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I played the demo a while ago, but I hadn't the chance of posting this.
Honestly, I wasn't very impressed at first. The western theme didn't appeal to me, some of the puzzles seemed weird (like that key thing on the piano) and (and I know you've probably heard this A LOT by now   ) Al Emmo's voice gave me shivers (is he supposed to be a chipmunk? I thought).

First time I got stuck, I almost stop playing for good. Almost.

For some reason, I returned to the game a couple of days later. Then I found the humor. And I found the characters. And I appreciated the backgrounds, the music, the voices (even Al's   ). And by the time the demo finished, I was really convinced, and I even felt a little sad that I couldn't see right away what would happen next.

My point is this: yes, you already knew you were making an unappealing main character, that's essential to the plot actually, BUT it is a little risky. A simple-minded gamer (read MORON) like myself might not give the game a second chance, and not discover the wonderful depths of the game. I'm glad I was able to cross that superficial first line, but many gamers (specially today's gamers that are used to BRING 'EM OUT kinda games) could not have the patient. If there's a lesson there for the future, I don't know, I just share my experience.

On the other hand, I'm thankful I could see these things, and I'm ready to buy the game (I haven't yet cause I'm moving out of town in a couple of weeks, so I was waiting to see if the game came out before, but now I see I'll have to order it from my new town). Thank you for devoting so many years to the adventure genre and to this game. I really wish you the greatest success with it and I hope gamers like me who are not specially fond of westerns, are able to "cross the line" as well. Cheers.

Mmmh, no one has posted anything in weeks. I really hope this is the calm that precedes the storm, and all of a sudden I'll open the site tomorrow and I'll find Al Emmo has finished beta testing and is ready for shipment!    Yeah, right...

Seriously, how is beta testing doing? And BTW, you know, Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine is a name that triggers the idea that there'll be different adventures for Al, like Al Emmo and the Canadian Vampire or so (who was it, btw, I kind of recall somebody was obsessed with you turning Al into a vampire from Canada or something like that. Go figure. ). I mean, are you planning to make Al Emmo a saga like Sierra did with most of their characters?

I know it may sound stupid to ask if you have already planned the future when you haven't  even released your first game, and that many things will depend on how it sells and all of that, but hey, we need to discuss SOMETHING in these forums, right?  

So, after years working in Al Emmo...Would you go for a second chapter in Al Emmo's saga or would you prefer to start fresh with another type of game?

I just found this list of the so-called 50 best games ever. I understand lots of people voted this list by internet, voting for their favourite 3 games. From a list of over 500 names, they took the 50 most voted, which were:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Final Fantasy VII
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Super Mario Bros. 3
5. The Secret of Monkey Island
6. Super Mario 64
7. Super Mario Bros.
8. Super Mario World
9. Resident Evil 4
10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the past

11. Street Fighter 2
12. Half Life
13. Final Fantasy X
14. Tetris
15. Half Life 2
16. Starcraft
17. Metal Gear Solid 3
18. Final Fantasy VIII
19. Doom
20. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

21. Sonic The Hedgehog
22. The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker
23. The Secret of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
24. Counter Strike
25. Smash Bros. Melee
26. Super Metroid
27. Chrono Trigger
28. Super Mario Kart
29. Final Fantasy IX
30. Pro Evolution Soccer

31. God of War
32. Castlevania Symphony Of The Night
33. Shenmue
34. Grand Theft Auto: Vice city
35. Halo 2
36. La abadía del crimen
37. Mario Kart DS
38. Resident Evil
39. The Legend of Zelda
40. Civilization

41. Civilization II
42. Age Of Empires II
43. Day of the Tentacle
44. Tales of Symphonia
45. Metal Gear Solid 2
46. Baldur's Gate 2
47. Halo
48. Pro Evolution Soccer 5
49. World of Warcraft
50. Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix

Top sagas

1. Saga Zelda
2. Saga Final Fantasy
3. Saga Mario
4. Saga Metal Gear
5. Saga Monkey Island
6. Saga Half Life
7. Saga Resident Evil
8. Saga Street Fighter
9. Saga Grand Theft Auto
10. Saga Metroid


Can you believe it? Adventure games are almost absent, and the only Sierra games are Half Life 1 and 2. I suppose this reflects the new (younger) gamers' taste (or lack of it, anyway). What do you think?

I just wanted to say, if you haven't decided between CD or download, that
when it comes to international customers is very discouraging to buy a game at, say 20 bucks by internet and then you have to pay 12 extra bucks for the shipment  :O and 4 more for the taxes . Eventually, you stop buying things by internet, because you always pay twice the price.

Just for this reason, I would prefer a download (even if it takes hours!).
Cheers