Remembering Sierra On-Line Games
Lost at the end of Vivendi's recent announcement of layoffs in their gaming division was the news that the layoffs are the final nail in the coffin for seminal video game design publishers, Sierra (originally Sierra On-Line). For computer gamers of the 80s, that name conjures up hazy memories of King's Quest, Space Quest, and, of course, Leisure Suit Larry.
Founded by Ken and Roberta Williams back in 1980, Sierra pioneered the adventure game format -- using color and animation for the first time -- and combining text, graphics, and sound to break the text-only adventure mold. (King's Quest I, for instance, was the first adventure game to feature object blocking to allow a moving character on screen to go behind and in front of objects -- considered "3-D" animation at the time!) In addition to looking great, their games were simply fun, offering challenging puzzles, a sense of humor, and solid replay value.
This site has a good history of Sierra along with descriptions of all their games. Now excuse me while I unpack the old Apple IIe in my garage and dust off some old floppies...
