Space Quest and King's Quest Collections join Steam, with other Sierra titles

by Christopher Grant { Jul 23rd 2009 at 4:19PM }

> CHECK CALENDAR

Your Hot Men of Activision calendar reveals that it's July ... 2009, of course. And wow, that Bobby Kotick must work out.

> PINCH CHEEK

You pinch your cheek so hard, you bruise it. Hey, that almost looks like facial hair, Mr. Manly Man!

> DOWNLOAD CLASSIC SIERRA GAMES OFF OF STEAM

What do you think this is? The 90s? Go shoot some space marines like a real man.

At least, that's how this scene would've played out only yesterday. While adventure games are seemingly in the middle of a resurgence in popularity – thanks in large part to LucasArts classics making their way to places like Steam and Xbox Live Arcade – the availability of Sierra's classic adventure games has been a slightly more complicated affair. Of course, they became the property of Activision Blizzard following last year's mega-merger wherein Activision had its sights set squarely on profit, not nostalgia.

In fact, when asked explicitly about the Sierra classics, an Activision rep told us: "We are retaining only those franchises that are a strong fit with our long-term strategy ... We will not publish any other titles that previously were part of the Vivendi Games portfolio and we are currently reviewing our options regarding those titles." Well, that review is apparently over and, after what we can only imagine was a great amount of deliberation – "can we make a rhythm game out of it?" – the "King's Quest Collection" and "Space Quest Collection" both find themselves on Steam for the more-than-fair price of $20 for each set ($15 if you buy before July 30). We could tell you about Aces of the Galaxy, TimeShift, and 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures – other Sierra back-catalog titles that are hitting the service today – but we really want to save our last paragraph for one very special message:

GIVE US THE QUEST FOR GLORY GAMES. That is all.

[Thanks, Jason]

Source – Activision Expands Catalog with Space Quest, King's Quest and More
Source – King's Quest Collection
Source – Space Quest Collection

Tags: Activision, Kings-Quest, retro, Sierra, Space-Quest, Steam, undefined

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Shimrra @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:25PM

Kings Quest was an amazing game but I dont think I can go back and play thru it again. I am so back logged in my games.

Flit @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:37PM

I thought so too, until I tried to go back and play Police Quest on Sairen.net.

Then I remembered how convoluted Sierra's Adventure games were. If you missed an item at the beginning of the game, you ended up losing halfway through with no way to fix it without starting over.

I even bought a space quest collection when it was on sale for less than $5, and I still have only spent about an hour with them.

IMO the Lucasarts games have held up better.

fadeoutagain2784 @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:47PM

@ Flit

Well, it depends on which Space Quest/King's Quest game you're talking about. The really early games in those two series were extremely unforgiving and forced you to endure hours of trial-and-error to figure out what needed to be done to finish the game. But KQV and VI have held up very well in my opinion... and you can save your game anytime, any place so that makes it easier to recover quickly if you make a mistake.

Professor Lario @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:33PM

The first game I ever really played was KQIV on my Tandy - oh the memories. I still have the KQ Collection on disc; I wonder if it will run?

WiredKnight @ Jul 24th 2009 1:49AM

I just beat King's Quest IV last winter, I was never able to finish it when I was a kid!

WiredKnight @ Jul 24th 2009 1:55AM

@Lario

When I recently played it, it was on my Vista-based laptop. There's all kinds of third party patches that can help you get it running. I seem to remember also being able to run it on XP without much trouble- might just have to set the compatibility mode.

Gibbeynator @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:25PM

If only I didn't already buy these on disc, I would so buy these. Well, I don't have the Leisure Suit Larry Collection, maybe that will come out soon.

ArchiGamer [thephilosophyofgames.wordpress.com] @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:29PM

I never, ever, EVER want to know that Kotick works out or that you have a Hot Men of Activision calender!

My eyes, they burn!

thon @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:30PM

get this on XBL, its the only windows device i own anymore..please?!

Alex Sohn @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:32PM

Please put the Gobliiins games on as well!!!! I loved those adventure games!!!

how_much_I_carrot @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:07PM

did you know Gobliiins 4 was recently released? It's a shame that game got NO publicity.

Powerlord @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:55PM

Gobliiins 1-3 are now supported through ScummVM... you can also get them for free if you buy Gobliiins 4 from the following places:
GamersGate: http://gamersgate.com/DD-GOBLIN/gobliiins-4
Impulse: http://www.impulsedriven.com/goblins4

waynski1457 @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:32PM

While I enjoy KQ, I find the AGD remakes hold up better. Still, cool that they are doing this, aside from the whole "more money to Activision" crap.

Robert @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:38PM

Gabriel Knight!!!

eldee @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:58PM

+1

just the first one though, the sequels were terribad.

how_much_I_carrot @ Jul 23rd 2009 6:38PM

whaaaaat? The second sequel was excellent. One of the best FMV games ever made.

obagelista @ Jul 23rd 2009 7:51PM

I would totally buy GK2 again on DVD. Hell, I would buy all of them again. I'm even tempted to waste my money on the KQ and SQ collections even though I already own two copies of each, just to support the movement.

Actually, I think the Gabriel Knight series would be a gold mine for them. The first two games have aged extremely well; there's star power in Tim Curry and Mark Hamill; the storylines are all well-thought out. Plus the subject matter is still pretty relevant. I think there'd be a lot of interest in a womanizing paranormal investigator.

Aw hell. Where are my GK2 CDs again?

Robert @ Jul 23rd 2009 11:21PM

I'd like to see GK1 get the Monkey Island SE treatment. Loved Tim Curry as Gabe - and that girl from saved by the bell as grace - wish they could have been in the second one.

eldee @ Jul 25th 2009 2:28AM

i liked FMV games, don't get me wrong.. problem with GK2 is that I waited a long time to play it, and I wasn't expecting FMV. It left a bad taste in my mouth that exists to this day. It'd be like.. if all the sudden they made a space quest FMV game.. it just wouldnt' be right.

eldee @ Jul 25th 2009 2:30AM

and I agree with the SE treatment btw.. i went back and replayed GK1 last year, and I have to be honest- if I hadn't already memorized every puzzle from that game it would've been tough. It's hard to know what you're supposed to be clicking on when your eyes have adjusted to HD and all of the clarity it brings. With older games it's sometimes hard to tell one pixel from the other

profeteer @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:38PM

Hell. Yes.

I grew up on the old Sierra adventure games, particularly Space and Police Quest. Time to explode some Orats.

Markez @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:49PM

Same here!

Space Quest I, II, III, IV, V
QFG I, II, III, IV
Kings Quest V
Police Quest I, II, III
Quest for Camelot
Code Name Ice Man
Adventures of Willy Beamish
Heart of China
Jones in the Fast Lane (one o' my fave multiplayer games ever)

I'm sure I'm missing something, but my PC gaming days probably ended towards the tail end of when I stopped liking the newer Sierra games.

Professor Lario @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:35PM

@Markez - I still remember the first time I saw Heart of China screen shots. I was floored.

Shagittarius @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:58PM

^5 Markez, Jones in the fast lane is fun, I still play it once in a while.

fadeoutagain2784 @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:39PM

This is good news, it's been a while since I played through the KQ games. My favorites are KQIV, V and VI... any fan of old-school point-and-click adventure games should definitely check them out. I never played all of the Space Quest games (only played the first two), so I'll be checking that collection out as well.

Zadillo @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:40PM

I still kind of wish the VGA remakes were included in these packages.

obagelista @ Jul 23rd 2009 7:41PM

Actually, if this is a digital download version of the collections that were released a couple years ago (which they are, judging by the box art), the VGA remakes are the ONLY versions you'll be getting. All of the re-released collections dropped the original AGI games and kept the remakes in. I could never understand for the life of me why; they aren't more than a few hundred kilobytes each, if that, and anybody interested in an entire collection of a series would want those originals.

The Leisure Suit Larry collection got nerfed the worst. Not only did they drop Larry 7, they also relegated you to the VGA non-talkie version of 6. It'll be interesting to see, if they decide to release that on Steam, whether or not they beef it back up.

Maulok @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:42PM

Space Quest!!!!!!!!! My day has been made!! Space Quest IV was one of my top 3 favorite point and click VGA time travel based Janitor-as-a-hero epics.

Michael @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:09PM

These are all fine and good but I don't know why anyone would buy these things without the graphics and sounds being updated like the latest Monkey Island release. This old stuff looks and sounds so bad on large monitors and HDTV's. So much so that they aren't worth paying for. Redone graphics and sound makes it worthwhile in my opinion.