Variety: Sierra devs need to justify games after Activision merger
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Mar 19th 2008 at 3:30PM }
Variety believes games expected this year like Bourne, Prototype, Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters are safe, but that games for '09 (titles that we'd probably hear about for the first time at E3) are all in limbo. For example, will there be another Bourne game when it conflicts with Activision's James Bond license? The fate of Sierra titles now lies in the whims of Activision execs.
*In case you're justifiably young enough not to know who Roberta Williams is, here's a link.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Taco_Hell @ Mar 19th 2008 3:42PM
I was actually worried there for a second, I even sighed in relief when I learned that Brütal Legend and Prototype are safe as, aside for perhaps Spore, those two are the games I'm most excited for this year.
Bleu @ Mar 19th 2008 4:30PM
I hope Activision doesn't act all stupid and start messing things up.
aristokrat @ Mar 20th 2008 12:46PM
Craptivision will only keep games that are on their 4th sequel and already dead in the water. Maybe if Sierra has a magical keep-a-dead-horse-alive potion that they can sprinkle on their games so they can promise pointlessly drawn out sequel-thons, then none of their games will be cancelled!
da governator @ Mar 19th 2008 3:42PM
Guitar Hero's Quest V: Hair Today, Metal Tomorrow!
doom saber @ Mar 19th 2008 3:44PM
Is that "Who are you? What are you doing here?" an obscured quote (when you first meet Katrina) from Sierra's Quest for Glory 4? Before I read the logos and the headline, my first reaction is "that quote is from Qfg4.
Markez @ Mar 19th 2008 3:59PM
Oh Quest for Glory, how I miss you so. 3 & 4 were kind of weak in comparison to the 1st two games, the original 1 & 2 were just fantastic. SPLENDIFEROUS!
doom saber @ Mar 19th 2008 4:05PM
I disagree. I think part four is the best storyline-wise. However, gameplay-wise, the monster killing system sucks and I heard that there were to many glitches in the floppy version, which made the game unbeatable; the cd-rom version suffers from glitches like unexpected crashing, but as not frequenant as the floppy version. It is beatable
Part five was fun too, but like the non cd-rom version of qfg4, this game suffers from a lot of bugs.
Collision891 @ Mar 19th 2008 5:19PM
I disagree with both of you. My personal favorite was 3 for the great setting and Sanford and Son ripoff , with 1 close behind. To be honest, i could not handle text-based games when i was that young (still can't actually) so i never got anywhere in 2.
McWeen @ Mar 19th 2008 3:49PM
Is age really an excuse for not knowing Roberta Williams?
Leo-Jay @ Mar 19th 2008 4:14PM
Given the last quality King's Quest installment (6/Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow) was released SIXTEEN bleeding years ago, someone who's 20 years old now would have been 4 at that point, and they're entitled to not know the diva.
Princeless Bride (which was a mere 14 years ago!) and Mask Of Eternity (a decade gone now) hardly count, and I know almost no-one who relates Phantasmagoria to Ms. Williams, so yes, she's largely lost to the ages, along with Al Lowe and The Two Guys From Andromeda.
Farseer (GDI) @ Mar 19th 2008 5:40PM
And a sad thing it is too. I miss the old Williams-inspired KQ games. :(
xtremesniper @ Mar 19th 2008 3:56PM
Oh Sierra, you were my childhood PC gaming saviour. Thank you for games like Torin's Passage and Dr. Brain.
D_Average @ Mar 19th 2008 4:00PM
Guess this means we'll finally see another Phantasmagoria!!
Leo-Jay @ Mar 19th 2008 4:07PM
...waaaaaaaaaait.
Activision gets Sierra as part of Vivendi.
Doesn't this mean that Activision now has Doom, Quake, Half-Life, Team Fortress, Left4Dead, and a huge percentage of the FPS market, not to mention Valve and Gearbox?
Sweet baby's bottom.
Isaac @ Mar 19th 2008 4:16PM
Uh... no? Valve is responsible for half the games you just named.
waynski1457 @ Mar 19th 2008 4:16PM
no, valve "publishes" under ea, despite activision's support for steam.
dark_inchworm @ Mar 19th 2008 4:39PM
Dead wrong. Valve and Gearbox worked with Sierra to publish their games in years past, but Valve has switched to mainly Steam distribution (with very discreet retail publishing handled by EA) and Gearbox serves its derivative crap* to a variety of publishers.
* opinion
Leo-Jay @ Mar 19th 2008 7:19PM
Then I'm wrong and I'm happier for it.
cjshrader @ Mar 19th 2008 4:17PM
Wait, so there won't be any new Incredible Machines? SHOCKING
Vcize @ Mar 19th 2008 4:28PM
Activision, force them to make a new Tribes game!
Spinfusor @ Mar 19th 2008 5:40PM
That would be awesome, so long as Tribes 4 would be more like the first two. Vengeance sucked!
Vcize @ Mar 19th 2008 6:34PM
Indeed, I actually almost said something about making sure it's nothing like Vengence in my post.
Why couldn't they have just gone the standard sequel route (that people usually complain about but that would've been awesome here) and just added a few weapons and graphical enhancements while keeping the gameplay largely the same?
Mabui @ Mar 19th 2008 8:56PM
Maybe this'll be good for Sierra, that under some guiding they can turn themselves around some.. but uh.. they only have Activision as the company to tell them how to turn it around..? huh..
SeriousKriss @ Mar 20th 2008 7:01AM
"Activision officially takes over Vivendi Games"
Huh? I thought Vivendi bought Activision, not the other way round.
nutman @ Mar 20th 2008 11:07AM
The funny thing is that vivendi actually bought activision. Not the other way around. Thanks a lot weak American dollar! :(
lwelyk @ Mar 20th 2008 1:05PM
This is a cruel and mean-spirited thing to do, but I think they deserve it. I'm reading comments on other gaming sites and I keep hearing people say how much they loved Space Quest, Quest for Glory, or Kings Quest. These people are forgetting something: Chainsaw Monday.
Chainsaw Monday started as an ordinary day for employees. They drove to work and when they got there, many of them were told they had to go to a meeting. Once they got there they were told that they were fired. 15 minutes later, before they had even left the building, Sierra issued a press release about it. The media practically knew they were fired before they did. Scott Murphy(of Space Quest fame) and Al Lowe(of Leisure Suit Larry Fame) were fired soon after. Two of the biggest men in the adventure genre were fired. Heck, one whole studio was shutdown while they were at it. This ended the Sierra I knew and loved. They made one more adventure game and then said they were leaving the genre. Since then, I haven't cared about Sierra games, mostly because I can't think of any game they've made in years that has appealed to me.
The cruelty of Chainsaw Monday is why I'm not feeling to bad for them over what Activision's doing. So before you rush to their defense because you loved their adventure games, remember what they did to the employees that made them successful.
xtremesniper @ Mar 20th 2008 3:37PM
Hm, thanks for brining that up. After reading the wiki article about it, I realize it explains what happened to Sierra. I thought they just didn't keep up with the times or something.