Al Lowe Says Google Hurts Adventure Games

Mark Wilson — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:40:07 MST

For those who grew up in the early days of PC adventure gaming, Al Lowe needs no introduction. To those whom need such an introduction, Crecente is coming by your house later to use his feared hair whip fatality. Anyway, here's what the point and click adventure god had to say about developing adventure games in the modern gaming world:

No, not futile, but not mainstream either.

He continues:

They're not the majority audience as they were in the 80s. That same small slice of people who enjoy puzzle solving, being stuck, and figuring things out still exist. Of course, the Internet has hurt the puzzle aspect of adventure games. When you know that Google can find the answer to any puzzle, it's very tempting to go take a look!

He's right, part of the fun of those games was that, other than a few strategy guides, there was nowhere to turn for answers but to your PC dork friends. (And btw, did anyone ever beat Wayne's World? I never could.) Hit up Rock, Paper, Shotgun for the entire superb interview if you have any interest in Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, the history of modern gaming, etc etc etc. Seriously, this one is well worth the read. RPS Interview: Al Lowe [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

COD4 Used "Best Coders" for PS3 Version

Mark Wilson — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:40:38 MST

COD4 has been universally heralded for general awesomeness, but even more impressively, the game pulled off this stunt for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. And while programmers are certainly getting better on Sony's platform, Infinity Ward studio head Vince Zampella explains to PSM3 magazine that they weren't taking any chances:

We had our best programmers on the PS3 [version of Call of Duty] and it shows...

Burn! I wouldn't want to be an Xbox 360 programmer at Infinity Ward at the moment. Because, no matter what Zampella's been telling you behind closed doors, you are not his "favowit wittle progwammer."

Infinity Ward stresses the importance of platform focus [gamesradar]

Kotaku: shop talk

Al Lowe Says Google Hurts Adventure Games

COD4 Used "Best Coders" for PS3 Version