"Tim Schafer killed the adventure genre with his harsh words!"
What do adventure gamers do when bored? Wank, apparently.

A little requisite backstory: Once upon a time, there was a man named Tim Schafer, who worked at LucasArts. He wrote and project-led such fabulous adventure games as Grim Fandango and Full Throttle, and the fanboys, who rather liked these games, went about declaring Tim to be a god among men. Well, not long after Grim Fandango's release, Tim left LucasArts to found DoubleFine, and has been at work on his latest game (a platformer), Psychonauts, ever since. Now that said game is about to be released and the gaming media is salivating all over it, interviews with Tim have been popping up like rabid bunnies.

In one of the more recent interviews in Computer Games Magazine, the interviewer apparently served Tim a curveball by asking him what he thought "killed adventure games." The response? Graphics.

...And lo, were the hackles of every adventure game "purist" and fanboy raised, because--OH NOES--God Tim said something not everyone might agree with!

It really all starts and centers around Randy Sluganski at Just Adventure+...where in an obviously bitter article (which also contains Tim's full explanation of what "killed" adventure games; make of it what you will), he advises readers to spam a DoubleFine e-mail address in a flurry of angry responses. Because spam some poor intern will probably have to read will make Tim see the error of his ways, issue a public apology, and then go back to making adventure games.

...Okay!

A thread gets started at JA+'s forums which opens with some nice personal attacks--apparently, because he has lost his love of adventure games (maybe), Tim Schafer is now a grumpy, cynical old man who has lost his love of life and is probably slitting his wrists even as we speak. Despite its wanky beginnings, however, it settles down to a calm discussion after a while. Although watching Randy attempt to cover his own ass while forum poster Betje flies off the handle at people for doubting the word of God Tim is rather entertaining.

Over at LucasForums/Mixnmojo, mysterious poster yoyoman starts a thread over Randy's article in an attempt to stir up wank debate. And who is this yoyoman? Well, none other than a sockpuppet for Randy Sluganski, as it turns out. LucasForum posters are much amused, then proceed to make like the JA+ posters by picking apart Tim's comments.

And at AdventureGamers, people go with the general trend and point and laugh at Randy, who is apparently a sockpuppet for none other than Sauron himself.

Then we have a Letter to the Editor in which Moonbuzz picks apart Randy's article and calls him on extreme bias, "demagogic slurs," and other things. Randy's response? ZOMG this is why the genre is considered dead, bitches! People like you! He also adds in his own comments to the letter, although he swears it's "not to get in the last word." Uh-huh.

Now all we need is a Sluganski vs. Schafer caged death match, with commentary from adventure gamers the world over as to exactly what they meant, exactly, in a blow-by-blow analysis!