More Adventure Games, Please.

 Source Article: "Disney buys Lucas Arts in Surprise $4 billion deal" by Frank Cifaldi Oct 30, 2012.

Lucas Arts was at the center of adventure gaming's pinnacle during the mid-nineties. Some of adventure gaming's greatest titles were created utilizing Lucas Art's proprietary SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) engine. Among those games there are a few standouts: Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. These three games share in common the writing and design work of Tim Schafer.

Tim Schafer is regarded among adventure games enthusiasts as one of the genres best designers. His combination of off-beat humour and witty dialogue make what can be tedious gameplay into enjoyable adventures. Since leaving Lucas Arts in 2000 to begin his own company, Double Fine, Schafer has dabbled in many game styles. Now he is ready to go back to adventure gaming.

When Schafer was unable to find a publisher for a new adventure game he wanted Double Fine to work on he turned to the internet. The Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter raised $3.36 million in 30 days with an average donation of $38. It appears Schafer is not the only gamer interested in an adventure game renaissance.Unfortunately Lucas Arts still owns the rights to Schafer's seminal adventure titles.

On October 30th Lucas Arts was acquired, along with their parent company, as part of Disney's $4 billion purchase of Lucas Film. CEO Robert Iger said Disney will "focus on social and mobile for the Lucas IP's." Mobile gaming is the perfect platform for Lucas Arts to return to adventure games.

The touch screen interface of most mobile gaming platforms is a perfect match for adventure gaming's point and click control style. Adventure games often utilize a simple art style to highlight their comedic tone and allow important objects to stand out in the game environments. If Disney plans to have Lucas Arts focus on creating mobile content adventure style games would be a cost effective avenue to allow the studio to explore.

Double Fine Adventure has shown that a market for adventure games still exists. If Disney can utilize some of the genres best known titles like Maniac Mansion they can capitalize on a growing number of aging players nostalgic for the experiences of the 90's. Even offering remakes of some of Lucas Arts classic adventure titles would surely be enough to convince gamers, looking to relive the heyday of adventure gaming, to open their wallets.

Disney bought a lot of very valuable intellectual properties when they purchased Lucas Films and its subsidiaries. Gamers can only hope that Disney realizes the potential value of some of Lucas Arts longer dormant franchises. Tim Schafer has brought the adventure genre back into the media spotlight let's hope Disney can take it back to the heights it had once achieved.