Question for AGDI staff - Manhunter rumour

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Iceberg · #1 Post by **Iceberg** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:34 pm

Hey everybody...first post here...

I read a rumour on another website stating that several years back, a deal had been struck between Vivendi and AGDI permitting AGDI to remake any Sierra classics that they liked - except for the Leisure Suit Larry and Manhunter games.

LSL I could understand, because it is still an "active" series. But I am baffled as to why the Manhunter series would be off-limits. It's not even as if there were plans to revive the series, because the post I saw is now about two years old.

Is there any truth to this rumour?

Thanks...!

AsianMusicGuy · #2 Post by **AsianMusicGuy** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:48 pm

AGDI does have a licences to remake games by sierra yes as far as LL and manhunter vendi is the copyright holders so that is there choice

Iceberg · #3 Post by **Iceberg** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:07 am

I'd just be curious as to why they wouldn't allow a Manhunter remake - if the rumour is true. It's not like they've done anything with or shown any interest in the series for nearly 20 years now.

AsianMusicGuy · #4 Post by **AsianMusicGuy** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:11 am

ask vendi directly then

#5 Post by **Erpy** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:28 am

I never heard that one before. What website did you read that on? Anyway, there's never been any specific mention of games off-limits to remake treatment, although for every future project, we'd have to ask permission in advance.

AsianMusicGuy · #6 Post by **AsianMusicGuy** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:40 am

Exactly

#7 Post by **navynuke04** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:47 am

Yeah... what Erpy said. Even LL isn't technically off-limits. We just have to get approval before starting any new projects.

AsianMusicGuy · #8 Post by **AsianMusicGuy** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:42 am

there is your answer

Iceberg · #9 Post by **Iceberg** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:55 am

Erpy wrote:I never heard that one before. What website did you read that on? Anyway, there's never been any specific mention of games off-limits to remake treatment, although for every future project, we'd have to ask permission in advance.

Here's the site; the relevant post is near the bottom:

http://www.adventuregamers.com/forums/a ... -8251.html

I figured the rumour was just that - a rumour - because the poster also claims to have heard that the Murrys bought the rights to Manhunter in the 90's (which never happened - Sierra still holds the rights to the Manhunter property). Anyways, I was curious and just figured I'd ask. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

#10 Post by **Erpy** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:30 am

He probably deduced that himself instead of getting it straight from the horse's mouth.

The topic's rather old, already archived even, so there isn't much point in me jumping in there and posting a correction. Oh well.

Alistair · #11 Post by **Alistair** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:07 am

Actually, I was under the impression the Murry's owned Manhunter IP as well- a few years back now, I was approached to help out an unofficial Manhunter 3 project, which involved the surviving Murry brothers as well as fans.

That in itself doesn't prove theyhave anything, but the way the guy wrote the email it implied they owned it.

But, I don't have it anymore, unfortunately. I wonder whatever happened to the project.

- Alistair

Iceberg · #12 Post by **Iceberg** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:42 am

Alistair wrote:Actually, I was under the impression the Murry's owned Manhunter IP as well- a few years back now, I was approached to help out an unofficial Manhunter 3 project, which involved the surviving Murry brothers as well as fans.

That in itself doesn't prove theyhave anything, but the way the guy wrote the email it implied they owned it.

But, I don't have it anymore, unfortunately. I wonder whatever happened to the project.

- Alistair

Really? THAT'S very interesting. I'm a bit of a Manhunter buff (I'm the owner of the Manhunter Shrine over at talkspot.com) so I was wondering if you could maybe expand on that a little, if you wouldn't mind. In exchange, I may be able to provide you a little more information on the project you were almost involved in. :)

I believe that Barry passed away in October of 2001. Based on your post, I'm guessing that you may have been contacted by Dave and Barry's son Mike.

As for the project, I'm afraid that I may have been at least partially responsible for getting everyone excited about the possibility of a third Manhunter game.

You see, a few years after Sierra laid off all of their original staff, a rumour went around that they had offered to sell the rights to Quest for Glory to the Coles (creators of that series). According to the rumour, the Coles refused because they had wrapped up everything quite neatly in Dragon Fire and felt there was nothing left to do with the series. As a postscript to this, Lori Cole posted on her website (Transolar) that it was actually the other way around - a couple of years ago, they had attempted to secure the rights to QfG in order to write novels based on the series, but Sierra either refused or wanted too much money. Either way, it means that the earlier rumour I had heard was probably false.

But I didn't know that at the time, and it made me start thinking: if Sierra was willing to offer the rights to QfG to the Coles, would they be willing to offer the rights to Manhunter to the Murrys? I e-mailed Evryware and told them about the rumour I had heard.

Next thing you know, there's a "Manhunter 3 - coming soon" section that appeared on their website. Eventually that was changed to a "Manhunter 3 - Ultimate Online Adventure" ad spot. And finally - nothing. And I think I can explain all of that, too.

When the Murrys started thinking again about Manhunter, they contacted Sierra to see if they could secure the rights or at least obtain permission to use the property. This new Manhunter 3 would have been done in the same style as the first two games, except that it would have used Flash animation. It would have been an Internet-only game accessed on a pay-to-play basis.

Then they started thinking bigger and the vision changed. NOW they envisioned Manhunter 3 as a massively multiplayer online game where you could choose whether you were neutral or allied with the Orbs or the Underground. Orb-allied players (Manhunters) could track and hunt the others, while the Underground would battle against the Orbs and their servants.

Unfortunately, my understanding of the matter is that Sierra never responded to any of the enquiries regarding the rights to Manhunter and the whole thing was ultimately shelved.

Do either of those sound even remotely like the project you were approached to take part in?

Iceberg · #13 Post by **Iceberg** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:33 pm

And while I'm on a bit of a roll here, I have another question for the AGDI admins, because something else just occurred to me.

I'm guessing that when you want permission to remake a game, you send the enquiry directly to Vivendi. The understanding I have is that the Murrys have tried to contact Sierra several times over the past decade regarding the rights to Manhunter, but have never gotten a response. I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, the reason they haven't had more success is that they've put the question to Sierra when they should have been going directly to Vivendi.

My question, then, is do you have a dedicated contact at Vivendi for this sort of thing? I'm thinking that you probably don't have to submit anything as elaborate as a business plan or anything (since the remakes have to be non-profit), but is there any sort of process or set procedure that you generally follow when asking them if you can remake a game?

Alistair · #14 Post by **Alistair** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 7:38 am

Iceberg,

Sorry for the delays, I don't really visit these forums any more. Feel free to contact me via IM or via email (I'm easy to contact) and we can continue this.

- Alistair