Interview with Sierra On-line founder Ken Williams

#1 Edited by BlackLagoon (983 posts) - 11 months, 11 days ago

To promote the Space Venture Kickstarter by Space Quest creators Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, their PR guy managed to get industry legend Sierra On-line founder Ken Williams to pop out of his retirement for a 1 hour audio interview. It's a fascinating listen covering the history of one of the most influential game companies of the 80s and 90s, from adventure games to Half-Life.

Oh, and his wife and King's Quest creator Roberta Williams has a message for you:

Only 3 days left, and $95,000 to go...

#2 Posted by CornBREDX (3418 posts) - 11 months, 11 days ago

Ya, Ken randomly popped in the chat room (he proved he was Ken) while they were doing the commentary for Space Quest 3. It was surreal.

#3 Posted by falling_fast (1972 posts) - 11 months, 11 days ago

cool. I'll be sure to listen to this later, thanks.

#4 Posted by Gabriel (4035 posts) - 11 months, 11 days ago

I thought they were unreachable on a boat somewhere in the ocean, nice get for that guy.

#5 Posted by SpunkyHePanda (1315 posts) - 11 months, 11 days ago

I'll do anything Roberta Williams tells me to, even with the most easily-Photoshoppable sign ever. I hope no one takes advantage of this.

#6 Posted by BlackLagoon (983 posts) - 11 months, 11 days ago

@CornBREDX: Yeah, he was pretty funny too, silently sneaking into the chat and submitting questions about stuff that only he would know. Caught Scott completely off guard, but that was only fitting for all the (goodnatured) jabs they take at him. There's a transcript off it one the Space Quest 3 commentary page.

(For those interested, they've actually been recording commentaries for all the Space Quest games, with a guest appearance by co-designer Josh Mandel on the Space Quest 6 one. They apparently got something for the canceled Space Quest 7 coming up too. Given how it was rumored to be some kind of multiplayer shooter thingy, that ought to be very interesting.)

#7 Posted by BlackLagoon (983 posts) - 11 months, 11 days ago

@SpunkyHePanda: Heh, if you listen to the interview you'll note that the picture is a genuine Ken & Roberta Williams production. Ken just decided to photoshop the text on to it because he couldn't get the text to look good when writing it out on paper. Still, "Roberta says" would make an interesting, if a bit obscure, meme. :)

#8 Posted by SonKite (69 posts) - 11 months, 11 days ago

Hey, thanks for the info

Ken Williams

A prolific member in the video game industry.

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