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Jane Jensen's Gray Matter out now on PC in Europe - NA PC release confirmed Feb 2011

XiaNaphryzXiaNaphryz Registered User regular
edited March 2011 in Games and Technology
Apparently it's out in Germany, and some people have gotten it. And there's an option for English! Here's a site that worked for one person (digital download): http://gamerunlimited.gamesplanet.com/kaufen-downloaden-pc-spiele/Gray-Matter-2194-14.html

For those who don't know (heathens!), Jane Jensen first started working on games with Police Quest III. Her first major lead design role was with King's Quest VI, and her first solo lead design role was with the Gabriel Knight series.

From impressions so far, this is your standard adventure game fare. Some people got a lukewarm first impression, but the game does ramp up and gets pretty good if you stick with it. If you're not a fan of the genre, this game probably won't make you one. If you're into old school point-and-click adventure games, sounds like you'll have an awesome time with this one.
The most glaring criticisms are the game’s graphics and animations. (Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way, shall we?) If you are expecting an adventure game with cutting edge graphics and animation, you will not find it here. What you can expect, however, is a game that is rich in story, mystery, and the supernatural. In other words, it’s all the things that fans of Jane Jensen’s games have come to expect.

Screens (click for full res):

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EDIT: North American release confirmed for Feb 2011, PC only (no 360 version).
Platform: PC
Price: $29.99
ESRB: Rating Pending (This is a mature game and not intended for all audiences.)
Release date: February 2011
Publisher: Viva Media
Developer: dtp Entertainment/Cranberry Production
System requirements:
Intel ® Pentium IV 1.6 GHz processor or similar, 512 GB of RAM, Windows ® XP / 1 GB of RAM Windows® Vista/7, DirectX 9.0c® (Shader 2.0) compatible graphics card with 128 MB of RAM (recommended 256 MB), DirectX® 9.0c compatible (16 bit) sound card, Windows® XP, Windows® Vista or Windows® 7, approximately 6 GB of free hard disk space, DVD-ROM drive, keyboard and mouse.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/11/gray-matter-confirmed-for-february-launch-on-pc-in-north-america/

XiaNaphryz on

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    l337CrappyJackl337CrappyJack Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Oh holy shit, I've been following this for forever. Can't believe I missed that.

    l337CrappyJack on
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    AaronKIAaronKI Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Nice. I've been following this off and on for years, too. Suddenly hearing "It's out!" is a pleasant surprise... especially when you were expecting it to fade into obscurity without ever seeing a release.

    I still need to play Gabriel Knight, though. I missed out on that series back in the day.

    AaronKI on
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    CherrnCherrn Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    The Gabriel Knights are still some of my favorite adventure games, so I've been looking forward to this for quite a while - especially since it apparently carries over story elements from what would have been Gabriel Knight 4.

    But you never know with adventure games nowadays. Even the ones with the most potential almost always have some really egregious problem with at least one aspect of their design. So I'm not quite ready to plunk down that amount of cash until the English release. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the German voice acting turns out to be superior. Still want to hear some more impressions.

    Cherrn on
    All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
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    LaPuzzaLaPuzza Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    l337CrappyJack wrote: »
    Oh holy shit, I've been following this for forever. Can't believe I missed that.

    LaPuzza on
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    XiaNaphryzXiaNaphryz Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Cherrn wrote: »
    The Gabriel Knights are still some of my favorite adventure games, so I've been looking forward to this for quite a while - especially since it apparently carries over story elements from what would have been Gabriel Knight 4.

    But you never know with adventure games nowadays. Even the ones with the most potential almost always have some really egregious problem with at least one aspect of their design. So I'm not quite ready to plunk down that amount of cash until the English release. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the German voice acting turns out to be superior. Still want to hear some more impressions.

    To clarify, the German release has a full English localization option, so both voice and text.

    I'm assuming the US release is delayed to coincide with the 360 release.

    XiaNaphryz on
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    AlejandroDaJAlejandroDaJ Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Nice! Are there any reviews, yet?

    I love Jane Jensen. Her novelization of Gabriel Knight II: The Beast Within is superb.

    AlejandroDaJ on
    Cute Things Dying Violently is on Greenlight! | ApathyWorks
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    XiaNaphryzXiaNaphryz Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    AlejandroDaJ wrote: »
    Nice! Are there any reviews, yet?

    I love Jane Jensen. Her novelization of Gabriel Knight II: The Beast Within is superb.

    Haven't seen any yet, at least from English sites.

    XiaNaphryz on
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    XiaNaphryzXiaNaphryz Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Gray Matter has been confirmed for North American release, but PC only. No 360 version.
    http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/11/gray-matter-confirmed-for-february-launch-on-pc-in-north-america/
    VIVA MEDIA ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH dtp ENTERTAINMENT FOR GRAY MATTER

    Viva Media inks a deal with dtp Entertainment for Jane Jensen's Gray Matter on PC for North American retail.

    New York, NY January 11,2011 – Viva Media announced it's acquisition of Gray Matter for retail release in North America today. Viva Media CEO Carlo Voelker commented, "We are thrilled to work with DTP entertainment to bring this long anticipated release to North America. DTP's International Sales Director Michael Kalina further commented, "The game is the brain child of one of the most gifted adventure game designers, Jane Jensen. We are very excited to see it find its way to North America with Viva Media."

    The game is scheduled to release online and roll into retail in February 2011.

    About Gray Matter:

    Gray Matter is the first adventure game by renowned author Jane Jensen since the release of Gabriel Knight 3: the story mixes eerie goings-on with supernatural events in best Jensen-style. Neurobiologist Dr. David Styles is one of the game's central characters: since losing his wife in a horrible accident some several years ago, he has become a recluse, seldom leaving Dread Hill House, his English country estate.

    When student and part-time street performer Samantha Everett shows up at his doorstep, she unexpectedly becomes his assistant. Hailing from America, she has been traveling through most of Europe the last couple years. Her first task: finding six test subjects at Oxford University for one of Styles experiments. The experiment starts off innocently enough, but then inexplicable incidents start mounting.

    Players control both Dr. David Styles and Samantha Everett in their bid to uncover the secrets and find out the truth. Gray Matter tackles questions concerning the nature of reality and the power of the human mind in constructing the world we take for granted.

    Platform: PC
    Price: $29.99
    ESRB: Rating Pending (This is a mature game and not intended for all audiences.)
    Release date: February 2011
    Publisher: Viva Media
    Developer: dtp Entertainment/Cranberry Production
    System requirements:
    Intel ® Pentium IV 1.6 GHz processor or similar, 512 GB of RAM, Windows ® XP / 1 GB of RAM Windows® Vista/7, DirectX 9.0c® (Shader 2.0) compatible graphics card with 128 MB of RAM (recommended 256 MB), DirectX® 9.0c compatible (16 bit) sound card, Windows® XP, Windows® Vista or Windows® 7, approximately 6 GB of free hard disk space, DVD-ROM drive, keyboard and mouse.

    XiaNaphryz on
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    CherrnCherrn Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    That's unfortunate in the sense that they probably won't sell as many copies, but considering no one is going to buy the console version of this anyway, it's not a big deal.

    I still really want to play it, but I'm (maybe futilely) waiting for it to hit Steam.

    Cherrn on
    All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
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    FantasyrogueFantasyrogue Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    From what I understand it'll hit the rest of Europe in February too in its English language version. I'm sorely tempted to order from Germany though, I've been wanting this game for a long time. The Gabriel Knight series is right up there in my list of favorite games so a new game by Jane Jensen is something I really want to play.

    Oh, there's a demo available on the official site, it's very short though.

    Fantasyrogue on
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    subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    That reminds me. I picked up the Gabriel Knight series when they went on sale at GOG.com.

    Would probably be a good time to try them.

    subedii on
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    UselesswarriorUselesswarrior Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Extreme bump.

    Game is $20 on Impulse right now. Anyone play it? Is it worth $20?

    Uselesswarrior on
    Hey I made a game, check it out @ http://ifallingrobot.com/. (Or don't, your call)
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    CherrnCherrn Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I own it, but haven't played very far. It's very slow and atmospheric in the beginning, but it shows promise. The background art is gorgeous, and the voice acting isn't too bad. It kind of reminds me of The Longest Journey in some ways, but I'm not sure how it pans out yet.

    Cherrn on
    All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
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    Sorcha RavenlockSorcha Ravenlock Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I picked this up from Impulse and am in the third chapter now. It seems well worth it, as long as you like classic point and click adventures.

    Word of advice: don't play the demo. It skips from a very short tutorial right to the third chapter, spoiling a lot of stuff that would be a lot more fun to find out by yourself in chapter 1 and 2 :(

    It's very pretty, the voice acting is solid, and I love the art styles of the cutscenes.

    The SURVEY2010 coupon still works for an extra 10% off, to make it even cheaper.

    Sorcha Ravenlock on
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    KrathoonKrathoon Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I totally forgot about this. It is getting good reviews on Amazon. I'll throw my money in the Jensen pile.

    They covered up the cleavage on the US cover. Silly.

    Krathoon on
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    UselesswarriorUselesswarrior Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    The first Gabriel Knight is my favorite adventure game. Lately though I haven't been getting much enjoyment out of the adventure games I've bought (the tell tale stuff).

    Still might go for this.

    Uselesswarrior on
    Hey I made a game, check it out @ http://ifallingrobot.com/. (Or don't, your call)
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    UselesswarriorUselesswarrior Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Sorcha Ravenlock wrote: »
    I picked this up from Impulse and am in the third chapter now. It seems well worth it, as long as you like classic point and click adventures.

    Word of advice: don't play the demo. It skips from a very short tutorial right to the third chapter, spoiling a lot of stuff that would be a lot more fun to find out by yourself in chapter 1 and 2 :(

    It's very pretty, the voice acting is solid, and I love the art styles of the cutscenes.

    The SURVEY2010 coupon still works for an extra 10% off, to make it even cheaper.

    Bought it, used the coupon for $2 off. Thanks for the heads up.

    Uselesswarrior on
    Hey I made a game, check it out @ http://ifallingrobot.com/. (Or don't, your call)
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    darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Laura would have wanted this thread.

    darleysam on
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    UselesswarriorUselesswarrior Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Who is Laura?

    Uselesswarrior on
    Hey I made a game, check it out @ http://ifallingrobot.com/. (Or don't, your call)
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    darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Sorry, it's something I started doing since the demo. The Phantom of the Opera guy just spent the entire demo moping about his mansion taking every opportunity to talk about Laura. Every single item you select would cause him to regale you with a story about his dead wife.

    And no, Jane Jensen, that isn't what Oxford looks like.

    darleysam on
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    UselesswarriorUselesswarrior Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Ah I didn't try the demo. Hilarious.

    Uselesswarrior on
    Hey I made a game, check it out @ http://ifallingrobot.com/. (Or don't, your call)
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    KrathoonKrathoon Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    This is very similar in structure to GK2. You play both of the protagonists and there is a map setup.

    Krathoon on
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    FantasyrogueFantasyrogue Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I got this last month and played through it straight. I loved it, had been missing a game like this for quite a while (as I've not really kept track of adventure games much in recent years). The backdrops are very well done, I really like the way the cutscenes are done too (I rather like the art style and such). The puzzles were somewhat easy though, I didn't really get stuck during the playing of this. But the story was great and for me that was the important part (and I really hope we'll get another one, I want more).

    Fantasyrogue on
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    DrezDrez Registered User regular
    I just picked this up on Impulse. It's half off this weekend ($14.99).

    I'm hoping it's good. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to install anything via Impulse right now. Sigh.

    Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
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