Thursday, September 27, 2007
Does Textfyre Have a Chance of Reviving the Commercial Text Adventure?
In case you missed the several announcements, the ghost of Infocom has once again come a-haunting. Textfyre is a soon-to-be-launched text-adventure company that is attempting to bring back the commercial text adventure. They aren't the first ones to do this - the niche has remained active with free and commercial titles for many years now. But do they have a chance of breaking back out of the niche?
Doing a good job of it can be every bit as challenging as creating a good game of any kind. While the abstraction of text makes interactions far easier to simulate than that of an equivalent 3D video game, that can also raises the bar on what should be possible within the text adventure. The subtleties and massive scope of interactions possible by a single-author text adventure (dubbed "Interactive Fiction" or "IF" by modern fans) would boggle the mind of an XBox 360 game producer.
And the quality of the writing of the top FREE IF games would blow away that of any AAA game out there... though it is also written for a different audience. I doubt the short-attention-span console gamer would stand for the prose of the old Infocom or modern IF games. Just as movies must usually abbreviate and simplify the dialog and characters of the books they are based on.
David Cornelson's strategy is to avoid putting them in head-to-head competition with video games. That didn't go so well for Infocom back in the day, nor would it today. His strategy is based more on putting it on the shelves of bookstores - getting it in front of readers, particular young adult readers.
I think that's a critical approach. And maybe a good reason for calling the genre "Interactive Fiction" rather than "Adventure Games." I always thought the IF moniker was a bit pretentious, myself, but under these circumstances it makes perfect sense.
But there's a wealth of free IF out there today. So the flip side is that Textfyre's titles will have to compete with not only every other form of interactive and non-interactive media out there, but also with all the free IF out there.
While I personally consider it a long shot, I also admit the idea of a really well-written, official, highly-interactive Harry Potter "book" that lets me run hog-wild at Hogwarts is geeks me out to an embarrassing degree.
Can they make it work? Has that ship sailed, or is the time ripe for a resurgence? What do you think?
(Vaguely) related text references
* A Twisty Little Maze of Passages, All Different
* Adventure Gaming Alive and Well?
* How Do I Get Past The Harpies?
* Galatea
* Losing Your Limits Without Losing Your Mind
.
Labels: Adventure Games
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 1:43 PM (Permalink)
Comments:
Links to this post:
<< Home
Unfortunately, I don't think it will work well. I'd like to see them succeed, but from a business standpoint I'm not sure I see it happening.
For instance, how do you decide on a price point for this type of work? If you make it inexpensive, you really need a lot of sales to cover costs and make a profit, and this just isn't the type of thing that will sell tons of units. If you make it more expensive, it will be hard to convince people that it's worth the price of admission -- particularly given the amount of good, free IF already out there.
Targeting the reading public is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I see that as the key to success.
For instance, how do you decide on a price point for this type of work? If you make it inexpensive, you really need a lot of sales to cover costs and make a profit, and this just isn't the type of thing that will sell tons of units. If you make it more expensive, it will be hard to convince people that it's worth the price of admission -- particularly given the amount of good, free IF already out there.
Targeting the reading public is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I see that as the key to success.
I never was a huge fan of this stuff... For one thing, I absolutely do not want to spend my time typing at the computer trying to figure out what it wants. Also, if I'm going to play a game, I'm going to play a game! If I want to read something, I'm going to read a book.
# posted by 
: October 01, 2007 2:58 PM
: October 01, 2007 2:58 PM
I *WAS* a huge fan of this stuff, back in the day. And I would really like to see it succeed. I have recently begun dipping my toe into the IF scene (mainly Emily Short's stuff), and it's very cool stuff. But can it ever catch on with the more mainstream audience again?
I wouldn't bet on it.
But can it find a niche and actually survive / thrive?
Maybe. It seems like they are setting their targets low. With proper marketing and positioning, could they sell 10,000 copies of a game? 10,000 copies of SEVERAL games? Or more?
That's a tough call. I love to read books (when I have time), but I have a much harder time reading extended prose on the computer. I'm not sure of the reason why.
I wouldn't bet on it.
But can it find a niche and actually survive / thrive?
Maybe. It seems like they are setting their targets low. With proper marketing and positioning, could they sell 10,000 copies of a game? 10,000 copies of SEVERAL games? Or more?
That's a tough call. I love to read books (when I have time), but I have a much harder time reading extended prose on the computer. I'm not sure of the reason why.
"Also, if I'm going to play a game, I'm going to play a game! If I want to read something, I'm going to read a book."
I could just as easily say of any graphical game, "If I want to watch something, I'll go watch a movie!" Text and graphical games are both interactive. It's clear that typing isn't most gamers' preferred form of interaction, but for some people it probably is... don't knock it if you haven't tried it.
I could just as easily say of any graphical game, "If I want to watch something, I'll go watch a movie!" Text and graphical games are both interactive. It's clear that typing isn't most gamers' preferred form of interaction, but for some people it probably is... don't knock it if you haven't tried it.
# posted by : October 04, 2007 2:03 PM
: October 04, 2007 2:03 PM
Back in the day, "Adventure" turned me on to gaming; however, I don't think today's youth have the patience to read text, which means the "games" will only appeal to a dwindling demographic.
It is dwindling, but COULD it come back? If marketed very separately from "videogames?" That's the question.
I don't think a text adventure could be sold on store shelves successfully alongside videogames. But what about on an ad-supported website? Or subscription-based?
I really wouldn't want to bet on 'em, but it's a cool idea.
Post a Comment
I don't think a text adventure could be sold on store shelves successfully alongside videogames. But what about on an ad-supported website? Or subscription-based?
I really wouldn't want to bet on 'em, but it's a cool idea.
Links to this post:
<< Home
