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Check out the long-rumored official MySpace page for Sam & Max! Whether or not you're into these things, it's fun and (presumably) effective marketing. And most importantly, there's an awesome music track from the game playing on it. If the gameplay videos are any indication, this is the theme for the office. Anyway, go!
Tim Schafer has updated the Double Fine Action News with a writeup on the performance by Michael Land, Clint Bajakian, and Peter McConnell (and bonus guest Larry The O) at last week's "Video Games Live" concert at the Hollywood Bowl in southern California.
The four former LucasArts musicians played a set of accoustic music from Grim Fandango, Outlaws, and the Monkey Island series, and Tim was there to introduce their set, sign autographs, and provide Psychonauts shirts to naked 49ers fans. From the Action News:
"In the ten years I worked with these guys I have never heard them play any of this music live, and really, I don't think anyone ever has, so it was pretty exciting. They sounded great. I really think they should do a a whole concert of just these guys playing their classic LucasArts compositions. And then for an encore, George Lucas could walk on stage and we could hand him all the money we made that night."He's posted some photos as well, because he's nice. And, because he's super nice, he posted a link to some fan-captured YouTube footage of the group's performance, playing the classic Grim Fandango track Swanky Maximo.
It's a few weeks old, but I found this interview with Brian Moriarty, best known around these parts as the man behind Loom as well as one of the fifty versions of The Dig that ended up being re-imagined. The interview covers Moriarty's entrance into the games industry and his time at Infocom and LucasArts. There are some nice tidbits about Loom (and its never made sequels), The Dig, and even his view on the adventure games market:
I think it?s a problem of managing expectations.It's always cool to see the classics getting recognized. Learn your history.
The audience for old-style adventure games is small right now, so budgets and production values must be modest. But my gut tells me that there are still enough adventure fanatics out there to support a small but creatively vital mini-industry. Companies like Telltale are hoping to prove me right.
The challenge will be circumventing the mass-market sales and distribution channels that eat ?small? games alive. Who knows? Maybe someday, gifted designers like Steve Meretsky and Ron Gilbert will be able to make a living writing adventure games again.
Either termites are burrowing through my skull, or there are a couple new screenshots over at Just Adventure, including a shot of what seems to be a DeSoto-based highway crimestomping scene.
Go look, or don't. But do!
Source: Just Adventure
Those crazy folks over at Overclocked Remix.org have been making great remixes of classic computer game music for years, but save for a few Monkey Island 1 and 2 projects the number of LucasArts games represented has been tantalisingly scarce. That is, until today!
Well, actually, I made that sound like there have been ten or so LucasArts mp3s added, which isn't the case - but there has been one, and it's from Day of the Tentacle!
Yes, 'The Great Tentacle Pianist' by Mazedude is the file you're looking for. Described by the site:
At just under two and a half minutes, it comes off as more of a soundtrack/sketch piece - the type of piece that would accompany the introduction of a quirky character in a Tim Burton film - than a full-fledged overture, but it's still substantive enough to say something, and develop while doing so.
So what are you waiting for?
Source: OC Remix
Production on Sam & Max: Culture Shock has wrapped, only unlike three previous Sam & Max productions it's to get it ready for release. Check out Telltale's comments on the matter as well as a brand-spankin' new promo for the episode.
Yes, we know you read TellTale interviews almost every day. But this new one with Dan & Emily at Joystiq changes the focus to encorporate more about the philosophy and marketing behind the episodic gaming model.
When Cow Race came back, though, the Cow Race sales were at launch level and then the Boneville sales actually equaled the Cow Race sales as well, so we saw the rejuvenation of the previous episode. So the idea that every time you're launching an episode, it's bringing value to the franchise and increasing the franchise presence is great. You know, if you look at Harry Potter, the first book has sold the most because every time a new one comes out, the franchise gets lifted up. So it's nice because you can spread out your marketing effort over six different episodes and continue to always be raising the level of the franchise as a result, increasing sales on six products instead of one.And if that's not enough to entice you over for a look, there's a lovely small shot of Max dangling a rat off the office window-ledge.
Source: Joystiq
Always encouraging to see a good LucasArts title selling well, and LEGO Star Wars: The Original Trilogy has done just that, taking the top spot on gaming charts worldwide and shifting a staggering 1.1 million units in its first week of release.
You'll never have so much fun playing in that Galaxy Far, Far Away as you will in this LEGOised version. Taking all the humourous elements that made the first LEGO Star Wars (prequel story) such a surprise hit and further refining the special moves, bonuses, and vehicle aspects has made a brilliant concept even better.
Developers Traveller's Tales are reportedly now working on a LEGO Batman game.
Source: Google News
Legolas813 at Adventuregamers.com has posted in the forums that GameTap's animation channel is going to have the old Sam & Max cartoon series available soon.
Just saw a lengthy video trailer for the Freelance Police cartoon series on Gametap. It will be premiering on the Gametap Animation Channel on September 28! I sent some feedback a few weeks ago saying I would love to see Freelance Police on Gametap, but I never thought it would really happen.Nice cross promotional activity. Now, if only GameTap were available to the world outside of the USA...
Update: Legolas 813 has more info after trying to seek some clarification from GameTap support. Read his new AdventureGamers post here.
Source: Legolas813
...You would be a humongous idiot if you didn't go to the Video Games Live concert tomorrow night at the Hollywood Bowl.
In addition to live performances of a wide selection of various classic game music, noted former LucasArts composers Peter McConnell, Michael Land, and Clint Bajakian will be taking the stage for part of the show to perform selected music from Grim Fandango, Outlaws and the Monkey Island series. This probably falls well under the "once in a lifetime" category.
Tickets are still available! There's more info at the Double Fine Action News.
Check out this new interview with Dan Connors up on IGN. Dan discusses the hot topic of late, Sam & Max's potential on the Wii. He clarifies the status of talks for a Wii port (very preliminary) and in general gives some interesting answers about the Wii and adventure games. Take them in.
More on Telltale and the Wii at Shacknews.
It seems that in all the excitement last week this new 1up preview from the weekend was missed by everyone. Spoiler alert, as usual.
Double Fine Action News has announced something quite unexpected today: Psychonauts, the excellent game you should all probably own already, will soon be available for download on Steam! Majesco, publisher of Psychonauts, has posted a press release stating that the first two Bloodrayne titles, as well as Advent Rising, are already available for purchase through Steam, and that P'nauts should be up on Valve's distribution program sometime in "early October".
While no price information is given for Schafer's title, Bloodrayne 2 and Advent Rising are currently going for $19.99 through Steam. Hopefully, this will turn out to be an excellent business decision for an excellent and overlooked game. Yes, I'm talking about Psychonauts.
Update: Telltale's updated their blog with the note "They took notice! We got a phone call from Nintendo this afternoon. We'll take it from here - please don't email them anymore!" Woo!
Telltale's latest blog takes some time to comment on Sam & Max's potential on the Wii. Why summarize when I can just copy and paste what Emily wrote?
We'd love to bring Sam & Max to the Wii. We already think it's a good fit (as evidenced by Dan's comment at PAX). In fact, Heather brought up way back in January how great the Wii controller would be for an adventure game (of course, back then it was called the Revolution... what kind of a dumb name is that?), and we're great fans of Adventure Gamers' recent article on the subject. Thing is, us thinking it's a great idea isn't enough. We need the guys at Nintendo to agree. And with a company as big as Nintendo, getting noticed by the right people can be tricky.You heard her! Write your first e-mail in years that doesn't include "Eat me, LucasArts!" and do some good for the world.
If you want to keep emailing us about how great Sam & Max would be on the Wii, please do. It's great to see how many people are interested in this sort of thing (and we know that for every mail we get, there are a bunch more of you out there who didn't write). But it would be even better if you'd contact Nintendo and tell them what a great idea it is. Maybe if enough fans write in, they'll take notice?
OMG! There's some more at the new Gamespot preview as well.
(Remember, if you consider previews and all this footage spoilers for what is supposed to be a two hour game, you might want to avoid them. The Gamespot preview article definitely contains puzzle solutions.)
Now you can be the one making Star Wars games and judging current marketplace realities! But this time, it's in Europe!
At least, that's where the interviews are. If you live in London, Paris or the fair city of Scotland then you can apply for a job by filling out an exciting form over on this page.
But there's more... LucasArts have released an interesting video showing footage from the new internally developed Indiana Jones and Star Wars games, plus lots of people with weird facial hair, plus promise of new original games to be coming out "in the next couple of years".
As mentioned earlier, Double Fine is shacking up with Vivendi for its next game, and great news that is. Now slightly more interesting is the fact that the game, a "brand new creation", will be published under the Sierra banner. Back in the Monkey Island days there was, of course, quite the LucasArts VS Sierra debate rolling. In fact, look at certain forums and it will seem that it is still alive and well.
So ironic indeed. Read more.
The release dates for the pilot, which will be called Culture Shock, have been announced. Gametap will officially premiere Sam & Max Season One on October 17, which means that Telltale is rapidly running out of time to cancel it. But the premiere is only relevant to people who are both in North America and are interested in Gametap (not to mention owning the game permanently). For everyone else, the worldwide release date (when the game will be available for purchase on Telltale's site) is November 1, just a two week delay.
Pricing details will be announced soon. Check out Telltale's blog for the first episode's plot outline, download size (~75MB), system requirements, and a pretty damn awesome picture. And don't forget the official press release for your records.
If you still have control of one of your hands at this point, also be sure to catch up on some more Sam & Max PAX previews with Telltale's latest coverage.
So, so close.
Looking through all the recent Sam and Max news posts on the site, I came across an interesting comment on GameDreamZ.com - basically, Dan Connor says that he thinks "the game would do great on the Wii."
With a DVD release of the game defacto confirmed after all the Webisodes have been released, perhaps we'll get lucky and see it ported over to the Wii? The Wiimote is perfectly adapted to point-and-click games, and Sam and Max is certainly the unique kind of license Nintendo seem to thrive on.
Time will tell, of course.
Source: GameDreamZ.com
There's absolutely no new information other than that, including about whatever Double Fine is working on, but read the news. Vivendi? Well, we'll see! And please, let the outrageous speculation begin right now.
Oh, and I might as well mention that, as DFAN and Razputin's Domain have pointed out, Psychonauts can be purchased for some rather ridiculous prices at Amazon. Not sure what kind of loser you'd be to still lack this game, but there it is.