Planetfall is one of the Infocom classics, granted, but it just seems kinda...random. Grues earn a mention, mind you, but it's not exactly part of the Zork series.

Wishbringer, on the other hand, is most explicitly set in the same universe as Zork. I wonder why they went with Planetfall instead?

Just FYI, GoG didn't make the weird decision. The original Zork Anthology from 1994 came with Planetfall too: http://www.mobygames.com/game/zork-anthology

It looks like GoG is going to re-release the other Infocom games in these older retail packages.

The original Zork Anthology had that as well. There were also five theme packs releases around the same time (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery, Comedy) and each of them also included one "bonus" game that did not match the rest of the pack.

Ah. Well, that explains a-plenty.

I truly hope that, at one point, GOG will complete the Zork Anthology with the rest of the games in the Zork universe: Enchanter, Sorcerer and Spellbreaker.

And, yes, Wishbringer as I think it's a very good game to enter the text-adventure/interactive-fiction genre.

I do understand, however, that Zork Nemesis, Grand Inquisitor and even Return to Zork may be "sophisticated" enough to merit their own pack.

I hate to be the one to crush hopes, but don't hold your breath.

Unfortunately for us, the Enchanter trilogy is permanently 'out of print'. Activision no longer has the rights to distribute any of the games in the series (which tragically also applies to Hitchhikers --and less tragically, Shogun) so...

That means even if Activision were to keep releasing them in the original "collections" they released them in, there will still be at least 5 games in the Infocom catalog we can't have.

Where did you get that? I was not aware that Enchanter trilogy has any license implications. There were a few books but those were secondary to the game IP so I would not expect them to create any issues.

Only completists. Most people agree that Infocom graphics IF games are inferior to their text games. Infocom designers were known to claim that computer graphics of that time was not suitable for their purposes. In a sense, the last four games they produced were supporting that notion. On the other hand, there were other companies that had no problems mixing IF and graphics -- like Magnetic Scrolls and Legend Entertainment.

Actually, never mind.

I got tripped up by the phrasing of a reference to Infocom' 'out of print' works that, on initial glance, appeared to be including the Enchanter trilogy as 'permanently out of print' along with HHGG and Shogun.

On a third, more careful, reading, I've decided the reference is probably intended to refer solely to the actual Enchanter trilogy slipcase, though why they'd mention that in the same sentence as the loss of rights to HHGG and Shogun, I've no idea.

I sure miss it!

Hope I'm not repeating someone else, but HHGG is actually playable online here. Haven't played the original, or this version much though, so I can't say if it's exactly the same. (Well, I do know the graphics and interface are new :)

Shogun isn't as bad as some people say, it's just that the pictures contribute nothing to the game. As a text adventure, it's middle-of-the-road Infocom stuff.

Arthur and Journey both used visual clues to a number of their puzzles. The relevance of the graphics to the gameplay in Zork Zero is debatable (the automap is useful), but they do try to provide an appropriate Frobozzian atmosphere to the backgrounds. Shogun's graphics, which were low resolution to begin with, even for their day, took a lot of criticism in comparison.

You can play the full version of Hitchhikers online at the BBC's website here...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game.shtml

Also there's a Java version on Douglas Adam's website here...

http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/infocomjava.html

... but you apparantly can't save your progress on the Java version (you can on the BBC).