Seasonal desktop image

I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and happy new year. As a present (and inspired by Peter Brooks) I've created a seasonal desktop image, which can be found on the Juniper Games downloads page.

Have a great holiday!

New Mr. Smoozles strip

At last I found a little time to create a new strip. I'm hoping to do a couple more during the week, so be sure to check back again.

Wasted Peanuts?

I was quite excited when I read some time ago that Namco had aquired a license to make games based on the comic strip, Peanuts. However, now I've read news of their first game using the license, I find that I'm a little disappointed. Of all the richness that comes from 50 years of strips, with a wealth of possible game ideas, we find that yet another excellent license is trivialised with an action game. Can we please have some games that use the characters to their full potential?

German Interview

The German site, Working Title, has put up a new interview they did with me. The direct link is here. You can find the English version here.

The interview was conducted using Skype, which makes a refreshing change from the normal e-mail questions. Although I had the opportunity to edit the file, I've only made a few cosmetic changes for clarity as I like the feeling tha comes through. I think my enthusiasm shows, don't you? :)

It seems to be a week of interviews and Q&A sessions as I've been asked to do five altogether. Must be something in the water...

Logo change

The new version of the old logo has won out, as you can probably see from the image on the left. The website has been updated, as have the products at the store.

More on the logo issue

I've been working on another variation on the logo and wondered if you would take a look and give me your opinion. Please study it very carefully as the difference may not be obvious at first. You can view the logo here.

Random Logline Generator

Go here.

"Hypochondriac bounty hunters are being held hostage."

Hours of fun. :)

"Adventure games suck"

I've just read an article called Bring Back the Adventure which starts off with the phrase, "Adventure games suck." Why do so many journalists continue to write the same type of article which always start in the same manner? If it's not an opening statement about how adventures "suck", it's one about how the genre "died" in 1998 (or some other randomly picked year). Come on journalists, if you're going to write an article about adventures, be original.

Do adventures really suck because they don't have the trappings of other AAA titles? If they had these features they wouldn't be adventures, surely? It's like saying that platform games suck because they aren't first person shooters. Or that films suck because they aren't TV. If the AAA titles are so hot, why are they struggling to sell, particularly at this time of year with Christmas just a few weeks away?

While there are always opportunities to evolve the genre, moving away from what is the core of the genre will kill it more than anything else. Who would want to play an adventure that's no longer an adventure?

I don't think that the views of Charles Cecil, David Cage and Tim Schafer really help. Thinking of adventures having to compete directly with the likes of GTA and Morrowind is the wrong mindset. Anyone who goes into adventure development with this attitude is only going to come a cropper. Accept that adventures are a niche and make the best games you can within that niche.

Strangely, the article does raise some interesting points about telling stories, with Cage's idea of a rubber band being quite a neat one. It's not about having multiple solutions to puzzles, multiple endings or losing control of the plot (as Charles suggests); it's about offering different ways to reveal the plot or to approach the puzzles in a different order.

The replayability would come in offering a different experience rather than a different solution.

Broken Sword - The Angel of Death

The full name of the fourth Broken Sword title has been revealed. The official site for the game has also been launched.

There is a trailer on the game's site, but it shows no content from the game and is little more than a teaser. It gives the distinct impression that the game is going to be much darker this time around. I hope it's going to retain the humour that gave the previous games such a rich quality.

The new logo - does it measure up?

Many people have suggested that the new logo isn't as good as the old one. I have created an new alternative and would like to gauge your thoughts.

Take a look at the two logos here and vote here for which logo you prefer here. (Unfortunately, you need to be registered on the forum to vote.)

Any comments you care to share will be most appreciated, also.