Hmmm. I first see this news, I get excited. After all, Red Baron - despite being 18 years old - is still the best damn World War 1 game around. But then I start asking myself questions. Like, aren't Sierra dead? Wasn't the whole point of the original Red Baron the fact is was steeped in historical accuracy? Why is this now an arcade shooter for the PlayStation Network where 17 bullets cause a battleship to explode?

Quest for Glory II is the greatest adventure game of all time. That's not opinion, either. It's fact. Science. Only problem is, the game's from 1990, so it's also a little...rough. No more! Thanks to the team at AGD (who have also done fantastic restorations of the first two Kings Quest games), the game's "quaint" old VGA graphics have been updated, the timing of the real-time puzzles have been made easier and dialogue is now taken care of via menus, instead of having to guess via text input. Oh, and it's 100% free. In other words, the greatest adventure game of all time just got greater.

Quest For Glory II [AGD, via IndieGames]

We've been a little nostalgic the past couple of weekends, which included a look back at Sierra's origins; now Adventure Classic Gaming has a look at hidden assets of classic Sierra games. Not the Easter Eggs, but the bits and pieces hidden in the asset files of games — things that will never appear in the games themselves and take some exploration to actually get to. These range from bits of dialogue to wacky animations to pencil sketches; the author takes a look at some of these hidden assets and the meaning behind them:

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:

Ah, Sierra. So, so, so many fond memories. King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Quest For Glory, Half-Life 1, Homeworld, SWAT...so many good games, so many good times. So it's crushing to see that, as the label prepares to fade into oblivion following the Blactivision merger, its last game is...less than memorable. Hitting the printers as the ink dried on the Activision-Vivendi merger was Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, making it most likely the last game to be sold under the Sierra brand name (at least until someone digs it up, Atari style). An awful game based on an awful movie. Shame, that.

Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: Sierra's sad swan song [Variety]

That's a question Edge are asking today, and it follows on from a string of questions people have been asking for at least 10-15 years. What was once a company renowned for their PC adventure games, and later as the publisher of stuff like Half-Life and SWAT, are now facing oblivion, with Activision displaying zero interest in maintaining the brand following their merger with Vivendi. Me, I say put it to rest, and it's a sentiment shared by company founder Ken Williams:

I really don't know what Sierra even is these days...I suppose I should be disappointed anytime I hear that Sierra is being shut down, but it really doesn't bother me. The company was horribly mismanaged for a long time, and it depresses me more every time I hear about a dumb decision being made than it does when I hear that someone did the right thing, even when it includes killing off a brand or reducing staff size.

Oh Sierra. Don't worry. It'll all be over soon. And when it is, we'll remember you for Quest for Glory, not Magna Cum Laude.

Why Sierra Must Die [Edge]

This is downright odd.

Just two days after word hit that Activision was taking inventory of future Sierra titles, including Ghostbusters The Video Game and Brutal Legend, and trying to decide which to publish and which to mothball, I received this in the mail.

That's right, a preview copy of Ghostbusters The Video Game. The letter, written by the Evil PR Ninja Monkey (that's actually his title) at Activision Blizzard says that the hands-on preview code is not embargoed and that I can write about it as soon as I'd like to.

According to the included fact sheet the game has a spring 2008 release date, but of course since the sheet isn't dated I have no way of knowing how accurate it is.

Sounds like someone is trying to reassure the gaming public. Now about that Brutal Legend code?

As a part of Activision's continuing offloading of Sierra properties, Ludlum Entertainment has required the rights to create games based off of the works of Robert Ludlum. These include the Bourne series and Covert One, both of which excited Crecente to no end when Vivendi first announced them back in 2005. Now three years and one measly game later the ball is back in Ludlum's court.

"Our colleagues at Vivendi Games did a tremendous job of capturing the spirit and allure of Robert Ludlum's writing with The Bourne Conspiracy and the gaming community's strong response is clear indication that future Ludlum games will deliver both popularity and profitability for years to come", commented Jeffrey Weiner, CEO of Ludlum Entertainment.

Weiner went on to say that the company looked forward to working with other partners in the future.

Ludlum estate reacquires Bourne game rights from Vivendi [GamesIndustry.biz]

Activision announced today that it would be taking a handful of titles formerly published by (and planned to be published by) Sierra and add them to its own product portfolio. Games in the Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro the Dragon series will join the Activision family of published titles, with Prototype and an unnamed, unannounced fifth title to rest in the shade of the mega publisher's wing.

What's missing from that list? Loads of Sierra titles. Ghostbusters: The Video Game and Brütal Legend to name two. WET and Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena to name two more. Want another? 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.

Yes, "Uh oh" might be the words you're looking for.

"We have conducted a thorough review of Vivendi Games' brand portfolio and are retaining those franchises and titles that are a strong fit with our long-term product strategy", Mike Griffith, CEO of Activision Publishing, said in a corporate statement. "We are reviewing our options regarding those titles that we will not be publishing".

"Reviewing our options" may mean axing of certain non-guaranteed hits or shopping them out to another publisher.

Griffith is also quoted as saying "We are focused on improving efficiency across the combined organisation and are concentrating on businesses where we have leadership positions that are aligned with Activision Publishing's long-term corporate objectives".

That press release speak for "people are going to lose their jobs".

Thanks to Nirolak for the tip.

One of the most unfortunate cancellations of Comic-Con 08 was the Ghostbusters: The Video Game panel, planned to feature actors Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson as well as reps from Sierra. While we were disheartened to learn of the nixing of that particular panel, we took comfort in the limited, but very awesome, showfloor demo of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Based on our limited playtime, we're more interested than ever to get our hands on the final version, and not just for the stellar performance from the Ghostbusters booth babes.

The Comic-Con demo takes place in the New York public library, the location featured at the beginning of the first Ghostbusters film. As the four Ghostbusters enter the library — Winston Zeddemore, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz and you, the new recruit — the cheers of New Yorkers can be heard in the distance.