🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993May6.0...@news.columbia.edu> yc...@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Yung Jin Chew) writes:
>it, LA  hasn't made any  innovations  either!!!!   Don't  you find  it
>interesting that ALL of  Sierra's  many  CD-ROM products   (previously
>released and upcoming) are not simply SHOVELWARE, but have quite a few
>improvements about  them??   IE. Sound,  digitized voices, etc.... How
>about Sierra's upcoming CD-ROM  KQ6 with ALL professional voice talent
>(that's a helluva lot of voice actors!), including the guy who did the
>Beast's  voice   from  Beauty  and   the   Beast,  Robby   Benson?!?!?
>Innovative?  In your     definition,   probably not!    What  do   you
>want???????
>
	Sorry, but adding voices, while adding to the game, does not 
really qualify for a great innovation.  I played KQ5 on CD-ROM, and 
I am also awaiting KQ6, but I don't feel that these games are as 
innovative as others.  Innovation comes by taking your product a step
above what's been done before.  The RPG market has Ultima as its best
example in this.  Each Ultima game is a big step up in machine use from
its predecessor.  The action/flight sim market was struck by Wing 
Commander when it came out.  But the CD-ROM market has not until now
had such a breakthrough game (I'll come to this in a minute). 
	KQ5 was one of the first games to do the voice-adding thing,
quickly followed by a couple of Lucasfilm games.  But somehow, it was 
a fairly predictable move.  It didn't add more music, didn't add more
gameplay, didn't add more graphics, and could be played just as well
without the sound.  That still feels like shovelware with a minimal
effort to please the CD buyers (As a side note, Sierra was the 
company I think that most pushed the sound card into popular use, which
WAS innovative at the time).  But none of their games have really pushed
the envelope with what a CD-ROM can do.  I've said it before in this 
group, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but the first game to be truly
innovative on the CD-ROM format is The 7th Guest.  It uses graphics
better than any I have ever seen in a game (including the KQ6 intro,
which seemed pedestrian after 7th Guest), and blends not only live 
voices, but live acting into the game.  It will be the standard to beat 
in the future, not any of Sierra's products out so far.  And much like 
other games that push the envelope, it will increase the use of its 
technology.  I now feel justified in buying a CD for games after seeing
that the game market will support it fully.  
	I really hope that Sierra can make a truly innovative game out
of KQ7 if it shows up, but I really don't feel that they have been all
that innovative lately.

>Oh, and I forgot to mention TSN, but I'll  save  that for another post
>(I can hear the sighs of relief!!) ;-)
>
	I like TSN.  That's innovative.  It's not something I see as 
something I'll be using a lot (I can't afford $2/hr sprintnet charges, 
and I'm not thrilled with the atmosphere in the places the 1 disk demo
lets me go (but I just got the full demo package, so you never know)), 
but that is most definitely a service that pushes the envelope of
online services.  It's insanely cute.

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