Zork Trilogy Comes To Xbox!

**Fran Fan** · 01 Apr 2003, 04:00 PM

Oh wow! I used to love the Zork series. This is awesome news!

from www.gamespot.com
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Activision announces Zork trilogy for the Xbox

Activision will be rereleasing its classic text-based adventure series on Microsoft's console.

Activision announced today that it plans to rerelease the original Zork trilogy as an Xbox-exclusive title later this year.

Originally released in 1981, the Zork games were developed by Infocom. The series brought a fresh and unique interface to gaming, using natural language to direct a character in a text-based, story-driven experience. Activision, which later acquired the rights to the series, mentioned that it plans on harnessing the power of the Xbox to enhance the gameplay experience, offering features such as custom soundtracks, 1080p progressive scan support, 5.1 stereo surround sound, and, of course, support for Xbox Live. The games will be released on a single, bargain-priced disc. You can see an early version of the game in these exclusive screenshots.

"We think that the Zork trilogy will provide a really unique experience to Xbox owners," an Activision representative said. "There's no other game that we have seen on the platform that so seamlessly provides adventure, exploration, puzzle solving, or character progression. There's a lot of richness to the experience of Zork, and we think that gamers are really hungry for it."

While the Zork trilogy was originally released for the Apple, Atari, and Commodore computer platforms, Activision has confidence that the gameplay will hold up as well as it originally did, and that the Xbox versions will improve upon the originals drastically. Players will find themselves fearing the darkness, and the lurking grues, more than they did before. Also, the thief will be more devious than before, the carousel will spin faster, the wizard will cast more spells, and the phrase "Hello sailor" will work in more areas.

When asked about the lack of keyboard support for the Xbox in the Q&A session following the press conference, the Activision representative declined to comment. Stay tuned to GameSpot later today, when we'll have exclusive new movies of this promising title.

By Staff, GameSpot [POSTED: 04/01/03 12:04 PM]
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**Sl1p** · 01 Apr 2003, 04:03 PM

April Fools

**Fran Fan** · 01 Apr 2003, 04:05 PM

D'oh, I forgot today's date. Those bastards! Heh.

**Clash!** · 01 Apr 2003, 04:06 PM

Wow this April Fools stuff never gets old, or maybe it does. This would have worked better if they posted this news on say October 9th or something, but then again all April Fools jokes would work better like that.

**MonsterMash** · 01 Apr 2003, 04:09 PM

Speaking of, I thought GamePro.com had some funny write-ups today. The best:

First Look: Animal Projects
The first expansion pack for the real-time animal community sim is on its way, and you can move in any time you like...but can you ever leave?

Animal Projects
Ever wonder what happened to Betsie the Cow…Winnie the Horse…Jacques the frog… and all those other animals that just sort of up and left your town with only a single vague letter as explanation? Most likely the bank foreclosed on their houses, the repo man came and took all their stuff, and they got carted off to the Animal Projects, the first expansion pack for the now-classic real-time town simulation.

In Animal Projects, you move into a crowded, run-down tenement building and work your ass off for Tom Nook’s Pawn Shop 16 hours a day until some punk steals everything from you as you’re walking back from the store to buy some duct tape to seal your windows so you don’t freeze at night, or some dog in a uniform on a power trip confiscates all your hopes and dreams just because you’re not a dog, and you’re forced to start over. As with the original game, the game changes depending on the state of the internal clock: go out during the day, for example, and you might get shot. Go out at night, for example, and you might get shot faster.

**Ragnarok the Red** · 01 Apr 2003, 04:14 PM

Originally posted by MonsterMash
Speaking of, I thought GamePro.com had some funny write-ups today. The best:

First Look: Animal Projects
The first expansion pack for the real-time animal community sim is on its way, and you can move in any time you like...but can you ever leave?

Animal Projects
Ever wonder what happened to Betsie the Cow…Winnie the Horse…Jacques the frog… and all those other animals that just sort of up and left your town with only a single vague letter as explanation? Most likely the bank foreclosed on their houses, the repo man came and took all their stuff, and they got carted off to the Animal Projects, the first expansion pack for the now-classic real-time town simulation.

In Animal Projects, you move into a crowded, run-down tenement building and work your ass off for Tom Nook’s Pawn Shop 16 hours a day until some punk steals everything from you as you’re walking back from the store to buy some duct tape to seal your windows so you don’t freeze at night, or some dog in a uniform on a power trip confiscates all your hopes and dreams just because you’re not a dog, and you’re forced to start over. As with the original game, the game changes depending on the state of the internal clock: go out during the day, for example, and you might get shot. Go out at night, for example, and you might get shot faster.

Gotta hand it to them, though, that is pretty awesome.