Oberon Games acquire The Exchange Student series

[Dimitris Manos]

For those of you who do not know Oberon Media, it is a company publishing casual games. The company was founded by ex-Sierra developers Jane Jensen and Scott Bilas. Jane Jensen is probably no stranger to all of you as she is the famous creator of the Gabriel Knight series and she is right now developing Gray Matter for dtp. Scott Bilas was the Engine Architect for Gabriel Knight 3, and if you still haven't read his Gabriel Knight 3 Post Mortem, I urge you to do so right away here:

http://www.drizzle.com/~scottb/publi...rtem_draft.htm

Oberon will publish the game through their numerous distribution partners which is going to vastly raise the audience that the game will reach.

[axelkothe]

I guess thats good news for you, so: congratulations!

So we'll probably see The Exchange student competing against Dave Gilberts Blackwell games on the casual games platforms...

[Dimitris Manos]

I guess thats good news for you, so: congratulations!

Thank you!

So we'll probably see The Exchange student competing against Dave Gilberts Blackwell games on the casual games platforms...

I wouldn't call it "competing". The good thing about games is that people don't have to buy only 1. The more adventure games sold on the casual market the better in my opinion. The casual market is excellent for our genre, and I think we will see more and more adventure games heading this way.

[Noone]

heh, axelkothe, you forget that distribution through the casual portals were pioneered by TellTale with their "Sam&Max" series and... Legacy Interactive with their "Law&Order Criminal Intent". Though Dave's yesterday report was really interesting.

And yes, Dimitris, congratulations on your contract with Oberon Games.

A little off-topic, but both Oberon's recent Agatha Christie games were made by exUSSR developers, so we are keeping an eye on them :-)

[Dimitris Manos]

heh, axelkothe, you forget that distribution through the casual portals were pioneered by TellTale with their "Sam&Max" series and... Legacy Interactive with their "Law&Order Criminal Intent". Though Dave's yesterday report was really interesting.

Yes many adventure games have made their way through to the casual market. Let's not also forget Just Adventure incorporating casual games to their site. At the time many people thought it was crazy but now it seems that the two markets (adventure and casual) have a lot in common. Let's not forget also Jane Jensen hopping over to the casual market with Inspector Parker.

And yes, Dimitris, congratulations on your contract with Oberon Games.

A little off-topic, but both Oberon's recent Agatha Christie games were made by exUSSR developers, so we are keeping an eye on them :-)

Thank you Alex. It seems that the Agatha Christie games are quite popular in the casual games market.

[soundguy]

The fact that casual game companies started dealing with indy episodic adventure game devs is the blessed sign that we're on the right track with episodic adventure games. I tell you : it's just a matter of time.

Though, Being ahead of the zeitgeist is hard

[Dimitris Manos]

The fact that casual game companies started dealing with indy episodic adventure game devs is the blessed sign that we're on the right track with episodic adventure games. I tell you : it's just a matter of time.

I think it is not even a matter of time! I think it has already happened, episodic games are already a big part of the adventure game industry. I don't think that all games in the future will be episodic, that would be absurd, but I think we will have something similar to what you see on TV/cinema/books. You have the 2 hour movies and you also have the 30 minutes TV episodes. You have books with 900 pages and you have a series of small novels. What is a matter of time is that the press should get used to this new format and judge the games for what they are. Episodes! I read so many reviews of TES critisizing its small length and the episodic format in general. Why compare games like TES though with games like Monkey Island? Why can't we have both types of games?

Many people nowadays don't have 30 and 40 hours to spend on gaming. They just want to sit down for a little while and have some fun. Isn't it right to judge this new type of games for what they are?

[soundguy]

I agree completely !
every word.