The first batch of LucasArts titles was just released on Steam, including a few notable adventures on sale at a very reasonable $4.99 apiece. Makes me want to repurchase The Dig and Fate of Atlantis just to support this business model, and also in hope of what's yet to come (DS? iPhone?). Getting less fanfare is the Tex Murphy series showing up on GOG.com, another favorite of mine. Even if it's just booting up DOS Box, it feels great to see these games easily available for anyone to download and play.

Michel Ancel is working on Beyond Good and Evil 2, David Cage is polishing up Heavy Rain. And how about that Tim Schafer guy (so hot right now), who still finds the time to put out gems like this.

It's almost as if there's an honest-to-goodness resurgence of classic PC adventure games going on. One that's proving to be profitable for all parties involved as well. There were some dark years for a while there, grasping at mediocre and souless pixel hunts as acceptance slowly set in. Playing through Syberia, trying to play through Runaway, lurking around adventuregamers.com to learn the whereabouts of Jane Jensen or Al Lowe. I thought we'd never see high quality classic adventures again, at least the way I remembered them.

And here we are now, with Telltale and LucasArts teaming up to bring back an old favorite the right way. I can't wait to see where this partnership leads (Tales of Maniac Mansion? Yes please?) but I'm just as happy that new IP's like Strong Bad and Wallace & Grommit are being taken along for the ride as well. I'm less optimistic for the future of Sierra's properties, given the current nature of the ActiBlizzard machine they nest within. But who knows, money is money. I just know It hasn't been this good in a long time for adventure game fans, and it's only going to get better.

*Not the piratebay kind. I paid telltale, generously