LucasArts wants to re-release classic adventure games (if you want to buy them)

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 18th 2009 at 12:25PM }

If the words Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango and Full Throttle bring pangs of joy to your heart of hearts, you'll want to hear this -- several LucasArts higher-ups have stated the desire to bring more of their catalog of classic adventure titles back to life, provided that people show interest in purchasing them. For starters, you could drop a few bucks on the upcoming XBLA and PC remake of The Secret of Monkey Island as a good faith offering.

This sentiment was mentioned to Australian news outlet WAToday by LucasArts community manager Brooks Brown, who said, "if this sells, there's no one at this company who doesn't want to do these games." One fan of the company's beloved point-and-clickers is LucasArts CEO Darrell Rodriguez, who spoke with Joystiq on the possibility of more classic revamps just before E3, and explained that he "couldn't do anything but release more of these titles" if sales for Monkey Island and desire from the gaming populous were strong.

Long story short, if you don't buy Monkey Island, and they don't re-release Grim Fandango because of your non-purchase, we're going to find you and punch you repeatedly in your most delicate places.

Gallery: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC, XBLA)

Tags: adventure, adventure-games, day-of-the-tentacle, full-throttle, grim-fandango, lucasarts, monkey-island, point-and-click, secret-of-monkey-island-special-edition

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

John Musco @ Jun 18th 2009 12:29PM

Re-release "The Dig" already!!!

Stix Remix @ Jun 18th 2009 12:33PM

Ooh, that's a good one. I liked the puzzles in that game.

Icarus @ Jun 18th 2009 1:22PM

DiG is an amazing but very underrated Lucasarts game. It really did have great puzzles and story. It was short though.

KylHu @ Jun 18th 2009 1:52PM

Well, at least Bethesda is publishing a spinoff game about Brink. Right?

relaxeder @ Jun 18th 2009 3:59PM

I was JUST about to post that. If they did a remake of The Dig I would excrete one hundred bricks.

Cosmo @ Jun 18th 2009 12:32PM

LucasArts, I will pay you $15 for a remake of Full Throttle, haven't played that since 1997!

dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Jun 18th 2009 12:47PM

Too bad Ben's original voice actor passed away. :(

Cosmo @ Jun 18th 2009 12:48PM

Oh he did? : (

Courtney @ Jun 18th 2009 1:30PM

Lung cancer a few years ago:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Conrad

Vaitork @ Jun 18th 2009 3:08PM

Yeah, Roy Conrad alone was Full Throttle. I remember his death was a big punch in the face for our sequel-craving hearts :(

profeteer @ Jun 18th 2009 12:33PM

Oh man, PLEASE do Full Throttle!

AwesomeTown @ Jun 18th 2009 5:22PM

Hey! I love Full Throttle!

Wizzleteets @ Jun 18th 2009 12:34PM

Completely agreed. If you don't pony up for Monkey Island, you should be locked in a room with nothing but a 360 and Bomberman X.

Andrew Timson @ Jun 18th 2009 12:46PM

I'd love to buy it, but LucasArts has yet to announce their release venues. No Steam, no sale.

Shagittarius @ Jun 18th 2009 12:34PM

Release it in a box and I'll buy it otherwise. no.

Jcarpio @ Jun 18th 2009 12:56PM

Then no buy for you.. These types of games don't have enough visibility to do well enough, for publishers, in the traditional retail channel anymore.

Shagittarius @ Jun 18th 2009 1:00PM

I'm not gonna support something they can pull from a server anytime they want. If 20 years from now I want to play the game again I want to be able to dig out the disk and install it again.

This is also the reason I don't like steam. These companies need to guarantee and provide a self destruct date for requiring on-line activation so I know I'll be able to keep playing it even if the company dissapears, right now I have to hope hackers eventually figure out a work around if this happens.

Add the element of having to keep track of a digital file into the mix instead of a box copy and you've made it ven less likely I'll be able to enjoy this game in the future.

I collect games and I'm not going to collect games that have these restrictions on them.

Cosmo @ Jun 18th 2009 1:08PM

Shagittarius, I'm sure there are hacks already for games purchased through Steam or other distribution channels where you can remove the DRM, burn the game on a disc and play it in case Steam ever goes down. I know that Fallout 3 basically has no DRM. I'm sorry I don't know the exact hacks though, you'd have to search that yourself.

Besides, DRM is getting so bad that who knows that even if you purchase a physical copy, you'll one day need to connect online to their servers just to play the damn game and in-case their servers are down or your internet is down, too bad.

But I'm sure there are hacks to bypass this garbage, especially with games through Steam.

Shagittarius @ Jun 18th 2009 1:09PM

Cosmo: Atari makes you connect online to register your copy before you can play for both Alone in the Dark, and the new Ghostbusters.

This is exactly the kind of thing that pisses me off, especially knowing atari constantly has 1 foot in the grave.

Courtney @ Jun 18th 2009 1:33PM

I understand your concern Shag, but for me, it's actually easier to keep track of digital copies. I've lost all of my old PC and PS1 games over the last 10 or so years, between moving, putting stuff in storage, etc. The games that I have ripped into ISOs are all nice and safe on my hard drive (and backed up onto another drive).

I don't want ridiculous DRM that require online registration, but I welcome digital copies that I can store locally and play whenever I want in the future.

copa @ Jun 18th 2009 1:48PM

Different companies give you different levels of support. You have to look at this on a case-by-case basis.

Today, I can walk up to a computer, download a Steam client, install and play my licensed copy of Half-Life / Team Fortress:Classic that I payed for ELEVEN YEARS AGO. This is a much better deal than retail, where who knows if the physical CD would even install anymore.

Am I 100% confident that I'll be able to play this licensed copy of Half-Life with my cyborg dog in 2062? No, but Valve has a very strong track record of going above and beyond to provide convenient, continued access to my license software.

On the other end of the spectrum, fuck me before I every buy DRM'd software from Atari, Ubisoft, EA, or Activision. I don't trust any of those companies to implement DRM cleanly, or to support their existing DRM model six months from now.

Shagittarius @ Jun 18th 2009 2:03PM

I just installed my release day copy of the Original Half life from CD a couple weeks ago. I can tell you that it works just fine even on Vista 64bit.

Marty @ Jun 18th 2009 2:06PM

I agree with your sentiment Shagg, but computers 20 years from now likely won't run the games we play now anyway (except for maybe under emulation). Try playing games from 20 years ago today - unless you're using some kind of emulation software, or running an extremely old OS, you can't play them any more.

Shagittarius @ Jun 18th 2009 2:09PM

Copa , how did you register your original copy of half life with steam?

Shagittarius @ Jun 18th 2009 2:13PM

Marty I have a P-90 with all of the fixins that I couldn't afford back then with a multi boot that runs Dos, Win3.12, Win '95 and Win '98. Its got a Voodoo2 card and two external midi synths the Roland Mt32, and the SC-88 MKII.

Some program from the mid 80s have a tough time on the P-90 but not many...

I am a collector, and I'm set up to run all this stuff optimally, besides dos box runs all that stuff mostly anyways. Emulation will always be there for those that need it like you said.

Professor Lario @ Jun 18th 2009 2:30PM

Shag - do you have your collection listed anywhere? I'd love to see what you have. I keep my old PC games around as well - no matter how much room they take. Betrayal at Krondor FTW!

copa @ Jun 18th 2009 2:47PM

"Copa , how did you register your original copy of half life with steam?"

Typed in my CD key. I strongly recommend it, just in case your CD is ever misplaced or gives you troubles.

Powerlord @ Jun 18th 2009 5:56PM

I don't know if this was only when Steam was new back in 2003 or so, but when I registered my Half-Life 1 with Steam, I was also given free copies of all the official Valve and Gearbox mods for HL1 (Counter-strike, Blue Shift, Opposing Forces, etc...)

Shagittarius @ Jun 18th 2009 6:38PM

This isn't a completely accurate list of my games but I tried to update it from memory today..its been a long time. I'm sure I'm missing somethings particularly in the handhelds section:

http://www.gamespot.com/users/Shagittarius/games_table?mode=own

Also some of the PC games I have dont appear on Gamespots list:

Sam and Max Season 1 & 2
Dunjonquest: The Temple of Apshai
Cutthroats
Trivial Pursuit
Alien Fires 2199 AD
Battlehawks 1942
Uninvited (Windows Version)
J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Vol. 1 & 2
Knights of the Sky
Flames of Freedom
Knightforce
Tunnels and Trolls

That list is probably missing some of the more recent games I have as well...I'll update it when I dig everything out of my back room again.

LameDuck @ Jun 18th 2009 12:35PM

THE RISE OF ADVENTURE GAMES HAS COME! REPENT NOW OR FOREVER PLAY FPS GAMES!!!

*I second a re-release of The Dig.*

Avoli @ Jun 18th 2009 12:35PM

Do the ones coming to Wii count? I plan on buying those and the PC ones that dont make it (I lack a 360).

Storm Eagle @ Jun 18th 2009 12:35PM

Is this really even a question?

meist3r @ Jun 18th 2009 12:38PM

I wanted to buy Adventure games ever since you killed the genre after Grim Fandango (one of the best games I've ever played).

LordToastington @ Jun 18th 2009 12:41PM

They made another Monkey Island after that, but yeah, everything wend downhill after Grim.

meist3r @ Jun 18th 2009 1:06PM

@Toastington: I remember reading a webcomic once that basically illustrated this. I think it was XKCD but I can't find the one right now. Three guys sitting on a couch "Wow, these Indiana Jones movies are awesome", Third guy: "You guys wanna watch the fourth one now?" cut to outdoor scenery ... dug hole, two people returning with shovels ... "Too bad George Lucas never made a sequel to The Last Crusade..."

That's how I feel about Monkey Island 4 ...

Shadow Hog @ Jun 18th 2009 1:19PM

I think that was a Matrix comic, actually.

1: "Hey, I forgot how awesome The Matrix was."
2: "Yeah, I know what you mean."
(3 comes in with some DVDs)
3: "Hey, wanna watch the other two?"
(1 and 2 stare at 3)
(cut to a panel, with 3 conspicuously absent)
1: "Like I said, Matrix was a great movie. What a shame they never made a sequel."
2: "Yeah..."

meist3r @ Jun 18th 2009 1:32PM

@Shadow Hog: That's probably the reason why I couldn't find it :P

But anyhow, kinda revealing ... that's how I feel about Indy 4 as well :P

Drew -- PS360: uphillbothways @ Jun 18th 2009 1:41PM

You didn't quote it quite right, and instead of fixing it for you, here's a link:

http://xkcd.com/566/

LordToastington @ Jun 18th 2009 2:46PM

Agreed. MI4 wasn't good at all.

ivant @ Jun 19th 2009 2:48AM

@meist3r "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis" is the true sequel!

It would be very interesting to see if they ever remake MI2 will they keep the ending? I actually liked it, but I've also seen it in a "worst endings" list.

SkullRobot @ Jun 18th 2009 12:41PM

I'm really looking forward to this title. I never actually played any of the Monkey Island games but I remember hearing about them growing up. I will gladly purchase this game if it means more will come, I can only hope that this will inspire Activision-Blizzard to remake Sierra's classic adventure games (and maybe make some new ones). I would give anything for another Space Quest or Quest for Glory.