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Telltale devs caught juking Metacritic user reviews, studio stands behind them
When Telltale employees aren't busy getting into protracted online arguments over the handling of promotional Jeeps, they're apparently artificially boosting the user review score of the studio's latest release, Jurassic Park: The Game. GameSpot spotted as much this week after the game launched, pointing out that few reviewers (if any) received the game early for review, and that the only user reviews on Metacritic were notoriously high (10s), featuring "gushing" praise for the title. As it turns out, after some quick Googling, the user reviews belonged to Telltale Games employees -- a user interface artist and a cinematic artist, according to GameSpot. Telltale, however, stands behind the two offenders. "Telltale Games do not censor or muzzle its employees in what they post on the internet," studio reps said. "It is being communicated internally that anyone who posts in an industry forum will acknowledge that they are a Telltale employee. In this instance, two people who were proud of the game they worked on, posted positively on Metacritic under recognizable online forum and XBLA account names." In other words, if you had Googled the user names attached to the positive user reviews from Metacritic, you could discover their true identities, which, as we all know, most internet forum users are wont to do. No one on the internet ever bases their reactions off of what they see without looking deeper first. Nope. Never.
PSN Tuesday: Jurassic Park, Red Dead Redemption, Uncharted 3 accessories
Sony opens a new area of its store for "PS3 Full Games" today, with Red Dead Redemption, but Sony's been selling full retail games on PSN for a while. It just didn't have a name. Joining that pseudo-groundbreaking release today is Telltale's Jurassic Park adventure, BurgerTime World Tour, and Hollywood Squares. If you'd rather augment a game you already have, there's some Uncharted 3 multiplayer accessory DLC. Find all the details, plus more downloads, at PlayStation Blog.
Jurassic Park: The Game promo Jeep deal causes dino-sized kerfuffle on Reddit
Yesterday, we received a flood of tips from Redditors and other folks urging us to report on a post at the community site, titled, "I let TellTale borrow my Jurassic Park Jeep and all I got was this lousy Dino-Damage." Written by Jurassic Park-themed Jeep Wrangler owner Kevin "Boomerjinks" Henry of the Jurassic Jeep group, he recounts the events that transpired upon arranging a deal with Telltale Games to use his vehicle for promotion at this past September's PAX, where the studio was showing attendees its upcoming Jurassic Park game. Henry alleges that a variety of communication issues transpired prior to shipment of the Jeep from his location in Colorado to the convention in Washington, and that upon arrival, the vehicle itself had been damaged (scuffs and chips, mostly). Though he says he was assured that he'd be compensated for the damages, the company apparently went dark on him after several exchanges in the weeks following PAX. So he took to Reddit, but we'd only heard one side of the story. But after a minor uproar ensued, Telltale head Kevin Bruner took to Reddit himself to air his company's side of things, even agreeing to pay the damages in full out of pocket immediately. While he says he doesn't like "the circumstances this is going down in," he'd rather move things along. "This way we won't need to hash this out publicly any longer." As Telltale has been going through the vehicle transport's insurance holder, things haven't been speeding along for Henry's Jeep fix, Bruner claims. Meanwhile, as a fallout from the initial report, the ex-Telltale employee who organized the Jeep deal with Henry has been virtually mobbed by angry Redditors -- one of which posted the former employee's name, which resulted in "83 phone calls (according to Google voice), 41 Facebook messages, and 19 emails." Also, Jurassic Park: The Game is out today, in case you were wondering. Update: Apparently Henry himself outed the former Telltale employee, according to this Reddit comment.
Get free, vicious dinosaurs with your year of PlayStation Plus
Telltale and Sony are teaming up to offer additional incentives to those who like to pay for, uh, additional incentives. PlayStation Blog says anyone who signs up for a year of PlayStation Plus will get Jurassic Park: The Game gratis as soon as it launches. The offer runs from November 1 through November 8, so you'll need to act fast if you want to get in on the deal. Best Buy has the year subscription cards for $49.99. Jurassic Park: The Game launches on November 15 and spans four separate episodes.
Telltale: Jurassic Park won't come to European Xbox 360s this year
Jurassic Park: The Game will not arrive on European Xbox 360s in 2011, Telltale Games announced. Jurassic Park will launch for PSN, Mac and PC on Nov. 15 in North America and, Telltale hopes, Europe. "Europe is a big deal to us so we're working hard to have the game out on PSN in Europe on the same day as here in North America," a Telltale team member wrote in a forum post. "We'll be able to confirm that soon hopefully. "As for Xbox 360, we are not a European publisher i.e., we don't have a European office. That means that we need a publishing partner over there to get the game out to you. The good news is that we'll be able to make an announcement on that soon. So, while we won't be able to get the 360 version to you before the end of the year, we'll do everything that we can to get it to you as soon as possible." To potentially ease the pain, Telltale is offering $10 off pre-orders of the Jurassic Park Deluxe Edition, making it $39.99, although European orders may not arrive in time for the holidays, Telltale warned. This seems like a lot of effort to explain itself from Telltale, when it could have simply said, "Nuh-uh-uh -- you didn't say the magic word."
Telltale opens the gates on Jurassic Park Deluxe Edition
The following was penned by Joystiq contributing editor Richard Mitchell. The comments contained herein are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Joystiq, AOL, The Huffington Post or any affiliates thereof. When I was young, I really liked Jurassic Park. Of the many, many JP toys I owned (I still have one of these), I remember one T-shirt in particular. On the front was a sweet raptor, and on the back was a map of Jurassic Park, including the locations of its dinosaurs. I spent weeks meticulously recreating said map, literally pixel by pixel, using Microsoft Paint – we didn't have Minecraft back then, and if we had, our computer wouldn't have been able to run it. And now Telltale goes and announces a Deluxe Edition of Jurassic Park: The Game for Mac and PC. The package is a veritable cornucopia of Jurassic Park memorabilia, including an InGen ID badge and field guide, a Jurassic Park staff patch and, best of all, a replica brochure from the movie including the map. The package can be pre-ordered for $40. But the point I'm trying to make is that someone at Telltale has either been tailing me for 18 years or, in a far more likely scenario, they found a Being John Malkovich door into my head. Get out, Telltale. Get out of my head.
Must See HDTV (October 24th - 30th)
This week baseball's World Series continues, after splitting the first four games evenly it all comes down to a best of three between the Rangers and Cardinals. Of course, that's not all coming to our TVs this week, as several new series premiere, along with some Halloween-themed programming. The biggest surprise however is the 90s-throwback feel of this week's roundup, find out why in the highlights below, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames. Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy When the first flick debuted in 1993, it brought Michael Crichton's book to life with an unprecedented new level of special effects. Of course, that meant the Jurassic Park trilogy's strength was never its story, which regressed further in subsequent films. Still, you can celebrate some of the best in '90s cinema this week with the new triple pack that includes the movies and all new behind the scenes information. You can also get your dinosaur fix every week with Terra Nova, but we wouldn't recommend it. (October 26th, $48.99 on Amazon) Beavis & Butt-head Mike Judge's animated duo make their return to the small screen after a 14 year layoff Thursday night, and for better or worse, it doesn't appear that much has changed. Of course, the internet has opened up a whole new source of bad music videos for the pair to display and dissect, but since they're on the internet, its much more likely that you've already seen them. We'd rather have Daria or Aeon Flux back instead, but we'll check this out for nostalgia's sake. (October 27th, MTV, 10PM) Grimm The other new fairytale based TV show makes its debut on NBC this week, with a very Supernatural / Fringe type of take on the old stories. This time around the Grimm brothers are homicide detectives that chase down all those supposedly mythical creatures in the very real world of Portland, Oregon. We'll see if it's worth watching as it takes on Fringe in the same time slot Friday night -- check after the break for a preview. (October 28th, NBC, 9PM)
Jurassic Park's dinos wanna say hello
We can't help but imagine the dinosaurs of Telltale's Jurassic Park: The Game with slightly ... different voice casting. We've got high hopes that one of you sound prodigies will interpret that as a challenge.
Jurassic Park's grand opening set for November 15
IGN reports that Telltale's shaving cream can full of dinosaur embryos will finally be thawed this November. What we're trying to say – in an admittedly dumb way – is that Telltale is "targeting" a November 15 launch for Jurassic Park: The Game. Every episode will be immediately available for download – as opposed to doling them out monthly – via PC, Mac and PS3. The Xbox 360 version will be available only via retail disc. Telltale is also planning an iPad version of the game, though it will not launch on November 15 and it will be released episodically. Figure that out. %Gallery-131359%
Jurassic Park Trilogy comes to Blu-ray October 25th
We've had to wait quite a while, but after Dreamworks and Steven Spielberg signed up with Universal three years ago, the Jurassic Park Trilogy will finally be available on Blu-ray this fall. All three flicks have been restored and remastered and John Williams' orchestral score will come home in a 7.1 DTS-HD MA encoding. Also included are over two hours of new special features with a six part Return to Jurassic Park documentary focusing on the cast and crew of the films. If that's not enough, there's also a plan for a "Limited Special Edition" with a custom T-Rex statue. No word yet on any pricing info but you can check the press release after the break for the long list of extras and all other details, plus a brand new trailer. Update: Now with the HD trailer Universal just posted to YouTube.
Jurassic Park coming to Xbox 360 'on disc' this fall, simultaneous with PS3
Do you remember when Telltale announced its status as an official publisher for Xbox 360 and we surmised that the San Rafael-based developer may have finally worked something out with Microsoft, allowing it to pre-sell episodic wares as a full season, as it's done successfully on the PC, Mac, and PS3 platforms? Yeah, forget about all that. Telltale is still an official publisher on 360, but it's going to be distributing Jurassic Park: The Game "in North America as a retail release containing the full series on disc." It's not certain how the PS3 release will be handled, since Telltale says Jurassic Park will be hitting the "Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms as a simultaneous release this fall." Though not mentioned in this latest press release, Telltale CEO Dan Connors said just this week that Jurassic Park "will be released simultaneously on every platform this fall," meaning the PC and Mac releases will appear alongside the "full series" Xbox 360 release. We've reached out to Telltale for some answers but this sounds to us like the episodic pioneer may be releasing an entire season un-episodically. %Gallery-122456%
Telltale announces Xbox 360 publishing agreement
Telltale Games, the San Rafael-based purveyor of episodic adventure games, has struck an accord with Microsoft, the studio announced today. Exact details on the length and nature of the licensing agreement are forthcoming, but it pertains to publishing games on the Xbox 360 (presumably through Xbox Live Arcade), specifically, with no mention of Windows Phone 7 in the deal. The Xbox 360 hasn't seen a Telltale release since Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventure, due to Microsoft's stringent development restrictions. With this new agreement, we could potentially see episodic seasons pre-sold, a la PlayStation Network. "Adding console support to our acknowledged expertise in digital downloads is another positive step in our long-term growth strategy," said Telltale co-founder and CEO Dan Connors in the announcement. "We are pleased to expand the size of our potential audience by encompassing the Xbox 360 console consumer and bring our vision of video gaming to them." Telltale currently publishes on PC, Mac, iOS and PSN. The studio has a ridiculous number of projects in the pipeline, offering some compelling possibilities for hopeful Xbox 360 users.
Jurassic Park delayed to fall on PC, pre-orderers get free game
Dinosaurs are usually known for their timeliness -- think of people being referred to as "dinosaurs" when they're ahead of the curve on trends -- but the dinosaurs of Telltale's Jurassic Park game aren't going to make their appointed release date. Telltale CEO Dan Conners sent an email out to people who had pre-ordered the adventure series, informing them that the PC and Mac release of the first episode would not occur in April as planned. "The game's mechanics and storytelling have come together in such a way that we see great potential," he said, "so much so that we feel we can push these elements to the next level if we spend some extra time working on them." That means that the PC and Mac releases will now take place simultaneously with the console versions this fall. In addition, Telltale is issuing full refunds to those who pre-ordered, and throwing in a free Telltale game of the user's choice. Can we put Telltale in charge of PSN customer service? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Explore Jurassic Park thoroughly in this trailer
What's that? You were hoping for over ten solid minutes of frantic dino/dino combat today in video form? GameSpot's Hot Spot is here to deliver on just that with a show featuring upcoming action-adventure game Jurassic Park.
New Jurassic Park: The Game trailer brings us back to Isla Nublar
We hope you guys have a few hours to kill. No, the dev diary for Telltale's upcoming Jurassic Park adventure games isn't feature-length, but we'll be damned if it doesn't fill you with an overwhelming desire to pop in the film on which its based. Check out the lengthy behind-the-scenes just below.
Jurassic Park preview: Triceratops in the headlights
Jurassic Park represents an obvious departure from the games regularly associated with Telltale. It's not humorous, the graphical style exchanges whimsy for something more realistic, and it's even driven by some action sequences. Having played a brief demo of the game (the first episode is due in April), I think Telltale can successfully break out of its pattern. It's not hard to see the aforementioned influences from Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain in Jurassic Park's reliance on quick-time events and context-based interactions. However, unlike Heavy Rain, you don't march your character through the environment -- instead, you move the camera and highlight points of interaction within your field of view. Select one, and a small cutscene shows the result of your action. %Gallery-117120%
Telltale's Jurassic Park opening on PC and Mac this April
Telltale Games has updated its website to host the latest tourist-eating attraction, Jurassic Park: The Game. The five-episode series will debut this April on PC and Mac, and can be pre-ordered for $29.99 (representing a $5 discount off the regular price). There's also a brief trailer of the game, which is -- as designer Dave Grossman implied last year -- utterly devoid of talking cartoon animals. It's clearly representative of a darker, more serious approach to storytelling than we've come to expect from Telltale, and isn't likely to be conducive to our usual point-and-click perambulations. "I don't want to have it be a game about hanging around and solving thinky puzzles at your own pace," Grossman said. "It just doesn't seem like the right thing to do for that." You'll hear more about Jurassic Park and how it works later today.
Rumor: Telltale developing The Walking Dead game
According to a press invite sent to Joystiq and other outlets, Telltale Games has five new multiplatform projects (five!) to announce at an event next month, including "one based on a just-launched property from the TV and comic book world whose popularity is changing life as some know it." As you can see from a portion of the invitation above, the main focus of the event will be on the studio's Jurassic Park project. 1UP, apparently having been through said life-changing experience with The Walking Dead, pegs the zombie apocalypse comic series -- which was recently adapted into a TV show -- as the Telltale mystery project mentioned in the invitation. We'd agree that's a good guess, if it weren't for the total implausibility of a video game about zombies.
Hey! Some new Telltale Jurassic Park screens
Game Informer has posted some of the first screens of Telltale's upcoming Jurassic Park. Additionally, the article lays out some more of the details that were recently revealed in the latest ish of Game Informer magazine. In particular, the piece details how Telltale is looking to focus on the human element of Jurassic Park and the interactions between its characters. This is opposed to the focus of nearly every other game based on the franchise: Kill a bunch of dinosaurs. Head over to Game Informer for more details and screens of Jurassic Park. Once you've finished there, we did a little searching on YouTube, and we think we may have discovered some leaked gameplay footage.
Telltale looks to Heavy Rain for Jurassic Park gameplay design
Jurassic Park and Telltale Games may seem like an unlikely combination, but the The Escapist's recap of a new Game Informer magazine interview reveals that IP owner Universal Studios wasn't looking for a straightforward action game, making Telltale a good fit. The developer will still look to add a bit more action to its traditional adventure game framework, telling GI that the game will feature both slower-paced character building and the surprise scares that once propelled the franchise to box office success. Telltale likens this gameplay balancing act to Quantic Dreams' suspense thriller, Heavy Rain. Aside from the possibility of dinosaurs with out-of-place accents, this means that the Jurassic Park game will feature some element of choice, though it's noted in the interview that the gameplay mechanics are still in the works. Additionally, some of the game's story has been cursorily detailed, revealing sub-plots such as identifying where Dennis Nedry's can of dino embryos ended up post-Dilophosaurus attack and a tie into the first film through the eyes of an unknown character. Jurassic Park is expected to encompass five episodes, with the first coming to PC and Mac some time this year.
