D/Generation

An action-adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action game and an adventure game, especially crucial elements like... puzzles.  Action-adventures require many of the same physical skills as action games, but also offer a storyline, numerous characters, an inventory system, dialog, and other features of adventure games.  They are faster-paced than pure adventure games, because they include both physical and conceptual challenges.  Action-adventure games normally include a combination of a series complex story elements made into an audio-visual display for players that is heavily reliant upon the player character's movement which affects the flow of the game.  Some examples of action-adventure games include the The Legend of Zelda, and Tomb Raider series.
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Robert Cook is co-founder and SVP Platform Partnerships at Metaweb.  You can find out more about him at his Freebase user page.

Mindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape... publishes and distributes educational and lifestyle games and software. Its most notable titles include Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Horse Racing Tycoon and Lego Island. It is soon to release two TV show game adaptations: Survivor and Wipeout: The Big Red Ball Challenge on Nintendo console Wii. Mindscape began in 1983 as a software publisher in Northbrook, Illinois. Founded by English-born Roger Buoy, the company published the seminal Chris Crawford game, Balance of Power in the early 1980s and was a Lucasfilm licensee, publishing the Indiana Jones computer games before they were taken in-house by Lucasfilm Games with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The company also published the innovative point-and-click adventure Deja Vu, text adventures tied to famous authors like Dick Francis and Ray Bradbury, and a controversial game from Tom Snyder Productions called Sub Mission.
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