Magazine articles and similar about Infocom and its works,
mostly dating from when Infocom was active.
Note: The `*-text` files were uploaded by Infocom employee
Stu Galley from his private archive (read: attic).
# old
Older, less good copies of some of the files in this directory.
# AmigaWorld86.txt
Two articles from AmigaWorld January/February 1986,
pages 70-73, transcribed by Kirk Davies:
- The Wizard of Wishbringer -
"A totally objective, highly critical and unbiased
interview with Infocom game designer Brian Moriarty,
by Brian Moriarty."
- Tour of a Dream Factory -
A visitor's description of Infocom, by Bob Liddil
# BYTE_1981-02_Zork_Advert.pdf
Zork Advert, from Byte February 1981.
# BYTE_1981-02_Zork_Product_Review.pdf
Review of Zork by Bob Liddil, from Byte February 1981.
# Dan_Horn_interview.mp3
ANTIC Interview 88 with Dan Horn, technical director
at Infocom. Hosted by Randy Kindig, Kevin Savetz and
Brad Arnold.
# Discover_March1984.pdf
"Games With a Real Byte To Them," by Gary Taubes,
published in the March 1984 issue of Discover
magazine.
# Enchanter_Ahoy_Mar84.pdf
Review of Enchanter, from Ahoy March 1984.
# Family_Computing_Apr88_Beyond_Zork.pdf
Review of Beyond Zork, from Family Computing April 1988.
# Family_Computing_Dec86_Disk_Drive_Detectives.pdf
"Disk Drive Detectives: Make Fiction Come Alive with
Mystery Games", by Shay Addams. Features "Deadline,"
"The Witness," "Ballyhoo," and other games. From Family
Computing December 1986.
# Family_Computing_Dec87_Stationfall.jpg
Review of Stationfall, from Family Computing December 1987.
# Family_Computing_Feb87_Trinity.jpg
Review of Trinity, from Family Computing February 1987.
# Family_Computing_Jun84_Blank_Berlyn_interview.pdf
"The Hard-Boiled School of Software: An Interview with
Marc Blank and Mike Berlyn of Infocom",
from Family Computing June 1984.
# Family_Computing_Jun84_Suspended.pdf
Review of Suspended, from Family Computing June 1984.
# Family_Computing_Jun85_Hitchhikers_Guide.jpg
Review of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, from
Family Computing June 1985.
# Family_Computing_Jun85_Wander_into_Wonderland.pdf
"Wander Into Wonderland: Adventure Games Take You on a
Vacation to a Place as Vivid as Your Imagination." An
article about the appeal of adventure games, with an
emphasis on Infocom. Also includes a sidebar interview
with Douglas Adams. From Family Computing June 1985.
# Family_Computing_May87_Moonmist.jpg
Review of Moonmist, from Family Computing May 1987.
# Family_Computing_Sep83_Zork1.pdf
Review of Zork 1, from Family Computing September 1983.
# Games.87
They Take the High-Tech Route to Adventure,
by Burt Hochberg
from Games magazine August/September 1987
# GamingWorld91.txt
Excerpt from A History of Computer Games, by Johnny Wilson
from Computer Gaming World, November 1991
# Globe84-text
Masters of the Game, by Richard Dyer
from "The Boston Globe" Magazine, May 6, 1984
# NYT83-text
Participatory Novels, by Edward Rothstein
from The New York Times BOOK REVIEW, May 8, 1983
# NZT-Briggs.txt
Infocom's First Romance: Plundered Hearts author
Amy Briggs talks about why she chose to write an
interactive romance
from The Status Line, Winter 1987, page 9
transcribed by Graeme Cree
# NZT-Fooblitzky.txt
Fooblitzky Keeps Puzzle-Solvers Busy
from The New Zork Times, Winter 1986, pages 1 and 5
transcribed by Graeme Cree
# NZT-GUEtech.txt
Is It GUE Tech or MIT? Dave Lebling Explains It...
from The Status Line, Winter/Spring 1988, page 5
transcribed by Graeme Cree
# NZT-InfoBets-text
How much you wanna bet? Dinner in Paris or Tokyo -
A history of InfoBets (anonymous) and
California Academy of Sciences debuts 'Marathon of the
Minds', by Stu Galley
from The Status Line, Winter/Spring 1987
# NZT-Sandusky-text
Upper Sandusky: No, it's not on Lake Erie and there
isn't a Joe's, by Steve Meretzky
from The Status Line, Fall 1987
# NZT-Sasha-text
Sasha Blunderbraas: Prime Virtuosa, by S. Eric Merescu
from The New Zork Times, Spring 1985
# NZT-Suspect.txt
Suspect Author Suspected, by Dave Lebling
from The New Zork Times, Winter 1985, page 8
transcribed by Graeme Cree
# NZT-Witness-text
How "The Witness" Came to Be
from The New Zork Times, Summer 1984
# NZT-ZQ-text
Good-Bye to The Status Line, Hello to ZQ (Zork Quarterly)
# NZT-Zorkhistory.txt
Three articles on the history of Zork, transcribed by
Graeme Cree:
- The History of Zork - First in a Series, by
Tim Anderson, from The New Zork Times, Winter 1985,
pages 6-7 and 11
- The History of Zork - Second in a Series, by
Tim Anderson, from The New Zork Times, Spring 1985,
pages 3-5
- The History of Zork - The Final (?) Chapter: MIT,
MDL, ZIL, ZIP; by Stu Galley, from The New Zork Times,
Summer 1985, pages 4-5
# NZT-advice.txt
A collection of New Zork Times advice columns,
transcribed by Graeme Cree:
- Ask Duffy, from Summer 1984, page 5
- Ask Jennifer, from Winter 1985, page 5
- Dear Miss Underground Manners, from The Status Line,
Fall 1986, page 2
# NZT-answers.txt
Frank Answers to the Ten Most Frequently Asked Questions
from The New Zork Times, Spring 1984, page 1-2
transcribed by Graeme Cree
# NZT-atomic-text
How I Spent My Summer Vacation, by Brian Moriarty
from ****, Spring 1986
from The Status Line, Spring 1989
# NZT-falcon.txt
The Shrinkwrapped Falcon, by A. Dashiell Meretzky
from The New Zork Times, Winter 1985, page 3
typed in by Dave Robeson
# NZT-gamedev.txt
Inside Look at Game Development
from The New Zork Times, Winter 1984, page 4
transcribed by Graeme Cree
# NZT-horoscope.txt
A collection of New Zork Times horoscopes,
transcribed by Graeme Cree:
- Infocom Horoscope, from Spring 1984, page 3
- Your Weekly Horoscope by Omar, from The Status Line,
Summer 1986, page 2
# NZT-music.txt
Music From the Great Underground Empire
(reprinted from U.S. News and Dungeon Report, 9/18/951)
from The New Zork Times, Spring 1985, page 8
transcribed by Graeme Cree
# NZT-name-text
A Zork By Any Other Name
from The New Zork Times, Winter 1984
# NZT-parser.txt
Parser??? by Stu Galley
from The Status Line, Spring 1989, page 2
transcribed by Graeme Cree
# NZT-testing-text
They're never satisfied, by Dave Lebling
from The New Zork Times, Fall 1984
# Newsweek85-text
Lost in Computer Fiction, by Bill Barol
from Newsweek, December 23, 1985
# PCjoker92.txt
Ein offenes Gespraech mit Steve Meretzky (German)
interview from PC Joker 5/92 (September/October 1992)
# PCjoker94.txt
Ein offenes Gespraech mit Infocom (German)
an interview with Eddie Dombrower and William D. Volk,
the makers of Return to Zork
from PC Joker 2/94 (February 1994)
# PCjoker95.txt
Ein offenes Gespraech mit Bob Bates (German)
interview from PC Joker 7/8'95 (July/August 1995)
# Post83-text
Through the Zorking Glass, by Curt Suplee
from The Washington Post, December 22, 1983
# PowerPlay.91
Schmiede der Legenden (German)
an interview with Bob Bates, from Power Play 12/91
# PowerPlayHHGTTG.txt
An interview with Douglas Adams about
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, from
Commodore Power/Play, April/May 1985
# Practical82.txt
Zork - Magic Meets Science Fiction, by Peter Fitch
from Practical Computing, April 1982
# Suspended_Ahoy_Jan84.pdf
Review of Suspended, from Ahoy January 1984.
# Time83-text
Putting Fiction on a Floppy, by Philip Elmer-De Witt
from TIME, December 5, 1983
# YC-87.txt
Infocom Special by Roger Garret, from Your Computer
March 1987, and Profile: Infocom's Dave Lebling by
Mike Gerrard, from Your Computer May 1987
typed in by Torbjoern Andersson
# Your64.txt
A review of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy",
from Your 64, July 1985. Typed in by David Kinder
# articles.zip
Articles by and interviews with Infocom writers
compiled by Paul David Doherty. Contents:
- IEEE Computer, 1979: "Zork: A Computerized Fantasy
Simulation Game" by Lebling/Blank/Anderson
- Creative Computing, 1980: "How to Fit a Large Program
Into a Small Machine" by Blank/Galley
- Byte, 1980: "Zork and the Future of Computerized
Fantasy Simulations" by Lebling
- Mike Gerrard's Lebling Interview (1987)
- Paul Rigby's Moriarty Interview
- New Zork Times, 1985: "The History of Zork" by
Anderson/Galley
# globe.890522
Computer-Games Firm Moving to California, by Ronald
Rosenberg. From Boston Globe, Monday May 22, 1989
# infidel.txt
INFIDEL (Infocom) vs SANDS OF EGYPT (Datasoft)
Reviewed by Michael Blanchet.
From Computer Games, July/August 1984
typed in by Joe Barlow
# scheyen-articles.zip
Articles about Infocom and the Implementors, 1982-1999. Collected by
Peter Scheyen at ; now mirrored at
:
- "EXEC INFOCOM: Adventures in Excellence" by Roe R. Adams. Softalk Magazine, October 1982, pages 35-40. [softalk.html]
- "Marc Blank: The Programmer Behind Zork" by Cathy Yakal. COMPUTE's Gazette, October 1983, Vol. 1, No. 4. [blank.html]
- "Solving Electronic Adventures" by Roe R. Adams III. In Games Magazine, June, 1984, pages 52-53. [solving.html]
- "The Wizards of Infocom" by Shay Addams. Computer Games, February 1984, pages 34-37, 52. [wizards.html]
- "The Challenge of Zork" by Tracie Forman. Electronic Games, ???? [challenge.html]
- "The Infinitely Improbable Doug Adams" by Roe R. Adams III. Electronic Games, April, 1985, pages 22-25, 78, 80-81. [dna.html]
- "if yr cmptr cn rd ths..." by Shay Addams. Computer Entertainment, August, 1985, pages 24-27 & 76-77. [parser-war.html]
- "Beyond Zork: An intimate look at Infocom, Inc." by Clayton Walnum. ANALOG Computing, March 1987, #52, pages 46-51. [infocom-tour.html]
- "Adventure Playground: Infocom's Dave Lebling" by Mike Gerrard. Your Computer, May 1987. [yc87b.html]
- "Like a Lemming To Lebling" by Nik Wild. GAMES Magazine, December/January 1987/1988. [tgm.html]
- "Adventures at Infocom" by Russ Ceccola. Commodore Magazine, January 1988, pages 70-73, 118-119. [adventures.html]
- "The Renaissance of Amiga Games" by Tom Malcom. Cyberplay, April 1992, pp 26 - 27. [amiga92.html]
- "The Lost Treasures of Infocom" by Andy Nuttall. Amiga Format, ????. [amigaformat.html]
- "The Infocom Adventure" by Theo Clarke. Strategy Plus, ????. [strategyplus.html]
- "This Ain't Your Daddy's Game" by Matthew A Firme. PC Gamer(?), pp 28 - 29. [daddy.html]
- "On location in the Great Underground Empire" by Johnny L Wilson. Computer Gaming World, February 1993, pages 19-21. [cgw93.html]
- "Where Are They Now?" by Steven Greenlee. Computer Game Review, April 1996, pages 82-88. [where.html]
- "Don't Panic - Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Neil Gaiman. Titan Books, pages 150-156. [Douglas.html]
- Game Gods: Steve Meretzky. PC Gamer, September 1999, pages 80-81. [meretzky.html]
# trinityCG.txt
Review of Trinity, from Compute!'s Gazette, March
1987. Scanned in by Patrick Kellum.
# zzap64.txt
Four Minds Forever Voyaging, by Sean Masterson
(interviews with Dave Lebling, Steve Meretzky,
Stu Galley, and Carl Genatossio)
from ZZAP! 64; typed in by Hans Persson