Quintin Smith @ Gamasutra: "There's been a lot of chatter over the last few years about the death of the adventure game, and that's never sat right with me. It seems a sentiment spread mainly by Schafer-ites who have an unhealthy amount of nostalgia for the point'n'clicks of their youth, folk who'd rather wax sentimental than look forward. I say: The adventure game is enjoying a new lease of life in Irem's Steambot Chronicles for the PS2, and this year the sequel comes out on PS3.
Steambot's lack of recognition as an adventure game can probably be blamed on it getting categorised (correctly) as a mech RPG set in the 1920s. It takes place in a Japanese re-imagining of the past where the rise of the automobile happens side-by-side with the rise of the 'trotmobile'. Imagine the penny farthing of the mech world and you're there. Your rakish, shipwrecked, amnesiac (!!) protagonist owns a trotmobile, and a big chunk of the game is in piloting, upgrading and customizing your little machine."
