Comment on Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist scene of the week:
I only ever had the demo of this when I was a kid and have wanted to play it for years. I don't really hear anyone speak on it either. Is it worth tracking down...?

Comment on The Void article:
Amazing concept. There are some HD gameplay videos on Youtube.

Comment on Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist scene of the week:
i bought this when it was first released & still have the original box sitting on my shelf! i remember really enjoying humorous writing and the music!! if memory serves me, it had some tricky puzzles despite the whole game taking place in a reasonably confined area.

Comment on Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon article:
First of all I would like to praise the collection disk....Once you install the disk you can choose which game to play by one click of the mouse...It doesn't get any easier than that...I know this is an important issue for many gamers which save them the hassle figuring out how to play old games...Here everything is being taking care for you...
Out of the first three Space Quest games I already played, this one
is the shortest,the hardest and in term of a story is the weakest...So far my favorite is the second game and this one comes only last (Two stars)....
The Astro chicken mini game was fun though....

My final verdict : A dissapointing sequal...

Comment on Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon article:
If you always guess the right words (at least the German version requires some parser fighting), play with a walkthrough, have no problems with the action sequences and don't get trapped in a dead end, then 3-5 hours might be a solid if very optimistic estimate.
I needed much longer. It was one of the first Sierra adventures I played though, many years back. My favorite Space Quest so far.

Comment on Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon article:
This is actually my favorite one of the first 3 games in this series. I haven't played the games after this one though.

Comment on Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon article:
If I force myself to forget Astro Chicken, I really liked this game. The humor was really amusing, the puns on Terminator and Star Wars subtle and funny and indeed the finale is just awesome, probably one of my favorite endings ever. A solid review for an entertaining game... and now I'm waiting for your SQ4 review, Dante!

Comment on The Void article:
It's a strictly an administrative distinction so that ungraded articles about non-adventures aren't added to our main review list.

Comment on Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet article:
I have just finished my first case...
This casual hidden object game supposed to meet adventure genre half way but is still way back compared to what adventures has to offer,,,
What you are going to do here is click with your mouse like someone possesed by a demon trying to find hidden objects that honestly would be best if they kept hidden forever...
Screen after screen you are doing the same routine....The cursor does not indicate hot spots,so you must click like your life depend on it...
Occasionally you get to solve a puzzle but most of them are too easy to be of any significant...I couldn't belive my eyes when I got the same puzzle 3 times in a row playing as a journalist...
The game does not have voice acting...
The only positive aspect here is the guitar music and visuals arts between chapters...

My final verdict : If you believe finding a needle in a haystack is entertainment this game is for you...

Comment on Sam & Max: Episode 202 - Moai Better Blues article:
He isn't complaining. Actually, he made his point about difficulty balance crystal clear:

In a full-length game (such as the original Hit the Road) it's understandable to have complicated puzzles necessary for progress, but in this episodic format where playing time is so compressed, this reviewer feels that the balance must shift back to comfortable story progression for the games to be as effective as possible.

Comment on Sam & Max: Episode 202 - Moai Better Blues article:
I really find it interesting how a reviewer for the site called "Adventure Gamers" complains about the "difficulty" of puzzles in what can only be categorized as a surprisingly easy point-and-click adventure game. And he even apparently plays with hints turned on.

Comment on The Void article:
So, what exactly makes this a feature and not a review? Sounds like a review to me...

Comment on Tony Tough and the Night of the Roasted Moths scene of the week:
I loved the first area of the game, but somehow once I finally got inside the park I stopped enjoying it. The puzzles became too obscure, and it wasn't really funny. I really liked the depressed bigfoot, though.

Comment on Tony Tough and the Night of the Roasted Moths scene of the week:
Love this game. It was definately underrated.

Comment on Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion article:
Sorry let me rephrase what I mean, I-play produced and distributed the PC casual games like Twice in Blue moon, Death in Scarlett (the PC games.) I just wanted to make sure people were aware of the two different distributers so not to cause confusion of brands, I-play vs THQ, which distrubted the Nintendo DS verison no PC versions that are currently available.

Comment on Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion article:
Publishers don't create games, period. Floodlight Games made the PC WMC games, and Griptonite Games made this one.

Comment on Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion article:
I am no master in all Women's Murder Club games however I do think it's important to note that there are two publishers of the Women's Murder Club Franchise, THQ and I-play. THQ created Crimes of Passion for the Nintendo DS while I-play tends to create games for the PC/iphone console. In otherwords, I-play did not create Women's Murder Club Crimes of Passion so it makes sense if it did not seem to fit with the other games.

Here is an article that might clear that up: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2009/10/best-selling-author-james-patterson-/1

Comment on Penumbra: Requiem article:
I actually thought that having no enemies is a good thing, after "Black Plague", that had me running like mad in dark halls escaping those infected people in panic and desperation. I mean, I really liked the idea that you were completely helpless against enemies in direct confrontation- thats how you make true horror, but I liked the break in Requiem, and having just to solve puzzles.

This game scared the crap out of me. Although I knew there were probably no enemies, I still was scared looking around corners, and it took me a long time to convince myself to go in the water in the sewer stage. I don't remember ANY game that frightened me so much as much as the Penumbra series.

I think this game was an essential part of the series, and the ending was grim and ambiguous, like the Lovecraft stories it was inspired by.

Absolutely the best game(s) I have played in years. But I don't play a lot, really. The fact that I ended it says a lot.

Comment on Machinarium article:
Great concept and the artwork is fantastic. The bubble animation provided an interesting way to communicate and move the story forward (and added to the game's overall look and feel). I did use the Cheat feature and laughed out loud when I had to "earn" the solution. Definitely a winner.

Comment on Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion article:
The Oberon/Patterson games have been hit or miss since the begining.
Death in Scarlet was a good start. Darker Shade of Grey left me wanting. Twice in a Blue Moon was, to my way of thinking, excellent.

From the review, the latest effort would seem to be a step back.

Hard to to know what to think.

One thing is sure, Oberon has limited distribution of its games to those sites that will charge the full price. No $6.99 on BigFish!

I think I will take a pass on this one!