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"Some people see things as they are and say 'why?' I dream of things that never were and say 'why not?'" - George Bernard Shaw
The Latest News
10 December 2007
With All Due Credit
Today we are proud to announce Malinche's induction into the Better Business Bureau as a BBB accredited business.
We're entering our sixth year which makes this milestone all the more noteworthy; each and every year Malinche improves every aspect of operations to the benefit of the readers we serve.
Our relentless focus on quality and a superior customer experience is one of the reasons why, to this day, we have no competition to speak of and we never will. Any poor soul who ever dreamed of competing against Malinche has always learned, too late, that they were running a fool's errand.
When it comes to interactive fiction, nobody compares to Malinche.
On top of our customer-friendly return policy and unswerving dedication to astonishingly good customer service, Howard thought it best that we take Malinche's commitment to his customers to a whole new level by enrolling in one of the world's most respected and well-known institutions of commerce.
In other news, Howard has rested up from his five weeks of boot camp and is back at the keyboard giving his all to A Saint in Sin City. Rumour has it a blog entry by the Grandmaster is imminent...
9 October 2007
Operation DoubleShot Revealed!
Play Text Adventure Games on Your Nintendo DS
Interactive Fiction on Your iPhone
21 September 2007
Stealth Mode Again....
With Pentari: Second Dawn officially launched and Saints in Sin City now in development, things have been pretty quiet here the last couple of weeks.
Sorry about that. Allow us to explain. Malinche has gone into stealth mode with a brand new cutting edge project.
First there was The Matawan Project which changed the entire landscape of the iPod market. Then Malinche delved into Project Blackbird taking interactive fiction to a mainstream medium like never before. (Project Blackbird is still in operation, by the way...)
Now we are proud to announce Operation DoubleShot.
What is it? We're not saying.
What will it do? We can't say.
Will it be cool? Oh yes. Most definitely.
Stay tuned...
August 14, 2007
Scrapbook
Neat pictures from Horrorfind Weekend this past weekend - August 10-12, 2007. Click to enlarge any picture.
Howard and Mike in the Dealers Room Saturday Morning. Howard is dressed in very spiffy attire indeed. Horror fans were stunned at the discovery of Malinche's interactive horror fiction.
Malcolm McDowell takes a moment out of his busy day for a snapshot with Howard.
Howard and legendary dealer Wesley Tillander reunite three years after they first met at GenCon 2004 in Indianapolis and DragonCon in Atlanta the same year.
Cleaning out the camera after Horrorfind Weekend we found this picture of Grandmaster Sherman with Jason Scott...
This shot was taken at a barbecue at Howard's home after Jason Scott's interview with Howard concluded back in June.
Jason is the man behind the world's first and only text adventure game documentary. More about that here.
July 16, 2007
Pentari: Second Dawn Went Into Alpha Testing Last Night.
Howard is working furiously to finalize the last few missing elements and roll out Alpha 2 by the end of this week.
In other news...
Find Malinche in the Dealers' Room at HorrorFind Weekend!
Meet Howard There and He'll Sign Your Copy of The First Mile!
- August 10-12th
- Marriott Hunt Valley Inn
- 245 Shawn Road
- Hunt Valley MD 21031
June 1, 2007
Happy Birthday Zork!
Zork turns 30 this month and Malinche is throwing a month-long party where everybody is invited! Party Up Here!
May 23rd, 2007
The Apprentice Becomes a Master of Magic
(This Entry Posted by Grandmaster Sherman Personally)
The Apprentice entered production last night and pre-orders shipped out today. This milestone defied all the odds of the publishing industry. You might say our early completion and successful launch ahead of schedule was a mighty feat of magic.
Sure The Apprentice's launch date was pushed back twice at this point. I make no excuses but I certainly hope that my father's tumultuous last days and my becoming a dad in my own right makes the delays over the past year understandable.
With the dust settled and the smoke cleared The Apprentice seemed destined for a June launch. In fact, the sales department planned to release Second Dawn and The Apprentice simultaneously in June as a double-shot celebration of Zork's 30th birthday.
This tied in perfectly with my own vision for a science fiction crossover never before tried let alone achieved.
In a flash of inspiration back on May 5th I made the command decision to override the prevailing strategy and launch The Apprentice, ahead of its final schedule, on May 24th. If you read my Pentari: The Apprentice blogs then you already know that May 24th is my father's birthday.
Having lost my dad on January 18th I've been on a mission ever since to honor his memory at every turn. I did all the customary things; a plaque at the local synagogue, praying all the time, fond memories of times past recalled with a smile... but my inspired yet wounded heart sought more.
What better gift? How better to salute a warm, kind man who was always so proud of his son than to make him proud one more time on the most cherished day of his life?
I gave the order to proceed at flank speed. Leading the charge I clocked 12-18 hour work days working as much in my home studio as in my office to make this happen. There were times I was almost insensible as I pushed forward relentlessly. Crap diet? Dismissed. Lack of sleep? Laughed off. Other aspects of company operations? Relegated to the back seat.
I would not be deterred.
And I wasn't.
We did it. Despite the clouds of crushing pressure Team Malinche shined through and made it possible for us to deliver The Apprentice a month or so ahead of its final planned release date.
At the end of the story itself, The Apprentice becomes a recognized master of magic accomplishing amazing feats and achieving power far beyond his capacities when he first started out.
Me too.
Now it's time to stand down from red alert so the test teams can recuperate from their exhausting drills and this Implementor can get back to work completing Second Dawn in time for launch next month when Malinche honors the legendary Zork.
May 10th, 2007
Malinche Sponsors Camp Happiness
Malinche has become a sponsor of the New Jersey Blind Citizens Association. Financial support and a stack of free text adventure games have been committed to help blind New Jersey residents have some fun and find happiness.
For more information about the New Jersey Blind Citizens Association visit http://www.njbca.org
May 8th, 2007
The Apprentice is an Alpha Male
The Apprentice officially entered Alpha Test on May 6th and we are currently releasing a new alpha version each day to play testers. Alpha 3 has just been sent to our play testers just a few minutes ago.
What's the rush?
The Apprentice is going on sale May 24th in honor of Howard's dad. His birthday was May 24th and with his passing this year Howard wants to salute his father.
View The Apprentice Press Release here.
April 30th, 2007
Malinche Celebrates "Get Caught Reading" Month
May is Get Caught Reading Month and Malinche is joining the party. Get Caught Reading is an industry-wide initiative to promote literacy.
It's a proven fact that reading encourages and enhances the imagination, improves cognitive skill sets, critical thinking skills and even mathematics!
Yes, reading does make you smarter. Who doesn't want to increase their intelligence?
So go ahead and get caught reading. This might be one of the few times in your life when getting caught doing something is a good thing!
Naturally, we hope you get caught reading interactive fiction this month, next month and the year after! While you're at it, pick up a good novel and rediscover the entertainment fiction books offer.
And for great knowledge accumulated over the centuries right up to present day -- nothing beats a good book.
Visit the Get Caught Reading website and learn more.
April 29th, 2007
The Apprentice Enters Alpha Test
Primary implementation of The Apprentice is complete and it has entered alpha test tonight!
Malinche play testers, eager for fresh interactive fiction, are preparing themselves for an all new fantasy adventure - the first Malinche has produced in almost five years.
10 March 2007
The First Mile Goes Gold!
Horrorfind.Com, one of the web's most comprehensive horror website gives the nod to The First Mile bestowing us with the the golden undead horror award!
In other news -- Howard is finalizing the cover art for Second Dawn and The Apprentice as he continues writing steadily day after day.
8 February 2007
Howard -- Bonkers At Last?
Two full-length interactive fiction titles are scheduled for release in June.
Project Blackbird can get the green light and take flight at any moment.
Howard is just this week back on his feet after the loss of his father on January 18th.
Yet he has today announced his intentions to give adventure gamers a convention of their own -- AdventureCon. More perplexing, he's committing Malinche to successfully planning and delivering this event this summer when we'll be busier than we've ever been before.
He's at it again. But has he gone too far this time?
6 February 2007
Fully Functional in Every Way
The major television network we're working with is waiting for the final premier date of their new show before giving Project Blackbird the green light. We've decided to keep busy while we're waiting...
About three weeks ago we rolled out an entirely new digital delivery system of our interactive fiction titles. Every transaction processed in the past three weeks has been handled smoothly, easily and flawlessly. Howard and Mike have been on the quest for the perfect delivery system for three years now. This is our third system in as many years and it seems like we finally found the holy grail of digital delivery systems. Thank goodness.
We also performed an exhaustive audit of our links directory and eliminated dozens of inactive links, added dozens of new sites and have cranked up our links engine to find the very best in fiction book sites, interactive fiction sites and adventure game sites to share with you.
Howard is almost normal again and getting back to his daily routine. Thanks for all of your well wishes during his time of great sorrow.
13 January 2007
Malinche Joins Web 2.0 With A Convergence of New Media Streams
Howard's been fiddling with MySpace and a blog of his own for months. Now that he's mastered all this new technology and its inner workings he's decided that now's the time to spread the word.
4 January 2007
The Final Countdown
It is confirmed today that our twin science fiction titles -- Pentari: Second Dawn and Pentari: The Apprentice have a firm June launch.
"These two fantasy adventure games will be released in June. And that's final. No more delays. No more distractions. I don't care how many 20 hour work days it takes or how many other things I'm juggling. My two latest interactive fiction titles WILL launch on or before June 30th. Fans of Zork will have some major reasons to celebrate this coming June." - Implementor Howard Sherman stated.
This double-shot of interactive fiction is set to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Zork -- which first came into being in June, 1977.
The entire Pentari series is rendered in the Zork tradition and we can think of no more fitting salute than two brand new games to continue Zork's legendary, magical tradition.
2 January 2007
A Parent Helping Other Parents in Parent Magazine
Howard contributed to an excellent article by Linda Kastiel Kozlowski entitled "Understanding Video Game Ratings" in the November 2006 edition of Parent Magazine. We just received word of this so while you probably can't buy a copy of the November issue anymore you can see it online.
1 January 2007
Look Out Blogosphere!
Howard has been toying with Apple's iWeb (since May!) and has proudly unveiled his blog to the public.
Timely and topical, Howard's blog makes for fun and interesting reading. Malinche's resident Implementor reflects on the celebrities of the moment, his frustrations as an adventure game player and more fun stuff.
Go take a look -- http://web.mac.com/lordrandom
Archived News can be found here.