James Clavell's Shogun
Encyclopedia
James Clavell's Shōgun is an interactive fiction
computer game written by Dave Lebling
and released by Infocom
in 1989. Like most of Infocom's games, it was released for several popular computer platforms of the time, such as the Apple II
and PC
. As the title indicates, the game is based on the book Shōgun
by James Clavell
. It is Infocom's thirty-third game.
, Pilot-Major of the Dutch
trading ship Erasmus. During a voyage in the Pacific Ocean
in the year 1600, the Erasmus is shipwrecked in Japan
. Blackthorne must survive in a land where every custom is as unfamiliar to him as the language. After learning some of the society's ways, he is drawn into a political struggle between warlord
s and falls in love with a Japanese woman. Eventually he embraces Japanese life and is honored as a samurai
.
gave the game a negative review, noting the linear nature of the game and poor hints contributed to guess-the-verb
and trial-and-error gameplay. However, the game's length and illustrations were praised.
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
computer game written by Dave Lebling
Dave Lebling
P. David Lebling is an interactive fiction game designer and programmer who has worked at various companies, including Infocom and Avid....
and released by Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
in 1989. Like most of Infocom's games, it was released for several popular computer platforms of the time, such as the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
and PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
. As the title indicates, the game is based on the book Shōgun
Shogun (novel)
Shōgun is a 1975 novel by James Clavell. It is the first novel of the author's Asian Saga. A major bestseller, by 1990 the book had sold 15 million copies worldwide...
by James Clavell
James Clavell
James Clavell, born Charles Edmund DuMaresq Clavell was an Australian-born, British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and prisoner of war...
. It is Infocom's thirty-third game.
Plot
The game reproduces many of the novel's "scenes", few of which are interconnected in any way. The player assumes the role of John BlackthorneJohn Blackthorne
John Blackthorne is the hero of James Clavell's 1975 novel Shōgun, and is loosely based on the life of the 17th century British trader William Adams, who was the first Briton to visit Japan...
, Pilot-Major of the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
trading ship Erasmus. During a voyage in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in the year 1600, the Erasmus is shipwrecked in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Blackthorne must survive in a land where every custom is as unfamiliar to him as the language. After learning some of the society's ways, he is drawn into a political struggle between warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
s and falls in love with a Japanese woman. Eventually he embraces Japanese life and is honored as a samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
.
Feelies
Infocom continued its tradition of feelies, or extra items included in the game package. The feelies included with Shōgun were:- a map representing John Blackthorne's "known world" of 1600
- The Soul of the Samurai, describing the history and significance of the swords of the samurai
Reception
Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
gave the game a negative review, noting the linear nature of the game and poor hints contributed to guess-the-verb
Guess-the-verb
Syntax guessing, also known as guess-the-verb, guess-the-noun and the syntax quest, is a problem sometimes encountered in text-based video games, such as interactive fiction games and MUDs...
and trial-and-error gameplay. However, the game's length and illustrations were praised.