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Sam and Max Hit the Road

Posted by Zonk on Tue Oct 17, 2006 03:31 PM
from the c'mon-little-buddy dept.
Entertainment Games
Gamasutra reports on the unveiling of the 'GameTap Originals' publishing label, a brand led by the anticipated episodic revival of Sam and Max. The game is now available both via the GameTap service, and at the TellTale site. From the article: "Sam & Max: Episode 1, which launches today exclusively on GameTap, as well as the upcoming Myst Online: Uru Live, are two examples of franchises that GameTap has co-published and helped bring back to life. While nothing specific was announced regarding upcoming franchises set to debut as part of the new GameTap Original label, representatives did note that it will be used to identify soon to be announced episodic games based on renowned TV and film franchises. Finally, supporting its new GameTap Original label, GameTap will be the premiere sponsor of the 9th Annual Independent Games Festival, held in conjunction with the 2007 Game Developers Conference to celebrate the innovation and creativity of independent game developers." Chris Kohler, over at Game|Life, has a short review of the first three hours of content.
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[+] Sam and Max Hit the GameTap 56 comments
Gamespot reports that the episodic sequels to the original Sam and Max title will be available on GameTap starting next month. Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock will be available starting on October 17th for subscribers to the PC-download service. Non-subscribers will be able to download the game at some future point. From the article: "Just under a year ago, indie studio Telltale Games acquired the rights to make games based on the underground comic Sam & Max: Freelance Police. The news was a godsend to many old-school gamers who loved the first game the comic inspired, 1993's Sam & Max Hit the Road, and lamented the 2004 cancellation of its sequel, Sam & Max: Freelance Police." Update: 09/08 19:24 GMT by Z : Jake Rodkin from TellTale wrote to make sure we pointed out the copious details that didn't make it into the Gamespot piece. For those of us without GameTap, we can look forward to the non-subscription release on November 1st.
[+] The Manifesto on the Evils of GameTap 79 comments
Gamasutra sits down with Manifesto Games co-founder Greg Costikyan to discuss how the revolution is coming along. They explore the group's business model, the retail market, and the dangers of GameTap. From the article: "They don't worry me, particularly; I'm skeptical that their business model is sustainable. But basically, my argument is that they can afford to offer so large a number of titles for a $10/month fee largely because the major publishers view older games as worthless, since they cannot be sold through conventional retail any longer, so they're willing to accept a small share of rental revenue. But I also believe that PC games, in particular, are going to move online in a big way over the next few years and will eventually disappear from game stores — PC games are responsible for just 6% of their revenues, and take up a lot more shelf space than that justifies." Mr. Costikyan further explores this last concept in a post on his site called, simply, Why GameTap is Evil.
[+] Sam And Max Get a Price Tag 35 comments
Joystiq is reporting that Telltale games has finally announced pricing on episodic Sam and Max content. The game installments will be available as part of GameTap's $10/month service, but each episode will also be available for download straight from the Telltale site. From the article: "Gamers will be able to download individual episodes from Telltale directly for $9 per episode or $35 per season (six episodes). The season pass will save you nearly $20 off the individual price and earn you the option of ordering a CD of the entire season when it's all wrapped up for just the cost of shipping. That's all the benefits of episodic distribution, with none of the non-physical hangups our retail-addicted brains insist are so important."
[+] Fans Celebrate the Return of Uru Live 19 comments
C|Net is reporting on the resurrection of Uru Live , the Massively Multiplayer chapter of the Myst Saga. Now a part of the GameTap network (which just seems to be getting better and better), Uru is scheduled to launch with great fanfare later this year. Despite being cancelled all the way back in 2004, there are already a number of people lined up to get back into the game. From the article: "Some 500 players are participating in a beta of the game, which formally launches this holiday season on Turner Broadcasting's GameTap game network, and 7,000 more are waiting to join them ... 'There are a number of factors now that I think will help it be successful,' said Ron Meiners, who for the last few months has been working as a contract community manager for GameTap. He was an 'Uru Live' community manager at Ubisoft, which published the original game. 'In many ways, it was ahead of its time. There's more broadband penetration now, and a lot more mainstream understanding of what an MMO is, due to 'World of Warcraft', 'Second Life' and other virtual experiences.' There are also a number of changes to the game. GameTap has implemented a new 'physics engine' that governs movements in the game's virtual space and has new sound support for 'Uru Live.' While there are still bugs in the system, there should be no problems with the scheduled holiday launch plan, Meiners said. "
[+] The Beauty That is GameTap 38 comments
We've already discussed the Evils of GameTap, so it seemed only fair to talk about what makes GameTap so good. Gamers With Jobs' Julian Murdoch talks about how the GameTap system 'revolutionizes' the 90-minute gaming session ... all for the cost of a single console game. From the article: "The act of browsing in and of itself is a powerful, positive experience. I go to my local bookstore not just to buy books, but to drink black coffee and wander around the aisles, reading a page of that, a chapter of this. Gametap brings this experience to gaming, and it's uniquely suited for the ADD gamer with too much to do, and not enough time. Sure, I own a lot of Gametap's library already -- they sit out there on the shelves, their ROMs rest peacefully on servers 30 feet away in the furnace room. But I can't surf them. "
[+] Sam and Max - Culture Shock Review 75 comments
We've talked a lot about episodic gaming here on the site, considering both the good and the bad. The concerns of users, and the words of gaming commentators, focus on the limitations of the format. "Don't break up a game just to charge us more for it" is the prevalent thinking. The 'march of progress' has allowed game companies to come up with plenty of new ways to get our money, so it's an understandable fear. Until last month, though, I had never considered the possibility that the very essence of the episodic game may allow us to reflect on the past as well as the future. In the latest and most dramatic of retro-gaming coups, Sam and Max have returned to the modern PC landscape. They're colourful, they're wry, and their antics are very, very funny. Read on for my impressions of this first episode in the new Sam and Max series, and why I have high hopes for their future wacky antics.
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Sam and Max Hit the Road 25 Comments More /

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  • Eurogamer review (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Jboost (960475) on Tuesday October 17 2006, @03:41PM (#16474827)
    Eurogamer [eurogamer.net] reviewed it.

    Culture Shock is the loving update we dreamed of. It's the kind of game you want to be playing when your friends and family walk in the room, if only to demonstrate that there are videogames out there that aren't just about killing things and smashing cars (even if, yes, you can actually do both in this, albeit in typically slapstick fashion). Even the jazz licks of the soundtrack make you want to turn up the volume in celebration. You want the whole world to know that people still make games like this - ones that not only make you laugh, but everyone else too.

    Can't wait to play it!
    • No mod points so I'll just add my weight to the Eurogamer review-loving. The review impressed me enough that I plan to pay for the full season one package once it's available on Telltale's website. You save some money and Telltale get all the cash now and can use it to fund more episodes.
      • Not to mention that the Gametap "exclusive" early release is USELESS to us Europeans anyway. It's Telltale or Steam for the purchase come Nobember 1st.

  • FYI For Non-US Folk (Score:4, Informative)

    by jhembruff (996103) <{moc.liamg} {ta} {ffurbmehj}> on Tuesday October 17 2006, @03:54PM (#16475053) Homepage
    Not sure how old this news is... but it appears that people not living in the US can finally start using Gametap.
    • Are you sure? I loved the first game and went to check this out just now, but all I got on the site was a "Sorry, GameTap is only available in the United States" :/
  • I used to have trepidations about online distribution schemes like Steam because I feared I would never really own the product. I've since warmed up to Steam but Gametap is where I draw the line. I can't wrap my head around the idea (yet) of playing games only while paying a subscription fee. Sure, lots of people do this in MMOGs like WoW but those aren't my cup of tea either. Even Guild Wars, which is a MMORPG with no monthly fee, will feel like a bargain in terms of bucks per playtime by the time it dries up.

    I love Sam and Max enough to buy Season 1 for $35 as soon as it's released retail.

    • Re:I'd rather own, thanks (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Rob T Firefly (844560) on Tuesday October 17 2006, @04:13PM (#16475375) Homepage Journal
      Same here. Not only is it the principle of the thing, but to continue to use Sam and Max as an example, I still have my copy of the first game. I loved it then, and I still play it now. Assuming this game is as good as it should be, I want to be sure that I'll be able to play it in 15 years on whatever the future equivalent to ScummVM [scummvm.org] is.
  • This is great news. It's good to see that people are still making games like this. After the death (hiatus, I still hope) of series such as King's Quest, Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island and the like, I had pretty much given up on PC games...

    Now for another Grim Fandango game...
        • Speaking of Lucas Arts and games that were totally awesome, does anyone remember The Dig? Man, I remember how much fun the puzzles were to solve, and how well the ambience carried through the music. It's too bad I'll never see another game like that without paying a subscription fee. I'd actually pay $50 for a new adventure game if it's done in the same style as the old-school ones. Another series I want to play again is the Legend of Kyrandia series. Oh, and Torin's Passage. Hooray Tangent!

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by nephridium (928664)
            Yea, I remember the Dig, it had Robert Patrick, the T1000, voicing the protagonist and he'd done a magnificent job. The great atmosphere was underlined by a beautiful soundtrack by Michael Land and stunning visuals, not to mention the epic story. "Full Throttle" was also a cool game and the "X-Wing/TIE Fighter" simulator franchise just begs for a revival (maybe one that resembles the movies' dynamics better, i.e. short fast bursts instead of the slow endless "phat phat phat phat.."). A game with the Death S
  • Er, wasn't Uru Live cancelled before the game was even released? I beta tested Uru but IIRC the retail release was offline only....
    • Oh snap, now I see.. brought *back* to life...!!
      • Uru is currently on Gametap, and the online portion is being released "by the holidays". A way to access Uru Live without Gametap will also be released, but it will likely be cheaper to sign up for the $5/month plan Gametap is currently offering, as I don't see Uru Live standalone being any cheaper.

  • No luck yet again for us OS X or Linux users (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Yvan256 (722131) on Tuesday October 17 2006, @04:52PM (#16475991) Homepage Journal
    Another game we'll have to skip, I guess.

    Aside from the office, Windows lock-in is all about games. Am I the only one who thinks it's insane to keep a 2nd computer with a different OS only to play some games? Even if you dual-boot, that means you have to pay 200$US (or whatever the price is) to buy and install a different OS only to play games? How about the maintenance of that OS, given that it's Windows we're talking about?

    We need some kind of "Universal Game engine" that runs on any platform, kinda like Java (in spirit) but that doesn't suck. Most of the older AGI/SCI games from Sierra and SCUMM games from LucasArts, for exemple, can run on any platform, all you need is an interpreter/engine program. There's even people making such engines for the GBA and PDAs these days.

    • Re:No luck yet again for us OS X or Linux users (Score:4, Informative)

      by Yvan256 (722131) on Tuesday October 17 2006, @04:56PM (#16476045) Homepage Journal
      Well, there is this small note at the bottom of the requirements page:
      "GameTap is also currently unavailable for download on Apple Macintosh systems but will be available at a later date so please be sure to check back often."

      I guess there's hope after all.
      • That still means no native support and I have to buy Parallels too. Not to mention that I'm on a Mac mini G4, on which Parallels won't work. Given the price of OS X vs the price of a Mac mini, I will only upgrade once Leopard is released.
  • In looking at GameTap's website it looks like they have a free trial... does that cover playing Sam and Max? I can't check right now because I'm using Linux...

    Also... to anyone out there that subscribes.... is there set number of months that you have to subscribe for? Or can you just get the first month for $10 and play Sam and Max and then cancel? Again... they won't even let me look at the subscription plans while in Linux... sigh.

    Friedmud

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by cjb909 (838363)
      While you have an active subscription (through a free trial, or just a one month deal), you have access to all of their games. So yes, you could play Sam and Max, and then ditch the free trial, or cancel your subscription.
  • I would love to play this next to Grim Fandango, Sam & Max was the best thing to come out of Lucas Games. I see no point in gametap though, $20 a month to maybe spend an hour getting nostalgic is not worth it IMHO. I kept all my old consoles and most of my games anyway so if I'm really feeling old school I plug one of them in. Anyone know if they plan on releasing an actual purchasable version once the episodes are all available?
    • It's a GameTap exclusive for a limited time, I believe. After that, you can buy it standalone (online, I think, although maybe also in stores).
      • Ah sorry, missed the line about the first episode being available on the developers site later.
        I just hope they package the whole thing together when its done.
        • Telltale Games (the developer) is releasing each chapter on either site 2 weeks after it launches on Gametap. They are charging $8 per episode or you can buy the complete season (all 6 episodes) for $35 and download them as they are released and then you can pay just s/h for a CD of all of them together after episode 6 is released.
    • Gametap just launched service in Canada today. I'm sure they are still working on licensing deals for many of the games. People in Europe have been successful in using a US proxy to sign up and even correct billing to a Europe address. After you are signed up you can use the software without a proxy.
    • It's more like they're renting their entire library. When they add new games, you get them automatically. It's not like you have to rent individual games on a month-by-month basis (although MMORPGs do that and nobody seems to mind).
    • What's with this interest in companies trying to rent games to people instead of selling them? How many more reasons is the gaming industry going to come up with to push gamers to piracy?

      The rental model looks good when you tire of spending hours trolling the P2P nets for files that would be a one-click download from a legit, trusted source.

      ---and all the better, if it means a painless install, updated graphics and sound, and perhaps other enhancements to a classic game.

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