Last Saturday I was among the privileged few invited to Pinkerton Road, the game studio and home of famed game designer and author Jane Jensen–one of my personal heroes of the video games industry. She’s the ex-Sierra Online designer behind the successful ’90s computer game series Gabriel Knight and more recently, one of my personal favorite adventure games of all time, Gray Matter. Last year she launched a Kickstarter project (which I covered here) for the development of a new adventure game, which I was more than happy to support. Jane’s games are like no others I have ever played, each one a blend of supernatural mystery, puzzle-solving and storytelling that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
For the higher-tier Kickstarter backers, Jane invited us to an exclusive open house event at her beautiful Pinkerton Road farm.
We really lucked out with the weather. After a delicious catered barbecue lunch, we got to preview and play an alpha build of her upcoming game Moebius (check out the first trailer here) , get a tour of her home and studio, and meet and greet with Jane herself and musician Robert Holmes, Jane’s husband who composes all the music for her games.
The highlight for me, which you can tell by the ridiculously stupid grin on my face, was shaking Jane’s hand and getting my picture taken with her.
(Thanks to fellow Pinkerton Road devotee Michael Shaw, aka Veritas1325 for taking the picture and sending it to me!)
Here’s composer Robert Holmes giving an impromptu concert on his grand piano, playing the main theme to Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. I was sitting about ten feet away, off to the left side of whoever shot this video (and freaking out a little on the inside over what was happening before my very eyes):
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eju5_AbQBlM
We were also treated to a concert by The Scarlet Furies, whose music is featured prominently in Gray Matter. Jane’s step-daughter, Raleigh Holmes, is the lead singer. They played an amazing set that included original songs, the music from Gray Matter, plus a few outstanding covers of classic rock songs like “Sympathy for the Devil” and “House of Rising Sun.”
“David’s Theme” from Gray Matter
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUcGEKWQF9E
“Safe in Arms” from Gray Matter
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbXWN_lsZWI
More pics:
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