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Jake Dishes Out Poker Chips Tips 07 Sep, 2010 / 5 comments

Telltale's Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman discuss the background to Poker Night at the Inventory with GamePro, and reveal a few more tidbits about the gameplay and character interactions.

"It's easy to make the Heavy just say, 'I will murder!' at every turn, and for Tycho to freak out," explains Vanaman.

Rodkin continues, "Right, but then we have Tycho threaten to mail-order in the Heavy's sister as his wife."

"It was important to build those dynamics to make them feel natural," notes Vanaman. "Strong Bad and Tycho, for instance, hate each other -- I don't think they ever agree -- but Tycho and Max get along really well, where the Heavy is wary of Tycho, loves Max, and thinks Strongbad is a tiny Heavy."

Telltale hopes to make such dynamics believable and entertaining, but also authentic: Strong Bad, the Heavy, and Max will all be voiced by their original actors, with Tycho's debut speaking role coming courtesy of Bay Area beatboxer, vocalist, and Telltale VA vet Andrew "Kid Beyond" Chaikin.

"We want to develop this place, The Inventory, as just a cool hang-out spot for video game characters to go," says Vanaman . "We're hoping that 'At the Inventory' will start to mean something if the space is cool and the game is good."

It seems the poker game will be Texas Hold'em again, which is slightly disappointing, but I'm sure every thing else will more than make up for it.

Source: GamePro

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5 Comments

  • Avatar
    WorldMaker on 07 Sep, 2010, 22:20…
    Character dynamics is one thing, but character arcs would be better. I was thinking about what Telltale could bring to Poker Night to differentiate from the last Hold'em, and I got to reminiscing about an NES game called Casino Kid. The first one (never played the second, but heard it was quite different) was a typical JRPG with the use of Poker as the grindy combat mechanic. Think Pokemon with Draw Poker (or Pokermon if you want the bad portmanteau of that simile). I have wondered why I haven't seen any other casino game play with that story progression, because it certainly would be easy to beat the low bar of Casino Kid... (The plotline is the obvious noob (kid) to riches thing you would predict of Pokermon. As you gain money and reputation new opponents unlock and stakes go up.)

    That's what I'm thinking at least. We'll see what Poker Night is like when it launches...
  • Avatar
    WorldMaker on 07 Sep, 2010, 22:18…
    Character dynamics is one thing, but character arcs would be better. I was thinking about what Telltale could bring to Poker Night to differentiate from the last Hold'em, and I got to reminiscing about an NES game called Casino Kid. The first one (never played the second, but heard it was quite different) was a typical JRPG with the use of Poker as the grindy combat mechanic. Think Pokemon with Draw Poker (or Pokermon if you want the bad portmanteau of that simile). I have wondered why I haven't seen any other casino game play with that story progression, because it certainly would be easy to beat the low bar of Casino Kid... (The plotline is the obvious noob (kid) to riches thing you would predict of Pokermon. As you gain money and reputation new opponents unlock and stakes go up.)

    That's what I'm thinking at least. We'll see what Poker Night is like when it launches...
  • Avatar
    jp-30 on 07 Sep, 2010, 21:52…

    AlfredJ

    Possibly of interest to some of you: someone uploaded the Make-a-Scene panel from PAX. See for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHFZ-Ecd_ek

    You can see the Inventory, Marty McFly, a 3D version of Dank, Tycho, a raptor and some guy who might play a role in the upcoming JP-games (or CSI, or BttF, or something else. No one knows, really)!



    Thank you - Mojo-newsed.
  • Avatar
    AlfredJ on 07 Sep, 2010, 16:00…
    Possibly of interest to some of you: someone uploaded the Make-a-Scene panel from PAX. See for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHFZ-Ecd_ek

    You can see the Inventory, Marty McFly, a 3D version of Dank, Tycho, a raptor and some guy who might play a role in the upcoming JP-games (or CSI, or BttF, or something else. No one knows, really)!
  • Avatar
    The Tingler on 07 Sep, 2010, 13:39…
    Jake Rodkin... Jake Rodkin... nope, doesn't ring a bell.

    Otherwise, sounds fun, although I hope there are a few more options than there were with Telltale Texas Hold 'Em.

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