About two decades ago, computer games were all about the story. If I think well, in the adventure games realm, there were even more games to choose from than today! I know, I may not be right, but that's how I feel when I look back at those days, and then see what's being offered now. The good part is that you don't need to find some ancient computer to run those oldies once again, because they are slowly taken back to life...online!

Before moving on to the free browser based games from Sierra, let me tell you about Quake 3. I hope you remember it, right? Back in 2000-2001, we were talking about one of the best looking FPS games, and also a pretty demanding one. Now, we can play it in the browser! Needless to say, most low-end computers you will find to purchase these days can handle it without breaking a sweat.

OK, back to Sierra now. If you're one of the older gamers, you surely remember adventure games like King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, and Quest for Glory. What do they have in common, apart from "quest," obviously? They come from Sierra Entertainment, Inc., formerly known as Sierra On-Line, and now the company has been absorbed by Activision.
<-300x250 Medium Rectangle - center->
The good part is that Sierra is gone, but won't be forgotten that easily, because Sarien.net is "the portal for reliving the classic Sierra On-Line adventure games," and "hopes to win new gamers' hearts and promote the adventure game genre."

Currently, Sarien is offering Space Quest I, Police Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. Apart from being able to play these oldies right inside your browser, you can also try Sarien Studio, a resource explorer that shows you how background images and objects were implemented in those early days of computer gaming.

To do that, you need to pick one of the three games currently available, then choose pictures or views, and finally check individual items(for views, you have more graphics to check out - practically, these are frames of the in-game animations).

The best part of it all is that more free browser based games from Sierra should become available in the future, and this is not all, because Sarien.net also adds a whole new dimension to the old games at your disposal - multiplayer! Basically, we're talking about a bunch of gamers trying to solve same puzzles at once. This can become a problem, if too many simultaneous users are in a place, but as far as I can tell now, everything's just great, so type Sarien.net in your browser and let the adventure begin!

Now, more than ever, we need things to help us evade our daily little problems and dream. Yeah, I know - the global cooldown is getting colder with each day, but that doesn't mean we have to feel down. Just remember there's always someone who's in a worse state than you, and you should feel better - at least that's what I usually do, when I get into a dark mood. Anyway, we're not here to talk about thinking, but about gaming, so let's check out the latest rumors about Fable II, shall we?

Since the game reached gold master status on September 22, 2008, and was released a month later - only for Xbox, unfortunately, there's no point in talking about its release date...unless we're going to see a new distribution method becoming available! Why? Well, back in October, Fable 2 became available on DVD-DL, and now the future is here - those who missed it so far will be able to grab <-125x125 Button - right->it as a digital download!

Talking to GamesIndustry.biz about a possible full digital release of Fable II, Lionhead Studios' boss, Peter Molyneux, said "I think it would be a great thing for this studio to work on," but didn't go further. Why? This is the really funny part - "I can't say anything else on it – I would be killed to death," he concluded.

So...like it or not, at least for the coming months, I think the digital download is a great idea for those gaming companies looking to cut costs. I am not talking about Fable II, since this distribution model could be applied to the entire industry. That's fine with me, as long as "classic" games will still be available, although their prices may be a bit high, as it currently happens with vinyl records still being issued here and there - and those are, without any doubt, priced collectors items!

What gamers need these days is games able to successfully blend more genres that were clearly separated until now, and a first-person adventure game sounds exactly like that. To be more specific, we're talking about Mirror's Edge, and today I'll give you a few details about it.

First of all, it seems the Mirror's Edge release date is going to be some day of January, 2009, but I have no idea about it. Basically, Mirror's Edge release date is still a mystery, so let's check the minimum system requirements, <-125x125 Button - right->shall we?

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP SP2/Vista
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz or 100% compatible equivalent
Memory: 1GB RAM
Video Card: 256MB memory with Shader Model 3.0*
HDD Space: 8GB
DVD Drive: 1x DVD Drive
Soundcard: Soundcard with DirectX 9.0c compatibility
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
Network: An online connection is required for access to Leaderboards

Even more, it seems this game would optionally support Nvidia's PhysX graphics technology, but we'll see how does that impact on its performance next month. Until then, I guess we should be happy without Mirror's Edge release date, and - if needed - upgrade our computers so we can face this challenge the right way!