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The Telltale Interloper, Vol VI, # 1 29 Jan, 2010, 02:51 / 27 comments


Telltale has dispersed the latest issue of its semi-regular newsletter, the Telltale Interloper, to the fans who've made the no-brainer decision to subscribe. There are a lot of noteworthy tidbits included in the newsletter, so here's the diligent Mojo round-up:
  • Sam & Max Save the World is on sale for $4.95 through January.
  • A new piece of concept art from the upcoming Sam & Max season has been released.
  • Telltale is running a new survey. You'll want to take the questionnaire both because you know this is a company that values feedback, and because the questions drop major hints about the third season of Sam & Max. (Tingler adds: you get a 15% off coupon too)
  • The DVD release of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures will ship to season subscribers on the week of February 8th. In the meantime, Telltale has actually published the game in select North American stores, among them Best Buy and soon Walmart. This practice, which I earlier speculated will be true of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, represents the very first time Telltale has published a game in retail channels on their own.
  • Speaking of Strong Bad, Telltale is extending the special $19.95 price they've slashed the season to in celebration of Trogday to last through the end of January as well.
  • The oft-delayed North American Wiiware release of "Rise of the Pirate God" will occur on Monday, February 1st.
Hopefully this makes it clear that you should be on Telltale's mailing list if you aren't already.
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27 Comments

  • Zaarin on 29 Jan, 2010, 20:36…
    With all those sale based news Mojo posts, it should start getting a cut. We're like Pricegrabber or something.

    Does that mean we've sold out?
  • AlfredJ on 29 Jan, 2010, 18:47…
    Another thing to add to this list: Telltale will release their entire catalogue (except for Bone, Texas Hold em and CSI) on Mac, starting with Monkey Island on february 8th. If you bought the games already on the TTG-site, you will get the Mac-versions for free, it seems.
    Source: http://www.maclife.com/article/news/telltale_officially_launching_monkey_island_and_more_mac_ipad_could_be_next
  • Kroms on 29 Jan, 2010, 20:27…
    Thanks for the tip, but according to Joystiq, it's still unconfirmed at this point. :) Thanks anyways.
  • Sabre on 29 Jan, 2010, 17:56…
    I fail to see why Telltale need to know my taste in music, films and TV. Or my personal relationships, education level and income. None of that has anything to do with game design.
  • jp-30 on 29 Jan, 2010, 19:49…
    But it might provide demographic data that will allow better targeting of their advertising.
  • jp-30 on 29 Jan, 2010, 19:50…
    Oh, and you don't see why a company that makes games almost exclusively using existing IP might be interested in your favourite books, TV and movies? Really?
  • Sabre on 30 Jan, 2010, 02:03…
    The chances of them making a game based on Jimi Hendrix, the Hunt from Red October, Spooks and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is extremely unlikely. So no, I don't see why its relevant.
  • Remi O on 31 Jan, 2010, 02:47…
    They might not make a game based on Sergio Leone's work, but they might, at some point, make a Sergio Leone-like game if enough people want one.
  • jp-30 on 30 Jan, 2010, 02:28…
    Because if sever hundred people all mentioned Spooks in their answer (for instance), then Telltale might be inclined to investigate further.

    And while that's an unlikely scenario, things such as books, music, movies, TV shows are competing for your leisure time and your diposable dollars, which is what Telltale are also trying to prize from your wallet and your daily schedule. So it helps them to know what they're up against.
  • Haggis on 31 Jan, 2010, 15:49…
    Hey, I put in Spooks! I demand a Spooks game from Telltale!

    Seriously, I think they'd definitely be able to make a good game out of that, looking at their CSI games.
  • The Tingler on 30 Jan, 2010, 04:10…
    Everyone put Futurama in their favourite shows!
  • AlfredJ on 29 Jan, 2010, 11:10…
    Man, some great hints about the new Sam & Max. Some of the best:

    - New look and styling!
    - Mysterious paranormal force from across the ages at the core of the story
    - Expanded scope and gaming scenarios - beyond previous Sam & Max series (not everything happening in front of Sam & Max's building, I'd guess)
  • Kroms on 29 Jan, 2010, 14:39…
    With Chuck Jordan as lead, Mike Stemmle doing at least one episode, and, if my guess is correct, Vanaman doing another. The excitement level has gone through the roof. It's a good thing excitement's pumped by adrenaline instead of cholesterol.
  • Kroms on 29 Jan, 2010, 09:59…
    The description of that Sam and Max game has made me one eager puppy.
  • The Tingler on 29 Jan, 2010, 12:23…
    And also the question "what LucasArts property would you like Telltale to carry on in the future?"
  • Kroms on 29 Jan, 2010, 14:37…
    Which did you pick, if I may ask? I went with Grim Fandango, just because they'd really need to up the quality if they ever went with that one.
  • AlfredJ on 29 Jan, 2010, 14:48…
    I was a bit dissapointed (but not surprised) that Indiana Jones wasn't one of the choices. I went with Loom, because I figured enough people would be voting on Day of the Tentacle, and I really would like to see some more Loom. I don't really care for the Dig or Zak, and I think Schafer's voice is too strong in Full Throttle and Grim Fandango for me to accept a sequel without him.
    The suggestion that they might be interested in making a new Broken Sword made me more excited than anything in those lists.
  • The Tingler on 30 Jan, 2010, 04:15…
    Yeah, I would've chosen Indy too, although Telltale would've had to have ditched their current graphics engine to make it though, or make it very stylised.

    I picked Day of the Tentacle, although I was annoyed that Maniac Mansion was a separate choice. Grim Fandango, as much as I love that world, I don't want to see touched (except a Steam rerelease).

    Loom was a close one, but I was thinking realistically - I love Loom, but would I choose it over DOTT? Never.
  • Kroms on 29 Jan, 2010, 19:07…
    I'm aware that Broken Sword doesn't apply here, but: the Sierra titles freaked me out a little. Oh how I hate Sierra. How I hate that goddamn Roberta Williams. Just say the words: Roberta Williams. It tastes bad on your tongue. It tastes a lot like bile.

    King's Quest is a pot of crud and should, much like the plague, be avoided at all costs, up to and including bankruptcy, unless you like crud with your Monkey. More to the point, anything with the universally-accepted seal for a pot of crud, "by Roberta Williams", should be avoided, unless you like crud with that too. If Life is an adventure game we're all playing, then Roberta Williams is the Sierra-flavored death trap that's waiting off the beaten path. She's every dead end, every lazy design, every pompous allusion to The Lion King that makes her think she's quoting, and thus writing, Hamlet. If Life didn't suck so much - and let me take this opportunity to remind you that it does, as it has both Roberta Williams and Sierra-trademarked death in it - we wouldn't be needing that escapism Monkey Island or whathaveyou provides in the first place.



    Roberta Williams is the fat, mustached woman on the right. Her husband Ken is the hag-looking humanoid on the left. He is glowing because that's just what happens when you're touched by genius.
  • elTee on 29 Jan, 2010, 19:41…
    What an angry, hate-filled post! Where did that come from? :(

    There's plenty of anecdotal evidence relating to the way Roberta Williams worked at Sierra, but the fact remains that the company set the groundwork for the entire graphic adventure genre, and if Kings Quest wasn't so highly popular I'm sure the 80s LucasArts adventure games wouldn't have been given the go-ahead - or possibly even conceived of at all.

    I'd rather see a Telltale Gabriel Knight series than almost anything else at all.
  • Kroms on 29 Jan, 2010, 19:55…
    Yeah, because that's exactly what the world needs: cat hair dipped in maple syrup to make a mustache. To disguise yourself as someone who doesn't have a mustache. I'm sure there's some Sierra-copyrighted genius in there that I can't understand.

    Anyways, corrections to my first post:
    *King's Quest is a pot of crud and, much like the plague, should, be avoided at all costs, up to and including bankruptcy. Unless you like crud with your Monkey.

    Drop the "unless you like crud with that too".

    Guys, we need us an edit button.
  • elTee on 29 Jan, 2010, 20:08…
    Did you play Gabriel Knight 3?

    I didn't, so I can't comment - but I know you're a fan of the Old Man Murray article that espouses the same opinion as the one you just wrote.

    Are you saying the Gabriel Knight series is doomed because of one bad installment? In which case, isn't Monkey Island, by the same logic?
  • Kroms on 29 Jan, 2010, 20:29…
    I have. I've also played the beginning of the first two, but found them...eh. I know you're a fan, and since you're also my friend I'll shut up and not offend you. I think we've had this discussion before anyways. Let's just say that I'd rather do a lot of things to myself than play Gabriel Knight.
  • elTee on 29 Jan, 2010, 20:33…
    I certainly don't take it personally if you don't like Gabriel Knight - you're entitled to your opinion.

    I just find it crazy that you played the third game of a series without playing the first two - or in fact, actually disliking the first two so much that you didn't finish them.

    It's also bizarre to blame their problems on Roberta Williams, when they were made by Jane Jensen.
  • Kroms on 29 Jan, 2010, 21:10…
    I'm blaming their problems on the birdbrained logic of a syrup mustache, not Roberta. I'm very aware that Jane Jensen was the one behind Gabriel Knight.
  • The Tingler on 31 Jan, 2010, 04:04…
    I just don't like adventure games where you can die unfairly, so I've never considered them.
  • buckminster on 29 Jan, 2010, 03:53…
    Ironic, I just used a coupon from Telltale (due to the delay in the W&G DVD) on Chapter 5 of ToMI for the PC since I was getting annoyed by Nintendo's Wiiware release schedule (or the lack there of).