So, this year Adventure Gamers decided that they wanted to do something bold and awesome – both at the same time (which is sometimes very uncomfortable). They decided to have their very own award ceremony! And why not? They’ve been around the Internet for 10 years, giving reviews to adventure games and talking about all the new stuff us adventure game fans are bound to see coming our way.

You’d think they would’ve come up with some type of award ceremony many moons ago, really!

And this isn’t you’re regular, run of the mill, award ceremony. Oh, no. Adventure Gamers could never be “regular” (unless they’re drinking a lot of coffee over there. And if that’s the case, we probably don’t want to know). No, this award ceremony will span 3 days! That’s like the longest award ceremony ever!

This shindig started on Wednesday the 18th and will be continuing until Friday the 20th. We’ll be seeing lots of different awards being handed out such as “Best Story”, “Best Comedy”, “Best Writing”, “Best Setting”, “Best Music” and “Best Adventure” and can only mean good things for both indie developers and big production companies.

So, who won yesterday’s awards? Let’s find out:

• Best Story: Time Hallow
• Best Writing – Comedy: Sam and Max – Season 2
• Best Writing – Drama: Overclocked: A History of Violence
• Best Gameplay: Sam and Max – Season 2
• Best Concept: The Experiment

Want to keep up with the Aggie Awards? Head on over here to find out who’s going to be winning in today’s categories. Looks like there may be a few games I really need to try out coming up on these lists!

[Image courtesy of Adventure Gamers.]

Post from: EveryJoe

Adventure Gamers – The Aggie Awards

Steve Ince, the creator of the ever so popular Broken Sword and the newly loveable game So Blonde has been making a name for himself in the adventure gaming field for years. Well, when people make a name for themselves in that world, Adventure Gamers steps up to interview them.

Adventure Gamers is just bad assed that way.

Mr. Ince has recently been working with the French adventure game developer, Wizarbox (which is incredibly hard to spell without putting that “d” in for Wizard) and their lead developer, Jerome Britneff-Bondy. Wizarbox hasn’t been around for very long, but they’re starting to become as recognizable to the adventure game world as dtp/ANACONDA, which is good, because the two companies often team up: one to develop and one to publish.

Currently, Wizarbox is working on making a Wii-fied and DS-fied version of So Blonde, so that we may play it on the go, or with the Wii Remote’s funky controls.

In the interview, Adventure Gamers asks Steve and Jerome what the general public’s reaction has been so far to So Blonde and what life has been like since So Blonde has finished production. To both Steve and Jerome, it sounds like So Blonde is exactly what they hoped it would be! This is good news, because maybe we’ll be seeing it hit the U.S. sooner rather than later.

Check out the full interview over at Adventure Gamers and learn all the nitty gritty details!

[Image for So Blonde courtesy of Eidos.]

Post from: EveryJoe

Adventure Gamers interviews Steve Ince and Jerome Britneff-Bondy

There’s a guy out there named Josh Roberts, who owns his own little game production company called Chapter 11 Studios, that is creating his very own adventure game called Rise of the Hidden Sun that has apparently been in production for quite some time. But you know what? Life gets in the way! And Josh’s life has also got in the way, as he now has a house, a kid and one less kidney. I mean, that’s a lot of life happening and I can’t blame a guy for taking some time off from the game he’s creating, even though it looks pretty damn awesome.

And I want to play it.

Anywys, Josh wrote an Adventure Architect article on Adventure Gamers. Adventure Architect articles are awesome, because you get to hear all the nitty gritty details of some kick ass indy adventure game developers. And what isn’t cool about that?

So if you’re into this sort of thing (like me), sit back, grab some coffee (or a coke, whatever makes you happy) and read the damn article.

[Image for Rise of the Hidden Sun courtesy of Chapter 11 Studios.]

Post from: EveryJoe

Adventure Architect: Rise of the Hidden Sun

Many times, when a new game comes out, it is hard for that new game to get good reviews. Why? Because a lot of games suck these days. They don’t have anything new to offer. They have bad dialog. They kill prostitutes and drug lords without any regard to their family and friends. I mean, there’s lots of things wrong with games these days, so it’s always nice to hear a good review. Especially a good review about a game you were thinking of playing now that you have a Nintendo DS (YES! BEST PRESENT EVER).

So, while reading over my RSS feed, I came across a review that the all powerful Adventure Gamers put together for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations, that brand spankin’ new attorney game out by Capcom. In this review, we will read about what Kim Wild, the reviewer extraordinaire, has to say about our new attorney, Ace and how very awesome it is.

As for the game’s bottom line, this is what Kim has to say about it:

A climactic end to the Phoenix Wright story, Trials and Tribulations is the high point of the series, wrapping together great storylines, dialogue and characters into one portable package. Buy it now before I make use of Franziska’s whip.

Oh, and she gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Not too shabby, my friends.

So, I put this question out to my loyal readers… Do I have to play the first two games in order to get the full scope of the last one? I mean, I know I should, but buying 3 games would be costly! What says you?

Post from: EveryJoe

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney wins hearts of Adventure Gamers – A Review

With the release of her new game, Chivalry Is Not Dead, Deirdra Kiai has done her duty as a developer and posted another Adventure Architect article on theAdventure Gamers website. Not only is the article filled with grooviness on how she developed her new point n’ click adventure, Chivalry Is Not Dead, but we also learned that the game is in beta testing. Which is good, because we all hate when we go to play a game and it’s all buggy and crud.

In this new article, we learn a little about why Deirdra picked the art style she chose. You can pretty safely say that just because the art style isn’t top notch like one of the ones you might find in the store, the game won’t be good. I personally believe that you could make a game look good with stick figures. I mean, take a look at Stick RPG. Now that game was fairly entertaining and the graphics sucked to high heaven. But I do love me some stick figures.

Deirdra may not have gone the route of high graphics and lots of pretty backgrounds, but she didn’t exactly low-ball it either and made the graphics just a little better than what we’d see in most independently developed games. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that either. Like I said – as long as there’s a good storyline, you’ll get people hooked on your game.

This is how Deirdra defines her art style:

Hence, the style I have adopted for Chivalry is a very iconic and simple one, with smooth, thick lines and bold colours similar to what one would see in a comic strip.

I like comics! But who doesn’t? Unless you’re some weirdo. And if that’s the case then… stop being weird.

If you want to read the details of Adventure Gamers new Adventure Architect, then why don’t you click here. You might learn a thing or two. And check out Chivalry Is Not Dead on October 13th, for that is when it should be out. Sweet.

Post from: EveryJoe

Adventure Gamer Feature – Adventure Architect

Finally, we get a bit of a preview to Autumn Moons long awaited game, A Vampyre Story. And who better to do a preview than the long standing and wonderful Adventure Gamers. I mean, they are like the number one spot EVER to go and look for adventure gaming news. So, it does make sense that they’d be lucky enough to take a look at this awesome looking game.

In the preview, we learn some very interesting things. Like, Bill Tiller, president of Autumn Moon, had the idea for the story back when we was working for LucasArts, but didn’t really want to tell anybody about the story there, because then LucasArts would own the idea. The problem with that? Well, we can safely say that the problem is LucasArts loves Star Wars. And not anything else. Because they are evil. So, Bill Tiller would’ve given up a story to a company that would probably never even make the game. What a smart man. We also see the work and effort Autmn Moon has put into the game. Take a look at this quote from the preview:

It’s clear that Autumn Moon’s debut game is a true labor of love, and everything I saw during the presentation exhibited genuine wit, charm and soul to a degree the genre only rarely sees.

I love wit and charm in my adventure games.

Adventure Gamers also talks a little about the story and gameplay behind the game. Check it out:

You probably already guessed or knew that A Vampyre Story is about a vampire. As Tiller explained, it was a design tradition at LucasArts to always match the gameplay and puzzles to the characteristics and abilities of the protagonist. Ben got to kick down doors and ride motorcycles in Full Throttle , while pirate Guybrush Threepwood sailed the seas and fired cannons. In A Vampyre Story, you play opera-singer-turned-vampire Mona, meaning you have to do vampire-like things. While Mona is initially reluctant to accept her recently discovered vampiric nature, she gradually develops abilities that help her deal with many obstacles in her path, like turning into a bat, biting people in the neck, or talking to animals. Being a vampire also brings with it some limitations, such as not being able to come into contact with water, which plays a role in at least several puzzles.

There is still lots more to be seen in the preview, so head on over and check it out.

And while you’re over at Adventure Gamers reading the preview, take a look around, because they re-designed the site! I have to say it is quite lovely… in a websitey way.

Post from: EveryJoe

Adventure Gamers Previews A Vampyre Story

Well, well. All I have to say is it’s about time. Oh, what is it about time about? Well, I’ll tell you. According to Adventure Gamers, there will be an adventure game made into a movie! Which adventure game, you ask? The adventure game is pretty popular. You may have even heard of it. It’s called Broken Sword.

The name of the company producing the film is called CastleBright and you may read more about them here. Oh, and look, there’s even more information about the movie over at ComingSoon.Net. Here’s a little quote from ComingSoon regarding the movie:

Beginning with “The Shadow of the Templars” (released the U.S. as “The Circle of Blood”), films will follow the adventurous duo of George Stobbart and Nico Collard as they battle evil forces across the globe for ancient relics of power.

So, there will be at least one movie based on the series of three. Adventure Gamer points out that there might just be more movies after this one, because there are several games in the series, so if the first one is awesome, we can only hope for more awesomeness…ness.

I guess there are other movies that have adventure game themes. I mean, Indiana Jones, after all, has many adventure games that follow under his realm. But that isn’t the same, you know? I mean, the adventure game was made after the first movie came out, so it’s not really a movie about an adventure game. It’s an adventure game made after a movie. And some would argue that Pirates of the Caribbean (which comes out today… yeehaw!) is some what Monkey Island like. But maybe Monkey Island was based off Pirates of the Caribbean, which was first a book? Naaaah. That’s a stretch. Broken Sword the movie is pretty exciting any way you think about it, though.

Post from: EveryJoe

An Adventure Game that Goes to the Movies?

On May 19th, Myst Online: Uru Live, is going to start using the episodic approach to pushing out new updates and story lines, according to this article at Adventure Gamers. We all know how these online games seem to push out these updates that we’re really not sure what they do. We’re not sure it they’re going to change our skill levels, introducing new baddies or just doing upgrades to servers and reading through long lists of changes seems pretty boring to me. I mean, just look at these patch notes from The World of Warcraft site. Doesn’t that seem a bit much to just… seamlessly integrate? Would it be better if there was a story line behind the reason all your skills were taken away from you? Wouldn’t it?!

Well, at least with Myst Online: Uru Live, there will be reasons for new characters and lands and all that cool stuff. The first episode to come out, which will be May 19th, will be titled Scars. Here’s what Adventure Gamers has to say about it:

The first of the new episodes is called “Scars”, and will launch on May 19th. The episode includes the brand new Age of Minkata, but players will find that “calamity arrives when someone close to them dies. The effects of this tragedy will change the course of the restoration forever.”

I’ve read that other online games have taken a similar approach and that many of the players like it. I think it’s a great way to get all those updates out there without confusing players. Of course, I am confused a lot, so maybe that’s the entire problem. Hmmmm….

Post from: EveryJoe

Myst Live Does Episodic Gaming

Do you know why I like Adventure Gamers so much? Because not only do they give us news about all the games that are set to be retail, but they also tell us all about those little guys out there who are trying to make awesome adventures with just their own two little hands. Well, now they are featuring these indy gamers and how they create their games, which I think is just awesome, because I’ve always been interested in making a game, but really have no idea where to start. The segment at Adventure Gamers is call Adventure Architect and the article I found was by a gal named Deidra Kiai, the gal who created Cubert Badbone, P.I., The Game That Takes Place on a Cruise Ship and When We Were Kids.

Deidra’s article can be found here. This article goes over the specifics on how Deidra starts off creating a game, specifically looking at the scope of the project and how much time and effort she wants to put into it. She also talks how she likes to write her games, programatically, and what she finds best for scripting an adventure game. Very cool article and can’t wait for the next.

Post from: EveryJoe

Chivalry Is Not Dead – Adventure Architect