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A Telltale / LucasArts deal not out of the question 25 Jul, 2006, 20:19 / 15 comments

By jp-30


Dan Connors of Telltale Games quoted from this Game Informer article;
GI: A lot of those LucasArts franchises are still very popular ? you spoke about Day of the Tentacle. Is there a chance you?ll be able to wrangle a few more of those away for more episodes? Are you working on that at all?

Connors: It?s definitely on our minds and it?s definitely something we think about. Maybe I can give you more information a while from now. It?s definitely something that makes good sense to everybody. For them it?s the same thing. For them it?s "What?s the business model? What?s the retail model?" It?s not their type of game ? it?s not Star Wars, it?s not with the movie, with the lightsaber ? an action game. When trying to do the two things at the same time it makes it challenging. They?ve been trying to figure out the right solution, and hopefully Telltale is part of it.


Monkey Island 5a, 5b, 5c...etc ahoy!

(Of course the article actually namechecks Day of the Tentacle, and co-writer / designer of that title, Dave Grossman, works at Telltale these days).

Source: Game Informer

15

15 Comments

  • Udvarnoky on 27 Jul, 2006, 17:49…
    It should probably be noted that elsewhere in the article it's confirmed that Gametap will get the game first, and the Telltale site won't offer it until later. How much later?
  • black_sheep on 26 Jul, 2006, 13:42…
    nice article,, anyway just to let the editors over here know that there's also a new Sam & Max coverage at gamasutra http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060726/cifaldi_01.shtml

    They are only interviewing Dave Grossman
  • 8 of 12 on 26 Jul, 2006, 00:22…
    So there IS slight hope... but I think it's a matter of 'wait and see, guys, don't start waving victory flags yet'.

    I think the real 'make or break' of this deal for Telltale will be the performance of Sam and Max. Personally, I think it'll be good... for one, if I like it enough, I'll probably fork the money out for their two existing Bone games. Not just because I'll be wanting to play them, but because I'll be wanting to support Telltale.
  • Udvarnoky on 26 Jul, 2006, 00:27…
    You might end up liking them, too. :)
  • jp-30 on 26 Jul, 2006, 00:43…
    I'm sure some of the guys on the Mojo hosted sites will be breaking out the champaigne. But most of us are certainly employing a "believe it when I see it" attitude (but having fun discussing the potential implications nonetheless)
  • Scummbuddy on 26 Jul, 2006, 01:22…
    I'm not part of the Mojo community... yet...
  • Udvarnoky on 26 Jul, 2006, 01:46…
    You're trying to say something, aren't you?
  • jp-30 on 26 Jul, 2006, 02:43…
    That he's a Scott Adams Adventure fan?
  • Scummbuddy on 26 Jul, 2006, 02:52…
    We need a Dilbert adventure game. Or was that "Postal".
  • jp-30 on 26 Jul, 2006, 03:44…
    Wrong Scott Adams.
  • jannar85 on 25 Jul, 2006, 23:24…
    Great to hear! Had a discussion with Bill Tiller the other day, and then it was like LucasArts would never sell their licences to anyone. Hope that we both had wrong, and they'll sell the adventure licences.

    Monkey Island to Ron Gilbert, Grim Fandango to Tim, and so on.. :]

    I can see great games keep coming from Telltale, even if they can't get ahold of the licences.
  • Udvarnoky on 25 Jul, 2006, 23:41…
    I think what Connors was hinting at (if we're optimistic enough to believe that's actually what he's doing) is saying that one day LucasArts might be convinced to publish episodic adventures developed by Telltale. In other words, a way for LucasArts to make a profit on those licenses that they're doing nothing with but are unwilling to sell.
  • jp-30 on 26 Jul, 2006, 00:03…
    That's how I read it too. Definitely not selling the IP.

    LucasArts is no stranger to using 3rd parties to develop games for them to publish. If Telltale can present a business model where LucasArts can make money with low risk, they'll consider it.

    The best part of the quote is that it reads that LucasArts actually are trying to find ways to use their old IP. Everything up until now has said they have no plans to resurrect any of it.
  • Udvarnoky on 26 Jul, 2006, 00:19…
    Although believing that implies that Connors actually knows this of LucasArts or has actually talked with them about it, it wouldn't be that surprising. I know we like to think that LucasArts is evil and everything for abandoning adventure games, but the fact is they're holding on to their IP for a reason. Greed may be involved, yes, and there's plenty of criticism to throw their way (read: SELL YOUR GODDAMN OLD GAMES IN YOUR ONLINE STORE), but greed doesn't have a preference. If they see a likely way to make money, they'll go for it, even if it is a graphic adventure. And Telltale may one day be that way to make that IP viable in LucasArts' eyes.
  • jp-30 on 25 Jul, 2006, 20:22…
    Oh, the rest of the article is pretty cool too... ;-)