|
|
| (272 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| | | {{about|the bird enemy|the mission in [[Super Mario 64 DS]]|[[Klepto the Condor]]|the boss from [[Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins]]|[[Big Bird]]}} |
| {{Inappropriate tone|article|date=June 2007}} | | {{species infobox |
| {{Refimprove|article|date=June 2007}}
| | |image=[[File:Klepto Icon SMO.png|270px]]<br>Artwork from ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'' |
| {{Infobox_Company |
| | |first_appearance=''[[Super Mario 64]]'' ([[List of games by date#1996|1996]]) |
| company_name = Infocom |
| | |latest_appearance=''[[Super Mario 3D All-Stars]]'' ([[List of games by date#2020|2020]]) |
| company_logo = [[Image:Infocom logo.png]] |
| | |comparable=[[Bird (big)]]<br>[[Swipin' Stu]] |
| company_type = Defunct |
| |
| company_slogan = ''This space intentionally left blank.'' |
| |
| industry = Entertainment/Business software |
| |
| foundation = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] (1979) |
| |
| location = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]] |
| |
| key_people = [[Dave Lebling]]<br />[[Marc Blank]]<br />[[Albert Vezza]]<br />[[Joel Berez]] |
| |
| num_employees = N/A |
| |
| products = ''[[Zork]]'' series<br />''[[Planetfall]]'' series<br />''[[Leather Goddesses of Phobos]]'' series<br />[[Z-machine]]<br />''[[Cornerstone (software)|Cornerstone]]''<br />[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (computer game)|Computer game version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]<br />
| |
| [[#Titles and authors|See products listing]]| | |
| revenue = N/A |
| |
| homepage = None
| |
| }} | | }} |
| {{Zork_universe}} | | {{quote2|[[Mario|You]] didn't lose [[Mario Cap|your hat]], did you? If you did, you'll have to [[stomp]] on the condor to get it back.|Narration|[[Super Mario 64]]}} |
| '''Infocom''' was a [[United States]]-based [[software company]], based in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], that produced numerous works of [[interactive fiction]]. They also produced one notable business application, a [[relational database]] called ''[[Cornerstone (software)|Cornerstone]]''. Infocom was founded on [[June 22]] [[1979]] by [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] staff and students led by [[Dave Lebling]], [[Marc Blank]], [[Albert Vezza]], and [[Joel Berez]] and lasted as an independent company until 1986 when it was bought by [[Activision]]. Activision finally shut down the Infocom division in 1989, although they released some titles in the 1990s under the Infocom ''[[Zork]]'' brand.
| | '''Klepto''', also known as '''Klepto the Condor'''<ref>''Super Mario 64'' Player's Guide, pgs. 70–71</ref> or '''Big Bird''',<ref>Nintendo Power Source (February 24, 1998). [https://web.archive.org/web/19980224211720/http://www.nintendo.com:80/n64/super_mario64/boss12.html Big Bird - (Course 8)]. ''Nintendo: Super Mario 64 Strategy'' (Internet Archive: Wayback Machine). Retrieved February 23, 2018.</ref> is a larcenous, heavy-lidded condor that first appears in ''[[Super Mario 64]]''. Since then, Kleptos have continued to make infrequent appearances in the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]]. Their name comes from "[[wiktionary:klepto-|klepto-]]," a prefix originating from Ancient Greek and meaning "theft." |
| | |
| ==Overview==
| |
| Infocom was well-known among game-players for the [[parser]] which allowed the user to type complex instructions to the game. Unlike earlier works of interactive fiction, which only understood commands of the form 'verb noun' (e.g. "get apple"), Infocom's parser could understand commands like "get all apples except the green apple from the barrel." Infocom games were written using a roughly [[LISP]]-like programming language called ''ZIL'' (Zork Implementation Language or Zork Interactive Language--it was referred to as both) that compiled into a [[byte code]] able to run on a standardized [[virtual machine]] called the [[Z-machine]]. As the games were text based and used variants of the same Z-machine interpreter, the interpreter had to be ported to new [[computer architecture]]s only once per architecture, rather than once per game. Thus, Infocom was able to release most of their games for most popular [[home computer]]s of the day simultaneously—the [[Apple II family]], [[Atari 8-bit family|Atari 800]], [[IBM PC compatible]]s, [[Amstrad CPC]]/[[Amstrad PCW|PCW]] (one disc worked on both machines), [[Commodore 64]], [[Commodore 128]],<ref>Infocom was actually one of the very few companies to release game software for the [[Commodore 128|C128]]'s native mode, contrary to most software houses' practice of only catering for the combined C64/128 market (as the C128 was compatible with the C64)</ref> [[Kaypro]] [[CP/M]], [[Texas Instruments TI-99/4A]], [[Apple Macintosh|the Mac]], [[Atari ST]], the [[Amiga|Commodore Amiga]] and the Radio Shack TRS-80. The company was also known for shipping creative props, or "[[feelies]]" (and even "smellies"), with its games.
| |
| <!-- Note 1: Infocom was actually one of the very few companies (if not the only one) to release game software for the C128 as such, contrary to most software houses, who only catered for the C64(and thence the compatible C128 in C64 mode only) -->
| |
| | |
| ==History== | | ==History== |
| ===The beginning=== | | ===''Super Mario'' series=== |
| [[Image:Zork I computer game.png|thumb|300px|''[[Zork I]]'' was Infocom's first product. This screenshot of ''Zork I'' is representative of the sort of interaction a player has with Infocom's [[interactive fiction]] titles. Here it is portrayed running on a modern [[Z-machine (interpreter)|Z-machine interpreter]].]]<!-- FAIR USE: Illustrates: 1. Infocom's first product. 2. Infocom's games in general. --> | | ====''Super Mario 64'' / ''Super Mario 64 DS''==== |
| | {{multiframe |
| | |[[File:SM64 Klepto.png|120px]][[File:SM64DS Klepto.png|95px]] |
| | |Klepto in ''Super Mario 64'' (left) and ''Super Mario 64 DS'' (right) |
| | |size=220 |
| | |align=right |
| | }} |
| | In ''[[Super Mario 64]]'', Klepto is seen in [[Shifting Sand Land]]. It holds one of the [[Peach's Castle|Mushroom Castle]]'s [[Power Star]]s, flying around between the course's four pillars, so [[Mario]] must reclaim it from its talons. Mario can attack the bird, knocking it out for a short period of time. Klepto eventually regains its senses, and after losing the Power Star, it attempts to steal [[Mario Cap|Mario's cap]]. In later stages, Klepto can be found near the oasis and still attempts to steal his cap. If it does manage to steal it, it will fly around the pillars, carrying it similar to before. If Mario leaves and still has no cap, it remains in the course he lost it in. |
|
| |
|
| Inspired by ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure|Colossal Cave]]'', Marc Blank and Dave Lebling created what was to become the first Infocom game, ''[[Zork]]'', in 1977 at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Project MAC|Laboratory for Computer Science]]. Despite the development of a revolutionary virtual memory system that allowed games to be much larger than the average personal computer's normal capacity, the enormous mainframe-developed game had to be split into three roughly equal parts. ''Zork I'' was released originally for the [[TRS-80]] in 1980 and eventually sold more than a million copies across several platforms. It is notable that although Microsoft released a cheap version of Adventure with its initial version of MS-DOS 1.0 for [[IBM PC]]s, ''Zork I'' was still a popular seller for the PC, thanks to the superior quality of its writing and packaging.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}
| | Klepto has the same Power Star and purpose in ''[[Super Mario 64 DS]]''. Another Klepto also appears in another level, [[Sunshine Isles]]. A third one makes an appearance on [[Tiny-Huge Island]] when the player character is big. Additionally, while Kleptos steal Mario's, [[Luigi]]'s, and [[Wario]]'s [[cap]]s, they can damage [[Yoshi]]. The Klepto in Sunshine Isles, however, cannot steal anyone's cap; instead, it inflicts one point of damage to the player. |
|
| |
|
| Lebling and Blank each authored several more games and additional game writers (or "[[Implementor]]s") were hired, notably including [[Steve Meretzky]]. Other popular and inventive titles included the rest of the ''Zork'' series, ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (computer game)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' by [[Douglas Adams]], and ''[[A Mind Forever Voyaging]]''.
| | ====''Super Mario Odyssey''==== |
| | [[File:SMO Lost Brochure D.png|thumb|left|110px]] |
| | In ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'', Klepto is encountered upon reaching the [[Lost Kingdom]]. It takes [[Cappy]] from [[Mario]] and retreats with him on a pedestal, made up of two platforms: one that is raised, and one that is lower. To get Cappy back, Mario must lure Klepto into sitting upon the lower platform, and then Ground Pound the higher one, making the platform Klepto is sitting upon shoot up and defeat it. Klepto appears again in a [[Moon Pipe]] sub-area in the same kingdom, and is defeated in the same manner. |
|
| |
|
| In its first few years of operation, text adventures proved to be a huge revenue stream for the company. Whereas most computer games of the era would achieve initial success and then suffer a significant drop-off in sales, Infocom titles continued to sell for years and years. Employee [[Tim Anderson (Zork)|Tim Anderson]] said of their situation, "It was phenomenal—we had a basement that just printed money."<ref>(Briceno 2000, p18)</ref>
| | Unlike Klepto in ''Super Mario 64'', it here has two toes pointing forward and one pointing backward on each foot. It shares this trait with the Kleptos of ''[[Mario Pinball Land]]''. Also, its design is somewhat different from previous games, with two tufts of hair, visible purple bags underneath its eyes, and a shady frown instead of a tired-looking expression.{{br|left}} |
|
| |
|
| === Reception === | | ===''Mario Party'' series=== |
| Three components proved key to Infocom's success: marketing strategy, rich storytelling and feelies.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} Whereas most game developers sold their games mainly in software stores, Infocom also distributed their games via bookstores.<ref>(Briceno 2000, p23)</ref> Since their games were text-based, patrons of bookstores were drawn to the Infocom games as they were already interested in reading. Unlike most computer software, Infocom titles were distributed under a no-returns policy, which allowed them to make money from a single game for a longer period of time.
| | ====''Mario Party 3''==== |
| | In the background of [[Spiny Desert]], three Kleptos can be seen on the upper left side of the board, playing tic-tac-toe. |
|
| |
|
| Next, Infocom titles featured strong storytelling and rich descriptions, eschewing the day's primitive graphic capabilities, allowing users to use their own imaginations for the lavish and exotic locations the games described. Infocom's puzzles were unique in that they were usually tightly integrated into the storyline, and rarely did gamers feel like they were being made to jump through one arbitrary hoop after another, as was the case in many of the competitors' games. The puzzles were logical but also required close attention to the clues and hints given in the story, causing most gamers to keep copious notes as they went along.
| | ====''Mario Party 4''==== |
| | Klepto also appears in ''[[Mario Party 4]]'' on [[Shy Guy's Jungle Jam]]. Players can pay it five coins to be transported to the other side of the board, collecting coins in the process. In [[Paths of Peril]], Klepto picks up players that fall off the stage. |
|
| |
|
| Sometimes, though, Infocom threw in puzzles just for the humor of it—if the user never ran into these, they could still finish the game just fine. But discovering these early [[Easter egg (virtual)|Easter Eggs]] was satisfying for some fans of the games. For example, one popular example was in the ''[[Enchanter (computer game)|Enchanter]]'' game, which involved collecting magic spells to use in accomplishing the quest. One of these was a summoning spell, which the player needed to use to summon certain characters at different parts of the game. At one point the game mentions the "[[Implementer]]s" who were responsible for creating the land of Zork. If the player tried to summon the Implementers, the game would suddenly produce a vision of [[Dave Lebling]] and [[Marc Blank]] at their computers, surprised at this "bug" in the game and working feverishly to fix it.
| | ====''Mario Party 5''==== |
| | [[File:Fish Upon a Star.png|thumb|A Klepto in the minigame [[Fish Upon a Star]] in ''Mario Party 5'']] |
| | In ''[[Mario Party 5]]'', Klepto has its own [[Klepto Orb|orb]] where, if landed on, it appears and takes the character to another character's space determined by a roulette. They also cameo in the minigame [[Fish Upon a Star]]. In the instruction guide, Klepto's name is erroneously spelled '''Clepto'''. |
|
| |
|
| Third, the inclusion of "[[feelies]]"—imaginative props and extras tied to the game's theme—provided some copy protection against [[Copyright infringement of software|pirating]]. Some games were unsolvable without the extra content provided with the boxed game. And because of the cleverness and uniqueness of the [[feelies]], users rarely felt like they were an intrusion or inconvenience, as was the case with most of the other copy-protection schemes of the time.
| | ====''Mario Party 6''==== |
| | In ''[[Mario Party 6]]'', Klepto can be seen flying in the background of [[Pokey Punch-out]]. The Klepto Orb returns as an orb that can only be placed on a space. Any player who lands on it is taken back to the start of the board. In the Solo Mode board [[Thirsty Gulch]], Klepto can be seen flying around the board. |
|
| |
|
| Although Infocom started out with Zork, and although the Zork world was the centerpiece of their product line throughout the Zork and Enchanter series, the company quickly branched out into a wide variety of story lines: fantasy, science-fiction, mystery, horror, historical adventure, children's stories, and others that defied categories. In an attempt to reach out to females, Infocom also produced ''[[Plundered Hearts]]'', which required the gamer to take the part of a heroine in a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, and which required the heroine to use more feminine tactics to win the game, since hacking-and-slashing was not a very lady-like way to behave. And to compete with the [[Leisure Suit Larry]] style games that were also appearing, Infocom also came out with ''[[Leather Goddesses of Phobos]]'' in 1986, which featured "tame", "suggestive", and "lewd" playing modes, and that was notable for introducing "scratch-and-sniff" game cards.
| | ====''Mario Party Advance''==== |
| | [[File:Klepto MPA sprite.png|frame|left]] |
| | {{quote2|Now, for-for-for... for you to solve it!|Klepto|[[Mario Party Advance]]}} |
| | In ''[[Mario Party Advance]]'', Klepto guards a treasure chest at [[Klepto Ruins]]. He is encountered alongside [[Mr. E (Mario Party Advance)|Mr. E]], who entered the ruins in order to discover the treasure's ruins. Klepto is asked by Mr. E about the treasure's location, and flies up to reveal a treasure chest under his body. He then says that the treasure has a four-digit code, and that the code is his "favorite word." The code is the same word he stutters throughout the conversation, "for", and therefore 4444. If the code is entered incorrectly, Klepto berates the player and bluntly says that "for mean four." If the code is entered correctly, the chest opens to reveal a giant pile of shiny treasure, and Klepto congratulates the player. Klepto offers the treasure to Mr. E, but he refuses as it is not a mystery any more and quickly runs away. Klepto again praises the player for solving his riddle and gives them the [[Map Maker]] [[Gaddget]] as a reward. The ending reveals that Klepto changed the chest's code in order to better protect the treasure. |
|
| |
|
| ==== Invisiclues ==== | | ====''Mario Party 7''==== |
| Many of the games' puzzles proved too difficult for some players. Since only a few computer users at the time had access to online communities such as [[CompuServe]] and the [[The Source (service)|The Source]], Infocom was regularly flooded with phone calls from customers pleading for hints to solving game puzzles. Due to this, [[Mike Dornbrook]] created the [[Zork User's Group]] (ZUG) to handle a typewritten "pay-per-hint" service. He also started Infocom's customer newsletter called ''The New Zork Times'' to discuss game hints and preview and showcase new products. (After the threat of a lawsuit by the [[New York Times]], the newsletter's name was later changed to ''The Status Line'', a reference to an informational feature provided the player in every Infocom game.)
| | Klepto makes a few small appearances in ''[[Mario Party 7]]''. Landing on one of the [[Event Space|Green Spaces]] in [[Bowser's Enchanted Inferno!]] causes Klepto to grab the Star and move it to another location. Klepto can also be seen in cube form as the tops of totem poles on the [[Neon Heights]] board. |
|
| |
|
| The pay-per-hint service eventually led to the development of [[InvisiClues]]: books with hints, maps, clues and solutions for puzzles in the games.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} The answers to the puzzles were printed in invisible ink that only became visible with a special marker that was provided with each book. Usually, two or more answers were given for each question that a gamer might have. The first answer would provide a subtle hint, the second a less subtle hint, and so forth until the last one gave an explicit answer. Gamers could thus reveal only the hints that they absolutely needed to have to play the game. After playing the game, a typical player might then uncover the rest of the hints because they were frequently humorous.
| | ====''Mario Party 8''==== |
| | [[File:Test for the Best 5.png|thumb|Klepto seen in ''Mario Party 8''.]] |
| | Klepto makes a minor cameo appearance in ''[[Mario Party 8]]'', holding up the sign at the 5000 point mark in [[Test for the Best]]. |
|
| |
|
| For example, the original hint book for ''Enchanter'' had the following questions:
| | ===''Mario Golf'' series=== |
| | ====''Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour''==== |
| | In ''[[Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour]]'' multiple Kleptos can be seen flying on the [[Shifting Sands]] course. Klepto's name (erroneously spelled as '''Kelpto''') can be seen sometimes on the scoreboard of a golf match. |
|
| |
|
| '''Question''': | | ====''Mario Golf: Advance Tour''==== |
| :Is Enchanter really ''Zork IV''?<br>
| | Klepto also appears in ''[[Mario Golf: Advance Tour]]'' in the back of the [[Marion Course|Marion Club]]'s training grounds, in which the player must rescue a [[Koopa Troopa]] hanging from its claws. |
| '''Answers''': | |
| #Is the sky green?
| |
| #Does a bear build laser weapons in the woods?
| |
| #No.
| |
|
| |
|
| '''Question''': | | ===''Mario Pinball Land''=== |
| :Will there be a sequel to ''Enchanter''?<br> | | [[File:MPL Klepto.png|frame|left]] |
| '''Answers''': | | In ''[[Mario Pinball Land]]'', a group of four Kleptos can be seen flying around the pyramid in the [[Shifting Sands Stage|Shifting Sands]] world. If Mario defeats them, he gets a star.{{br|left}} |
| #Certainly.
| |
| #''Zork V''. (which turned out to be ''Sorcerer'')
| |
|
| |
|
| To prevent the mere questions (printed in normal ink) from giving away too much information about the game, a certain number of misleading fake questions were included in every InvisiClues book.
| | ===''Mario Tennis Aces''=== |
| | In ''[[Mario Tennis Aces]]'', Kleptos can be seen in the background of [[Bask Ruins]]. Unlike in ''Super Mario Odyssey'', these Kleptos use an updated version of their design from ''Super Mario 64 DS'' to ''Mario Party 8''. This is the only game after ''Mario Party 8'' where Kleptos use this design. |
|
| |
|
| Because of the clever use of hidden clues and Infocom's trademark humor, the sale of InvisiClues proved incredibly lucrative—even players who didn't need the hints would buy the books for post-game enjoyment.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} The books' sales consistently filled computer book best seller lists until the list developers were forced to combine all InvisiClues sales into one number, which simply assured that it would almost always occupy the topmost position.<ref>(Briceno 2000, p26-27)</ref>
| | ===''Mario Strikers: Battle League''=== |
| | In ''[[Mario Strikers: Battle League]]'', sand statues of Kleptos are depicted as Ruin Decoration 7 of [[Desert Ruin]]. These Kleptos retain their appearance from ''Super Mario Odyssey''. |
| | {{br}} |
|
| |
|
| In the Solid Gold line or re-releases InvisiClues were integrated into the game. By typing "HINT" twice the player would open up a screen of possible topics where they could then reveal one hint at a time for each puzzle, just like the books.
| | ==Gallery== |
| | <gallery> |
| | Spiny Desert Selection Icon.png|''[[Mario Party 3]]'' |
| | MP4 Klepto.png|''[[Mario Party 4]]'' |
| | Poke Punch Out 6.png|''[[Mario Party 6]]'' |
| | Klepto MPL.png|''[[Mario Pinball Land]]'' |
| | MPA Klepto Icon.png|''[[Mario Party Advance]]'' |
| | MPA Klepto Screenshot.png|''Mario Party Advance'' |
| | Klepto Bowser's Enchanted Inferno!.png|''Mario Party 7'' |
| | ABonetoPick.png|thumb|''[[Mario Tennis Aces]]'' |
| | </gallery> |
|
| |
|
| ==== Interactive fiction ==== | | ==Names in other languages== |
| Infocom also released a small number of "interactive fiction paperbacks" ([[gamebooks]]), which were based on the games and featured the ability to choose a different path through the story. Every couple of pages the book would give you the chance to make a choice, such as which direction you wanted to go or how you wanted to respond to another character. You would then choose one of the given answers and turn to the appropriate page. These books, however, never did sell particularly well, and quickly disappeared from the bookshelves.
| | {{foreign names |
| | | |Jap=ジャンゴ<ref>[[In the Talons of the Big Bird]]</ref> |
| === Cornerstone ===
| | |JapR=Jango |
| In 1984 Infocom started putting resources into a new division to produce business products. In 1985 they released a [[relational database|database]] product, ''[[Cornerstone (software)|Cornerstone]]'', aimed at capturing the then booming database market for small business. Though this application was hailed upon its release for ease of use, it sold only 10,000 copies; not enough to cover the development expenses. The program failed because, although it was packaged in a slick hard plastic carrying case and was a very good database for personal and home use, it was originally priced at $495 per copy and used copy-protected disks. Another serious miscalculation was that the program did not include any kind of scripting language, so it was not promoted by any of the database consultants that small businesses typically hired to create and maintain their DB applications. Reviewers were also consistently disappointed that Infocom—noted for the natural language syntax of their games—did not include a natural language query ability, which was the most expected feature for this database. And a final disappointment was that ''Cornerstone'' was available only for [[IBM PC]]s and not any of the other platforms that Infocom supported for their games; while ''Cornerstone'' had been programmed with its own virtual machine for maximum portability, that feature had become essentially irrelevant.
| | |JapM=Possibly from「じゃんじゃん」(''jan-jan'', Japanese onomatopoeic term for flying rapidly) and the Japanese honorific suffix「~御」(''-go'') |
| | | |Chi=强哥<ref>From the star menu of ''Super Mario 64 DS'' as localized by [[iQue]].</ref> |
| === Changing marketplace ===
| | |ChiR=Qiánggē |
| Whereas Infocom's games had benefited significantly from the portability offered by running on top of a virtual machine, this strategy did not prove to be a significant advantage for ''Cornerstone''; in fact, the virtual machine significantly slowed the database's execution speed. Most businesses were moving to the IBM PC platform by that time, so portability was no longer a significant differentiator. Infocom had sunk much of the money from games sales into ''Cornerstone''; this, in addition to a slump in computer game sales, left the company in a very precarious financial position. By the time Infocom removed the copy-protection and reduced the price to less than $100, it was too late, and the market had moved on to other database solutions.
| | |ChiM=Transliteration of the Japanese name; Also means "strong brother" |
| | | |Fre=Klepto |
| And finally, the game market itself was shifting into graphic games. The 1990s, though, were a turbulent time for graphics development, as the computer industry was collapsing, with long-time computer makers such as [[Tandy Corporation|Tandy/Radio Shack]], [[Atari]], and [[Commodore International|Commodore]]/[[Amiga]] disappearing, and the PC and [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] markets were fighting for dominance. Development of graphics technology was very aggressive during this time, which made it very expensive and risky to create cutting-edge, high-performance graphics, and many companies came and went in this period. Many people were buying new, more powerful computers expressly for games, and the days were long-gone when people would be satisfied with simple vectored line drawings, such as those that made the ''[[Wizardry]]'' games famous, or with the blocky graphics that were used in [[Sierra Entertainment]]'s ''[[King's Quest]]'' games. Gamers in particular were most unforgiving when the graphics did not live up to their expectations.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} In this climate, Infocom's history of text-based adventures and story-centered gaming did not help much in making the transition to graphics.
| | |Ger=Klepto der Kondor |
| | | |GerM=Klepto the condor |
| === Activision takeover ===
| | |Ita=Klepto |
| {{POV|date=February 2008}}
| | |Rus=Клепто |
| A lack of offers for the company led to a [[reverse takeover|reverse triangular merger]] with [[Activision]] on 13 June 1986. This turned out to be the beginning of the end for Infocom. While relations were cordial between the two companies at first, the departure of [[Jim Levy]] from Activision left [[Bruce Davis (video game industry)|Bruce Davis]] in charge. Davis believed that his company had paid too much for Infocom and initiated a lawsuit against them to recoup some of the cost. Furthermore, he made a string of poor, heavy-handed decisions that made Infocom unprofitable. For example:
| | |RusR=Klepto |
| *Davis demanded they use Activision's packaging plant instead of their own in-house one, raising the cost of each package from $0.45 to over $0.90. In addition, the Activision plant made numerous mistakes in packaging where the Infocom one almost never did.
| | |Kor=장고 |
| *Infocom had a successful marketing approach that kept all their games in store inventories for years. Because of this, older titles' sales often kept pace with sales of newer games. For example, because ''Zork'' was available for years after its initial release in 1980, it continued to top charts in sales well into the mid-1980s. Activision preferred to market Infocom's games the way they marketed their other titles: replacing older titles with newer ones. While this made sense for the graphically intensive games that made up the rest of Activision's catalog, since Infocom games were text based, it didn't make sense - the newer games didn't have improved ''text''. This marketing approach cut off potential revenue for numerous Infocom titles that had consistently brought in money for several years.
| | |KorR=Jango |
| *Davis demanded the struggling developer must produce eight titles a year. Infocom had traditionally produced about four games per year with more staff than they currently had.
| | |KorM=From the Japanese name |
| *Davis pushed Infocom to release more graphical games, but the one they did release, ''[[Fooblitzky]]'', bombed. This was, in part, due to Infocom's long-standing rule of maximum portability; a game that could display graphics on a number of different systems couldn't take advantage of the strengths of any of them.
| | |Spa=Klepto |
| *The cost of acquisition was amortized by deducting it from Infocom's operating revenue during the next several years. Of course this accounting made it difficult for Infocom to show a profit.
| | |SpaM=- |
| | | }} |
| === Epilogue ===
| |
| Rising costs and falling profits due to these changes and other botched ventures{{Fact|date=June 2007}} caused Activision to finally pull the plug on Infocom in 1989. For a few years, Activision continued to market Infocom's classic games in collections (usually by genre, such as the Science Fiction collection); in 1991, they published ''[[The Lost Treasures of Infocom]]'', followed in 1992 by ''[[The Lost Treasures of Infocom|The Lost Treasures of Infocom II]]''. These two compilations featured nearly every game produced by Infocom before 1988. (''[[Leather Goddesses of Phobos]]'' was not included in either bundle, but could be ordered via a coupon included with ''Lost Treasures II''.) In 1996, these were followed by ''[[Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom]]'', a single CD-ROM which contained the works of both collections combined. This release, however, was missing ''The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' and ''Shogun'' because the licenses from Douglas Adams and [[James Clavell]]'s estate had expired.
| |
| | |
| ==Titles and authors==
| |
| ===Interactive Fiction=== | |
| *The ''[[Zork]]'' series:
| |
| ** The original Zork Trilogy (Marc Blank & Dave Lebling):
| |
| ***''[[Zork I]]: The Great Underground Empire'' (1980)
| |
| ***''[[Zork II]]: The Wizard of Frobozz'' (1981)
| |
| ***''[[Zork III]]: The Dungeon Master'' (1982)
| |
| ** The ''Enchanter'' Trilogy:
| |
| ***''[[Enchanter (computer game)|Enchanter]]'' (1983, Marc Blank)
| |
| ***''[[Sorcerer (computer game)|Sorcerer]]'' (1984, [[Steve Meretzky]])
| |
| ***''[[Spellbreaker]]'' (1985, Dave Lebling)
| |
| ** ''[[Beyond Zork|Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor]]'' (1987, [[Brian Moriarty]])
| |
| ** ''[[Zork Zero|Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz]]'' (1988, Steve Meretzky)
| |
| **''[[Zork: The Undiscovered Underground]]'' (1997, [[Michael Berlyn]] and Marc Blank)
| |
| *The ''[[Planetfall]]'' series:
| |
| **''[[Planetfall]]'' (1983, Steve Meretzky)
| |
| **''[[Stationfall]]'' (1987, Steve Meretzky)
| |
| *''[[Deadline (computer game)|Deadline]]'' (1982, Marc Blank)
| |
| *''[[Starcross (computer game)|Starcross]]'' (1982, Dave Lebling)
| |
| *''[[Suspended|Suspended: A Cryogenic Nightmare]]'' (1983, Michael Berlyn)
| |
| *''[[Infidel (computer game)|Infidel]]'' (1983, Michael Berlyn)
| |
| *''[[The Witness (computer game)|The Witness]]'' (1983, [[Stu Galley]])
| |
| *''[[Cutthroats (computer game)|Cutthroats]]'' (1984, Michael Berlyn & [[Jerry Wolper]])
| |
| *''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (computer game)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (1984, Steve Meretzky & [[Douglas Adams]])
| |
| *''[[Seastalker]]'' (1984, Stu Galley & [[Jim Lawrence (cartoonist)|Jim Lawrence]])
| |
| *''[[Suspect (computer game)|Suspect]]'' (1984, Dave Lebling)
| |
| *''[[A Mind Forever Voyaging]]'' (1985, Steve Meretzky)
| |
| *''[[Wishbringer|Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams]]'' (1985, Brian Moriarty)
| |
| *''[[Ballyhoo (computer game)|Ballyhoo]]'' (1986, [[Jeff O'Neill (game designer)|Jeff O'Neill]])
| |
| *''[[Hollywood Hijinx]]'' (1986, [[Dave Anderson (game designer)|"Hollywood" Dave Anderson]])
| |
| *''[[Leather Goddesses of Phobos]]'' (1986, Steve Meretzky)
| |
| *''[[Moonmist]]'' (1986, Stu Galley)
| |
| *''[[Trinity (computer game)|Trinity]]'' (1986, Brian Moriarty)
| |
| *''[[Border Zone]]'' (1987, Marc Blank)
| |
| *''[[Bureaucracy (computer game)|Bureaucracy]]'' (1987, Infocom & Douglas Adams)
| |
| *''[[The Lurking Horror]]'' (1987, Dave Lebling)
| |
| *''[[Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It]]'' (1987, Jeff O'Neill)
| |
| *''[[Plundered Hearts]]'' (1987, [[Amy Briggs]])
| |
| *''[[Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels]]'' (1988, [[Bob Bates]])
| |
| *''[[Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur]]'' (1989, Bob Bates)
| |
| *''[[James Clavell's Shogun]]'' (1989, Dave Lebling)
| |
| *''[[Journey (computer game)|Journey]]'' (1989, Marc Blank)
| |
| | |
| ===Other titles=== | |
| * Graphic Adventures
| |
| **''[[Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X!]]'' (1992, Steve Meretzky)
| |
| **''[[Return to Zork]]'' (1993)
| |
| **''[[Zork: Nemesis]]'' (1996)
| |
| **''[[Zork Grand Inquisitor]]'' (1997)
| |
| * [[BattleTech]] Games
| |
| **''[[BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception]]'' (1988, developed by [[Westwood Studios]])
| |
| **''[[BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge]]'' (1991, developed by Westwood Studios)
| |
| * Other Games
| |
| **''[[Fooblitzky]]'' (1985, Marc Blank, Mike Berlyn, [[Poh Lim]] & [[Paula Maxwell]])
| |
| **''[[Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth]]'' (1988, [[Scott Schmitz]], [[Ken Updike]] & Amy Briggs)
| |
| **''[[Mines of Titan]]'' (1988, [[Louis Castle]] & [[Brett Sperry]])
| |
| **''[[Tombs & Treasure]]'' (1989, developed by [[Nihon Falcom]])
| |
| **''[[Circuit's Edge]]'' (1989, developed by [[Westwood Studios]])
| |
| * Infocomics
| |
| **''Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen'' (1988, Steve Meretzky)
| |
| **''Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams'' (1988, Amy Briggs)
| |
| **''ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle'' (1988, [[Elizabeth Langosy]])
| |
| **''ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom'' (1988, Elizabeth Langosy)
| |
| | |
| ===Collections===
| |
| *''The Zork Trilogy'' (1986; contained ''Zork I'', ''Zork II'' & ''Zork III'')
| |
| *''The Enchanter Trilogy'' (1986; contained ''Enchanter'', ''Sorcerer'' & ''Spellbreaker'')
| |
| *''[[The Lost Treasures of Infocom]]'' (1991; contained 20 of Infocom's interactive fiction games)
| |
| *''[[The Lost Treasures of Infocom|The Lost Treasures of Infocom II]]'' (1992; contained 11 interactive fiction games)
| |
| *''[[The Zork Anthology]]'' (1994; contained ''Zork I'', ''Zork II'', ''Zork III'', ''Beyond Zork'' & ''Zork Zero'')
| |
| *''The Masterpieces of Infocom'' (1996; contained 33 Infocom games plus six winners of the [[SPAG]] Interactive Fiction Contest not affiliated with Infocom)
| |
| *''Zork Special Edition'' (1997; contained ''Zork I'', ''Zork II'', ''Zork III'', ''Beyond Zork'', ''Zork Zero'', ''Return to Zork'', ''Zork: Nemesis'', and ''Planetfall'')
| |
| *''Zork Classics: Interactive Fiction'' (2000)
| |
| | |
| ==Legacy==
| |
| With the exception of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' and ''Shogun'', the copyrights to the Infocom games are believed to be still held by Activision. [[Zork#Fortran_version_of_Dungeon|Dungeon]], the mainframe precursor to the commercial Zork trilogy, is generally assumed to be in the public domain and is available from The Interactive Fiction Archive as original [[FORTRAN]] source code, a [[Z-machine]] story file and as various native source ports. Many Infocom titles can be downloaded via the [[Internet]], but only in violation of the copyright. They are available as [[Z-machine]] story files and require a Z-machine [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] to play. Interpreters are available for most computer platforms, the most widely used being the [[Frotz]], [[Zip (interpreter)|Zip]], and [[Nitfol]] interpreters.
| |
| | |
| Five games (''Zork I'', ''Planetfall'', ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', ''Wishbringer'' and ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'') were re-released in Solid Gold format. The Solid Gold versions of those games include a built-in InvisiClues hint system.
| |
| | |
| ''A Mind Forever Voyaging'' and all subsequent games have the "Oops" feature. If you write a sentence and you accidentally misspell a word and the game does not know the misspelled version of the word, you can type <tt>oops (your word)</tt> instead of retyping the whole sentence. The feature also appears in the Solid Gold releases.
| |
| | |
| ==See also==
| |
| *[[69105 (number)|69,105]], a number commonly found as an in-joke in many Infocom titles.
| |
| | |
| ==Footnotes==
| |
| {{reflist}}
| |
|
| |
|
| ==References== | | ==References== |
| * {{cite web
| | <references/> |
| | url = http://web.mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2000/infocom/infocom-paper.pdf | | {{Nav templates| |
| | title = Down From the Top of Its Game: The Story of Infocom, Inc.
| | {{SM64}} |
| | accessdate = 2007-06-07
| | {{MP3}} |
| | date = 2000-12-15
| | {{MP4}} |
| | last = Briceno
| | {{MGTT}} |
| | first = Hector
| | {{MP5}} |
| | coauthors = Wesley Chao, Andrew Glenn, Stanley Hu, Ashwin Krishnamurthy, Bruce Tsuchida
| | {{MPL}} |
| | format = PDF
| | {{MGAT}} |
| | language = English
| | {{MP6}} |
| }} | | {{MPA}} |
| | | {{MP7}} |
| ==External links==
| | {{MP8}} |
| *[http://www.mobygames.com/company/infocom/ Infocom company profile] from [[MobyGames]]
| | {{SMO}} |
| *[http://infodoc.plover.net/ Infocom Documentation Project] - Group working with Activision's permission to recreate manuals for Infocom games in PDF and text formats.
| | {{MTA}}}} |
| *[http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue92/245_1_Interactive_Text_In_An_Animated_Age.php "Interactive Text In An Animated Age: Infocom Faces The Challenge" article], an interview with Joel Berez and Marc Blank from ''[[Compute!]]'' magazine in January 1988.
| | [[Category:Vultures]] |
| *[http://www.infocom-if.org/ Infocom-IF.org], Infocom history, authors, etc; often updated with any news from Activision
| | [[Category:Mario Party 3 characters]] |
| *[http://www.if-legends.org/~pdd/infocom/fact-sheet.txt Infocom Fact-sheet] - Contains extensive information on various releases including different versions and packaging. Also includes a timeline of Infocom.
| | [[Category:Mario Party 4 characters]] |
| *[http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/ INFOCOM Homepage by Peter Scheyen]—An enthusiast's home page, containing, among many other resources, a timeline of Infocom's founding, releases and eventual dissolution.
| | [[Category:Mario Party 5 characters]] |
| *[http://mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2000/infocom/ ''Down From the Top of Its Game: The Story of Infocom, Inc.'']—A report from [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] which offers a very detailed examination of Infocom's creative successes and marketing failures.
| | [[Category:Mario Party 6 characters]] |
| *[http://infocom.elsewhere.org/gallery/ The Infocom Gallery] with photos of all game boxes, feelies, instruction manuals and extra game contents
| | [[Category:Mario Party 7 characters]] |
| *[http://www.retrology.com/infcover.htm Covers of the Infocom boxes]
| | [[Category:Mario Party 8 characters]] |
| * [http://www.xs4all.nl/~pot/infocom/ Online java version of various Infocom games]
| | [[Category:Mario Party Advance characters]] |
| * [http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXgamesXsource.html Dungeon source code] at The Interactive Fiction Archive
| | [[Category:Mario Pinball Land enemies]] |
| * [http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXgamesXzcode.html ZDungeon Z-machine story file] port from the original Dungeon MDL source code, at The Interactive Fiction Archive
| | [[Category:Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour]] |
| | | [[Category:Mario Golf: Advance Tour characters]] |
| ===Newsgroups===
| | [[Category:Super Mario 64 enemies]] |
| *[news://rec.arts.int-fiction <tt>rec.arts.int-fiction</tt>] with discussion of IF design
| | [[Category:Super Mario Odyssey enemies]] |
| *[news://rec.games.int-fiction <tt>rec.games.int-fiction</tt>] with discussion of IF reading/playing
| | [[Category:Thieves]] |
| | | [[de:Klepto]] |
| [[Category:1989 disestablishments]] | | [[it:Klepto]] |
| [[Category:Companies established in 1979]] | |
| [[Category:Defunct video game companies]] | |
| [[Category:Home computer software companies]] | |
| [[Category:Infocom|*]] | |
| [[Category:Interactive fiction]] | |
| [[Category:Zork]] | |
| | |
| [[de:Infocom]]
| |
| [[es:Infocom]] | |
| [[fr:Infocom]] | |
| [[ru:Infocom]] | |
| [[fi:Infocom]] | |
| [[sv:Infocom]] | |
