My first computer was an Apple IIgs. It was the last of the Apple II line and performed more like a Mac than any previous Apple. At the time, there were more different computer types such as Apple, IBM, Commodore, and Atari ST, than we have types of console today. I got my IIgs back in the late 80’s when some people were still playing their Atari 2600 and many more were discovering the Nintendo. The computer gaming industry was already going strong then, and one of the best known computer game companies was Sierra On-Line.
Sierra is the company behind such well-known hits as the King’s Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry series of games. If you had a computer during the mid to late 80's, then you probably had at least one game made by Sierra. When they released a new game, it was akin to a major motion picture event backed by advertising and all kinds of press from gaming magazines, long before it was normal for games to get that kind of attention. Sierra was at the top of their game for a long time, and they produced some of the best-loved computer games of all time.
As with all good things, Sierra eventually went under. A series of mergers and acquisitions saw them putting out more and more games that diverted from their usual style, and quality suffered. I remember being so incredibly disappointed with one of their games called Outpost. The rising popularity of Windows pretty much killed Sierra, but during the glorious MS-DOS days of computing, the release of a new Sierra On-Line game was a really big deal.
I think that the demand for 3D games and interfaces is what ultimately took Sierra out of play. They had built a company on two dimensional adventure games where you used the arrows key to move a little figure around and actually had to type commands like 'talk' and 'open door' in order to control your character. As the mouse got to be more popular, Sierra did OK for a while with some point and click games, but that special something was lost along the way. King's Quest VII attempted to play into the 3D adventure market, but it didn't work so well and it was the last game of the series. The general reaction to the game was that it was King's Quest in name alone. Basically, technology drove consumer demand past the type of games that Sierra offered. It sure was a lot of fun while it lasted.
For a great website with information on the classic Sierra games, check out Vintage-Sierra.com.