That actually surprised me that not even Tex sold well back in its prime. I blindly assumed that because they had the critical acclaim that sales would follow suit. It just wasn't meant to be.Hammerhead wrote:
The great games very rarely sell well. Even in the case of X-Com, its first, UFO Defense, barely sold the coveted 250,000 copies, & that's a cumulative total of its sales across the globe on the PC & PS1 under the title X-Com (when released by Microprose) & UFO: Extraterrestrials (when self-published internationally, I believe). The UFO series still continues to this day, but doesn't hold a candle to the first in the series, released over a decade ago.
If memory serves, Tex Murphy never achieved that number of copies sold for any of its games. Its funding mainly came from the Links series, which was highly successful, allowing Access to take chances on other projects, such as Under A Killing Moon, Pandora Directive, & Overseer. For CJ & the AC's to be asked to confirm 250K sales before the game's put into development is virtually impossible based on these facts alone. For this reason, if we do see a new Tex Murphy game, its characters & graphics will probably be more like Metal Gear Solid 3, graphics which become less expensive to produce as newer technologies are developed & time passes, but they still need a team to create the animations & Adrian Carr to direct the cinematography of the person/s in the sensor suit/s.
I don't necessarily feel that FMV is what the market is looking for right now, but I do feel that the majority of gamers would love to catch a break on upgrading their video card to the "latest fashion". But if Tex Murphy again graces our PC's, or some other system for that matter, there will have to have been some tough compromises, maybe not to the character or the story, but to the style of gameplay as a result of the in-house factors during its development. A quality game is possible, but the real question is what do people see as quality today, & is that bar so high that it can't be achieved by an indy company?
My two cents hopefully well spent.
Hammerhead
Well, guess my long 'explanatory' email sank under its own weight - I tend to be rather chatty at times.
Thus here goes again. Teaching is my second career as I started out in Social Work and majored in Corrections. So I often would confuse people by replying when asked what I did for living was that I spent almost 7 years in prisons - BUT working there not living there. After moving to CA I went into Drug and Alcohol programs. Both fields are interesting but demanding work and one soon burns out.
So in casting around for what to do next I happened one day to peek into a computer lab. Found it so interesting that they often had to kick me out when my free use time was up. I decided to take a course in computers and at that time one worked in Dos and so was learning Basic and Cobalt languages.
Then Windows appeared and my son who had started his own computer business back east sent me an old PC he had with windows on it. That was all it took - turned into a real computer 'nut' after that. Am not any ways near an expert but do know my way around my own PC and remain fascinated to learn all that is going on in the computer world as it progresses or from some people's point of view - goes backwards. Seems to me sometimes they can't leave a good thing alone at least for awhile but then how would Gates make that money or be able to swing his weight around.
Forget now how I stumbled onto my first game but it was Riven and all was lost - remained glued to my PC until I finished it and without a WT. Then found I had missed (no pun intended) Myst; then came the Zork series of which Nemesis is my favorite but did laugh myself silly through Zork GI; then friend sent me Grim Fandango and now it stands along side of Nemesis as an all time favorite. Fell in love with that silly little skeleton and especially the trumpet music in the second section of the game.
Other games that have taken my fancy are Dark Fall and Lights Out, Amber which I can't get going on XP at all, Titanic, Barrow Hill, The Longest Journey and Black Dahlia. The first part of that story is a true one that I experienced because I lived in Cleveland when the serial killer known as The Kingsbury Run murderer was operating. So it was fun to see what I thought I remembered of the events of the time.
And lastly of course I then came upon the Tex Murphy series. Friends sent me the 'big three' and I just lately downloaded Mean Streets and Martian Memo. to see about them. And after all this is done - will there be a game life after Tex Murphy?
Gee I see them making movies that turn into games so is that a way to go. Look at the Harry Potter games that are out - have not checked into any of them to see how good they are. Anyone here done so?
So in reply to Mr. Buer re minding his Ps and Qs when posting where I am - after working with convicts for so long there is not much I have not heard or seen that would shock me anymore. Even when people get huffy or rude I just consider the source and move on. Life is too short to get in a dither about such with all the real issues that we all are facing on this planet today. I will enjoy being a member here and sharing with all though not sure how much time I will have as the school semester starts next week. Work sure intrudes in ones PC life.
Hope this post makes it now.
Thus here goes again. Teaching is my second career as I started out in Social Work and majored in Corrections. So I often would confuse people by replying when asked what I did for living was that I spent almost 7 years in prisons - BUT working there not living there. After moving to CA I went into Drug and Alcohol programs. Both fields are interesting but demanding work and one soon burns out.
So in casting around for what to do next I happened one day to peek into a computer lab. Found it so interesting that they often had to kick me out when my free use time was up. I decided to take a course in computers and at that time one worked in Dos and so was learning Basic and Cobalt languages.
Then Windows appeared and my son who had started his own computer business back east sent me an old PC he had with windows on it. That was all it took - turned into a real computer 'nut' after that. Am not any ways near an expert but do know my way around my own PC and remain fascinated to learn all that is going on in the computer world as it progresses or from some people's point of view - goes backwards. Seems to me sometimes they can't leave a good thing alone at least for awhile but then how would Gates make that money or be able to swing his weight around.
Forget now how I stumbled onto my first game but it was Riven and all was lost - remained glued to my PC until I finished it and without a WT. Then found I had missed (no pun intended) Myst; then came the Zork series of which Nemesis is my favorite but did laugh myself silly through Zork GI; then friend sent me Grim Fandango and now it stands along side of Nemesis as an all time favorite. Fell in love with that silly little skeleton and especially the trumpet music in the second section of the game.
Other games that have taken my fancy are Dark Fall and Lights Out, Amber which I can't get going on XP at all, Titanic, Barrow Hill, The Longest Journey and Black Dahlia. The first part of that story is a true one that I experienced because I lived in Cleveland when the serial killer known as The Kingsbury Run murderer was operating. So it was fun to see what I thought I remembered of the events of the time.
And lastly of course I then came upon the Tex Murphy series. Friends sent me the 'big three' and I just lately downloaded Mean Streets and Martian Memo. to see about them. And after all this is done - will there be a game life after Tex Murphy?
Gee I see them making movies that turn into games so is that a way to go. Look at the Harry Potter games that are out - have not checked into any of them to see how good they are. Anyone here done so?
So in reply to Mr. Buer re minding his Ps and Qs when posting where I am - after working with convicts for so long there is not much I have not heard or seen that would shock me anymore. Even when people get huffy or rude I just consider the source and move on. Life is too short to get in a dither about such with all the real issues that we all are facing on this planet today. I will enjoy being a member here and sharing with all though not sure how much time I will have as the school semester starts next week. Work sure intrudes in ones PC life.
Hope this post makes it now.
I'm sure I speak for the lot of us when I say we're glad to have you onboard 
-Fred
-Fred
Pirates, vampires, zombies, ninjas, ghouls, aliens, goblins, monsters, robots, sorcerers, undead, werewolves, demons, mutated dinosaur-cyborgs and those pesky phone salesmen! The shotgun is a one-size-fits-all solution!