King's Quest I was released in 1983 for the PC Jr, and then re-released successfully in 1984, followed by KQ2 in 1985, KQ3 in 1986 and KQ4 in 1988.
Starting off the 1990s for KQ was KQ5, released in November 1990 and re-released in the Talkie/CD version in the spring of 1991. KQ6 was released in September 1992; KQ7 was released in November 1994 and re-released with some minor design differences in 1995, and KQ8 finished out the original series, released in November 1998.
That being said, do you consider King's Quest to be more associated with the '80s or '90s in terms of a video game series? Personally, I consider it a '90s series. While it may have began in the '80s, it didn't hit the height of it's popularity or creative peak until the early-mid 1990s, and didn't end until the late 90s.
Consider that until 1995, KQ5 was the HIGHEST SELLING PC GAME OF ALL TIME. It held that position from the time of it's release until 1995, when the Myst hype was in full swing and it overtook KQ5 in sales.
I consider it an 80s/90s game series. :P
Some of the perspective probably depends on when you were born and started to experience the games - if you were born early enough to start playing the games in the 80's then you'd probably associate them more with memories from the 80's. I've been playing the games as they've been coming out all along so I tend to think of them being in the 80's more.
Both. It came out in both decades, and the games all bear the hallmarks of the time period in which they were made/released, and evolved over time.
As far as I can tell, they were *constantly* at their height up until KQ7. KQ5 may have been the highest-selling computer game of all time when it was released, but KQ1 was a breakthrough in graphical and gaming power and the early KQs seem to have been incredibly popular and forward-thinking. KQ5 and 6 then used hand-drawn art, voice-overs and lip-sync technology to create something revolutionary for the time.
So... yeah, the best I can say is that the games from the 80s were very much from an 80s series, and those from the 90s were from a 90s series. XD
KQ8 actually outsold the number of copies of KQ7, and received largely positive reviews. Each game in the series pretty much sold more than each previous game in the series.
The problem is the numbers weren't enough for the company that bought Sierra. Adventures weren't the mega profitable genre like full-blown action/first person shooters games were becoming.
If that company had owned Sierra back before then, they probably would have killed the series earlier... Granted even Ken Williams has gone on record that when he owned the company he was starting to phase out adventures as well, part of that was turning Sierra towards productivity software.
Meh. I started playing in the 90s, so I'm prejudiced. :P
Eh It's both for me. Even though I didn't start playing them until the late 90s.
Never played much games in the 80s (or I was too young to remember). I suppose I remember around 88 or 89, but my real gaming memories are in the 90s.
My strongest memories start right in the late 80's and early 90's, which were essentially the same era. Neon clothes and bad haircuts were escaped with a journey to Daventry.
Bt
Quote from: Blackthorne on June 01, 2011, 02:18:11 PMNeon clothes and bad haircuts were escaped with a journey to Daventry.
Escaped? C'mon, in the late 80s and early 90s, neon and bad haircuts were RAD, dude! ;D
To me it will always be a 90's era.
Objectively I would say it's a 90's game as King's Quest 5 and especially 6 is where King's Quest really perfected itself. That's the best of the series, so I think it's fair to label it a 90's game.
Personally, though, it will always be an 80's game. When I think of my experience with King's Quest, it will always be tied to the nostalgia of watching my parents play King's Quest II (and eventually playing it myself when I became literate.) King's Quest II and III were my favorites for the longest time and I remember seeing a friend of my parents play King's Quest IV and it was so new and incredible (even though they had a really crappy six color version of the game.) On a personal level, the magic of King's Quest is tied to the games released in the 80's.
KQ4 is sometimes said to be the game where things were beginning to be perfected. It has arguably the best soundtrack of the series, from an actual hollywood composer, William Goldstein (at least won awards for the music alone). It was also the first game to include cinematic cutscenes, which both added dramatic intensity to the game story of fighting for Graham's life. The villain was used to a greater extent, more diologue, even more so than Manannan was used. You could tell she was seriously evil, and not up to any good, and the quest went as far as possibly saving the entire world from the evil's of Pandora's Box!
It's also said to be the first time a King's Quest garnered deep emotional response from the audience apparently. Roberta claims that that the audience cried when she first showed the introduction video at a gaming convention.
Quote from: Haids1987 on June 01, 2011, 05:25:04 PM
Quote from: Blackthorne on June 01, 2011, 02:18:11 PMNeon clothes and bad haircuts were escaped with a journey to Daventry.
Escaped? C'mon, in the late 80s and early 90s, neon and bad haircuts were RAD, dude! ;D
Heh. You don't have to tell me. I was a teenager in the early 90's. I hit puberty during the end of the Cross Colors Hip Hop Era and the explosion of Grunge. What a time. We didn't even have internet then. I used a 2400 baud modem to dial BBS's.
Bt
Ah, the days of AOL 2.0 being a big deal... and BBS! A friend of mine ran one of those. That was about the only one I ever logged onto.
Which reminds me, I've recently finally started watching My So-Called Life.
So. Much. Flannel.
Which was pretty much my wardrobe in high school, too, granted.
I currently live in a corner of the world where BBSs are still very popular, even though broadband is widely available (I just checked a BBS, and there are currently 111,314 users online). I'm seriously considering registering at one of them.
Oh yeah, the topic. I think of KQ as both, though perhaps particularly as a late 80s/early 90s game (I think culturally it sometimes makes more sense to delineate decades as 1946-1955, 1956-1965, etc).
Quote from: Blackthorne on June 01, 2011, 02:18:11 PM
My strongest memories start right in the late 80's and early 90's, which were essentially the same era. Neon clothes and bad haircuts were escaped with a journey to Daventry.
Bt
Graham had a mullet.
Quote from: Sir Perceval of Daventry on June 05, 2011, 07:35:54 PM
Quote from: Blackthorne on June 01, 2011, 02:18:11 PM
My strongest memories start right in the late 80's and early 90's, which were essentially the same era. Neon clothes and bad haircuts were escaped with a journey to Daventry.
Bt
Graham had a mullet.
Everyone had a mullet in the 80's and early 90's. I just saw a sixth grade picture of me. 1989. Yep. Mullet city. Business in front, party in the back. Yeah. I was a wild one at 11.
Bt
Quote from: Sir Perceval of Daventry on June 05, 2011, 07:35:54 PM
Quote from: Blackthorne on June 01, 2011, 02:18:11 PM
My strongest memories start right in the late 80's and early 90's, which were essentially the same era. Neon clothes and bad haircuts were escaped with a journey to Daventry.
Bt
Graham had a mullet.
Well, he had to keep his hair long to cover his ears. He didn't want his teacher pulling them. :P
Quote from: Blackthorne on June 06, 2011, 02:12:24 PM
Quote from: Sir Perceval of Daventry on June 05, 2011, 07:35:54 PM
Quote from: Blackthorne on June 01, 2011, 02:18:11 PM
My strongest memories start right in the late 80's and early 90's, which were essentially the same era. Neon clothes and bad haircuts were escaped with a journey to Daventry.
Bt
Graham had a mullet.
Everyone had a mullet in the 80's and early 90's. I just saw a sixth grade picture of me. 1989. Yep. Mullet city. Business in front, party in the back. Yeah. I was a wild one at 11.
Bt
My dad had one from '89-'96, and my parents had me grow one from when I was born (1990) until early 1993, and then again from 1995-1996. I actually sported one rather well, too. Used to have it slicked back in the 1996 era, like Alexander's hair.