Being ‘scared’ is gut-wrenching.”īecause of the need for FMV, the script for Phantasmagoria was written as a screenplay. “The build-up of suspense is all emotion. “In order for horror to succeed, the player needs to be passionate and committed,” Roberta said in a 2006 interview.
Playing an FMV game is like controlling the fate of the characters in your favorite movie. Since FMV transforms a video game into what’s known as an “interactive movie,” hitting the wrong button in the middle of gameplay doesn’t just potentially end the life of a 3-D rendered character or cartoon-it kills the actor right before your eyes. For Roberta, the use of live actors was essential for a horror game, as it seemed to be the only way the player could truly empathize with the protagonist. FMV utilizes real-life sets, real-life actors, and shoots real-life scenes in place of a frame of animation or a world created by CGI.
Phantasmagoria game deaths full#
According to the book Phantasmagoria: The Official Sierra Insider’s Guide, Roberta had waited eight years to make a horror game, until she felt that software technology had developed and advanced enough to be able to handle FMV, or full motion video. While doing research, Roberta came upon the term “phantasmagoria” in a reference book on the history of magic and magicians a phantasmagoria was a 17th century theatrical show that involved presenting the audience with supposedly real spirits. FAST FORWARD TO THE PHANTASMĪfter becoming well-known in the industry for designing fantasy and fairytale games, Roberta grew afraid of being typecast. The company went on to release games like Mission Asteroid, Wizard and the Princess, The Dark Crystal (an adaptation of the film by Jim Henson), the acclaimed King’s Quest series, before becoming a public company in 1989 and releasing King’s Quest V to over 500,000 copies sold in 1990. The game, released in 1989, sold 15,000 copies and earned the equivalent of $518,199 in today’s economy. As the player explores, bodies appear, and it’s up to them to find the killer. Taking place in an abandoned Victorian mansion, the player is locked inside and must search the house for a hidden cache of jewels. The couple founded Sierra Entertainment, (initially On-Line Systems) and Roberta designed, wrote, and illustrated the first-ever graphic adventure game Mystery House (at the age of 26!). It wasn’t until Ken brought home an Apple II that Roberta had a brilliant idea: What if the adventure game experience came with a graphics display? The play controlled a character through simple text commands, essentially playing their way through a novel. At the time, interactive fiction games were all the video game industry had. When Ken Williams, a computer programmer for IBM, brought home a PDP-10 Mainframer one day in 1979, he encouraged his wife Roberta to join him in playing the text adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure. It was violent, extravagant, and utterly creative in its kills.īut before we take a trip to the haunted mansion off the coast of New England, we need to talk about the couple who became forever known as pioneers of the graphic adventure game genre.
But the world of modern horror gaming owes a lot to the game: it was one of the first video games to be excessively and unapologetically bloody. While Xena has been cemented forever in modern meme culture, Phantasmagoria has been somewhat forgotten, revived every now and then by an anniversary piece or random interview by creator Roberta Williams.
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The year is 1995: Alanis Morissette and Montell Jordan dominate the radio you and your mom are spending quality time together by watching Xena: Warrior Princess Batman Forever has just been released to mixed reviews and Sierra On-Line, Inc., following the success of their graphic adventure video game series King’s Quest, has just released a point-and-click adventure horror on CD-ROM called Phantasmagoria.