J.J. Abrams would like to make a Zork game

by Justin McElroy { Oct 8th 2008 at 3:30PM }

OK, so maybe not a Zork game per se, but some sort of text adventure would be right up Infocom fan (and Lost creator) J.J. Abrams' alley. That revelation comes from a recent conversation the writer/producer/director had with MTV, which you can find after the break. Though he's at least half-kidding, he says he'd be interested in trying to create a really good parser and simulation of human interaction.

His text adventure fondness shouldn't come as a complete surprise, considering that Locke and Co. spent all of Season Two playing the world's most boring adventure game.

Tags: jj-abrams, text-adventure, zork

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

J.J. Abrams @ Oct 8th 2008 3:37PM

I do not find your image funny.

BunnySlapper @ Oct 8th 2008 3:40PM

Personally I find it hilarious.

Mike T. @ Oct 8th 2008 3:59PM

Yeah, sorry JJ, but I have to agree with BunnySlapper.

Also, "Fringe": smart, pithy people in Federal employ exploring strange, sometimes alien-ish scientific mysteries that may or may not be related to a larger conspiracy? Two leads who may or may not be into each other, but are bound to drag it out for the length of the series? Didn't I see that already? When it was called "The X-Files?"

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Oct 8th 2008 4:43PM

I like Fringe :/

Courtney @ Oct 8th 2008 5:11PM

Fringe was interesting, but the two episodes I've caught certainly didn't encourage me to watch anymore. I really don't need another sci-fi or action series where conspiracies get drawn out over seasons and drawn out so long that it appears the writers forget where the conspiracy began or where it was going, so they just start adding more layers to it to avoid having to ever bring it to anything resembling a logical conclusion.

kingrock @ Oct 8th 2008 3:49PM

YES! Some of my fondest pc gaming experiences all started with the Zorks / Planetfall / Deadline. If anyone knows where you can download the old infocom catalog (other than Zork b/c I already found that one) please give me a shout.
The packaging of those old games was awesome.

gameplayFanBoy @ Oct 8th 2008 4:19PM

To avoid breaking some joystiq policy I won't post a link, but doing a google search for "abandonia" and looking in the "text based" section of the "featured games" menu of the site will point you to quite a few infocom classics (among other great non-infocom games).

gameplayFanBoy @ Oct 8th 2008 4:21PM

I won't post a link to avoid breaking some joystiq policy, but do a google search for "abandonia" and look in the "text based" section of the featured games menu on that site. There are quite a few infocom classics among some other great text games.

kingrock @ Oct 8th 2008 4:30PM

thx fanboy. for any of you that missed Zork, you should google "Zork" "Infocom" "Download" and it will take you to the infocom homepage with FREE downloads of Zork I, II, and III. classic gaming.

Courtney @ Oct 8th 2008 5:37PM

I just downloaded Zork from Infocom and spent the last 10 minutes screwing around before realizing I should get bak to work.

Richard Holland @ Oct 8th 2008 4:09PM

PLEASE PLEASE someone revive the Zork franchise, I heart Zork!!!!

Brian @ Oct 8th 2008 4:12PM

Anyone remember Legend of the Red Dragon? Hell does anyone remember BBS's for that matter? Never mind.

Makoto99 @ Oct 8th 2008 5:31PM

Ah, BBS's! I used to run one. Fun times. Gotta love 300bps acoustic modems.

My personal favorite door game was Lands of the Barons. On MajorBBS's, Quest for Magic was also pretty fun.

Brian @ Oct 8th 2008 10:18PM

Yeah I ran one as well. That was an excellent door. LORD was my fav though. What program did you use? Remote Access?

Makoto99 @ Oct 9th 2008 9:30AM

I started with, haha.. Spitfire. Hahahahaha. I can't even say that with a straight face...

Then I got caught up in the WWIV craze and stuck with that til the end.

CubeGuy @ Oct 8th 2008 4:18PM

I hope you know that you just crushed my dreams for another Zork game. I've had this big empty space in my heart ever since finishing Grand Inquisitor. =C

inlogic @ Oct 8th 2008 4:23PM

It's written Per Se (By Itself) in Latin not Per ce...

Quiggy @ Oct 8th 2008 4:25PM

I'd prefer if he'd spend more time bringing Lost back and making Fringe suck less. (Yes, I watched it. Three episodes. Didn't like a single one of them.)

thesimplicity @ Oct 8th 2008 5:15PM

I think the quality of Fringe has made it quite clear that JJ Abrams has nothing to do with the success of Lost. He got 'creator' credit on Lost for directing and producing the pilot and had nothing to do with the story. In fact, he hasn't been involved with the show since the first season. It's all Lindelof and Cuse at this point.

datwig @ Oct 8th 2008 4:31PM

LOL image is HILARIOUS

FemaleOrca @ Oct 8th 2008 4:45PM

I'm personally loving LOST as one season a year. As the only series I've held dear to my heart since Twin Peaks I prefer to enjoy it slowly over time. Like a fine wine, or the carcass of a boar.

OMGOMG @ Oct 8th 2008 4:58PM

4 8 15 16 23 42 *Enter*

Wait.

Dahk @ Oct 8th 2008 7:35PM

108:00
Tick Tock Tock.

... Oh wait...

Wally @ Oct 8th 2008 4:59PM

Previously on Zork...

Ethan @ Oct 8th 2008 5:11PM

One second, I'm like this close to the high score on Donkey Kong.

343 Guilty Fart @ Oct 8th 2008 5:32PM

Wait wait wait Joystiq, you've got it all wrong. You should be complaining about the ludicrously long Battlestar Galactica wait! They show 10 episodes this year in January, then they wait to show the final 10 epidodes NEXT JANUARY, even though they're supposedly "the same season". At least with Lost we get all 22 in a row now.

Frenzy @ Oct 8th 2008 6:10PM

Justin, that image made my day. Thank you :).

Vegnagun bwf @ Oct 8th 2008 6:14PM

How can J.J.Abrams make a text based game if he's the master at not giving any information?

vidGuy @ Oct 8th 2008 7:08PM

If you think it's a long time until LOST season 5, you aren't watching the show properly. The correct method is:

1. Watch the new season
2. Watch all of the previous seasons on BluRay (DVD if you aren't a true fan)
3. Repeat

The producers know this so they have to make each successive break longer to allow for the extra viewing.