I
was lucky enough to be chosen to produce the game based on the classic
TV series "Muder, She Wrote" because I'm from a town just like Jessica
Fletcher's. Like Jessica, I know what it's like to live in a lovely,
sleepy little town in New England: to be part of a close knit community
that cares for each other; to feel so safe that you never need to lock
your doors at night; to constantly keep finding murder victim after
murder victim in every garden, behind each white picket fence and at
each ice cream social you attend.
Those of you who are fans of Jessica Fletcher's exploits have a good
grasp of what life in a small town New England is like. Yes, I come
from the mean streets of New England, and as a survivor I feel I have
the proper perspective on how to convey the quaint pastimes New
Englanders enjoy, such as trying to avoid a violent end.
My
name's Donald E. Marshall, Sr. Producer here at Legacy Interactive and
one of the mad little elves in Santa's workshop busily putting together
one of our upcoming games "Murder, She Wrote" (affectionately known as
"MSW" around here). While most gamers raise their eyebrows when I
mention MSW, it's not hard to see how this property can be very
successfully adapted into over a casual game.
The name is still highly recognizable among just about anyone 30 and
up and is one of the most successful television murder mysteries series
of all time. Its stories are compact, memorable, well written and
thrilling without being horrifying. The heroine (Jessica Fletcher,
played by the amazing Angela Lansbury) is female, older, clever and
very, very attractive - a good descriptor of most of the people who
purchase the games I design. Or people who read articles I write, I
should mention. Well, not OLDER, of course. Just...mature. By the
way...did I mention those pants look great on you?
I've just been informed by Gamezebo that I'm no longer allowed to blatantly suck up to their readers. I've promised to be good.
When translating a movie or television series into a game you have
to be very careful to try capture and maintain the original feel of the
licensed property. MSW had a very unique blend of comfort and murder, a
quality that set it apart from most of the other murder mystery shows
that came before it. This will translate into lush hidden object scenes
rich with clues and New England charm as well as dozens of fun puzzles
with a homespun feel.
Our stories had to cover a variety of subjects that kept the feel of
the case somewhat "homey" and small town. We wanted to avoid evidence
that needs high-tech equipment to analyze it - Jessica Fletcher isn't
part of the CSI team, and doesn't generally have access to microscopes,
blood splatter analysts or that sort of thing. Evidence will need to be
observational, noticeable to the naked eye and something that tells a
story to someone who is clever enough to put it all together.
Most important to the mood of the game, though, was the story and
tone of each mystery. If it didn't feel like a MSW story, if Jessica
didn't speak in her signature folksy-yet-straightforward tone, then
there was no hope that the game would feel like a natural evolution of
a show that just about everyone I know watched when they were younger.
Luckily we quickly met up with Anne De Borgo, one of the best Murder
She Wrote fiction writers around. Not only did she manage to capture
the voice of Jessica but the supporting cast of characters who found
their way into our game at her urging: Sheriff Mort Metzger, the local
law enforcement officer that often enlisted her help, Seth Hazlitt, the
town doctor, and even Emma McGill, Jessica's nearly identical looking
British cousin.
Even better, Anne has created a collection of five all-new fantastic
mysteries that capture the feel of this amazing series, written just
for our game. Three of the cases bring us to Cabot Cove, the
murder-prone Maine township where world-renowned mystery novelist
Jessica called home. Here we get to dig in to some great mysteries in
homey, small-town Americana that were the trademark of the show: a
garden competition that turns neighbors into bitter rivals, a lobster
fishing industry that's fallen on hard times and a missing person case
involving star-crossed lovers.
The other two cases take us outside of Jessica's home town: to
Vermont where a surprising death at a maple syrup factory reveals a
struggle to control the maple syrup industry and to England for a
Shakespearean murder on the London stage complete with espionage and
international intrigue.
My goal for MSW is a game that will bring back the warm memories of
the television show while being strong enough to be enjoyed by those
without any prior knowledge of the series. While we'll add to an
American classic for those who fondly remember the show the game will
stand on its own as a new classic casual game. We have some large shoes
to fill, as the TV series has won dozens of awards, but we're certainly
up to the task.
Well, maybe not. I just found my production assistant dead under my
desk. This'll set my schedule back. Gotta find my magnifying glass....
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