Sierra multi-series License

[BagginsKQ]

http://www.adventuregamers.com/news/view/21058

Going over old reports, apparently when Telltale first announced that they just obtained the licensing to make Sierra games from Activision (which they announced at a press event in San Franscisco on Feb 17, 2011), their license included several of the games of Sierra's back catalogue. King's Quest is apparently is just the first game series they planned to work on.

Telltale has entered into an agreement with Activision, current owner of the rights to the classic Sierra On-Line adventure franchises, to create new episodic games based on these series. The first will be King’s Quest.

Seeing as it was only an initial anouncement made at the press event, they never gave a major press release on their website. They only made a single reference iin a blog post (on Feb 18, 2011) to how King's Quest was going to be one of the next IPs they were going to work on after they finished Walking Dead and Fables. No press releases nor websites were made for King's Quest or the Sierra license in general.

Since many of the games they announced got pushed back from their initial release dates, and this has affected their entire release schedule. This has probably affected any development on King's Quest as well.

In anycase I think its interesting that they apparently have the license to make other Sierra game franchise games. Perhaps this would if they continued to include, new games within the Police Quest, Space Quest, Gabriel Knight, Quest For Glory games, etc. If Adventure Gamer's account of that press event is accurate.

Obviously it would have never included Larry, as that was already sold to Codemasters. But the series I listed above are the major series that Activision has rereleased through GoG so far.

But it seems that the announcment at the event was apparently more of a general reference to them obtaining the Sierra family license.

Think about it if they have exclusivity, that could affect all the Ips I mentioned above! Maybe a few more!

[Blackthorne519]

Don't worry Baggins. They don't have it.


Bt

[BagginsKQ]

I wouldn't be worried if they do have it! It's much funnier to see other people freak out!

I don't care so much who has it, and what they do to the series... Because I still have the originals! They can't do anything to the originals, besides try to 'remake' them.

[MtnPeak]

Originally Posted by BagginsKQ

I wouldn't be worried if they do have it! It's much funnier to see other people freak out!

I don't care so much who has it, and what they do to the series...

Your average comment word count and posting frequency in this topic is probably higher than anyone else's, and yet you make a lovely comment like that? You have said a few times how little you care about this, so maybe you protest too much, or you must really derive pleasure from seeing others concerned while you repeatedly express your indifference.

[BagginsKQ]

What I care about is seeing the name brand get recognition again. Telltale is very good at drawing in casual players, they big name brand recognition in the industry right now, and adventure gamers alike. If they can make Sierra games popular again so be it. Alot of resurrected series are going the casual way to draw in a new customer base and to raise awareness for example the new Tex Murphy game.

IMO it can only be good for fandom as a whole. As in new players will be more inclined to look up KQ's history and play the classic games. More fans means the possibility for demands of a new long version non-episodic game if enough people ask for it.

Ya Telltale might make another kQ7 if they have the license. It is my least favorite game perhaps partly because of its episodic schizophrenic nature. But hey I still found enjoyment out of it. I'd rather see a new take on KQ than no take at all.

Also ya I do Find enjoyment seeing people getting bent out of shape just because Telltale is/was making "a" King's Quest game. Demanding a company speak out when their MO has been to stay quite because some over zealous fans started makimg demands, and/or insults. Ya thats pretty much why no Telltale employees ever visits the forums anymore.

Personally I'm more of a Que sera sera kinda guy. I'll live with whatever happens. No reason to be truly upset.

Also I think the KQ brand name could be truly dynamic enough and interesting enough to move into other game genres. A classic party style JRPG could be interesting, especially if it keeps a tongue and cheek whimsical approach to the KQ universe. It woul make for a fun DS game if anything!

I also personally wouldn't mind more Zelda influenced next-gen style action games set in the universe either, if its well designed. I'm open-minded!

[exo]

I will shit in the mouths of every person at Telltale if they make a jrpg out of this. And the night before I will binge at taco bell.

[BagginsKQ]

I'd be shocked if Telltale made a JRPG style game at all! LOL.

[MtnPeak]

In anycase I think its interesting that they apparently have the license to make other Sierra game franchise games. Perhaps this would if they continued to include, new games within the Police Quest, Space Quest, Gabriel Knight, Quest For Glory games, etc. If Adventure Gamer's account of that press event is accurate.

Rumor/wishful thinking is that Jane Jensen will first come out with (and with no Telltale involvement) a new HD Gabriel Knight game published this year by, perhaps, none other than Activision. I doubt that Telltale has license to remake Gabriel Knight, at least.

[Jennifer]

That would be nice. I enjoyed the Gabriel Knight series (The Beast Within is one of the best examples of how to do FMV games right, in my opinion).

[MtnPeak]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

That would be nice. I enjoyed the Gabriel Knight series (The Beast Within is one of the best examples of how to do FMV games right, in my opinion).

What exactly were Jane's words about Mystery Game X and its chances of being GK-related? I'm sure you know this stuff better than I do.

I think your skepticism is smart. We shall see what happens. Three new games does seem like a lot.

Fingers crossed for a new GK-related project!

Edit: oops, you took out the skepticism part. Anyway, I won't believe anything 100% till I hear it from Jensen's own mouth.

[BagginsKQ]

http://www.gog.com/forum/gabriel_kni...y_likely/page1

http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/...ad.php?t=33854

The rumors with the GK thing is, that she was thinking about making HD remakes of all three games. Apparently number 2 would be completely redone in a traditional style, replacing the FMV, so they could go back and rerecord the voice actors for GK, get Tim Curry.

Remakes are slightly different situation than an all new game. Think how Lucasarts & Gilbert's company worked on Remakes of Monkey Island I and II, while Telltale worked on Tales of Monkey Island (the all new 'game' in the series).

Of course Lucasarts (now under Disney management) is a different entity than Activision, and may choose to do things differently. But then again we don't know much of anything on how Activision chooses to do things. They haven't even done anything yet, except rerelease the games through GOG and Steam.

As for the Sierra multi-license, it seems based on the various reports that hint about it mainly focused on the various Quest series at first (they apparently hinted specifically at Space Quest and Quest For Glory after King's Quest). That still doesn't mean they didn't have access to GK or not. But we will simply never know.

As for 'multiple game licenses'? Who knows... Activision was working on its own Walking Dead FPS action game, around the same time Telltale was in the middle of making its Walking Dead 'adventure' game. Telltale was given a license renewal to do Season 2. But the company that owns the Walking Dead franchise is the one who can make those kind of decisions on who gets to use the licenses and how.

[MtnPeak]

Originally Posted by BagginsKQ

... number 2 would be completely redone in a traditional style, replacing the FMV, so they could go back and rerecord the voice actors for GK, get Tim Curry.

Sigh. If a new Gabriel Knight is in the works, I wish they'd recast Gabriel. I think some new voice work recording may have already been done, though. Tim Curry's voice just never sounded exactly right for the role. I think the game would be infinitely better with a younger-sounding actor who can do a believable Louisiana accent. Tim Curry sounded even weirder in GK3 than he did in GK1, so who knows what we'll end up with this time.

Maybe an episodic Gabriel Knight HD will be Activision's inaugural entry in a new series of "interactive fiction" type releases from them?

[BagginsKQ]

It actually would convert pretty well to episodic, considering the originals were in chapters/days.

[Lambonius]

I've never understood the love for GK2.

Personally, I think it's pretty much an abomination. The acting is terrible, the story is incredibly slow-paced, there are way too many "puzzles" that either involve transporting slips of paper around and giving them to people, or reading lengthy expository writings. That chapter where Grace has to walk around and read every readable item in that museum before the story will progress is one of the worst things that has ever been put into an adventure game. It's just a horrible, ugly, slog of a game. Yes, it was well-researched, but so was my Master's thesis. And I wouldn't want to play that over and over again.

GK1 was a decent game. But yeah, I agree--Tim Curry wasn't great as Gabriel. In fact, in general, with the exception of Grace and a few of the other supporting characters, I think the voice acting is pretty bad overall. The slow-talking Creole narrator is migraine-inducing.

[JuntMonkey]

The voice acting in GK1 is the best* I've ever heard (GTA3 or Vice City might come close). The slow-talking Creole narrator is sublime and is my single favorite voice performance in any game. Seriously. Lambonius, is English your first language? I've found that the complaints sometimes come from non-native speakers.


*When I say "best", I don't necessarily mean the actual performances are the most well-acted. I mean the diversity and strength of the cast, the life they bring to the roles, the memorable nature of the character voices, and the overall entertainment value from the voices are better than any game I've played.

[MusicallyInspired]

I thought GK1 had great voice acting as well.

[inm8#2]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

I thought GK1 had great voice acting as well.

Absolutely, some of the best ever. And GK1 I think was one of the first games to really go after an all-star Hollywood cast.

[Blackthorne519]

I liked the Creole narrator in GK1 for about 5 minutes.... it happens. Fun idea, but after a while, it burns out. Happens with narrators in a lot of games for me.

Also, too - I am of the school that Tim Curry... not a great choice for Gabriel Knight. I love Tim Curry... but I have such a disconnect between Gabriel Knight and Tim Curry.... I can't hear that voice coming out of that face. Doesn't work for me.


Bt

[exo]

Originally Posted by Lambonius

That chapter where Grace has to walk around and read every readable item in that museum before the story will progress is one of the worst things that has ever been put into an adventure game.

This reminded me of the Hall of Records in the Neverhood. 10 minutes (if you don't read it all) of just walking through countless (countless as in exactly 38 screens) just to walk through it. While you don't have to read it, I always feel compelled to. It's all worth it though for scenes like Robot Bill.

And hey, you... ya you.. telltale... don't get any funny ideas about the neverhood. I'm watching you....

In other news, in looking for some shifty eyes, I found this....



wtf?

[JuntMonkey]

Originally Posted by Blackthorne519

I liked the Creole narrator in GK1 for about 5 minutes.... it happens. Fun idea, but after a while, it burns out. Happens with narrators in a lot of games for me.

Also, too - I am of the school that Tim Curry... not a great choice for Gabriel Knight. I love Tim Curry... but I have such a disconnect between Gabriel Knight and Tim Curry.... I can't hear that voice coming out of that face. Doesn't work for me.


Bt

For me it was the reverse with the narrator. When I started up GK1 recently after having not played it since the '90s, the narrator and Curry were jarring and weird to listen to. After a few minutes though they grew on me.