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GameTap Thursday: Sam & Max meet the dark prince
This week GameTap takes Sam & Max to meet the man downstairs in the season two finale. Will the dog detective and his rabbity-thing companion survive to make a third season? We hope so. Ice Land 2 (Windows) - Mortimer the penguin must collect floating fish while not falling in the water because apparently penguins -- or, at least this one -- can't swim. Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (Windows) - Bend and twist the mind in this return to Myst. Tank Battalion (Arcade) - And somewhere in this blogger's mind he recalls playing this game at a dingy bar in Dorchester, Mass. during the early '80s while his uncle played pool... darn flashbacks. Sam & Max Season Two Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? (Windows) - It's time to go to Hell LLC in the last episode of the season. (Psst, cheapskates, we're also giving away some copies of the whole season too) After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games, which adds Fastlane Pinball and King of Monsters 2 into the mix of 117 free titles.
Reminder: Win Sam & Max Season 2!
Wouldn't it be terribly sad if you missed the opportunity to play Sam & Max: Season 2 for free? As far as deeply depressing events go, we'd say it's on par with a plane full of puppies crashing into an orphanage. Only you can prevent it by naming your favorite adventure game character on our giveaway post! No, not here, there. On the giveaway post. You have until 5:00PM EST on Friday, April 11th!
Joyswag: Win Sam & Max Season 2!
Update: Entries are closed. We'll be alerting the winners via e-mail soon, so please keep an eye on your inbox!In celebration of this Friday's release (Thursday if you're on GameTap) of the Sam & Max Season 2 finale, "What's New, Beelzebub?" Joystiq and Telltale Games are giving away three full Season 2 bundles (valued at $34.95 each). If you've yet to point and click your way through the highly untrained duo's second stab at episodic adventure, you can start right here and right now. These rules are all self-explanatory, so be sure to carefully explain them to yourself: To enter this giveaway, leave a comment naming adventure gaming's best character (any game). You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). Limit 1 entry per person per day. If you enter this giveaway more than once each calendar day you'll be locked up in a circus cage alongside the amazing giraffe-necked girl. This entry period ends at 5:00pm EST on Friday, April 11th. We'll randomly select 3 winners at that time (please check your email!). For a list of complete rules that you can blow away with a very large Luger, click here.
Sam & Max coming to Wii after all
Remember when Telltale said they had a WiiWare game on the way that wasn't Sam & Max? The part that they didn't say was that this was in addition to a game that was Sam & Max. Telltale has announced that they'll release the collected first season of the episodic Sam & Max game on Wii, published by Dreamcatcher in the U.S. and JoWood in Europe. Sam & Max: Season One comprises six episodes, originally released in 2006-2007. A similar collection on the PC retails for $29.99. Will the Wii pricing be in line with the PC box? No idea! We'll find out as the fall release approaches.[Via NeoGAF]
Sam & Max ready to Wii-lease this fall
Telltale finally confirmed to GameSpot that Sam & Max's first season is coming to the Wii this fall. Rumors of Sam & Max bringing their freelance form of policing to the Wii began in early 2007 and became pseudo-confirmed this January in a German press release. The game will be a port of the Sam & Max: Season One PC compilation. Sam & Max for Wii will be published in the US by Dreamcatcher and The Adventure Company. In Europe, JoWood will handle publishing duties of the game, which will have French and German voice acting, with Italian and Spanish subtitles added. No word yet on price for the title, but if it does end up being budget priced (PC was $30), we're very curious to see if this excellent adventure game finds an audience on the Wii. [Thanks Sam]
GameTap Thursday: Sam & Max mush the Chariot of the Dogs
GameTap brings an all new episode of Sam & Max this week to give gamers their adventure genre fix. In the latest episode, Chariot of the Dogs, the dog detective and his rabbity-thing compadre search for the missing Bosko. Don't know who Bosco is? Then you're obviously not playing these games! Shameful! Sam & Max Season 2: Episode 4 Chariot of the Dogs (Windows) - Help find Bosco! Iron Warriors (Windows) - A game where you play as a tank commander in the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian War. Seriously, that's what it's about. After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games. New additions this week are Fatal Fury and Vulgus. There's also very little time left to check out Myst Online: Uru Live before it disperses into the void of the intertubes.
GDC Quest Quiz III: Mike Stemmle
We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle. The PlayerRecent Telltale Games addition Mike Stemmle, co-designer of Sam & Max Hit the Road and Escape from Monkey Island, and designer on the ill-fated Sam & Max Freelance Police. He also worked on Afterlife, but he doesn't think you remember it. The PuzzleYou're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first. The Inventory (1) perforated parasol (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle (1) sealed manila envelope (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue Peek hard at Mike Stemmle's Star Trek strategy after the break.
GDC Quest Quiz II: Steve Purcell
We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle.The PlayerSteve Purcell, illustrator and writer best known as the creator of Sam & Max. We're surprised he even talked to us after last year's drunken debacle. The PuzzleYou're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first.The Inventory (1) perforated parasol (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle (1) sealed manila envelope (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue Find Steve Purcell's solution to the "meta-puzzle" after the break.
GDC08: Telltale has a mysterious Wii Ware game in the works
digg_url='http://digg.com/nintendo/GDC08_Telltale_has_a_mysterious_Wii_Ware_game_in_the_works'; When we first heard from Nintendo that Telltale was releasing an episodic game for Wii Ware, we stubbornly believed, Sam & Max! Despite the wording in the press release, in which Nintendo revealed the existence of "a new episodic game series from Telltale," we still held onto hope that we'd get to do some rabbit and dog sleuthing on our Wiis.Telltale cleared that up pretty quickly, though. The company stated simply, "And before you ask -- no, it's not Sam & Max." Fine, we get the hint.While the game might not have anything to do with the beloved PC duo, we're sure that Telltale has something really great in store for us. The developer is being coy and keeping tight-lipped about the project, though, which is just making us anticipate it all the more. Hopefully Telltale stops playing hard-to-get soon and tells us what the game is -- unfortunately, patience isn't really a virtue of ours.[Thanks, Michael!]
Telltale Games joined by adventure veteran Mike Stemmle
Telltale Games has bolstered its collection of adventure veterans with Mike Stemmle, a man you may remember as the co-designer of Sam & Max Hit the Road, Escape from Monkey Island and the lead designer of the thoroughly canned Sam & Max Freelance Police. What you're less likely to remember (by the designer's own admission) is his game Afterlife, a title which has been unable to enjoy the complete resurrection bestowed upon everybody's favorite dodgy doggy detective and hyper-kinetic rabbity thing. "Mere words are proving woefully inadequate to describe my delight at hooking up with this fiendishly dedicated crew," said Stemmle. "The excitement and talent swirling around Telltale remind me of the geysers of iagination that erupted across the gaming industry in the early 90's. Only this time, with rational production schedules." Also joining the Telltale Team is award-winning artist and designer Justin Chin, whose credits include the Dark Forces: Jedi Knight series and more recently, The Simpsons Game. Chin will be serving Telltale as an executive producer, alongside newly acquired hired Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike and Lair veteran, Brett Tosti. Both are expected to contribute to Telltale's output and its "growth in multiplatform development."
GameTap Thursday: Sam & Max cause Tuesday edition
Sam and Max have altered the space-time continuum and moved the GameTap Thursday update ahead by a couple of days this week. The dog detective and his insanely platonic life partner start their latest adventure, Night of the Raving Dead, today on GameTap and tomorrow on Telltale Games' website. Sam & Max Season Two: Episode 3 Night of the Raving Dead (Windows) - If you have any moderate love for the adventure genre and still haven't played Sam & Max ... well, we're just going to hope you've been off the grid for a couple years. Gondomania (Arcade) - A top-down vertical shooter from the late '80s where the protagonist rides a hover-bike and destroys everything in his path. Good times. After the break you'll find GameTap's list of free games for perusal. Aside from a few new additions this week (bolded), Myst Online: Uru Live still warrants a spin before it dies in 52 days.
Wii Warm Up: Wii Ware progress report
Even though no one outside of Japan knows when to expect Wii Ware, the game service has had quite a few interesting titles announced for it. But, what game or games are you most excited about?Let's give it a little rundown, shall we? We have a pretty looking spin-off from Square-Enix, a few possible adventure titles, a platformer, some puzzle games (including a beloved classic), a unique butterfly simulation, something currently called Project Bang! -- oh, and then there's the one with the Pokemon. We haven't even mentioned the slew of others that came with Wii Ware's original announcement, and then there may even be some that we've forgotten.We know you have to be at least a little bit excited for Wii Ware. So, tell us -- which games most strike your fancy?
Telltale won't tell about Sam & Max
A German press release recently revealed a Sam & Max game for the Wii, but Telltale isn't ready to confirm anything yet. The Sam & Max developer was tight-lipped on the supposed game, stating, "While it's no secret that we want to bring Sam & Max to the Wii - and it is something we're actively pursuing - we don't have any official news right now ... When we're in a position to confirm that we'll be porting Sam & Max to the Wii, we'll make an announcement about it."While those of you looking forward to some dog and rabbit sleuthing on your Wiis shouldn't be doing cartwheels yet (or ever, if you're over ten), Telltale's statement makes the game sound more likely than not. We're up for some more point-and-click adventuring, though, so hopefully Telltale will confirm something soon.
Sam & Max Germanly confirmed for Wii
A press release on publisher JoWood's website reveals that some kind of Sam & Max game is planned for release on the Wii. According to (the Google translation of) the release, as an upcoming project, "Sam & Max will soon also for Nintendo Wii to hunt criminals." The press release describes the company's future plans as "adapting" their successful licenses; we don't know if this is going to be a port of Telltale Games' excellent episodic Sam & Max adventure game series, which JoWood publishes as a retail collection, or a new game. Our guess is on existing content, just because that's easier. Also, Telltale has hired Wii-knowledgable staff for something or other.Wii Ware seems like an obvious choice due to the fact that it fits the existing Sam & Max distribution model (and, again, Telltale's own actions). Being total skeptics, we expect this, if it exists, to be on a disc, because each installment on the PC clocks in at about 250mb, which would eat up the Wii's storage space. We've embedded the part of the press release containing Sam & Max info, in both German and Google-English versions, after the break.
GameTap Thursday: A new Sam & Max, what Moai could you ask for?
The dog detective and his rabbity-thing companion are back for "Moai" adventure in Sam & Max: Moai Better Blues. This time they hop over to Easter Island for some R&R, only to discover things are about to get explosive with a volcano eruption. That's the fine wine GameTap is serving up this week -- the service's other offering is a bit more vinegar. Sam & Max Season Two Episode 2 Moai Better Blues (Windows) - The second episode in the second season of Sam & Max's second coming. Jewelcraft (Windows) - You can find better color matching games on GameTap here, here, here, here and here. After the break we have GameTap's list of free games, including this week's addition, Black Tiger. Still haven't played any Sam & Max yet? Be sure to check out Episode 4 Abe Lincoln Must Die! in the free section to get your paws wet with punny humor.
GameTap previews Sam & Max Moai Better Blues
The gang over at GameTap (how did they ever manage to get this exclusive?) have a new preview on the second episode of Sam & Max Season Two, entitled Moai Better Blues. What's important to know is that the changes seen in the first episode Ice Station Santa are here to stay - for those who didn't play it, that means more organic, less illogical puzzles and "slightly racier themes, references and language."This season will feature more of a cohesive, multi-episode story arc, according to Telltale Games' Emily Morganti. "Our goal is present a game that tells a story more like a TV show, like Lost, where those who pay attention to the whole series will be rewarded," she said. Moai Better Blues is coming to GameTap next Thursday, January 10; new gameplay footage for the episode (here's the old one) after the break.
Today's most lagomorphic video: Sam & Max: Moai Better Blues trailer
Time for some definitions: Lagomorphic: "Any of various plant-eating mammals having fully furred feet and two pairs of upper incisors and belonging to the order Lagomorpha, which includes the rabbits, hares, and pikas." Mo' Better Blues: A 1990 Spike Lee drama that follows the life of a jazz trumpet virtuoso played by Denzel Washington. w00t: Merriam-Webster word of the year. No, really. Did you really need a proper description of a trailer for the next episode of Sam & Max: Season Two, humbly entitled Moai Better Blues? All you need to know is that it's Sam & Max and embedded after the break. Enjoy.
GameTap releases Mac-compatible Player
The GameTap lite client has been out on the Mac for a while, but GameTap just finally released a new version of their full player, and it is now fully compatible with the Mac.Unfortunately, things aren't quite hunky dory just yet-- the Mac player will only play Mac-supported games, which leaves a large number of games completely out-- Sam and Max, Psychonauts, and any other games listed as "Windows" are N/A in the Mac player. However, any emulation titles are in, so Genesis, Neo Geo, and the old arcade games are all playable, according to GameTap's page-- you can get your Sonic on in OS X.This still doesn't help us with new games, of course, but it is awesome to have a huge library like that now available for gaming on the Mac. The GameTap player is now available for download over on their homepage, and while many games are available for free, a Gold subscription to play all the games is $60 a year.
Joystiq interview: Telltale's Dan Connors tells tales
Sam & Max: Season One was one of the first real success stories of digital distribution, where folks could download episodes of the game from month to month, and then after everything had been released, pick up a DVD copy of all the episodes with some extra content. Season Two launches on November 8th (tomorrow, kids!), putting Sam & Max right back into the fray.We sat down with Telltale Games founder and CEO Dan Connors during E For All to talk about all things Sam & Max, Bone, and what's coming up for the young studio. We started off by waxing poetic about E for All or E3 possibly moving to Vegas, so we could have done this over drinks and then hit the tables. We'd like to think Sam & Max would have been proud.
Sam & Max episodes now available on Steam
What did the folks at Telltale Games do today? We'll tell you! They turned a Valve and streamed their sparkling Sam & Max episodic series out of a GameTap and straight into a kettle. Then they, uh, boiled it. Because Sam & Max Season 1 is now available for purchase on Steam, you see. Also, we're terrible at this. Let's try again.Telltale Games and Valve have announced that the first episodic series to become available on Steam (yes, there was a joke there) is Sam & Max Season 1, with single episodes priced at $8.95 each. There's a 10% discount to be had during this first week of release, and those who balk at bit purchases can buy in bulk -- bundles of the first three (or last three) episodes go for $19.95 each. If you manage to miraculously avoid adventure's detective duo on Steam, GameTap and Telltale's website, you'll still have to deal with August's retail release from JoWood and The Adventure Company. You'll have nowhere to run, you lagomorph loather.
