Video Games
Sierra’s ‘Phantasmagoria’ Was the Result of Being Turned Down by Stephen King?
Piggybacking off of the news yesterday regarding a set of VHS tapes containing the FMV scenes from Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh, it turns out that the previous game, the original Phantasmagoria, was the result of a failed collaboration with Stephen King and Sierra Entertainment.
Per PC Gamer, in a recent interview during the Game Developer’s Conference regarding their return to PC gaming, Sierra On-Line founders Roberta & Ken Williams revealed several interesting tidbits about the company’s history. Among them were the repeated attempts to try and strike a deal with Stephen King for a video game.
“We tried to work with Stephen King because I wanted to do a horror game,” recalls Roberta Williams. Sadly, despite coming to King “many, many times” according to Ken Williams, King passed on the idea.
Roberta’s reasoning for King’s declining of the offers was that King “didn’t know who we were, what we were”. As a result of Stephen King passing on the offer, Roberta went ahead with her own game, which turned out to be Phantasmagoria. Phantasmagoria ended up being a smash hit for Sierra, selling 500,000 copies within its first five months, and eventually selling 1 million copies a year after its release.
This isn’t the first time that Stephen King’s name has been floated around for a video game collaboration. On the heels of its Ringu DLC for Dead by Daylight, developer Behaviour Interactive mentioned that they’d love to work with King on a potential crossover with one of his characters for the hit title. As for whether that will transpire is up to the man himself.
Meanwhile, if you’ve never experienced Phantasmagoria, you can always hit up Steam or GOG to get the game.
Xbox owners feeling left out over SFB Games’ throwback Survival Horror title Crow Country coming to Steam and PlayStation? Never fear, as the developer has secured an Xbox Series release via the Microsoft Store, which will launch on May 9th as the other platforms. And to celebrate, Xbox owners also get a new trailer announcing Crow Country coming to the platform alongside the PlayStation 5 and PC.
In this brand new horror inspired by classics from the original PlayStation, Crow Country takes place in the year 1990. It’s been two years since the mysterious disappearance of Edward Crow and the abrupt closure of his theme park, the eponymous Crow Country. You are Mara Forest, and you’re searching for some answers from Crow. You’ll need to venture deep into the abandoned Crow Country theme park and uncover the secrets behind its Crow’s sudden disappearance.
Crow Country will see you immerse yourself in a richly atmospheric, deeply sinister world evocative of late 90s pre-rendered graphics. You’ll need to make every bullet count as you manage limited resources and try to survive against the creatures that stalk the eerily tranquil grounds of the amusement park.
Monsters aren’t your only problem, however. Crow Country hides many secrets behind its locked gates, requiring you to overcome the gauntlet of puzzles and challenges that stand between you and the truth. And for those who want to immerse themselves in the atmosphere without having to battle against the inhabitants of the park, there’s the “Exploration Mode”, which switches off the combat to focus entirely on solving the mystery and exploration.
Crow Country will be available for $19.99 USD. You can also check out the demo on Steam.
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