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History Lessons: A Look Back at Sierra's Origins
Posted by Maggie Greene at 2:30 AM on August 11, 2008
I've been keeping my eye on the "Stephen M. Cabrinety Collection" blog, which is a blog corollary to part of Stanford University's archive of gaming-related materials — while there are only a handful of posts, there are some interesting looks back at some more obscure bits of gaming history. The latest is the first part of a look back at the origins of Sierra — back when it was 'On-Line Systems.' While Eric Kaltman notes that he didn't have any of the original titles physically on hand, he did have "the first issue of the "On-Line Letter", a newsletter celebrating the first anniversary of On-Line Systems". Included are plenty of high-res pictures, though not all the interesting stuff is included:
Sadly, when I first found this the other week I decided not to take a picture of the On-Line Systems anniversary party page. It featured people from the early eighties (a theme of this blog if you haven't noticed) enjoying what looked like a California themed ho-down, and men who look like Ewoks wearing aviator sunglasses (though Ewoks didn't yet exist, so I guess they are proto-Ewoks). I'm upset that I didn't take a picture of it, because I think it allows you to see (as these other pages do) the small and familial nature of a company that would balloon into one of PC gaming's most prominent companies.
A post on 'Sid Meier's First(?) Game and an Early Look at MicroProse', about a game no one — including Meier — seems to remember, is also worth a look.
The Beginnings of Sierra Part 1 [How They Got Game]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Thunder-1
Posted 3:15 AM 11/8/08
@Spoony Bard:
Nope I'm the same way, I have the original large boxes for Police Quest I-III and King's Quest I-V among some other classics like Laura Bow and Codename: Iceman.
Such classics, such great moments, the world just doesn't deserve Sierra anymore.
Thunder-1
Spoony Bard
Posted 3:09 AM 11/8/08
I have had more history with the Sierra Games than most people, although I'm sure that some other hardcore Sierra fans like me are still out there.
I miss them dearly. The OLD Sierra, not the frankenstein that has been parading around in their skin the last few years.
Spoony Bard
Pornosaur
Posted 3:04 AM 11/8/08
@moonwaltz7: Ahhh then I did play it on that. I wish for a last $49.99 branding on the name they would release a Sierra "adventure" pack on the DS. I'd be in on it.
Pornosaur
MightyKAC
Posted 3:04 AM 11/8/08
Ahhh... Sierra. Never was a Kings Quest man But I regard the Quest for Glory Series as some of the best story telling ever produced in ANY medium. I then though the Sierra I knew and loved died damn near a decade ago, its official demise still cuts deep....
MightyKAC
Mike's Stalker
Posted 2:59 AM 11/8/08
I will always remember you Sierra. I remember playing great PC games back in the days in school. Amazing enough, a lot of the old PC games were allowed in school. Then again, the IT guy there was into PC games. I'm going to stroll through Game Dude or some gaming outlet later on and find some old games. Hopefully Monkey Island games are still around.
Mike's Stalker
francoamerica
Posted 2:52 AM 11/8/08
@Pornosaur: I think they had kings quest five at least for SNES.
My sister was into Laura Bow before I could read. Then kings quest. Then I found Dr. Brain and Incredible Machine. Finally Half-life and my favorite, Tribes.
I have a Sierra promotional magazine featuring Half-life, a preview of Tribes as well as Kings Quest 8, which wasn't really that great (although 7 was weird enough already). Pretty great stuff. Let's not forget you don't know jack.
francoamerica
moonwaltz7
Posted 2:47 AM 11/8/08
@Pornosaur:
King's Quest 1 was on Sega Master System, if I recall correctly. I wasn't watching you though, so I don't know if you played it. You are probably going to have to work that out for yourself.
moonwaltz7
Pornosaur
Posted 2:38 AM 11/8/08
Did I play King's Quest 1 on the sega master system? Or am I totally making that up in my head? I think the first King's Quest was the only one I finished. LuscasArts back when it was a first rate developer won me over with Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island games. I do remember beating Maniac Mansion on both floppy and NES 8-bit cartrdige. I should get some kind of xbox achievment for that.
Pornosaur
half-beast
Posted 2:33 AM 11/8/08
Sierra will always hold a near and dear place in my heart.
YA AVOOZL!
half-beast
Pezdispenser
Posted 3:35 AM 11/8/08
@twesterms 2nd:
Holy crap, I played that one. My friend's Grandma probably still has the cartridge in her house too.
Pezdispenser
Pornosaur
Posted 3:30 AM 11/8/08
@PsyComa: Hmmm, I've never played that one but have often felt that I'm an assistant pig keeper.
Pornosaur
sir_carrot
Posted 3:29 AM 11/8/08
Those were the days.
Now it's all high-definition, poly-ridden muss and tumble.
sir_carrot
twesterms 2nd
Posted 3:27 AM 11/8/08
@Pornosaur:
Well bah, I stand corrected again. If I had a Master System I would gladly give that one a try too.
twesterms 2nd
PsyComa
Posted 3:26 AM 11/8/08
Black Cauldron ftw.
PsyComa
twesterms 2nd
Posted 3:24 AM 11/8/08
@twesterms 2nd:
Actually, wow, I stand corrected.
[www.gamespot.com]
Apparently there was a version of V on the NES. I'm sure it's crap but I must play this.
twesterms 2nd
Pornosaur
Posted 3:22 AM 11/8/08
@twesterms 2nd: It was on Sega Master System, you can get one for $12 on ebay. Good times, good times.
Pornosaur
twesterms 2nd
Posted 3:18 AM 11/8/08
@Pornosaur:
@moonwaltz7:
I'm pretty sure there has never been a King's Quest on a console (or at least an official version)...
twesterms 2nd
Thunder-1
Posted 3:17 AM 11/8/08
I think I'm actually going to play one, maybe LSL 2 again.
Thunder-1
Jeff Paine
Posted 3:49 AM 11/8/08
Fun fact: I read that in "the old days," you could mail Sierra a letter requesting help on a particular section of the game and they'd actually personally write you a letter back helping you out. Now that's customer service
Jeff Paine
MaTsKaT
Posted 4:35 AM 11/8/08
@Jeff Paine: You are correct sir.
I hand wrote a letter to Sierra asking for assistance with a puzzle in Kings Quest 2... I got a typed letter back addressing me by name and answering my questing in the same context that I asked it.... no form letter!
Sierra was the shit....
MaTsKaT
CelticMutt
Posted 5:34 AM 11/8/08
Man, I still bust out Quest for Glory & Space Quest every few years.
CelticMutt
Spoony Bard
Posted 6:09 AM 11/8/08
@Thunder-1: I'm really glad to see there's more of us than I realized :)
Spoony Bard
xot
Posted 6:19 AM 11/8/08
Shoot, that's nothing. I got a four page hand written letter from the designer of Starflight. In red ink!
Of course that game was from Electronic Arts, not some some monolithic game company. Wait, what?
xot
gomerkyle9
Posted 6:41 AM 11/8/08
Just don't forget to 'draw gun' before you 'fire gun'... And remember to check those tires for proper inflation.
gomerkyle9
zzt711
Posted 8:51 AM 11/8/08
heh, I actually have that newsletter shown in the photo.
zzt711
Parsifal
Posted 9:59 AM 11/8/08
@xot: Ah Starflight. Fun as hell on the PC but it was the Sega Genesis version that tractor beamed my heart... I recently lent my still functioning copy to a friend and he was totally blown away how "sandbox" it was.
Parsifal
JustThisGuy
Posted 11:09 AM 11/8/08
Sniff. Now that I'm reminiscing, I'd like to state that I really miss the days when the PC gaming scene felt like a hobbyist endeavor. I liked how you could drop a line to your favorite designer/artist/composer and have a good chance of receiving a personalized handwritten response.
Developers really went out of their way to build a relationship with their customers. I was on the mailing lists for MicroProse, Sierra, SSI and Origin; they used to send me all sorts of cool shit, including demos, well-produced company mags, and neat little tchochkes, like pewter figurines, mugs, and t-shirts.
Shee-it, those were the days.
JustThisGuy
JustThisGuy
Posted 11:00 AM 11/8/08
@MaTsKaT, @Jeff Paine: Don't forget about the Sierra Guarantee--if you didn't like a game, all you had to do was mail it back to them with a letter explaining why and they refunded your money. The company was pure class, back in the day.
JustThisGuy
Paviel
Posted 11:13 AM 11/8/08
Wow. All of a sudden I feel an insane urge to play the old Quest for Glory games, corny jokes and all.
Part of me would like to see those games remade using modern physics engines and the like, but seeing what the later Quest for Glory and King's Quest games were like, maybe that's not such a good idea.
Paviel
Anata_Kusoyarou
Posted 12:50 PM 11/8/08
@PsyComa: I hope you aren't referring to the Disney cartoon, as it was awful at best...
Anata_Kusoyarou
Anata_Kusoyarou
Posted 12:45 PM 11/8/08
Didn't Sierra also make the original Diablo expansion? Hellfire I think it was...
Anata_Kusoyarou
Brackynews
Posted 12:33 PM 11/8/08
Police Quest was the first PC game I purchased with my own money. (And the hintbook shortly after... invisible ink!) I played it on a computer borrowed from a friend of my father's, who could afford a new EGA monitor! Damn.
I will admit with shame that Hero's Quest (yes, before the name change) was the first game I unwittingly pirated, at a tender age of 11. I just ran with the wrong crowd... a retailer crowd that owned shrink wrap. I have since bought all of them to atone, though the mere mention of "286" weighs heavily on my heart.
Brackynews
Karlott
Posted 1:14 AM 12/8/08
Sierra did make the original Diablo expansion, Hellfire. It was "official" at the time, but not official enough to be included in the Battle Chest. It's main issue was the lack of multiplayer support, though user made patches with a .dll hack fixed this later. It was pretty good, having "run" in town made the game move along faster, and the new levels weren't earth-shattering, but were different and cool. They tried to address issues with the original Diablo, like the aforementioned lack of running in town, and added a skill/spell to locate items since this was before the miracle of the alt-key highlight.
Karlott