Can Nintendo Save the Adventure Game Genre?

Gamasutra is running an editorial wondering whether the Wii can save the adventure game genre. With the intuitive nature of first-person control and interaction the Wiimote/nunchuck combination provides, it's been an open question since the console's concept was announced whether or not the Nintendo could revive a much-beloved but sadly absent game genre. Scott Nixon writes of the future for point-and-click titles, talking about their hearty success on the DS (with Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright) and the requirements of design such games would make of the Wii. With word that a Wii developer for the Sam and Max series is being sought, the question isn't if but when adventure titles begin appearing on the system. Here's hoping they get a warm reception, from an audience ready for their reintroduction. Update: 02/07 01:03 GMT by Z : Fixed the link. Sorry.

Comments

No brainer

[AKAImBatman]

Adventure games never really died. They just got lost in the massive push toward All Things 3D(TM). I'm happy to see that companies are starting to understand that these games are still popular, in the same way that RPGs are still popular both in 2D and 3D.

Translated to Marketeeringese: Good Adventure Games = $$$Ka Ching!$$$

While you're waiting, consider playing a little Stargate Adventure. It's short, but it will take you back. :)

Haven't they already appeared?

[caitsith01]

the question isn't if but when adventure titles begin appearing on the system Ummm... Zelda?

I am starting to wonder if the whole 'adventure gaming is dead' notion comes from a failure to recognise that games like Zelda, Oblivion, Deus Ex and so on are, in effect, adventure games. You freely explore a large environment solving problems, frequently involving puzzles, the need to talk to characters in the world, or the need to acquire specific objects, all within the framework of a larger story. Just because it doesn't involve 2D sprites and some hand-painted backgrounds doesn't mean that what is often called an 'RPG' isn't a traditional adventure game.

However, it is a reasonable assertion that the Wiimote does offer the possibility that mouse-driven adventure games could finally work well on a console.

Re:Haven't they already appeared?

[frederec]

When people say "adventure gaming is dead," what they're probably talking about is "point-and-click" adventure gaming is dead. The adventure games you're talking about are classified more as "action adventure" games.

I'm not terribly fond of pigeonholing everything into miniscule subgenres, but here I think it's relevant.

Action adventure games do involve a fair amount of item collecting and puzzle solving. But they also involve a lot of fighting, frequently repetitive fighting. The point-and-click style of adventure gaming (unless you want to go real old school and talk about text adventures, but it's a similar thing) is more cerebral. There is little to no direct violence. Virtually everything must be done by puzzle solving, and there is a much lower emphasis on things like reaction time. It's part of the reasons people have been referring to the new Phoenix Wright game as being almost a visual novel.

So the difference is not 3D vs. 2D (many adventure games went for at least pseudo-3D), nor is it sprites vs. rendered graphics. It's all about action with some puzzles vs. all puzzles, all the time. It drastically changes the tone and feel of the game. Zelda, Okami, and the like, while good games, do not have the "feel" of pure adventure games. Hence "action adventure."

Re:Haven't they already appeared?

[Nasarius]

No, you're not the only person. Morrowind and Oblivion are garbage if you think of all the potential that Daggerfall hinted at. What's the point of an open-ended RPG if you can't do anything to affect the world?

Re:Haven't they already appeared?

[TempeTerra]

'Adventure games' has a meaning more specific than just "a game in which you have an adventure". Look up "adventure games" on Wikipedia. 'Adventure games' are heavily story based, rarely have arcade-style game play and have non-trivial puzzles. Fetch quests in Oblivion don't count.

Definition

[ObiWanStevobi]

Depends on they definition of adventure game. If you include RPGs (which I certainly would), I say they are as strong as they every were. Zelda, Elder Scrolls, and Final Fantasy all have great new releases. All consoles have a great adventure game. BTW, the problem with them hasn't been with the controls, so no, the Wii will not fix the plot staleness of adventure games, developers willing to take a chance on an unproven concept will.

Re:Definition

[Mr2001]

As others have pointed out, the subject here is "point-and-click adventures" in the style of Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion, Space Quest, etc. Those games don't rely on action scenes or leveling up, and in the LucasArts games, you can't die even if you try(*). They're all about solving puzzles, combining objects and working your way through conversations to achieve a goal. They share with RPGs an emphasis on story and some of the more superficial puzzle solving aspects, but they're really a different genre.

And yes, I think one of the problems with those games on consoles has been the controls. When the game is all about moving a pointer around on the screen to select verbs and items, a D-pad just doesn't work very well.. but the Wiimote certainly does.

(* OK, there are a couple places where you can die, but you have to try really hard. Dying is an easter egg.)

Why is it "Nintendo's" Job?

[HappySqurriel]

Honestly, why does it have to be Nintendo's job to save the adventure game?

Why did Sierra (Leisure Suit Larry, Kings Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest) and Lucasarts (The Dig) ever give up on the Adventure game in the first place, and why can't they save it?

Re:Why is it "Nintendo's" Job?

[AKAImBatman]

Honestly, why does it have to be Nintendo's job to save the adventure game?

Because it's Nintendo's job to save the industry from itself? The gaming industry has been on a headlong dive for extremely high mediocrity to high price ratios for a long time now. Only Nintendo has taken the time to step back and say, "Wait! Where are we going with this, again?" If Nintendo didn't take a stand, it's unlikely that anyone else in the industry would have.

It's like asking the question, "Why me?" The only good answer is, "If not you, then who else?"

Re:Why is it "Nintendo's" Job?

[Itchyeyes]

I hear this sentiment echoed all over the place these days. I seem to be the only one left who does not share it. The truth of the matter is that it's the customers who have taken the industry down this so called "headlong dive". Go look in any bargain bin and you'll find countless gems like Psychonauts or Oddworld or Darwinia that did not hold to the status quo of GTA rip-offs, medieval RPGs, or Sci-Fi/WW2 shooters. The problem is that nobody buys them. You can hardly fault a publisher for not making games that nobody will buy.

The truth is that there have been many companies in the industry to take a stand only to get run over by the rush to pick up "Japanese RPG #25". The only reason that Nintendo gets any credit is because they have a rabidly loyal fanbase that even Steve Jobs would envy. For some reason they can put out a console supported pretty much by mini games and a 20 year old franchise and their fans hail it as a rebirth of the industry. They can produce a single adventure game for their hand-held platform and they "saving the genre".

Hotel Dusk is a fantastic game, as are a myriad of other games for both the DS and the Wii. Why can't they just stand as that? Why do they always have to be saving something or taking a stand for something?

Re:Why is it "Nintendo's" Job?

[Grey Ninja]

Exactly. I think it's also worth noting though, that Nintendo has ALREADY DONE THIS once before, when it rescued the industry from the crash. It's long been my belief that the industry is headed for another crash. But with the introduction of the Wii and the DS... I am starting to have my doubts. The PS3 and the Xbox 360 may well be headed to a crash. But I think Nintendo has a bright future ahead.

Re:Why is it "Nintendo's" Job?

[Omestes]

There is a term for this (borrowed shamelessly from polisci) "The tyranny of the masses". Even if the majority of consumers wants to digest pap, unoriginal games, and idiotic sequels, there should still be niches for gamers who want to play something unique and creative. Yes, the average consumer is an idiot, most of us agree when looking at Hollywood, or in your local Gamestop), since 90% of whats out there is crap, profitable crap, but still crap. For every Katamari or Elebits there is 900,000 WWII clones, and 10,000,000 stealth shooters. People don't play creative games, because they are rare and thus people don't get to experience difference. Creative games are rare because no one buys them. The only people who can short circuit this are the developers and publishers. (Just like the indie film market created exposure, which creative desire, which created a larger market, which created more indie films). Nintendo is, though, the last show in town with exposure, PCs comes second.

I'm sick of the "nintendo only pops out sequels" myth. Yes, there are shared characters, and series. BUT, how much gameplay do these share with other games with "Mario" or "Donkey Kong"? Not much. They at least shake things up, unlike other popular series, such as the much beloved Halo series, which is the exact same game, going on 3 iterations now.

The minigame thing for the Wii is scary though. I love Wii Sports, Rabbids, and Wario, but 3 is enough for so close after launch, and perhaps another year. Sure, it is nice to be able to play a game for 10 minutes, and still get a good experience, and have something to break out at parties. But still...

As for adventure (classic, hunt the hotspot type), I rather doubt they will be big ever again. The audience is aging, and has less time on their hands, the younger folks don't have the patience to stare at a static screen for an hour, trying to figure out you need to shove the fence post into the giant evil space pumpkin, to kill her.

Yes, I want a Wii version of Sanitarium.

Insolent meat! Your cells lack structure!"

oh Nintendo

[Itchyeyes]

I saw this article, and frankly I'm not convinced. There's so much hype surrounding the Wii right now and all the amazing innovative things people expect out of it. If adventure games succeed on the Wii, it won't be because there was some kind of pent up demand for adventure games that wasn't being served. There have been some excellent titles over the last couple of years like Dreamfall and Indigo Prophecy the people just flat out ignored. Rather, if Adventure titles succeed on the Wii, I think it will be because of the excitement that surrounds that machine. Nintendo has done such an amazing job marketing this thing that people are practically falling over themselves to just to play games like Mario Party 8. Pretty much any game that comes out for the system is viewed through rose colored glasses at the moment. I suppose in that sense, it certainly could bring back the genre.

Re:Myst...

[Shados]

In this day and age, Myst-like games have a lot of trouble getting through to the mass... The mass simply doesn't like hard games. They want to be spoon fed, and they don't want to have to think. The only real challenge you'll ever see involves button mashing in the right order, and aiming well, and while they require a lot of skill (more than I have!) in their own right, it is a different skillset entirely.

Puzzle games that make you think don't have a place anymore, in a world where if there's no walkthrough or FAQ about a game, it is considered "frustrating and impossible".

Adventure Games Killed Themselves

[hardburn]

No discussion of adventure games is complete without Old Man Murray.

I miss Old Man Murray.

Re:Maniac Mansion.

[prockcore]

Problem is that less and less people are intrested in thinking.

<irony>"fewer and fewer people are interested"</irony>