and now I want to reread Adams’s entire oeuvre.

April 18, 2008

So, a guy on the internet got his hands on an old cache of files from the company (now defunct) that released a bunch of great text-based computer games, including the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a huge hit game (based on Douglas Adams’s masterpiece) that made a lot of money. They also worked on a sequel, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, but the project and company self-destructed. The story is fascinating. Especially in the comments, where a guy who comes off looking bad in the history chimes in to make himself look even worse. He complains that the material Biao uses paints an unbalanced picture, and that Baio made no effort to contact him in advance of publishing it, and generally that it’s bad journalism.

The irony is that I think he’s probably right—this isn’t very good journalism. Baio should have tried to get in touch with the relevant persons (just about all of whom seem to be quite available) before publishing. No question, it’s a thorny issue—the material he’s citing was company property, so he doesn’t need permission from the employees to post it—and who knows what happened behind the scenes.

At any rate, there’s a lot to enjoy here, if you’re patient enough to wade through it all.

Posted in Internet Hi-Jinx, Links, Media, Tech, Writing