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Dear Fans of Her Interactive,

Thank you for being the best fans in the world for over 15 years. We deeply appreciate your loyalty and support and we are constantly working to improve what we do. As part of this effort, we are pleased to announce that we are launching a new store for digital (electronic) downloads of our games on Wednesday, September 28, 2011. These changes only affect digital downloads – our boxed games will continue to be sold and supported as before.

· No more hassle with verification codes. Just download the game, install it and enjoy.

· Each game now comes with an explicit 30 Day Guarantee – if your game does not run properly we will refund your purchase.

· We now have global customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via phone or email for any issues with purchasing digital titles in the new store.

· We now offer more payment options including PayPal, Wire Transfer or Check to purchase our games.

· You now have the ability to purchase a back-up disc of the game.

· We now offer an Extended Download Service (EDS) that will enable you to re-download your game at any time in the next two years.

There are a couple of additional changes around our support for downloads that we want to make sure you are aware of:

· You will have to create a new account for digital (electronic) purchases.

· You will now have 30 days to download your digital game purchases.  Important note: if you have not done so during that 30 day period, you will have to re-purchase the game.

· If you purchase the Extended Download Service, you have two years to download your game and may do so as often as you like during that period.

· For games purchased prior to Sept 28, 2011, we are giving you this extended download service for all of those purchases automatically. You will be able to re-download those games without charge for the next 2 years.

If you have any questions about our new store, please let us know.  Thanks for taking the time to read this and we hope you will enjoy Nancy Drew: Alibi in Ashes as much as we did developing this 25^th Special Edition title.

Sincerely,

Stuart Moulder, CEO                                                                Megan Gaiser, CCSO

Alibi in Ashes is nearing its big debut!

The cover art has been revealed, the key features have been listed on our page, and the teaser trailer has been uploaded to our site and YouTube Channel. While the teaser is meant only to provide the viewer with more visual insight into the new game, the official trailer with more detailed game play and character dialogue has yet to be revealed (subscribe to our YouTube channel to be among the first to know when this goes live). Until then, head over to watch Brenda Carlton’s report for Channel Nine News.

Pre-order dates have been announced!

Pre-order Nancy Drew: Alibi in Ashes between September 26^th and October 10^th to receive the BONUS EDITION of the game, which can only be purchased through Her Interactive during the pre-order period. Physical versions of the games begin shipping on October 10^th. If you purchase the digital download version, you will be able to download the game on October 10^th.

Alibi in Ashes will be available at major retailers and through Her Interactive on October 18^th 2011.

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We interviewed Kevin Manthei, the creator of the music for The Captive Curse!

Her Interactive -- What sounds did you use? (Instruments, effects, etc)

Kevin Manthei -- "I used live violin, live double bass and live accordian, tuba for the waltz's, traditional orchestral instruments and orchestral settings, choir & modern percussion and sounds for certain pieces.  Many of the pieces relied on Germanic instruments and Germanic folk music."

HI -- What sort of story/emotions were you trying to tell and convey in the music?

Kevin -- "Well I had to support many different sets of emotions and story elements with the music so that the player of the game can experience the game fully. There are sets of pieces that are more eerie and scary, others that are emotional, heartfelt and sometimes sad and then there are some more traditional pieces that follow the Germanic culture that help put you in the right 'place' or environment. I have to tell the same story that the people at Her Interactive are telling. The only difference is I tell the story with music. The job of writng music for games is that of reinforcing he story and helping set the mood and tone for the game. I am a story teller!"

HI -- What inspired the style of this music?

Kevin -- "Before I start the music, the producers of the game like to put together a style guide of all the pieces of music they will need. Its usually 10-11 pieces and around 10-11 minutes of music. Each piece has to loop but most of the loops are 'soft' loops - that is they have a nice ending and fade out before they start playing again.

The other great thing the producers do is they listen to lots of music that exists already - some famous classical pieces, maybe some pieces from a particular world region, various film scores, etc and then they present this to me as a loose idea of what they are thinking. It helps me get their ideas right away and from there I jump off and start writing my music. I am happy to say they never ask me to copy the style music but rather want me to be inspired by it. Here is a blurb from the Sound Direction doc: 

The themes are inspired by classic black and white monster movies, but with a darker, more gothic traditional instrumentation to help establish mood and better reflect the dark Bavarian forest and old gothic castle. As traditional German folk music doesn't really match the darker monster castle mood present in the game, instrumentation should rely more on traditional strings and other gothic elements rather than too strongly on Bavarian instruments (like the zither, Steirische harmonika and the hackbrett as they tend to give a happier feel overall)."

HI -- What is your favorite piece from the set?

Kevin -- "I loved working on the Creature piece as it has choral chanting that was fun to put together and work into the piece. I like how the main theme for the Castle turned out as well. Its classical in its feel yet Gothic and has a lonely feeling to it. Forest is a fun piece - it's a spooky and mysterious piece that plays when you're in the forest and searching around. I played with Hammered Dulcimer, solo violin and double bass effects.

Thanks for reading.  Please check out the Nancy Drew Soundtracks - Music for Mysteries – on herinteractive.com covering the music from the first 20 games. 

Beginning now we are releasing segments of a short video series called “Postcards from Germany” featuring the characters of The Captive Curse! The first video postcard comes from Lukas Mittelmeier, who gives us the scoop on what he's up to at Castle Finster. He has a few secrets he's not sharing and acts a little mysterious.
We are expecting another postcard from Anja, his aunt, soon. Stay tuned for her greeting!

The videos are posted on our YouTube channel, so be sure to stop by every once in a while to get the inside scoop from each character!

Nancy Drew: The Captive Curse is now available for purchase. Visit The Captive Curse page for more details.