(re: re: re: Why was there never a third game?)
“The Murrays (it was the Murrays who wrote Manhunter, wasn’t it?) did the first two Manhunters, and then starting working on a game called “Ancient Art of Way”. I had them planned for Manhunter 3, but when they spoke about their idea for Ancient Art of War, it sounded great – so I encouraged them to work on it.
“
Umm… I’m a little confused. My version of Ancient Art of War (Broderbund) says 1984, which I believe was before Manhunter. Perhaps you’re thinking of Championship Boxing, which they made under Sierra (also in 1984)? Or maybe you mean the sequel to AAOW, called Ancient Art of War in the Sea (made in 1987).
They also made one in the air, not sure which company published it.
“Unfortunately, during development, Broderbund somehow got into the loop, and convinced Dave and Barry to publish War through them. One of my “rules” was to never be the “high bidder” on anything (it’s a long story). They never returned to Sierra.”
Great piece – thanks.
Here’s an interesting side story:
Broderbund’s initial box for Ancient Art of War had a picture of an ancient vase on the front. The vase had a lot of oriental writing on it – that no one knew what said. Oops – the writing was in chinese (or, Japanese) and to those who could read it, it was x-rated. Broderbund had to recall all the copies of the game that had been shipped to retail.
-Ken W