games by dividedsky319 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From TFA:However, the Wii's unique control allows for more complex interactions on the console, acting as a pointer.

    I think that this is the main reason the Wii could work for adventure games. IMO, adventure games need some sort of pointing device. I'm talking old school adventure games, where you would point and click on things on the screen. Kings Quest, Quest for Glory, Space Quest, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max, Police Quest, etc... I know it can be done differently, but that's how I remember (and like) my adventure games.

    As we know, using a controller to try to control a cursor on a screen is pretty much impossible. But with the pointer aspect of the Wii controller, it can act as a mouse, which would be perfect for adventure games. Hold down the "Use" button, point at the screen and click... or Hold down the "Talk" button, point at a character and talk to them... etc. Just like using a mouse to select things on the screen.

    The "Pointer" aspect is one of the main (many) reasons I'm excited about the Wii... adventure games, RTS games (Warcraft, Command and Conquer, etc), etc... Lots of new ground can be explored with the system... I can't wait.

    1. Re:#1 reason Wii will be good for adventure games by The_Shadows · · Score: 2

      I think that this is the main reason the Wii could work for adventure games. IMO, adventure games need some sort of pointing device. I'm talking old school adventure games, where you would point and click on things on the screen. Kings Quest, Quest for Glory, Space Quest, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max, Police Quest, etc... I know it can be done differently, but that's how I remember (and like) my adventure games.

      Then you don't remember the old school days of adventure games. The original graphical adventure games used a command line typing interface, like Zork. King's Quest was, initially, a game where you typed out things like "take book" or "eat soup" or "put bridle on unicorn[KQ4]." Granted, I think that a mouse interface, like the Lucasarts Adventures using the SCUMM engine (Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Monkey Island) or the later Sierra games (KQ5-7) were more enjoyable because it wasn't a race to see if you would die before you typed a command.

      Anyway, my point was just that the old style is fine, and you didn't need a pointing device for the original adventure games. However, they are much more fun and a bit easier with a mouse.

      Related: The Longest Journey was amazing, the second one plays too much like a big cutscene. No game, just one big plot. It's a good plot, really, there's just no game with it.

  7. Re:Obligatory post by b1t+r0t · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't have anything to add to this discussion, but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm buying a Nintendo Wii and not a PlayStation 3.

    Don't worry, wii understand.

    --

    --
    "Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
    "Open source is evil." - Microsoft
  8. Objection!!! by sesshomaru · · Score: 2, Funny

    Objection!!! I'd argue that Nintendo has already triggered an Adventure Game Renaissance with the Nintendo DS. I can't think of any games off hand... but I know there are some.

    --
    "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
  9. The adventure genre? Which one ? by Chaffar · · Score: 2, Insightful
    It's funny how the word "adventure" was used to define the LucasArts-style adventure puzzle games (DOTT, King's Quest) as well as the RPG-type Elder Scrolls IV.

    The truth is that the former genre is pretty much dead (to my disappointment), since apparently the standards were set so high in the past that any game that comes along and that doesn't offer 200 hours of laughter and entertainment is deemed a failure by the "critics" and the game performs poorly in sales.

    As for the latter genre, well I don't think the genre is dying. As the success of Elder Scrolls shows, people are willing to pay big bucks for that kind of entertainment.

  10. They were twenty years ago by The_Honkey · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Nintendo, the developers that brought us The Legend of Zelda and it's sequel. Without those two games we might not even be here disscussing the effects of the "adventure" genre.

    --
    I am what I am and thats what I am -Popeye
  11. Best Adventure Game, Ever by cerelib · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I would like to point out Dungeon Man 3. If you are a fan of old-school adventure games, this will provide some good laughs.