Telltale just announced the release dates for the third episode of their episodic cinematic adventure based on Game of Thrones. It will be released tomorrow on Windows, Mac, and on PS4 and PS3 in North America. Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, and PS3 in Europe will get it on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, it will be released for iOS and Android.
They also released a launch trailer for the episode, which you can view below, or if the embedding isn't working for you, you can watch it here.
Since they are in the final stretch, the promotion period will begin, which will consist of IGN dedicating a week of coverage to the game beginning on Monday. They will also be announcing the release date as part of that coverage, as well as including an interview with preview footage of Act 2.
Since the game is at release candidate stage, 2 Player Productions has nearly finished filming the next episode of the Double Fine Adventure documentary about the project, except for a few interviews. They are going to be working on making a final cut of the episode and making a final audio pass, and then the next episode of the documentary will be released as well. The project is truly reaching the home stretch now.
Tales from the Borderlands Episode 2: Atlas Mugged is going to release on Saint Patrick's Day (for some platforms, others will release later of course, and the details on exactly when will be forthcoming). A new trailer has also been released to promote the episode, which you can view below, or here if the embedding isn't working for you.
The Humble Star Wars Bundle is going on. Pay what you want for Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Academy, and Dark Forces. There are also 6 other Star Wars games if you pay $12 or more: Empire at War: Gold Pack, The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, The Force Unleashed II, Battlefront II, Knights of the Old Republic II, and Republic Commando. The site says that there's more yet to be announced.
If Star Wars isn't your thing, the Humble Weekly Bundle is an adventure bundle this week. Pay whatever you like for Detective Grimoire, Broken Sword 1 & 2, and The Whispered World Special Edition. If you pay more than the average, you'll also get The Detail: Episode 1, A Golden Wake, and Cognition: Game of the Year Edition. If you pay $10 or more, you'll also get Broken Sword 5.
Remember that Day of the Tentacle remake that was being created by LucasArts Singapore and was cancelled when it was estimated to be 80% complete?
A lot of people were wondering if this cancelled remake really existed and if Double Fine might use some of the assets in their Day of the Tentacle Special Edition. Well, we now have the answers to those questions, and they are yes, and maybe.
Double Fine's Vice President of Development, Matt Hansen, had this to say on the Double Fine forums:
I have to be careful with being too open since it isn’t our license, but I will say that I am very happy with the stuff from Singapore so far.
They're understandably cryptic about whether the material will be used, but it's good to finally have confirmation that it existed, and that it was apparently pretty good. Hopefully they do use these assets, as this would be the perfect game to become the last released project that was co-developed by LucasArts. Unless of course anyone is bidding to complete Sam & Max: Freelance Police.
When you're done testing, don't forget to let the team know whether you could complete the game and post links to any bugs you submitted to their tracker in this post on the ScummVM forums.
Source: Kolzig
Those who didn't back the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter at a tier high enough to get a boxed copy have a chance to get a retail version of Broken Age (although not the same one as the one on the Kickstarter, as that one is a Kickstarter exclusive). Nordic Games will be publishing Broken Age at retail in Europe and North America shortly after Act 2 is released online.
The Kickstarter boxed collector's edition will be arriving at some point after that, since it also includes the documentary, and that can't be mastered until the final episode of the documentary is released.
In other Double Fine news, they have started a new YouTube series with 2 Player Productions called Devs Play, where Double Fine developers play through and talk about games from time gone by, and sometimes are joined by the developers of those games. They've covered Aladdin and Lion King for Genesis, Mother, Earthbound, and Mother 3, and Gauntlet for the Nintendo DS so far. They'll be playing through The Legend of Zelda, Doom, and speed running through Psychonauts with a YouTube speedrunner who has found some techniques to speed through the game by way of glitches (and the Psychonauts team will be there to talk about the glitches, which should prove interesting).
While we were down, ResidualVM, the project that aims to support 3D adventure games on a wide range of modern computer platforms, received its latest stable release.
This release brings Myst III: Exile support, fixes some bugs in Grim Fandango, and adds game data verification on first launch (so that you'll know if your game data was copied correctly from your CDs). There are builds available for Windows, Linux and OS X.
In the unstable builds of ResidualVM, Escape from Monkey Island is also completable with a few glitches. The ResidualVM team is going to continue to work to get that game supported in 2015.
More maniacs have joined the team for Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick's Thimbleweed Park.
The first is Ken Macklin, who designed the cover for Maniac Mansion. He will be doing the cover for Thimbleweed Park as well.
Secondly, is the creator of Zak McKracken, David Fox. He worked on Maniac Mansion as well, doing most of the SCUMM scripting for the game, and is apparently the one we have to thank for the hamster in the microwave joke.
So if you haven't backed yet, or want to move up a pledge tier, now's the perfect time to head over to the kickstarter and back the game.
Update: Tales from the Borderlands is available to preorder on Steam now for 10% off the usual $25USD price, and the page lists the release date as November 25 (though note that Steam dates can sometimes be estimates that change before release. Telltale hasn't announced an official date yet).
The Tales from the Borderlands launch trailer is here, which means the first episode of the game should be releasing soon, as Telltale's games usually launch within a week or two of the launch trailer. Episode titles haven't been revealed yet, but it's known there will be five episodes and the Australian Classification board lists the name of the first episode as ZER0 SUM. The platforms have been announced as PC, Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and iOS. More platforms will be announced at a later date.
In other Telltale news, they have quietly started shipping the collector's DVDs for The Walking Dead Season Two and The Wolf Among Us. If you have already or are planning on purchasing these games from the Telltale Store, you can get the DVD for the season at just the cost of shipping by clicking buy now at the game's website. And, if you're still wondering about the Tales from the Borderlands trailer, you view it below:
The Brutal Legend Limited Edition Indiebox has shipped to those who ordered it in October, full of items using concept art from the game. If you missed it, but would like to order it, there's still time. You can pick it up at the indiebox store for $25 USD.
The Massive Chalice beta is now available to all via Steam Early Access. Everyone who backed it at $20 or more should get a Steam code for this version. Oh, and even though it's on Early Access, it is fully funded, so there's no worry about it not becoming fully realized. The 1.0 release is scheduled for Spring 2015, and the game has full funding to make it up to that point.
Game of Thrones is now more than just a title image and a string of cryptic clues. Telltale has revealed the first concrete information about their series based on the HBO show based on the novels. It will consist of six episodes, and will feature five different playable protagonists all from the same house, in this case, the House of Forrester. Some of the people may be blood relatives of the Forrester clan, others may be people who work for the house, but every decision that you make will have consequences that will affect the entire house. The first episode will be called Iron From Ice and is set to arrive for download soon on PC/Mac, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and iOS, with additional platforms to be announced.
The goal that the team at GOG.com has been working towards since it opened its doors back in 2008 has been accomplished. LucasArts games are now on GOG.com. X-Wing, Tie Fighter, Knights of the Old Republic, and The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition are only available for Windows, while Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Sam & Max Hit the Road are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
That's right, the SCUMM games are actually using ScummVM! The lawyers who used to work for Lucas legal probably nearly had a heart attack when they read this news.
It will also be coming soon for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, although release dates for those versions have not yet been announced.
Update: August 26: It's out now for PC and Mac through the Telltale store, as well as Steam. It's available now on PS3 and Vita in North America too.
The Walking Dead: Season Two finale is almost here, and Telltale has released a 5 minute trailer, with no spoilers for the upcoming episode. They have also revealed when the game is going to be released, and it's soon. It will be released on PC, Mac, and on PS3 and Vita in North America on August 26th, 2014, on Xbox 360 and on PS3 and Vita in Europe on August 27th, and on iOS on August 28th, 2014. Release dates for Android versions have not yet been revealed.
Double Fine has announced the fourth game in their indie publishing program, Double Fine Presents. Gang Beasts is a multiplayer brawler by the UK-based studio Boneloaf that is made in the style of Streets of Rage or Double Dragon. It includes both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. It is described as a game that is "a jolly good time full of silly procedural animation and ragdoll physics that will no doubt insight giggles and guffaws".
If you are going to PAX Prime, Double Fine and Boneleaf will have a demo of the game available to play at booth #117. It will also be playable at Fantastic Arcade, along with seven other spotlight games, including one of Double Fine's other spotlight games, Mountain.