- Malinche Entertainment
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Malinche Entertainment Type Private Industry Computer and video games Founded 2002 Headquarters Matawan, New Jersey, USA Key people Howard Sherman, founder Products Interactive fiction including Pentari: First Light and The First Mile Website http://www.malinche.net/ 
Howard Sherman representing Malinche Entertainment at Gen Con Indy 2008.
Malinche Entertainment is an interactive fiction development and publishing business founded by Howard Sherman. The company was founded in 2002.[1] Malinche Entertainment claims to be working in the tradition of early interactive fiction developer Infocom. Sherman claims to have sold 150,000 copies of his games as of May 2006.[2] He claims the business is profitable.[2] Malinche Entertainment is notable for being one of the last commercial publishers of interactive fiction.
Malinche Entertainment's published games include Pentari: First Light (March 2003,[2] fantasy), Greystone (2003, murder mystery set in an asylum), Endgame (2004, suspense), The First Mile (2005, horror), and Pentari: The Apprentice (2007, fantasy). All of Malinche Entertainment's games are written by Sherman. They are written using Inform targeting the virtual Z-machine. Versions of some games are also available for iPods,[3] using a hypertext interface. The games have also been ported to the Nintendo DS.[4]
Sherman previously worked at RMI.net, then Excalibur Internet Corp.. He left Excalibur in 2003 to work for his own consulting firm and Malinche.[2]
Malinche markets to adventure gamers, the general fiction book market, and blind gamers.[5]
Controversy
Sherman has threatened to sue the web publication SPAG for considering to publish an unfavorable review of one of his games.[6] The Malinche website has displayed carefully edited review quotes for games, in order to alter the reviewers' intended meaning ("...mystery story lovers should find the quest for the murderer addictive enough to overcome its weaknesses. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t recommend it for the more wide-ranging hard-core interactive fiction player."[7] was reduced to simply "...Mystery story lovers should find the quest for the murderer addictive..."[8]), and quotations from reviews written decades ago for games by Infocom were presented so as to imply that they described Malinche games.[9]
He also calls himself "the only active Implementor of Interactive Fiction in the world",[10] despite the existence of a thriving hobbyist community and his own acknowledgement[11] of hobbyist-produced games. In fact, Sherman himself was taking part in that community in the very same year that Malinche Entertainment was founded, when he entered a game called "BOFH" (based on Simon Travaglia's Bastard Operator From Hell property) into the 8th annual Interactive Fiction Competition.[12]
Sherman also refers to Malinche as "The World's Only Publisher of Interactive Fiction",[10] despite the existence of at least one other commercial publisher of interactive fiction[13].
References
- ^ Sherman, Howard. "Did Graphics Kill the Adventure Genre?". http://www.justadventure.com/articles/DidGfxKillTheAG/Howard.shtm. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ a b c d Willis, David (2006-06-20). "You Make the Call". Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park Press). (Available via Google's cache at [1]. Available for online purchase at [2]
- ^ Ogles, Jacob (2005-07-06). "Playing on Your IPod: Text Games". Wired News. http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,68290,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ Arendt, Susan (2007-10-10). "Play Old-School Text Adventures on Your DS". Game. CondéNet, Inc.. Archived from the original on 2008-08-31. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.wired.com%2Fgames%2F2007%2F10%2Fplay-old-school.html&date=2008-08-31. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ Barton, Matt (2008-04-27). "An Interview with Howard Sherman of Malinche Entertainment". Armchair Arcade. Armchair Arcade, Inc.. Archived from the original on 2008-08-31. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.armchairarcade.com%2Fneo%2Fnode%2F1831&date=2008-08-31. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ Maher, Jimmy. "Chapter 9: The Evolution of a Community". Let's Tell a Story Together (A History of Interactive Fiction). http://maher.filfre.net/if-book/if-9.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ Pautassi, Ricardo. "Review: Greystone". Just Adventure. http://www.justadventure.com/reviews/Greystone/Greystone.shtm. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ Malinche Entertainment. "Interactive Crime Fiction - A Murder Mystery Only You Can Solve". Archived from the original on 2009-11-16. http://www.webcitation.org/5lKefoO0l.
- ^ Gilbert, Dave. "Deconstructing Howie". Dave Gilbert’s gamedev blog. http://www.davelgil.com/wordpress/?p=178. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ a b Malinche Entertainment. "The Only Interactive Fiction Publisher in the World - A Profile". Archived from the original on 2009-11-16. http://www.webcitation.org/5lKeqcG2O. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ Malinche Entertainment. "iPhone & iPod Touch Text Adventure Games". Archived from the original on 2009-11-16. http://www.webcitation.org/5lKexL9GG. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ "8th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition". ifcomp.org. Stephen Granade. 2002. Archived from the original on 2009-11-16. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fifcomp.org%2Fcomp02%2F&date=2009-11-16. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ Textfyre, Inc.. "Textfyre.Com - Games". https://www.textfyre.com/Games.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
External links
- Malinche Entertainment - Official site
- Sherman, Howard A. - At Baf's Guide. Provides details and downloads of freely available games by Sherman.
- Interviews
- Just Adventure Interview with Howard Sherman - Malinche Entertainment
- Howard Sherman - Interview at Adventure Classic Gaming
- Interview with Howard Sherman at Absolute Write
- In Depth : Malinche Entertainment Interview at MorphZone
Categories:- Companies established in 2002
- Interactive fiction
- Video game companies of the United States
- Companies based in New Jersey
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