You've probably had enough of the gushing, but i'll go ahead and say it: for me, there was no single game more influential than Maniac Mansion.
The only adventure games i had played to date were Dallas Quest and a few of the old Marvel text adventures, which were pretty rough. The computer wasn't even mine - i had to visit a friend's house to play these games. His mom babysat me.
i vividly remember the friend coming home one day and saying "i played this cool game at Bihn An's house." He described being chased down the hall by a crazy old lady, finding broken ketchup bottles in the fridge that looked like blood, and searching everywhere for chainsaw gas to protect himself.
i thought he was full of crap. The most complex game i'd seen on the C64 was Montezuma's Revenge. Everything this kid was describing was impossible.
Then i saw the game. And i believed.
Today, i've created and published over fifty kids' games. Some of them borrow more heavily from Maniac Mansion than others. But for every last one, i am indebted to Maniac Mansion. That game is the reason i became a game developer.
Ron - if you're at GDC this year, i'd love to buy you a drink and kiss your ring. (It can't taste any worse than your ass right now.)
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Posted by Ryan Henson Creighton on Jan 30, 2008 eight pm
The only adventure games i had played to date were Dallas Quest and a few of the old Marvel text adventures, which were pretty rough. The computer wasn't even mine - i had to visit a friend's house to play these games. His mom babysat me.
i vividly remember the friend coming home one day and saying "i played this cool game at Bihn An's house." He described being chased down the hall by a crazy old lady, finding broken ketchup bottles in the fridge that looked like blood, and searching everywhere for chainsaw gas to protect himself.
i thought he was full of crap. The most complex game i'd seen on the C64 was Montezuma's Revenge. Everything this kid was describing was impossible.
Then i saw the game. And i believed.
Today, i've created and published over fifty kids' games. Some of them borrow more heavily from Maniac Mansion than others. But for every last one, i am indebted to Maniac Mansion. That game is the reason i became a game developer.
Ron - if you're at GDC this year, i'd love to buy you a drink and kiss your ring. (It can't taste any worse than your ass right now.)