KickStarter Jane Jensen's Pinkerton Road Studio & Moebius Closed Down

[Name]

My only gripe with Jensen is her overuse of paranormal/psychic elements.

Imagine Gray Matter where there is

Spoiler

no ghost and psychic witchy girl

but a great magic feat performed by someone for joining the club and Moebius where there is only history and conspiracy but no special-powered protagonist.

 

[Blackthorne]

And it's no more.

http://forum.pinkertonroad.com/showthread.php?1173-Important-Pinkerton-Forums-Closing-on-May-6

There's a part of me that's very sad about this; I remember the excitement and promise of this Kickstarter, in particular. We had our KS that year, too, and we were so excited to be making adventure games in an era where our inspirations, classic game makers, were going to be making games again. Alas, it didn't turn out as we'd hoped - the games weren't very well received. So, no GK4, I suppose.

This really does put a stamp on the whole Adventure Game Kickstarter Movement from 2012... many games from that time are still not done. I don't think any can really make it back from this cliff - unless SpaceVenture is REALLY REALLY great, I don't know if it can bridge the disappointment gap.


Bt

 

[talan]

This really does put a stamp on the whole Adventure Game Kickstarter Movement from 2012... many games from that time are still not done. I don't think any can really make it back from this cliff - unless SpaceVenture is REALLY REALLY great, I don't know if it can bridge the disappointment gap.

Did any of the original Sierra devs contact your company to collaborate on a adventure game project?

Seems odd that a lot of these original devs such as SpaceVenture and Hero-U would try and build things up from scratch, instead of leveraging people who actually shipped adventure games this millennium.

 

[Pyke]

I think that a lot of the older devs went in with the idea to just carry on doing games the way they did in the past. The difference is that in the past adventure games were the AAA experiences of the day. They were released rarely, sporadically, and cost the equivalent of a modern $60 game. Just RELEASING a game was enough to get you press and coverage. Throw in the fact that there were very few ways for the general population to actually find out about your game - so you could narrow your marketing down with a laser pointer - AND they had the backing of giants like Lucasarts and Sierra.

They haven't embraced the idea of bootstrapped development. Just look at the credits list for Moebius: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6hf4S7fKC8

I stopped counting at 30 different people, and that was 45 seconds into the video. An adventure game cannot have 30+ people and multiple international studios being outsources development fees and expect to turn a profit. Its just not going to happen. The days of the designers overseeing large teams of people to bring their vision to life dont work with micro development budgets.

Ron Gilbert seems to be doing development the right way. There is hope yet.

 

[Infinitron]

They were released rarely, sporadically

Good post, but this wasn't true at all for Sierra's games.

 

[Blackthorne]

Did any of the original Sierra devs contact your company to collaborate on a adventure game project?

Seems odd that a lot of these original devs such as SpaceVenture and Hero-U would try and build things up from scratch, instead of leveraging people who actually shipped adventure games this millennium.

Yeah, we talked to and became close with a few of the Sierra Alums, but were never approached for collaboration. That would have been interesting, for sure - especially at that time. We probably could have created a pretty fun game that people would have bought. I really feel like fans wanted something like they used to play, and not a modern, updated graphics experience. Perhaps if some of the alums went with games similar to our productions at first, they could have built up a base on which to make games with better technology, etc. and get back into the scene, instead of diving in over their heads.

Pyke covered it pretty well in his post; a lot of under-estimation occurred on their part. Honestly, I mean look at Hero-U - they had to double dip with 2 Kickstarters to keep going with their game. The proof will be in the pudding when the games are released; in my heart of hearts, I hope Hero-U and SpaceVenture will be fun. I really do, but there is a big part of me that has lost the enthusiasm I had as a fan in 2012 (let alone my enthusiasm as a developer.)

Bt

 

[Darth Roxor]

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't need to close down if they made Gabriel Knight 4 instead of a Gabriel Knight remake that nobody ever asked for.

 

[m_s0]

So, no GK4, I suppose.

I'm glad they didn't get to make a GK4, even though there's probably no revival I'd like to see more. Clearly not the right team, and even Jane's writing is shit these days, if Moebius is anything to judge it by, and that's indescribably depressing.

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I do find it somewhat disturbing for a married woman in her 50s to publicly announce to writing male gay porn as a way of dealing with depression.

And apparently she's churning those out en masse. Probably has something to do with the quality drop.

I mean, look at it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jensen

• "A Kiss in the Dark" (2013) (a novella part of Closet Capers anthology)
• Before I Wake (2013)[14]
• The Lion and the Crow (2013)[15]
• Superhero (2013)
• The Trouble with Tony (2013)
• Puzzle Me This (2013)
• "Caress" (2013) (a novella part of Steamed Up anthology)
• Blame it on the Mistletoe (2013)
• A Prairie Dog’s Love Song (2013)
• The Enlightenment of Daniel (2013)
• "Reparation" (2014) (a novella part of Stitch anthology)
• Heaven Can't Wait (2014)
• The Mating of Michael (2014)
• "The Bird" (2014) (a novella part of Bones anthology)
• Unwrapping Hank (2014)
• A Midwinter Night's Dream (2015)
• How to Howl at the Moon (2015)
• How to Walk like a Man (2015)
• "Among the Dead" (2015) (a novella part of Spirit anthology)
• The Stolen Suitor (2016)

And that's on top of making a game, which in itself is a full-time job, right?

 

[Barbarian]

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't need to close down if they made Gabriel Knight 4 instead of a Gabriel Knight remake that nobody ever asked for.

This. It was literal shot in the foot. Just a terrible idea all around because they did not have the resources to make a remake as good as the original, and in the end everyone was asking "what is the point of this?". Hell, that game didn't need remaking in the first place. I bought the remake, played it, I can honestly say I won't touch it again. It didn't add anything to the original, it only took good things away. Obviously a GK4 would have drawn more interest and more sales.

Gray Matter was a good game. Sadly I can't say the same about Moebius... I guess after two fails in a row and poor sales for 3 games this was to be expected. It is still saddening because I really liked the GK series and would like to see it continue

 

[Barbarian]

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I do find it somewhat disturbing for a married woman in her 50s to publicly announce to writing male gay porn as a way of dealing with depression.

And apparently she's churning those out en masse. Probably has something to do with the quality drop.

I mean, look at it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jensen

• "A Kiss in the Dark" (2013) (a novella part of Closet Capers anthology)
• Before I Wake (2013)[14]
• The Lion and the Crow (2013)[15]
• Superhero (2013)
• The Trouble with Tony (2013)
• Puzzle Me This (2013)
• "Caress" (2013) (a novella part of Steamed Up anthology)
• Blame it on the Mistletoe (2013)
• A Prairie Dog’s Love Song (2013)
• The Enlightenment of Daniel (2013)
• "Reparation" (2014) (a novella part of Stitch anthology)
• Heaven Can't Wait (2014)
• The Mating of Michael (2014)
• "The Bird" (2014) (a novella part of Bones anthology)
• Unwrapping Hank (2014)
• A Midwinter Night's Dream (2015)
• How to Howl at the Moon (2015)
• How to Walk like a Man (2015)
• "Among the Dead" (2015) (a novella part of Spirit anthology)
• The Stolen Suitor (2016)

And that's on top of making a game, which in itself is a full-time job, right?

Fuck. It figures I suppose. Everyone noticed the open gay shit in Moebius. It was somewhat disturbing.

Is she really done with gaming now? Even though Moebius and GK20th failed hard, Gray Matter was enjoyable. Far from her best, but still better than most shit we got in the adventure gaming scene the last 20 years or so. Somewhere in that large mass of male gay porn writing depressive fat woman she still has it.

She did "consult" for Erica Reed and the game was enjoyable as well... maybe POS will call her up for something.

 

[m_s0]

Gray Matter is also a decade ago, largely forgotten, not that well received, and that's not factoring in the sales, which I don't think were that remarkable either.

Remove nostalgia from the equation and you will see that GK3 was mostly pretty bad. There were some moments of brilliance, such as the serpent map puzzle, but other than that things were mostly meh and paled in comparison to the first game and to a large extent the second.

Worse than its predecessors, but I don't find it bad. Plus, the cheese is what I like in GK3.

The ending of GK3 is extremely cringeworthy, worst than even the gay romance in Moebius. The whole action sequence with the demon, and the holy corpse and etc?

It's not even close to Moebius, thankfully.

I can live with the shitty (and buggy) action sequence and all the cheese that's inherent to the idea the entire game is built on. What I was referring to is that the point which the character drama is left at at the end of the game works as an end to the story of those characters for me. Might as well leave it where it is, rather than follow it up with Moebius-grade... whatever you want to call it.

 

[Barbarian]

The ending of GK3 is extremely cringeworthy, worst than even the gay romance in Moebius. The whole action sequence with the demon, and the holy corpse and etc?

It's not even close to Moebius, thankfully.

I can live with the shitty (and buggy) action sequence and all the cheese that's inherent to the idea the entire game is built on. What I was referring to is that the point which the character drama is left at at the end of the game works as an end to the story of those characters for me. Might as well leave it where it is, rather than follow it up with Moebius-grade... whatever you want to call it.

It begs the question, would Jensen just ignore that ending in a potential sequel? I mean, you have not one, but TWO living descendants of Christ walking around(and they are royalty to boost), you have Gabriel being a descendant of Longinus and being nothing short of a holy warrior empowered by God himself... and more bullshit all around(including Mosely being a high-standing CIA agent on secret missions across the globe and Grace training with buddhist ninjas in India).

It was just so much better when he was just the last descendant of a forgotten family of witchunters from some small and forgotten german village in Bavaria who wrote crappy fiction for a living. Jensen went overboard and screwed up. If she ever does a GK4 she will have a hard time keeping the tone of the originals with all that shitty new background to work with.

 

[OndrejSc]

It was just so much better when he was just the last descendant of a forgotten family of witchunters from some small and forgotten german village in Bavaria who wrote crappy fiction for a living. Jensen went overboard and screwed up. If she ever does a GK4 she will have a hard time keeping the tone of the originals with all that shitty new background to work with.

Like Indiana Jones being immortal after The Last Crusade.

 

[m_s0]

The ending of GK3 is extremely cringeworthy, worst than even the gay romance in Moebius. The whole action sequence with the demon, and the holy corpse and etc?

It's not even close to Moebius, thankfully.

I can live with the shitty (and buggy) action sequence and all the cheese that's inherent to the idea the entire game is built on. What I was referring to is that the point which the character drama is left at at the end of the game works as an end to the story of those characters for me. Might as well leave it where it is, rather than follow it up with Moebius-grade... whatever you want to call it.

It begs the question, would Jensen just ignore that ending in a potential sequel? I mean, you have not one, but TWO living descendants of Christ walking around(and they are royalty to boost), you have Gabriel being a descendant of Longinus and being nothing short of a holy warrior empowered by God himself... and more bullshit all around(including Mosely being a high-standing CIA agent on secret missions across the globe and Grace training with buddhist ninjas in India).

It was just so much better when he was just the last descendant of a forgotten family of witchunters from some small and forgotten german village in Bavaria who wrote crappy fiction for a living. Jensen went overboard and screwed up. If she ever does a GK4 she will have a hard time keeping the tone of the originals with all that shitty new background to work with.

She did do a scaled back follow-up/filler/GK4 prequel tease kind of thing where she glossed over GK3 - in comic book form - and it was terrible:
http://www.postudios.com/blog/?p=6123

Not to mention the art - especially character art - is awful as well. Compare:

vs

Come to think of it, a proper GK4 as a comic series would be awesome.

 

[Barbarian]

It was just so much better when he was just the last descendant of a forgotten family of witchunters from some small and forgotten german village in Bavaria who wrote crappy fiction for a living. Jensen went overboard and screwed up. If she ever does a GK4 she will have a hard time keeping the tone of the originals with all that shitty new background to work with.

Like Indiana Jones being immortal after The Last Crusade.

No.

Are Indy and Henry immortal?
No. The easiest way to think of the Holy Grail is not as the cup of immortality, but as the fountain of youth. One sip won't make you immortal; you have to keep drinking from it. That would explain why the knights who left the cave after drinking from the Grail eventually died of extreme old age. Nothing in the film states that one becomes immortal by drinking from the Grail one time, and if that were the case, it would be difficult to explain those knights' deaths. The grail knight does say that the grail itself cannot pass beyond the great seal, for that is the price of immortality. The meaning is that, if you wish to be immortal, you have to stay in that cave for eternity with the grail. Therefore, they are not immortal. Additionally, we see in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that Henry Jones, Sr. has indeed passed away in the time since the events of Last Crusade.

 

[Barbarian]

snip

Man the comics that shipped with GK1 ad GK3 were awesome. This one indeed sucks in the art department. Decline of Jane Jensen, she can't even pick a decent illustrator anymore. I suppose GK4 in comics form is better than no GK4 at all. At this point she will never make the game, or any new game at all apparently.

Will she spend the rest of her days writing Twighlight fan fiction and softcore gay porn?

 

[m_s0]

snip

Man the comics that shipped with GK1 ad GK3 were awesome. This one indeed sucks in the art department. Decline of Jane Jensen, she can't even pick a decent illustrator anymore. I suppose GK4 in comics form is better than no GK4 at all. At this point she will never make the game, or any new game at all apparently.

Will she spend the rest of her days writing Twighlight fan fiction and softcore gay porn?

I wouldn't trust her with anything GK at this point, sadly, and gay porn probably pays better.

I'm curious: did anyone get the design docs and GK ebooks in the Moebius campaign? Were these any good?

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Another one bites the dust. I don't know what went wrong, but it's no accident that all of the Kickstarter adventure games bombed.

 

[OndrejSc]

Another one bites the dust. I don't know what went wrong, but it's no accident that all of the Kickstarter adventure games bombed.

Financially? All of them? Even Broken Sword? Do we have any figures to back that up?

 

[DeepOcean]

Moebius: http://steamspy.com/app/264520
Broken Sword: http://steamspy.com/app/262940
Larry Reloaded: http://steamspy.com/app/231910
Quest for Infamy: http://steamspy.com/app/264560
Stasis: http://steamspy.com/app/380150
Gabriel Knight remake: http://steamspy.com/app/262000

Yeah, people, adventure games are really a niche, I dunno how Pyke and Blackthorne deal with those sale numbers but they seem to be alot more realistic about the real state of the adventuring games today than the ex Sierra developers were. I'm sad but I can't blame Dave Gilbert for wanting that TellTale money, adventure games are even on a worse shape than traditional RPGs.

 

[Keshik]

Well, not a surprise, is still a shame.

 

[Pyke]

Small teams, low production costs, and (for us at least), as little 'carry over' production costs as possible once the product is out. I think what can kill an indie dev company is continuous staff salaries that get burnt through during 'non creative' times.
I would peg the adventure game market at around 100 000 - 150 000 people who actively purchase games (as in traditional adventure games, so not TellTales) - and within that market its divided up into genres. Fantasy games have a wider appeal, then scifi, then the 'real world' settings.

 

[Infinitron]

then the 'real world' settings.

That's an interesting thing to say, given that the genre has become associated with Nancy Drew-type real world "girls' games". Perhaps that's an incorrect association.

 

[Pyke]

Perhaps. I have 0 data to back that up and Im literally just going on what I feel are the more popular -> least popular genres. Same thing with the amount of active purchasers. Im sure someone will post something and blow the entire thing out of the water. :D

 

[Barbarian]

Well, one can't forget that those sales figures probably don't take into account the people who actually bought the game through kickstarter, and the fact that most if not all of the budget was kickstarter money if they ran the business well(zero risk of actual loss). It's also only steam, not counting other outlets or direct sales.

I know Moebius and GK20th bombed hard and they both had private investment in addition to kickstarter cash(giving either loss or lack of worthwhile profit to everyone involved), but I'm not sure about the rest. Broken Sword certainly didn't bomb, Charles Cecil is very business savvy and that is how he kept his company afloat through the decades. Remember this guy is still making money out of BASS and the old Broken Sword games after all these years(through constant remastering and porting it to every platform known to man). The guy kept the rights to his games and knows how to keep selling it to both new audiences and nostalgic fans who want a replay. Hell, he managed to make cash out of BASS even *after* releasing it as freeware several years ago by selling a remastered mobile port which was quite well received.

If every adventure game developer was as much of a clever jew as Charles Cecil, we would certainly have more companies making adventure games and surviving in business.