If Adventure Has a Name...

Could there be any news bigger or better right now (don't ask my wife, she'll give you a list as long as my arm, I'm sure)? Lucasarts have unveiled details, screenshots and a trailer for the new Indiana Jones 2007 console game which they claim will revolutionise the way people play, and what they demand of their games.

According to the website, the game will be the "first collaboration of talents and technology between LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic" and will debut the "revolutionary new euphoria technology from NaturalMotion, which delivers never-before-seen lifelike action and awareness to every character in real time -- so you'll never see the same thing twice." If you get past all the gobbledygook, what this really means for the average joe on the street is that this new game, this next chapter in the continuing adventures of everyone's favourite archaeologist, will probably add up to being whole schwack of unprecedented Indy-riffic fun!

I'm really excited to see what this game looks and plays like. I honestly haven't even watched the trailer yet but the screenshots look very sweet and everything else I've read makes me think this is going to be a home run without exception. Lucasarts puts out 3 or 4 Star Wars games every couple of months, it seems, while original Indy games have numbered in single digits. The award winning Fate of Atlantis was good fun and groundbreaking at the time of its release in 1992 but it took years before we saw another game based on the character and his world. In fact, it was the emergence of Tomb Raider that finally got the Lucasarts brass of their collective duffs. They didn't want to get beat at their own game and went into development on The Infernal Machine, another great game for its time. This was followed by The Emperor's Tomb, taking Indy to China and bringing him fully into the console adventure game world.

Three games in the last 15 years. To paraphrase one of the customers from work last week, "is that any way to run a franchise?"

Anyway, the level of anxiety is building now and I'm likely going to be watching for any new developments or Indy related treats online. I'll also be linking to the official site on the sidebar next time I update the template.

I think I have to mow the lawn, now. Have to give the ol' mower a tune-up and take it out for a spin, so...

mike