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Some of you may know that Sierra released at least two (I think) VHS casettes with promos for their games in the late 80’s. They feature some very interesting material that really deserves archiving on the Internet. However, I doubt that many people have copies of these videos that are still in good shape. Does anyone remember them?
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(re: re: Sierra video promos) I own the Sierra On-Line Video Catalog 1989-90 Labeled:
Sierra On-line
Video Catalog 1989-90
P.O. Box 485
Coarsegold, CA 93614
I’ll be quite honest, I cannot remember which games are on there, but I will check again tonight.
If Ken will give me the server space, I’ll convert and post it for everyone – what format do you all prefer? Quicktime? Windows Media?
Just let me know.
-Brad -
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(re: re: Sierra video promos) Wow! You definately have to get those videos uploaded sometime. They’re a very important piece of Sierra history that has almost been forgotten. Just knowing what is on those videos would be worth a lot. Besides, the quality of these things will certainly go on decaying over the years, so a digital conversion would be nice.
That reminds me to ask something. Is it possible that Sierra still has some kind of archive with all the old stuff like this still in good condition? Or is that something that a software company wouldn’t be bothered with? How was it in the old days? -
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(re: re: re: Sierra video promos) I just got through digitizing my 89-90 Sierra Catalog VHS, and am set up to digitize more, as well as convert to a DVD compilation . I have a fairly decent MPEG, it is weighing in around 80MEGS for 14mins worth of vintage Sierra. Ken – can I upload this to you for the gang to d/l?
-Brad -
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(re: re: re: re: Sierra video promos) Brad:
Sorry .. you can’t upload the 80 megabytes here — tooooooo big .. it would hurt my costs to run this site too much.
What about:
Burn CDs with it (and, other stuff) .. and charge people $5 via paypal .. and, you’ll mail it to them. You can promote it here (I’ll find a prominent place) .. and after your costs you’ll make $4 / CD.
If you don’t spend too much on blank CDs you should be able to earn enough for lunch at McDonalds.
-Ken W
PS I was serious .. it might be worth trying… I think the person digitizing the old Interactions should do the same thing… -
(re: re: Sierra video promos) Emily,
No way to handle that on dial-up? An average-quality dial up is 10 mb/hour. Run it for a whole night and you’ve got the file.
At a certain time I’ve used my dialup as broadband, downloading gigabytes of stuff with the right software and dialers 🙂
But I downloaded really useful stuff this way (programming SDKs, etc) so I didn’t run out of patience. As for the music fans, etc. the approach is truly unusable.
Regards,
Vesko -
(re: re: Sierra video promos)
emily, use a program like gozilla or getright. I use the older version of gozilla because i like it better then the new one. You can get it @ http://www.oldversion.com
The largest file i’ve downloaded with Gozilla on my 56k dialup is about 300mb. Took a couple nights, but i got it. 🙂
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(re: re: re: Sierra video promos) well, i was being a little dramatic. i’ve done the overnight thing. downloaded tierra’s KQ2 remake and digital music pack that way.
i guess i should have phrased it differently, i.e. “i don’t WANNA download 80 megs!”
but of course, for sierra promos i’d do it anyway…
🙂 emily -
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(re: re: re: Sierra video promos) Stephen,
The promo is 14 minutes long. I am using MPEG1 compression. Roughly 320×240 size. File size is 89Megs. I’ll experiment with some of the streaming formats, as well as the newer MPEG formats. Just did a quick MPEG1 to start for everyone.
Ken, I am all for putting this video on a CD to provide for everyone – I know that d/ling large files again and again can get costly traffic wise. What I would LOVE to be able to do is to take the other videos you have, along with this one, and make a fully authored DVD set that has all of them on there. If you have some of the original tapes from then (3/4 Umatic, Beta, etc etc) I can make great looking MPEG2 DVD’s with a fully authored menu, as well as work on a custom intro and even an animated full motion menu, I’ll even throw it at it’s highest quality for you on a Digibeta tape. I own and have access to tons of video equipment and edit systems – it’s my day job doing multimedia design, and video editing/production – so I am set up for it.
Having a archived DVD set would rock, and I would provide it to anyone who wanted it at cost. We could also add music tracks, excerpts from the games (other than what is shown in the promo videos), concept art, (old photos that you said you have and just received), Box scans, history info, etc etc. Heck, (and I am not joking) I’ll personally gather my video crew and fly out to do a professional on camera interview with ya, and tote around your old stomping grounds while we all relive the 80’s, and throw that on the DVD as well.
Anyway.. the possibilities are virtually endless – all I know is that I want to preserve Sierra (as many on this board are wanting as well), and am willing to do just about anything. Just let me know. I think the videos are a great start!
-Brad -
(re: re: re: Sierra video promos)
Hello all,
Please PLEASE make this a cross platform format like quicktime or MPEG4. DO NOT convert it into some obscure Windows only format like WMV or whatever they are using now. Realplayer is, in my view, not going to cut it either. I hope you’ll consider before you releasing it! Thanks.
Is there anyone of you who DO have all the Interactions? Those seem almost impossible to get. I’ve been looking for about two years now, and I’ve only found a few. It’ll be very cool if someone could scan them.
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(re: re: re: re: Sierra video promos) Brad, if you do all of these things, you will have my eternal gratitude! And more importantly, some of my money for a copy of that DVD. I’d be prepared to pay whatever it would cost. Just don’t get any ideas now… 😉
If it would be possible to add that Smithsonian video to the bunch that would be great! It is possible to obtain copies for just an administrative cost. You could probably even get a broadcast-quality version without timestamps for this project.
And if you’re looking for rare Sierra material, ask Tom Lewandowski at
Link: http://www.queststudios.com(http://www.queststudios.com)
He has lots of stuff in pristine condition and would probably love to help out. I am also sure that this would pay off in the end. I’ll do the best I can to encourage you and tell as many people as possible to buy a copy if it gets made! -
(re: re: re: re: re: Sierra video promos)
Wow! What a great link! (
Link: http://www.queststudios.com(http://www.queststudios.com)
) A VERY well done site.
I listened to the music to “Girl in a Tower” from KQ6, and it brought back some fun memories.
My apologies if I’ve already told this story, but:
I was always trying to find ways to “hype” our products through conventional media. I thought of Sierra as being part of the broader “Entertainment Industry”, not as just a computer game company.
Anyway…
I had the idea to try to get airplay for the Girl in the Tower – to see if I could get it to start showing up on radio bestseller charts. My vision was that if we could start getting momentum behind the game music on radio, then I could start a new category at music stores, for game music. In Japan, you see game soundtracks all the time in music stores. Why not in the US? We spent a lot of money on top composers.
So…
We put into the initial boxes of Kings Quest 6 a flyer with the “dial in” request line numbers for the radio stations in major cities, and told people that if they agreed with us (that Girl in the Tower was a great song) they should call their radio station and request the song. We also mailed to all these same stations a copy of the CD.
We sold around 400,000 copies of Kings Quest 6 the first week. Imagine 400,000 people calling radio stations at the same time to request the same song. Some played it – but, most just got angry and called me, or had their lawyers call me. We jammed the phone lines. Radio stations threatened to sue me. I don’t remember what crime they alledged that I committed, but in my opinion, the radio stations were the the criminals for ignoring their customers – something I believe no business should ever do.
Oh well… I was younger then – and, the song WAS great.
-Ken W -
(re: Sierra video promos)
I remember the hype about getting that song on the air!
I had the mac version of KQ6, which didn’t include the vocals (just the background music). I still loved the theme. (I was an adolescent girl… every time that love theme came on it made me swoon… especially when Cassima and Alexander are talking to each other through the chink in the wall!)
Anyway, that summer I bought the Sierra Soundtrack CD so I could hear the song with the vocals. I still have it…
I think it’s too bad that songs from games aren’t more widely played. Even the soundtracks can be hard to get. For years I was hunting for the GK Mysteries pack so I could get the soundtrack (even though I already had both games) — finally got my hands on it earlier this year. I know of a few other games that have come out with soundtracks, but they all seem hard to find… not readily available as I would expect. But maybe I’m just not looking hard enough…
-emily
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(re: re: re: re: re: re: Sierra video promos) Wow! What a great link! (
Link: http://www.queststudios.com(http://www.queststudios.com)
) A VERY well done site.
Yes it is! There’s hours worth of surfing material there. Tom is about as big a Sierra fan as they come, and his knowledge of Sierra music is awesome! This site has been online for 8 years, and is the ultimate source for Sierra music. If you have the time, why not send him a few kind words!? He’s already got great endorsements from Sierra legends like Al Lowe, Robert Holmes, Mark Seibert and many others.
I must also say that he’s a great composer himself. He has arranged and written the music for the two unofficial King’s Quest remakes, and his score for the KQ2 remake is right up there with the best of the stuff from the original Sierra games. He would have made a great addition to the Sierra music staff in those days. 🙂 -
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(re: re: Sierra video promos)
There was a Sierra Soundtrack CD? I must of missed it! I got one of the Zelda CD’s (the Symphonic Hyrule one) and have been looking for the live concert CD’s that Nintendo put out years ago. I even tried to convince the local high school music teacher to play some game songs (specificly Sq and Zelda) but nothing ever came of it. 🙁 Just so I could get a live copy on CD!
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(re: Sierra Soundtrack Collection)
Mark Seibert has the whole soundtrack available on his website in MP3 format. link below.
-emily
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(re: re: re: re: re: Sierra video promos) Petter,
I am all over the idea of compiling a huge DVD set, and want to get more people like yourself fired up over it – I will contact Tom, and see what things he has, I have quite a collection myself. We need to start a list of things we want on this set. I think the videos from the the Smithsonian would be awesome, I know Ken was going to submit to get them – Ken, try to get the ones without the timecode burned in, and also Ken, still have not heard from you concerning the other videos, you have, and what formats you have them on, I only have the one promo video from 89.
Frans, I am experimenting with MPEG4 right now.. I will see what size it outputs. Also, I think you contacted me about Space Quest articles in my interaction magazine collection, I will try to look through those and find articles you do not have already. I can’t remember who was spearheading the Interaction scan project (Brandon?) but I have lots to contribute. We need to start an Online list to see which ones (as a group) we are missing, and put out an APB on the missing ones (and look to Ken to fill the holes hopefully).
So,
1. List Sierra Publications
2. Compile wants list for DVD set
3. Ken, let us know what videos (including the Smithsonian) you can contribute
4. Frans, let me know what magazines you have already scoured for SQ articles, so I can skip those
-Brad -
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(re: Sierra video promos) >Is there anyone of you who DO have all the Interactions? Those seem almost impossible to get.
>I’ve been looking for about two years now, and I’ve only found a few. It’ll be very cool if someone could scan them.
I have a number of Interactions, yes. Not nearly all of them, but a good number. I am working on scanning them… my posts about that are around here somewhere. Unfortunately, just the other day my scanner has stopped working, halting my work. -
(re: Sierra video promos) >I actually still have my CD of the Sierra Soundtrack Collection. Always wished it had the Space Quest III theme on it.
Frans’ Space Quest site has lots of great Space Quest MP3s. Does anyone else have official Sierra CDs? We have Mark Seibert’s Sierra Soundtrack MP3s… maybe if anyone has another soundtrack, they could post the MP3s? I have the official QFG5 soundtrack, I could post the MP3s if Ken allows it. -
(re: re: Sierra video promos)
I have the GK Mysteries soundtrack (mostly GK2 music, also some from GK1 and GK3). I had been looking for it in MP3s for years before I finally found a copy of the mysteries pack. Would be happy to make MP3s available to others, assuming they can be hosted here or somewhere else (I don’t have the bandwidth to host them myself).
-emily
ps what’s the story with MP3s these days? are they legal… it’s just file sharing that’s illegal?
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(re: re: re: re: re: re: re: Sierra video promos) Hey Ken,
Glad to hear you are on board with digging through your videos. I know you have a lot – heck you should. =) Anyhow, unless there is some really hush-hush outtakes from the Softporn hut-tub photoshoot, I would suggest “filtering” as little as possible. Tape up the box of videos, find out what kind of deposit I need to put on it (as a measure of good faith) and ship it all down here so I can get started – if I need to make a 10 DVD set, so be it. Or better yet, gather it in chunks – I’ll re-master a group of videos on DVD, and send them back, and you can send another group in. Whatever works – just lemme know, and as you are digging, if you can find any other professional broadcast formats of the same “VHS” version, please by all means – let’s use those, I’ll have the machine to play it back.
Thanks Ken!
-Brad
P.S. I got the 14 minute 1989 Promo video down to about 40meg (from 90meg) using a MPEG codec still looks pretty good (for a VHS transfer).. anyone want to host that? -
(Soundtracks) Emily, I would love to hear that soundtrack. I don’t think we’d get in trouble for posting mp3s from the CDs here… it’s just a matter of whether Ken has the space and can handle the bandwidth of many people downloading them, I’m sure. The QFG5 soundtrack, mp3 at 128 kb/s and 18 tracks, is a total of 46 megs. Maybe this is another case, where anyone who has MP3s can send them all to one person. Then that person burns a data CD with all the MP3s on it, and mails it out for shipping/CD cost.
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(re: re: Sierra video promos)
I just read (i forget where) but I belive anything before 1928 can’t be copywrited. However, even though classical music is “free”, the person who arranged the song (if changed from the origional) can charge for his copywrited arrangement. There is some sites out there that give away royality free video/audio though.
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(re: re: re: Sierra video promos)
“ps what’s the story with MP3s these days? are they legal… it’s just file sharing that’s illegal?”
There’s a legal complication with mp3’s. If any developer uses them in a product, they have to pay a licensing fee. See
http://www.mp3licensing.com
Ogg Vorbis was developed to overcome this hurdle, and it should work just fine. Players like Windows Media Player might not support it by default, but you can probably easily get a codec for it (certainly there are other media players out there that do support ogg).
I seriously doubt that mp3 sound quality is more superior to that of ogg’s.
Personally, either will work for me, but I think ogg is the way to go. You could potentially put an ogg-compatible free media player on whatever CD you develop for Windows. Linux media players almost always have ogg support, so you need not worry about them. I’m not sure if Mac players typically support them (Frans?).
As for video format, I’m with Frans – please use more widely accepted formats like Mpeg/DivX to accomodate us non-Windows users.
Finally, I’d appreciate it if whoever is making the CD’s also provide them in non-DVD format (I don’t have a DVD player). If that means more CD’s for you to ship, I’ll gladly pay a (reasonable) amount extra for it.
Thanks
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(re: Soundtracks)
okay, i’m having a little trouble. maybe someone who’s not MP3 challenged can help me out.
when i insert my GK soundtrack, i can’t see any of the music tracks — only data files that apparently go with the interactive part of the disk. i can play the CD, but when i try to convert the tracks to MP3, no tracks are listed for the CD. (i have tried using both Windows Media Player, and a jukebox utility that came pre-installed on my PC.)
i don’t have the GK Mysteries installed on my computer right now (and wasn’t actually able to use the interactive features of the CD, i suspect because I haven’t installed something that needs to be installed), but still, if I can play the tracks, I expected I’d also be able to see them.
any ideas?
-emily
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(re: Sierra video promos) Hey Bob, great to see you here! If you have any memorable Sierra stuff, please do share it with everyone here!
Brad, I’ll revise my list again with the catalogues / extras that I have.
Beetle, yes, that may be so but we’re not using the music in a “product.” We’re just uploading it here for people to download. That’s not an applicable argument. Whether it’s in MP3 or OGG format – if Sierra wanted to take legal action for their old music CDs being ripped and uploaded, it wouldn’t matter.
As for the quality issue, I already said I think MP3 is still more wide spread and the quality difference is not a huge issue – at least at this stage in the game. There are “clueless” people out there who don’t know how, or don’t want to know how, or couldn’t be bothered to download codecs etc, no matter how easy it might be. They just want to play MP3s.
EDIT: Good quality the first time, definitely. And it will be a lot of work, but better to do it right first. Especially since most of the magazine paper is too thin, so depending on your scanner you will see through on the other side, and then you have to edit that all out. By the way I will tackle getting my scanner to work again tomorrow. I hope it’s not broken… 🙁 -
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(re: Sierra Video Catalog) I have been reading about this project to archive all of the Sierra magazines and am very excited. I would be willing to pay money to own this complete compilation of the history of one of the greatest game companies. I remember owning a Sierra Video Catalog with live action for games such as KQ4, PQ2, and ads for Manhunter. I wonder if anyone else had this as well or transfered it to a computer file. My brother taped a show over my copy years ago and I was really mad. It’s great that this site is up, as I grew up with these games on my Apple IIGS! Look forward to seeing this archive CD.
Aaron:
Thanks for following our progress! We are definitely working on creating the magazine archive, and are also working on creating a video archive as well. I suspect the magazine archive will come first, and others will follow. We plan on making a very high quality archive, with nice packaging and labeling, basically good production values all around, and will be distributed to any one that wants one at cost. So stay tuned for further developments. I am very sorry to hear that you had your copy taped over. Which catalog was it? I personally own the 1988-89 catalog, It has Colonel’s Bequest, Space Quest III, Quest for Glory, Hoyles, Manhunter.. sounds like your was a bit different – quite a shame. Any other Sierra goodies that you own?
-Brad -
Just lost my last entry to an asp error.
I’m hoping I can track down either orginals or copies of these catalogs. Digital copies would be fine if they are high quality.
I’m making a fan site, and the majority of the content will be Sierra demo movies compressed as macromedia flash movies for online viewing.
I’ve looked around and the links are either dead or, the quality of the transfer is poor, so far I haven’t seen these on Ebay, and I’d really like to make these available on my site (underway at http://www.sierra-collector.com)
Thanks.
Steve.
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