Spotted this at pc.ign.com, in a review of (of all things) The Sims: Vacation, written by Jason Bates:

"Thank goodness graphic adventures are nearly dead. In my view, those things weren't even games."

Uh. Hmm. Jason, two things: Number one, graphic adventures aren't dead. Not by a long shot. Number two, by whose twisted definition were adventures not games? If you were unable to find any enjoyment in, for example, Monkey Island 2, or Shenmue (yes, it's an adventure), then I pity you. I know that the reviewer's extremely limited knowledge of gaming history (there should really be some kind of schooling required) means that he equates "graphic adventure" with "Myst", but there's still no excuse for such a generalised and uninformed statement.

And, hey, what's wrong with linearity anyhow? I think The Sims is/was a brilliant game, but just because it doesn't have linear progression, a plot, or a definite end doesn't mean it's the epitome of PC gaming. Personally, I like to finish a game. I appreciate the feeling of accomplishment I get when I've completed something and can put it away. Sandbox games -- like The Sims, SimCity, SimGolf, and, to some degree, Rollercoaster Tycoon (it had set missions, but you could still "toy" around with it) -- are great fun, but they're not the only alternative out there. Sometimes I -- and millions of other players -- want to get lost inside a story, inside the heads of scripted characters. And, traditionally, that's been the strength of "graphic adventures": Giving the player the feeling of participating in a story, of playing out a role, of taking part in an arc that we know will reach a satisfying conclusion.

It's extremely short-sighted to claim that The Sims is the natural evolution of PC games, while the adventure is a dead end. So there's no room for variety? No room for different experiences? No room for personal taste? What a sad world it'd be if that was the truth. The Sims is great, no doubt. It gets really, really boring after a while, but so does most other things. It's fun to sit down in a sandbox sometimes and just toy around, but other times I want a more linear, more satisfying, more designed experience.

And, uh, to say that The Sims provides "a challenge to your storytelling abilities" is really stretching it. There's no way to play out a "story" in The Sims. The game can fire up the imagination and inspire people to create stories around their characters and domiciles -- even to write them down and share them with others -- but there's a world of difference between that and an actual in-game story, or tools allowing players to act out a story inside the game. That's not what The Sims is about. It's really complicated dollhouse. And that's all.

Phew. Had to vent. Feel free to return to whatever you were doing.  ¶ 14:50