George Lucas(arts)

[Harsin]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=60364

Star Wars creator George Lucas gave the keynote speech earlier this week at annual computer graphics and interactive entertainment expo SIGGRAPH and expressed his desire for improved artificial intelligence in games.

Talking at his "Q&A with the Father of Digital Cinema" section of the conference in Los Angeles, Lucas announced he intends to get more involved with his company's videogame division, LucasArts. Although often criticised for his dialogue and characters in films, the movie-maker said that he wants artificial intelligence and speech recognition to improve "to a point where you can talk to the game and it will talk back."

The company recently announced plans to increase its game production staff from 60-70 to around 150 and broaden its title range to encompass less Star Wars related videogames

Dear George, first order of business ressurect the adventure genre that made Lucasarts a grade A developer before it turned into a joke. Releasing the new Sam and Max would be a good start.

[MrHat001]

Although often criticised for his dialogue and characters in films, the movie-maker said that he wants artificial intelligence and speech recognition to improve "to a point where you can talk to the game and it will talk back."
I get enough grief with the wife talking back, if the PC starts doing it I'll go mad.

Luscusarts could clean up if they made a decent adventure game as there's a massive gap in the game market for it.

[tawsi]

Luscusarts could clean up if they made a decent adventure game as there's a massive gap in the game market for it.

Is that really the case though? I love adventure games but I'm not even sure there's much of a pc game market anymore, most shops have cut back on pc game shelf space. Adventure games don't really fit with shift in game style since the PS1 was released so I don't see how they could market it to a wider audience.

[MrHat001]

Is that really the case though? I love adventure games but I'm not even sure there's much of a pc game market anymore, most shops have cut back on pc game shelf space. Adventure games don't really fit with shift in game style since the PS1 was released so I don't see how they could market it to a wider audience.
Well the horde of people that buy games like Doom3 and HL2 show that PC gaming is still alive.

Also PC gaming is perfect for certain online games (World of Warcraft, Everquest2, etc) that just aren't really playable on consoles.

I admit that a new Sam & Max games couldn't compete with some of the larger mainstream titles.
But it would easily get good sales and should be a lot cheaper to make than the bigger games.

[anephric]

There seems to be a natural home for adventure games on the DS... Sam & Max DS please.

[tawsi]

Isn't there a scummvm for DS?

[rbullivant]

The DS could have been designed with point and click in mind, would love to see a Lucasarts compilation or some new games in the genre

[dan13l]

Isn't there a scummvm for DS?

Yes, I read that there was the other day.

[Deano]

A new Sam and Max adventure game probably wouldn't sell that well but Lucas Arts are in the position to really bring the adventure genre 'back to life'.
How?
Simple, a new adventure game - a Star Wars adventure game. It surprises me to this day that they never made one back when they were doing the Indy games...

[DeadKenny]

Well Star Wars Galaxies can kind of be considered an adventure game ;)

Adventure games can take so many forms though. The best in my opinion were the old text ones. They required a heck of a lot more intelligence than the later stuff which was more a case of clicking around randomly to see what works and being "led" through the game by the story. I was never that taken with the Indy games. Some of the better text adventure games had a somewhat dynamic game play that allowed the games to be played out in different ways and for characters to interact almost with a kind of AI (simplistic by today's standards). I think a lot of the appeal was in that it required imagination much like reading a book.

MMORPGs are the nearest thing these days but they don't have the set puzzle/story to them as they're just a blank slate until the players create the world.

[kiran_mk2]

Day Of The Tenticle 2: Maniac Mansion 3 please!

[DK_UK]

"TIE Fighter: Rise of the empire" for me please!

[alphatyrant]

A new Sam & Max for sure...and A follow up to Full Throttle....and in particular (for me) the epic Dig, absolutely loved that game.

Hell a Grim Fandango 2 and a new Monkey Island.....c'mon dammit...these point and click adventures were the life blood of computers at one stage! Now it's all fps and rts and mmorpg.

Can't we go back to fiendish puzzles????

Really, who gives a rats ass about half of the dross we're forced to play these days.....used to be I'd love the prospect of a new Lucasarts game...now it's all Star Wars games that blow.

C'mon George, get your lightsaber out of your ass and get some good games out on the market!

[Deano]

Well Star Wars Galaxies can kind of be considered an adventure game ;)

Adventure games can take so many forms though. The best in my opinion were the old text ones. They required a heck of a lot more intelligence than the later stuff which was more a case of clicking around randomly to see what works and being "led" through the game by the story. I was never that taken with the Indy games. Some of the better text adventure games had a somewhat dynamic game play that allowed the games to be played out in different ways and for characters to interact almost with a kind of AI (simplistic by today's standards). I think a lot of the appeal was in that it required imagination much like reading a book.



I was getting at a point and click adventure game obviously - as for text adventures, there's currently a thriving underground scene that are doing some great things. Do a google search for "Interactive Fiction" and be sure to play Photopia, and realize just how far behind modern 3D games are in terms of creating emotion...