In 2002 one book became several different games. Let’s work out which one you got and why the Xbox version isn’t the same game with better graphics.
In 2002 the second book became not one game but several. The computer version was made by KnowWonder. The PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube versions — by a completely different studio, Eurocom. Same story, different games, like two adaptations of one book by two directors who aren’t on speaking terms.
How to tell which one you played. If at an internet café or at home on a PC — the KnowWonder version. If at a friend’s with a console — the Eurocom version. The 2003 Mac release, by the way, was a port of the computer version, so Mac owners played the “computer” one too.
How they differ. Not in graphics but in the game itself: different levels, different lesson structure, different fights, a different camera. The console version never came out on computers. So for most of us it’s not a memory but a new game with familiar names.
Same book. Different game.
What we did to it. We didn’t touch the story or the levels. The picture is rendered four times bigger — about 3072 pixels wide — 330 world textures are redrawn, the interface is new, the camera follows the stick. If you miss the 2002 blur, F2 switches on “TV 2002” mode.
And a small thing that shows how we think. A regular video is skipped with one press, but a cutscene has to be held for four seconds. Because we know how you mash buttons when you’re nervous, and we don’t want you to accidentally skip who opened the Chamber of Secrets.