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Tales of Monkey Island heads to retail in Europe, Collector's Edition announced
Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island is sailing across the ocean for a retail release in Europe and Australia. Set to disembark in April 2011 (hey, traveling by boat ain't fast), the game comes in two editions that include all five episodes in the series, plus a treasure trove of goodies. The "Premium Edition," priced at £29.99 for the UK, offers production art, desktop wallpapers and "fun forum avatars." The £49.99 "Collector's Edition" holds map of the Gulf of Melange, voodoo card, Club 41 coaster, a piece of eight coin and a Trial of the Century badge. So, if you're Davy Jonesing for some Monkey Island swag, you'll just have to practice holding your breath until April.
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 Games having 50% off sale until January 3
Okay, so you can't go Back to the Future or have a Poker Night at the Inventory, but you can point and click your way through most of the Telltale Games' catalog for 50 percent off until January 3, 2011. That means you can listen to some Tales of Monkey Island, help Sam & Max with some freelance police work, invent a reason to hang out with Wallace & Gromit, or man up with Strong Bad (but only if you're attractive) at a significant discount on the Telltale site.
Back to the Future: The Game review: It's about time
Maybe it's the charming performances by the leads, the blend of comedy and adventure that never hits any one note too hard, or plain old nostalgia – honestly, it's probably a little bit of all those – but there's something special about the Back to the Future series. This is perhaps the best compliment I can pay to Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 1. Whatever that specialness is, whatever the source of the magic that's made the series a cultural touchstone for so many, Telltale's got it to spare. %Gallery-111944%
Lots more iOS games on sale for just a buck
We're heading into the final day before the App Store freeze on Thursday, and so there are lots more price drops popping up on Apple's digital outlet for iOS apps. Here's a few of the sales we've heard about so far. Bulkypix is holding a 99 cent sale on its titles. Freeverse has dropped a few apps to just a buck, including Skee-ball and Flick Fishing, and it's giving away Moto Chaser for free. Sega has a big holiday sale going on, including Gunstar Heroes and Phantasy Star 2 for just 99 cents each. Telltale has a sale going on, including the excellent Puzzle Agent for just 99 cents. And don't forget the iOS indie games "bundle", offering up excellent deals on some of the best indie games on the App Store. Lots of terrific games available for cheap on the iOS store this week. Stay tuned -- we'll probably see some more drops tomorrow, and then on Thursday, as Apple freezes store releases, everything will be nailed in for the busy holiday weekend.
Tales of Monkey Island - Episode 1 drops anchor on iPad
The first segment of Teltale's five-part return trip to Monkey Island is now available on the iPad. Tales of Monkey Island - Episode One: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal sees the lovably inept Guybrush Threepwood washing up on Flotsam Island, home to a unicorn-loving glass blower and a doctor with ... somewhat questionable medical intentions. You'll find it on the iTunes store for $6.99, before the rest of the episodes are added next year. According to Telltale, the controls and character movement in the iPad iTeration are similar to those found in the PC games. Selected inventory items will let you know where they can be used, and a two-finger prod will show all selectable items on screen. You'll want to put all of them in your pocket, basically. (Note: We apologize if the above headline inflicted mortifying mental imagery on proud and paranoid iPad owners. Invest in a protective case, and never leave your expensive gadget unattended near a dock.)
Strong Bad's Cool Game available for PS3 People on December 21, Mac People 'soon'
There are a lot of attractive people that don't own a Wii or PC. Acknowledging this shortcoming, Telltale has announced new platforms for Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. The episodic adventure inspired by the Homestar Runner web site will be available on the North American PlayStation Network on December 21st, with European and Mac releases to follow "shortly thereafter." The press release doesn't detail pricing, but all five episodes are currently available for $29.95 on PC. For a blast from the past, check out the original trailer after the break -- and read our review from 2008.
Go Back to the Future in five, chronological episodes
GameTrailers has the debut moving-picture preview for Telltale's episodic Back to the Future game and, if you ignore the animation and lip-synching, it's looking pretty ... um -- hey, how awesome are those movies? They're on Blu-ray now, you know. Maybe we'll forget all about this awkward teaser when the first episode of the point-n-click adventure is made available for free sometime soon. Revealed as a five-episode series, Back to the Future begins this month, before taking a winter break until February, when it'll pick back up with a new episode each month until the finale: December: "It's About Time" (Episode 1) February: "Get Tannen!" (Episode 2) March: "Citizen Brown" (Episode 3) April: "Double Visions" (Episode 4) TBD: "OUTATIME" (Finale) Back to the Future will be available for PC, Mac, PS3 (via PSN) and iPad. Previously, Telltale announced plans to launch the PC and Mac versions first. Check out the trailer after the break, or don't ... if you're chicken.
The Sam & Max DeSoto that almost was
The DeSoto you know could've been something very different, as this concept art from Steve Purcell's blog reveals. The image is from Sam & Max Plunge Through Time, a never-released game first announced in 2001 as an Xbox exclusive.
Telltale offering free Sam and Max chapter this Halloween weekend
It wouldn't be Halloween weekend if Telltale didn't offer a chapter of one of its adventure series for free -- well, we guess it still would be Halloween weekend, since ... that's how time works. Regardless, you can grab Sam and Max: Night of the Raving Dead this weekend for free.
Developers drop prices on super popular App Store apps
If you thought yesterday's App Store sales were nice, you haven't seen anything yet. For some reason, a whole bunch of terrific apps are dropping their prices this weekend, and Touch Arcade has put together a nice roundup. TUAW Daily App choices Osmos, Archetype, Civilization Revolution, Secret of Monkey Island (and its sequel) and Hybrid 2 are all on sale for as cheap as 99 cents, as is Telltale's Puzzle Agent, Popcap's Bookworm and Peggle, and a host of other high-profile titles. Pretty crazy -- some of the App Store's most popular titles, including EA's Need for Speed series and Activision's Call of Duty Zombies games, are seeing the biggest drops in their lifetimes. My best guess for the big drops is that the financial year 2010 ends today, and these companies are trying to pad out their mobile app sale numbers before (or while) the quarter turns over. But whatever the reason, we consumers benefit -- if you've been waiting to pick some of these games up, now's your chance. And I think we'll be seeing a lot more of this. Companies, especially companies that have been premiering their apps as high as $9.99, are learning that dropping the price like this moves copies quickly, so as we move into the frenzied holiday season for gaming, we'll probably see more than a few big sales come down the pike. Stay tuned.
Telltale Games bundles Puzzle Agent, Sam and Max, four more for $20
Starting right now, Telltale Games is offering six adventure games for just $19.95. The initial four are The Whispered World, Jack Keane, King's Quest Collection, and Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1, with Telltale's own Puzzle Agent and Sam & Max: Season 2 unlocking as more people buy the bundle. Child's Play and The World Wildlife Fund are among five charities receiving 25 percent of the profits from this promotion. The deal is currently being offered only on PC, and will be available via the Telltale Games store until September 10.
Telltale's Back to the Future touts Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown
You can breathe a little easier if you've been eagerly anticipating Telltale's five-episode Back to the Future series, as USA Today has just confirmed some of its key inclusions: 1. Marty McFly and Doc Brown 2. Christopher Lloyd voicing Doc Brown 3. Hill Valley 4. 1985 5. BttF screenwriter Bob Gale's guidance 6. The DeLorean We've worked with a team of experts to prepare a list of things we still need confirmed for the episodic game to allow our hearts to open and our expectations to run free, like majestic, time-traveling ponies: 1. Hoverboards. 2. Huey Lewis Seriously guys, what's up?
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse episode 4 released
Just a quick heads up for all the laugh-loving adventure fans out there: The latest episode of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse is now available. Entitled "Beyond the Alley of the Dolls," the fourth episode in the new season sees everyone's favorite freelance police battling it out with an army of despicable, half-naked doppelgangers -- er, doggelgangers. Check out the new trailer after the break and a handful of screens below. %Gallery-97869%
Telltale surveying fans' favorite Back to the Future elements
There's a lot to love in Zemeckis' time-space continuum-altering Back to the Future trilogy -- it makes sense that Telltale Games wants to know what aspects fans are hoping to see in its upcoming episodic game adaptation of the films. Fans can now participate in a quick survey, choosing some of the time periods, characters and a handful of scenarios which reference iconic moments from the films which they'd like to see in the games. Click past the jump to see some of the sample scenarios presented in the survey. You can access the questionnaire through Telltale's site, but be forewarned! If you vote for an adventure set in the 1800s featuring Doc Brown's Wild West offspring, and which doesn't feature Biff or hoverboards or time traveling of any sort, we'll come through the internet and open-hand slap you in the face.
Wallace & Gromit get cracking on iPad
Wallace and Gromit -- inventor extraordinaire and dog, respectively -- are making their way to the iPad. Telltale has announced that Wallace & Gromit: The Last Resort is now available for Apple's wonder slate. While certainly good news for Telltale fans, said fans may have noticed something a little odd, as The Last Resort is actually the second episode of the first season of Wallace & Gromit. Telltale makes no mention of other episodes in the future -- iPad users are still waiting on the rest of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, incidentally -- but if you've been waiting to play Wallace & Gromit on a more magical platform, The Last Resort can be snagged from iTunes for $4.99.
Review: Puzzle Agent
We're pretty comfortable with most games that walk a fine line between "inspiration" and "plagiarism." Bullets of Shooting is basically just Explosions of Valor, except set after an apocalypse wrought by space bugs rather than space robots. We all know it -- it just doesn't bother us that much. What new Telltale adventure Puzzle Agent asks is, "Would you still be as forgiving if the genre was a bit more ... granular? Say, for instance, a collection of puzzles loosely tied together by a point-and-click adventure narrative?" ... So, would you? %Gallery-96541%
Telltale's Jurassic Park games to be 'cinematically much more serious'
Ever since Telltale announced an agreement with NBC Universal to develop an episodic series of games based on Jurassic Park, we've been kept awake at night, wondering just how one goes about defeating a Tyrannosaurus Rex using nothing but an umbrella handle, a lightbulb and a unicycle. There are at least seven ways to do it -- trust us -- but Telltale design director Dave Grossman informed us at E3 that Jurassic Park won't quite fit the company's traditional adventure structure. "... in the case of Jurassic Park, we've wanted to kind of step out and do something that's cinematically much more serious than the kind of.... you know, we feel like we're getting pigeonholed a little bit as a company that makes funny cartoon games about talking animals, whereas really what we think of ourselves as is a company that makes games about cinema," Grossman said. "And so we want to explore some different territory. How is the gameplay supporting the tension of the scene, and what kind of tension is it? How is the game paced? And so you're going to find all of that stuff in the Jurassic Park series." While Jurassic Park will feature adventure mechanics deemed "appropriate," it seems its focus won't necessarily be on laid-back lateral thinking. "I don't want to have it be a game about hanging around and solving thinky puzzles at your own pace," Grossman explained. "It just doesn't seem like the right thing to do for that." And while that might seem to suggest an action-oriented approach, Grossman wasn't willing to characterize it to such a simple degree. "You can definitely expect tension elements, let's say. Whether they're action or, well, there are a lot of ways to do that. I think there'll be a liberal mix of stuff in that game." Let's hope we learn more before Telltale's Jurassic Park begins its monthly excursions from Isla Sorna Nublar this winter.
Sam & Max Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain! (find it on June 22)
The deadpan detective has never been so dogged! With his partner's brain missing (physically), Sam loses his cool and goes on the warpath in the third episode of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, out on on PC, Mac and PSN on June 22.
Telltale: 'Pilot Program' allows for new ideas at less risk
Telltale recently introduced its "Pilot Program" for episodic games with the reveal of Puzzle Agent, claiming that some of its future franchises (starting with PA) will live or die by the initial episode's reception among players. And last last week, the company's CEO Dan Connors took to G4 to give more detail on the initiative's future, as well as its raison d'être. "The Pilot Program allows us to try some new ideas without having to [take as much risk] and learn more what people like about it before we commit to doing the whole thing." He said that committing to an entire season for a game is, in many cases, far riskier than creating a one-off pilot that may or may not succeed. Additionally, team sizes on the pilot episodes are much smaller, but can be scaled up depending on how the audience responds. "Right now, I think the Grickle [PA] team is probably about a third of the size of an average team to get this started," Connors said. According to him, 50 percent of the work for a series is done up front -- going into full-scale production on PA would require little adjustment for Telltale. That said, he seems more interested in spitballing ideas for additional pilot games in the meantime, saying that the studio is still "in the idea phase" for more pilots. We'll see just how well that first idea pans out when Puzzle Agent becomes available this June.
