As a 12 year old in rural East Tennessee (which is only slightly more rural than urban East Tennessee), there was one mall that my family went to, and one toy store in that mall, KB Toys. I’m sure there was a plethora of amazing diversions there, but the only area I cared about was the revolving shelf just inside the entrance that held my own video game nirvana; the discount computer games. It’s here that I met (and subsequently fell in love with) King’s Quest, Space Quest, Quest for Glory (noticing a theme?), Red Baron, The Incredible Machine, and numerous other titles published by Sierra On-Line.
That’s the nostalgia blanket I was wearing when Activision released it’s teaser last week on Sierra.com that an announcement was coming for the nearly forgotten brand. We have since learned that Activision is reviving the label as an Indie game publisher. I will begin operations by publishing Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions this holiday season and a new King’s Quest that is due out in 2015.
Wait just a second. I have to calm down before I can write more…
… Almost there…
Okay. I’m ready.
Activision is a corporate behemoth, and it’s a smart move to revive a brand with an existing fan base to take risks on smaller projects. Sierra’s mission will be “to find and work with talented indie developers working on their own amazing projects, or passionate about working on great Sierra IP” according to Bob Loya, Sr. Director of External Development at Activision Blizzard.
So far those talented developers include Lucid Games (a team with developers that worked on the original Geometry Wars) and the quirky team The Odd Gentleman (The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom). Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions will bring full 3D action and cooperative gameplay to the franchise, alongside 50 levels of new single-player content and 10 battle modes. The new King’s Quest (just breathe, Brandon…) will follow the adventures of King Graham and Gwendolyn, his granddaughter.
Now I think it’s time to break out King’s Quest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 to get me through to next year. (Yes, I know there was a King’s Quest 8, but I choose to pretend things stopped at 7). If you’re interested, check out the Sierra bundles on GOG.com, or the incredibly great remixed versions at AGDInteractive.com.
What do you think of Sierra’s revival? Let us know in the comments.
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