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NintendoWare Weekly: Monkeys, Musketeers and more Sudoku
Just as expected, today marks the release of the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island on WiiWare. If comical puzzles aren't your thing, there're also puzzles of the humorless variety in a bit of Sudoku for the DSi. Or, if you're looking for some swordplay -- without the insults -- there's a new WiiWare game featuring The Three Musketeers. Oh, and it would appear Nintendo has run out of steam on the Virtual Console, as this week marks the second in a row where there has been no new Virtual Console game. Hey, Nintendo, looking for an idea of what to release next? How about that game starring the boy from Onett?%Gallery-64680%
Tales of Monkey Island ep. 1 drops anchor on WiiWare July 27
Ahoy thar! You, with the Wiimote! Ye best be knowin' that episode one of Tales of Monkey Island™ (that be "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal") will be pullin' into port on WiiWarrrrr (*ahem*) WiiWare Monday, the twenty-seventh o' July. Yarrr, that's but three days from now!It'll set ye back 1000 Wii Points ($10, or $70 less than a good piece o' eight at eBay's goin' rate). Aparrrt from th' graphics, it should be a carrrbon copy of th' PC version, a review o' which has already been posted for ye readin' pleasure.[Note: We made Randy walk the plank after reading this.]
Ubisoft and Telltale serving up justice with CSI: Deadly Intent
If you've always wanted to get elbow-deep inside a human chest cavity in the name of scientific justice, here comes your shining moment. Ubisoft and CBS are teaming up once again to release the seventh gaming adaptation of the popular crime-solving TV show, titled CSI: Deadly Intent (the debut trailer for which is posted after the break).This time around, Telltale Games is developing it for the Wii, DS, 360 and PC, and it guest stars Lawrence Fishburne as lead investigator Dr. Raymond Langston. Sounds like a recipe for success. We bet it'll make (puts on sunglasses) a killing in the NPDs."YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"%Gallery-68279%
Tales of Monkey Island sails to strong Steam sales
Telltale's continuation of the Monkey Island series is apparently doing well on Steam. The distribution platform's sales chart shows that the first season pre-order of Mr. Threepwood's latest adventure was the top selling game "by revenue" for the week. Rounding out the top three sales spots on the service are Street Fighter IV and Fallout 3. If you're sitting on the fence -- made out of the boats LeChuck has sunk -- about purchasing the game, check out our review or the demo first. If you don't own a PC, the Wii version is en route and an Xbox 360 version may be available "later on."
Get yer Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1 demo all fast-like
If, for some unfathomable reason, Ludwig's review of Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal didn't have ye partin' with yer pieces of eight for the full game, perhaps a free demo is what ye be after. Our mateys at BigDownload have weighed anchor on the 187MB download and it's yers for the takin' -- without any waitin' -- over at their site. Oh, and we wouldn't try runnin' it on a pirated operatin' system if we were you. Savvy? Download Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal Demo (188MB)
Review: Tales of Monkey Island (Launch of the Screaming Narwhal)
Resurrecting a dead franchise (and let's face it, this industry will pronounce you as such if you've been missing for almost ten years) can bring about equal amounts of delight and regret. It's the difference between having dear ol' grandma brought back to life or having someone dump her freshly exhumed corpse on your doorstep. Sometimes she's best remembered -- and not smelled. It's a relief, then, to declare the first episode of Telltale's five-part Tales of Monkey Island series a wonderful, heart-warming reunion. Grandma's back, full of life and ready to bake some cookies! Okay, so her eyeballs will occasionally fall out, but it's nothing that can't be fixed with some time and some practice. %Gallery-64680%
Taking a stroll back through The Secret of Monkey Island
With an HD remix of The Secret of Monkey Island and a full-on episodic assault in Tales of Monkey Island on the way, many might find themselves wondering what all of the fuss is about. Those individuals have likely been stomping around the Earth for no more than 12 years or so, and thankfully GameSetWatch has come to the rescue with an incredibly lengthy retrospective (like, 5,000 words long) on the series. We must warn you that the piece is filled with various spoilers, so if you've never played any of these games before, don't say we didn't warn you. But, for the rest of us, it's a great primer for the bounty of content ahead. %Gallery-64659%
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: E3 interviews
This week, the Nintendo Channel has been flooded with a variety of interviews about big upcoming Wii titles. There are interviews with the folks behind FFCC: The Crystal Bearers, Red Steel 2, Cave Story, and, as you can see above, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. So, hit up the video above, then if you want more E3 interview goodness, be sure to boot up your Wii and check out what's on the Nintendo Channel.%Gallery-47570%
This Wednesday: Magic the Gathering, Sam & Max hit the XBLA
This week, Xbox Live Arcade gets not one, but two genres that rarely see the light of day on consoles. First, we've got the collectible card game, Magic the Gather: Duels of the Planeswalkers. Unlike the weird Magic title on the original Xbox -- which played something like a weird monster summoning / volleyball hybrid -- Planeswalkers sticks to the traditional card game, which should make fans mighty happy. The game will deal 800 ($10) damage to your wallet.Next, we have the XBLA debut of the Sam & Max adventure series, Sam & Max Save the World. Save the World is actually the first season of the Sam & Max episodic series that has been available on PC and Wii for some time now. That's six episodes of comedy gold for 1600 ($20). For those keeping score, that's the same price as the PC version and $10 cheaper than the Wii version.
Sam & Max save the world on XBLA June 17
Telltale Games just slipped a note under our door to inform us that season one of Sam & Max, subtitled Save the World, is all finished up and coming to Xbox Live Arcade on June 17 for 1600 Microsoft Points (or $20 Earth Bucks). That's next Wednesday! (Thankfully, the spit-take shield for our TV should arrive on Monday.)But what of season two, Beyond Time and Space? It's definitely headed to XBLA "in the coming months," according to the tellers of tales. That's good to know, seeing as nailing down something outside the bounds of space-time can be pretty tricky.
Achievements spotted for Wallace & Gromit's first XBLA-bound episode
Xbox 360 Achievements for Wallace & Gromit's adventure (already ongoing on PC) have surfaced and X360A.org have scooped them up. Like any other XBLA title, Wallace & Gromit's Fright of the Bumblebees includes a possible 200 Gamerscore points to help players pad their personal Xbox profile "baseball card" statistics. Fans of the famous British-born, stop-motion clay animation series will notice the careful attention Telltale Games put into the achievements -- primarily the the multiple achievements referencing Wallace's love for cheese. Here's hoping the XBLA translation for the adventure game turns out as Gouda as the PC version. Amirite? %Gallery-39989%
Telltale to reveal new game series at E3
In a self-congratulatory press release celebrating the company's fifth anniversary and the sale of its millionth episode, episodic puzzle-adventure developer Telltale games has indicated that "a new series in development will be announced at E3." The press release doesn't contain any more information about the new series, though we're always happy to hear that Telltale is working on something new. Chances are that it will be another point-and-click adventure series based on an existing, popular property, though we'd be very interested in seeing a new, home-grown IP coming from the developer. Whatever it turns out to be, we look forward to finding out at E3 early next month.
Telltale talks episodic content on Wii
Telltale Games (Sam & Max, Strong Bad) CEO Dan Connors mentioned in a recent interview that WiiWare "requires the most planning" of the online console marketplaces. In fairness, though, he explains that all the current console makers' online storefronts attempt to make content relatable to the audience. Connors notes that Strong Bad was "perfect" for Nintendo, which we're sure has a little bit to do with the enhanced sales after Nintendo's "storage solution" was introduced. Connors doesn't make any further announcements for Telltale's brand of episodic gaming for the Wii, but he does say that the company will continue to evolve the adventure genre and feels the developer will continue growing the adventure genre for "years to come." A positive sign for more potential Telltale titles on the Wii front, perhaps?
Sam & Max Surfin' the Highway bundles games with funny
Sam: Whatcha got there, little buddy? Max: Why, Sam, it's a book about us? That's creepy!Telltale Games is selling the 20th anniversary edition of Sam & Max Surfin' the Highway, bundling together the 197-page graphic album with the publisher's Sam & Max episodic adventure game for the PC. The book, which has been out of print for nearly a decade, contains the complete collection of Steve Purcell's Sam & Max comics, including 25 new pages of previously unreleased artwork. The collection is currently available in paperback for $29.95, which includes both the book and a DVD containing the most recent 5-episode season of Sam & Max. A more pricey $59.95 hardcover edition is also available, which ships with both seasons tucked between its supple pages. Closet lagomorphs with some extra geld can also shell out for the $99.95 bundle, which nets the book, games, soundtrack, the complete animated series and a Sam & Max t-shirt and hat. Sam: And look, the thing was also nominated for an Eisner Award. That'll look good on the wall.Max: Yup, right next to Hitler's head!Sam: You're a scary bunny.
Joystiq Review: Wallace and Gromit's Fright of the Bumble Bees
I'd imagine that most people go into Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures: Fright of the Bumble Bees knowing what they're going to get. If you're the sort that's going to buy into Telltale's newest episodic project then you're probably at least aware of the basic mouse-driven adventure mechanics of Sam and Max or Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People.If you're expecting something substantially different here, you're not going to find it. This is a game about exploring a charming world, about learning its internal logic and learning to use it. It may not be revolutionary, but it sure is delightful.%Gallery-39989%
Crackin'! Wallace & Gromit PC demo out now
Our average-sized friends at BigDownload have gotten their mitts on something better than Wensleydale and crackers: the PC demo for Telltale Game's forthcoming Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. Specifically, it's a short taste of the first of four planned monthly episodes, Fright of the Bumblebees, which hits March 24. We had a chance to check out the episode at Wonder-Con earlier this month and found it to be charming beyond belief.The demo weighs in at a modest 138MB and can be yours for the price of a trip to BigDownload, which, as it so happens, is absolutely free.
Wallace and Gromit dated March 24, demo on March 16
Telltale Games has stepped forth and dropped the knowledge. Said knowledge is a March 24 release date for the PC version of its upcoming episodic series Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. If that sounds like too long to wait, know that a demo of the game will arrive on March 16 exclusively on Yahoo! Games. As if that weren't enough, Telltale has revealed that those who pre-order the title will receive a full episode of both Sam & Max and Strong Bad's CG4AP. The episodes, if you're curious, are "Ice Station Santa" from Sam & Max and "Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective" for Strong Bad. On top of all that, there's even a new trailer of the game in action.Watch the digital claymation goodness after the break.[Thanks, StLouisRibs7734]%Gallery-39989%
Ubisoft 'least consistent,' Rockstar 'most consistent,' concludes study of Metacritic
Prepare yourself for some simple math and inflammatory statements. Gaming industry analysis site GameQuarry recently performed a breakdown of Metacritic ratings for titles released by major publishers to determine whose releases were of a consistently high quality. Assigning each release an A - F grade, then using a simple point value cipher (A = 2, B = 1, C = 0, D = -1, F = -2), it ranked each publisher by their final scores, providing some fairly interesting results.Rockstar Games took home top honors in this respect, with a grade score of 19 over its 23 releases. Telltale Games was a close runner-up with a score of 14 for its 23 titles. On the not-so-braggable end of the spectrum (chart posted after break), Ubisoft was listed as the "least consistent" publisher, with a final score of -148 over 237 games, with Activision hot on its heels with a score of -138 for its 227 games.Is this study the final word on which publishers are currently putting out the highest quality product? No, not exactly, as the list includes the entire portfolios of the publishers listed (at least for titles current enough to merit Metacritic ratings), so it doesn't do much to point out current publishing trends. Also, the more prolific publishers seemed to be somewhat penalized for their largeness -- Activision, who ranked second from the bottom, had more Grade A titles than anyone else on the list. However, it does provide a little food for thought -- and more than a little fuel for a few flamewars, we suspect.
Joystiq impressions: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures
We were treated -- that's the appropriate word -- to a brief sneak peek at Telltale Games' upcoming episodic adventure series, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, this past weekend at San Francisco's Wonder-Con. Although early, the taste of things to come was promising enough to get us as excited as Wallace on a trip to the cheese shop. This demo alone convinced us that Telltale has a firm grasp on the unique humor of the classic Aardman Animation shorts -- and also their charming visual style. It's one thing to create controllable dogs and rabbits or citizens of Strongbadia, but something entirely different to capture the essence of real plasticine figures ... in motion, no less. %Gallery-39989%
Sam & Max's first two seasons punning to XBLA
Sam and Max are ready to hit the road (ouch!) and make themselves available for freelance detective work on Xbox Live Arcade. Telltale has announced that the previously released first two seasons of adventure for the dog detective and his psychotic rabbity-thing partner are "upcoming," but no dates nor pricing have been revealed.Sam & Max: Save the World and Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space will be the new XBLA names given to seasons one and two, respectively. The titles will be released as full-season bundles -- we hear that winter is a real pain to pack in there.%Gallery-6517%
