Adventure gaming to Wii: "Help me!"
by Kevin Kelly 
{ Dec 3rd 2006 at 9:00AM }
Do you ever miss the old days of King's Quest, Space Quest, Gabriel Knight, Full Throttle, Monkey Island, and other adventure gaming series? No? Well, you should. Because while Microsoft is bringing sexy back, the Wii can hopefully bring adventure back, in a big way. The point and click interface of these PC games is perfect for use with the Wii-mote. If you've ever played any LucasArts title that uses SCUMM, then it should be pretty obvious how well it would translate over. If not, then go download ScummVM and try it out. You'll thank us later.Gaming Target has posted an article that'll refresh your memory (or inform you for the first time) about some of these games and how it could work. We would truly love to see Sam & Max on the Wii, hopefully it won't be a GameTap exclusive forever. Now if someone would just publish a one-disc collection of all the Infocom games, then we'd be in business. Heck, since they're text-based, make 'em a download. Plug in a USB keyboard and bingo. Ahhh, the nostalgia.
What old adventure games would you see come back on a console?
[Thanks, John (for the article) & Anubikai (for the sweet image)]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4orty2wo @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:17AM
Grim Fandango II!
Category @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:23AM
I would definatly like to play full throttle again... My CD from the original boxed version is missing!
Another fine remake I would like to see, in the vein of the new Sam & Max game, is definatly Day Of The Tentacle. I loved that game.
The Dig would also be awesome, especially if they made it that little bit easier!
NateM @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:23AM
There are just a countless number of old games I'd like to see on the Wii. However, having some NEW adventure games wouldn't be too terrible, either.
xcb @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:43AM
Why WOULD Joystiq mention the simple fact that Sierra games started sucking when the typing was taken away?
If you didn't type your way through Hero's Quest, you have no authority to speak on the matter.
Gabriel @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:55AM
Full Throttle...
with the motorcicle battles using the wiimote.
sexy
James @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:51AM
Loom!!!! I loved that game. I keep hearing a rumor that someone is doing a sequel to Loom, and I couldnt be more excited!!!
JarasM @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:52AM
There's one small problem with the old adventure games: some had annoying riddles in which you had to find an object the size of a few pixels. Not that I don't love LucaArts adventure games (which I do), but doing such a thing on a TV with a Wiimote might be a bit challenging.
New games however... oh I'd love to see that. Also, there was word from TellTale, that they might look into the Wii, so Sam & Max Wii Edition might be possible. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Erik @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:54AM
Let's face it. Lucas Arts always made funnier adventure games than Sierra. But one title where Sierra truly struck comedy gold was "Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist". Damn, I want to play that game again.
rockintom99 @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:55AM
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was one of my favorite Scumm games. Have it in all it's boxed glory ;)
...Too bad I don't have a 5.25" drive to install it anymore :(
Jecrell @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:56AM
ScummVM on the Wii would be the bee's knees son!
TheBard @ Dec 3rd 2006 10:13AM
I would love an adventure game DESIGNED for Wii. Classic puzzles are ideal for mini games. You need a bucket of water to wake up the sleeping guy? Pump it with your wiimote! Even simple things like opening a door could be represented by moving the wiimote up and down ... thus making a SCUMM like interface unneccessary. You could just use gestures to achieve different things.
Alan @ Dec 3rd 2006 8:24PM
I was actually just talking about this with some friends a few days ago. I desperately want to see Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis released on the Virtual Console.
Mat Harding @ Dec 3rd 2006 10:43AM
Any rumours of Phoenix Wright on the Wii? I'd be up for that!
David @ Dec 3rd 2006 10:50AM
Maniac friggin' Mansion. Could easily be a virtual console download of the NES version with enhanced Wii-mote features.
Robert @ Dec 4th 2006 11:17AM
Gabriel Knight - 1, 2, and 3.
Werbal @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:12PM
LucasArts just needs to do something right for once - an anthology disc of ALL their old classic adventure games (or at least SOME, and then have a volumn 2 or something).
Loom, all four Monkey Islands, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, The Dig, Sam and Max, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, etc. It'd cost them virtually nothing (I'd be highly surprised if they didn't still hold the rights to all of them) and would be a gift to its loyal fans over the years.
Judd @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:35PM
Discworld! Ah, British humor.
bertie242 @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:32PM
Monkey island and Sam and Max.
Alexl @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:38PM
Considering How Twin Snakes on the Gamecube was the bloodiest Metal Gear Solid game until Snake Eater came out, along with a select other few Gamecube ultraviolent titles like Killer7, Kojima bringing back Snatcher on the Wii doesn't seem like something that couldn't or wouldn't be done. Or, maybe they'll start offering games from the Genesis add-ons like the SegaCD, a good thing even without Snatcher(Night Trap anyone?). I guess where I'm going with this is Kojima, give us some Snatcher. Snatcher would work just as well as the other games you guys are listing off.
Brian (the REAL Brian) @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:48PM
It'd be cool if they remade Maniac Mansion.
I remember the crappy TV show that was supposed to be based on the NES game. But the TV show didn't make any sense to me.
Darkness @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:00PM
I'd love to see some of the old Indiana Jones cames come out again as well as Full Throttle. I loved that game. Heh, heh. Actually, having the old Leisure Suit Larry games or Space Quest make a comeback would be cool, too. Lots of good stuff that would be nice to see again. I doubt most of the newer games could be put on VC, but a compilation disc would be nice, too.
Ben @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:22PM
What I'd love is for Lucasarts to bring all those classic games to the DS. Come on, the DS would play Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle perfectly!
OTAM @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:37PM
7th Guest?
GeeT @ Dec 3rd 2006 3:45PM
I've agreed with this idea for awhile...
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/08/nintendo-blogger-crossed-the-line-claims-blogmate/#c2622959
...but I severly doubt it would happen for anything other than digital distribution (XBLA, VC, PS3 online). Of course, with Wii/VC being the best platform for anything cursor-based. Also, anything non-3D probably isn't going to survive the mainstream, so it would be smaller/indie studios and smaller budgets that would likely go into any attempts to bring fresh point and click adventure gaming on a console.
It would also be nice to see LucasArts and what's left of Sierra within Vivendi bring back the classic titles for the Virtual Console, but the focus of studios and the VC pricing structure don't leave me terribly optimistic that they will or it would be at a cost I'd want to pay for a flashback fix.
"Even simple things like opening a door could be represented by moving the wiimote up and down"
I would hunt down and beat the designer that implemented such a change. Honestly, there are already quite a few times in Wii games where I often think to myself, "why can't this just be a damn button press" while performing some actions. Those are the times when I really question how long I'll find entertainment in using the Wii control scheme.
Sonic @ Dec 3rd 2006 5:58PM
You hit the nail on the head by mentioning Monkey Island and Space Quest. A new or even remade Loom would do very nicely as well.
withoutasol @ Dec 3rd 2006 4:58PM
I like a lot of the Sierra and LucasArt adventures. My favorite though has got to be "DAY OF THE TENTACLE", the funniest adventure game, it was genius.
Anubikai @ Dec 4th 2006 12:27AM
Glad to be of service =D
JarasM @ Dec 4th 2006 2:08AM
@21: It already does. Go here http://scummvm.org/ and download the DS package.
Bulker @ Dec 4th 2006 1:51PM
I would love to see The Longest Journey and Dreamfall get some more life on the wii.
In terms of the LA or Sierra classics, I feel like they would need to be remade, I can't see pixel hunting being fun on a TV.
A lot of these games would go great on the DS as well.
Matt N @ Dec 4th 2006 8:01PM
In addition to the ones people have already mentioned, my suggestions are Syberia 1 & 2. They're the best adventures IMO released this century (1 was 2002, 2 was 2004).