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).
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
Articles by and interviews with Infocom writers compiled by Paul David Doherty. Contents:
Zork Advert, from Byte February 1981.
Review of Zork by Bob Liddil, from Byte February 1981.
ANTIC Interview 88 with Dan Horn, technical director at Infocom. Hosted by Randy Kindig, Kevin Savetz and Brad Arnold.
"Games With a Real Byte To Them," by Gary Taubes, published in the March 1984 issue of Discover magazine.
Review of Enchanter, from Ahoy March 1984.
Review of Beyond Zork, from Family Computing April 1988.
"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.
Review of Stationfall, from Family Computing December 1987.
Review of Trinity, from Family Computing February 1987.
"The Hard-Boiled School of Software: An Interview with Marc Blank and Mike Berlyn of Infocom", from Family Computing June 1984.
Review of Suspended, from Family Computing June 1984.
Review of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, from Family Computing June 1985.
"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.
Review of Moonmist, from Family Computing May 1987.
Review of Zork 1, from Family Computing September 1983.
They Take the High-Tech Route to Adventure, by Burt Hochberg from Games magazine August/September 1987
Excerpt from A History of Computer Games, by Johnny Wilson from Computer Gaming World, November 1991
Computer-Games Firm Moving to California, by Ronald Rosenberg. From Boston Globe, Monday May 22, 1989
Masters of the Game, by Richard Dyer from "The Boston Globe" Magazine, May 6, 1984
INFIDEL (Infocom) vs SANDS OF EGYPT (Datasoft) Reviewed by Michael Blanchet. From Computer Games, July/August 1984 typed in by Joe Barlow
Lost in Computer Fiction, by Bill Barol from Newsweek, December 23, 1985
Participatory Novels, by Edward Rothstein from The New York Times BOOK REVIEW, May 8, 1983
A collection of New Zork Times advice columns, transcribed by Graeme Cree:
Frank Answers to the Ten Most Frequently Asked Questions from The New Zork Times, Spring 1984, page 1-2 transcribed by Graeme Cree
How I Spent My Summer Vacation, by Brian Moriarty from ****, Spring 1986 from The Status Line, Spring 1989
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
The Shrinkwrapped Falcon, by A. Dashiell Meretzky from The New Zork Times, Winter 1985, page 3 typed in by Dave Robeson
Fooblitzky Keeps Puzzle-Solvers Busy from The New Zork Times, Winter 1986, pages 1 and 5 transcribed by Graeme Cree
Inside Look at Game Development from The New Zork Times, Winter 1984, page 4 transcribed by Graeme Cree
Is It GUE Tech or MIT? Dave Lebling Explains It... from The Status Line, Winter/Spring 1988, page 5 transcribed by Graeme Cree
A collection of New Zork Times horoscopes, transcribed by Graeme Cree:
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
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
A Zork By Any Other Name from The New Zork Times, Winter 1984
Parser??? by Stu Galley from The Status Line, Spring 1989, page 2 transcribed by Graeme Cree
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
Sasha Blunderbraas: Prime Virtuosa, by S. Eric Merescu from The New Zork Times, Spring 1985
Suspect Author Suspected, by Dave Lebling from The New Zork Times, Winter 1985, page 8 transcribed by Graeme Cree
They're never satisfied, by Dave Lebling from The New Zork Times, Fall 1984
How "The Witness" Came to Be from The New Zork Times, Summer 1984
Three articles on the history of Zork, transcribed by Graeme Cree:
Good-Bye to The Status Line, Hello to ZQ (Zork Quarterly)
Ein offenes Gespraech mit Steve Meretzky (German) interview from PC Joker 5/92 (September/October 1992)
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)
Ein offenes Gespraech mit Bob Bates (German) interview from PC Joker 7/8'95 (July/August 1995)
Through the Zorking Glass, by Curt Suplee from The Washington Post, December 22, 1983
Schmiede der Legenden (German) an interview with Bob Bates, from Power Play 12/91
An interview with Douglas Adams about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, from Commodore Power/Play, April/May 1985
Zork - Magic Meets Science Fiction, by Peter Fitch from Practical Computing, April 1982
Articles about Infocom and the Implementors, 1982-1999. Collected by Peter Scheyen at http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/; now mirrored at http://infocom.elsewhere.org/scheyen/Articles/:
Review of Suspended, from Ahoy January 1984.
Putting Fiction on a Floppy, by Philip Elmer-De Witt from TIME, December 5, 1983
Review of Trinity, from Compute!'s Gazette, March 1987. Scanned in by Patrick Kellum.
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
A review of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", from Your 64, July 1985. Typed in by David Kinder
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