Gamespot Interview... Relevant!!!!!

[sheaday6]

Heres the Telltale Games Interview from Gamespot. Its got alot about Sam & Max in there, something you jackasses arent accustomed to talking about:

 

"Enthusiasts of the point-and-click adventure game, take heart: there's a new development studio pledging to resurrect the dying genre. Industry veterans Dan Connors, Kevin Bruner, and Troy Molander, along with other key members of the team that was developing Sam and Max: Freelance Police for LucasArts, have formed a new studio called Telltale Games. The San Rafael-based developer will concentrate on "re-energizing" the adventure game market.

 

Connors, Telltale's CEO, says that fan reaction to the cancellation of Sam and Max by LucasArts last year played a big part in helping the team to make the decision to start their own company. “When Sam and Max: Freelance Police was abruptly cancelled last March,” Connors says, “we were moved by the groundswell of support from the fan community, including an online petition to continue the development of the game.”

 

“When we saw the petition and how upset people were, we knew we had to start Telltale Games,” adds Kevin Bruner.

 

Adventures Cut Short

 

There was a time when point-and-click adventures were the most popular genre of computer game. Emerging out of the days of text adventures like Zork, graphical adventure games, such as King's Quest and Leisure Suit Larry from Sierra On-Line, challenged players to find and use items to solve puzzles, usually through mastery of a set of text input commands. Later, as a new, strange input device known as the "mouse" came into wide use, new entries in the genre replaced typing with pointing, dragging, and clicking.

 

LucasArts soon got into the act with titles of their own, revolutionizing the genre with creative, edgy, and hilarious adventures like Maniac Mansion, and The Secret of Monkey Island, not to mention Sam and Max Hit The Road, based on the indie comic by Steve Purcell about a rabbit and dog team of "freelance police."

 

Considered one of the best--if not the best--in the genre, Sam and Max's beautiful cartoon-like graphics and razor-sharp wit seemed at the time to herald a new, exciting future for the genre. It turned out to be right at the end of it. The near-universal shift to 3D graphics spelled doom for the genre. King's Quest wasn't nearly as fun in 3D, and even though LucasArts' Grim Fandango was critically acclaimed, it was the only high point in years.

 

"I don't think 3D was ever done right," says Connors. "Once the switch was made, the budgets went up and developers couldn't afford to create the immersiveness you expect in a 3D world. Done right, a highly immersive 3D adventure game could push the genre back into the mainstream."

 

Telling Tall Tales

 

What else does Telltale plan to do to turn things around? First and foremost, they hope to create games based on popular licenses to drive market interest. In our exclusive Q&A with Dan Connors below, he points to the success of the Law and Order and CSI games that have fit well with the genre.

 

And yes, Telltale is hiring; Troy Molander says that the company is currently looking for talented programmers, artists, and storytellers. "Our goal," he says, "is to build a company where creativity is fostered and anything is possible."

 

But what about the question on everyone's mind--is a new Sam and Max title coming? Although Telltale Games hasn't specifically said anything, the upcoming first press release from the company does reference the game three times, then ends by saying that Telltale is currently "in the design phase on a well-loved license." Could it be? We'll just have to wait and see what Telltale Games has up their sleeves.

 

Q&A: Dan Connors

 

GameSpot: The classic adventure game genre is very, very close to dying a tragic death. What happened within the corporate structure of companies like LucasArts that caused it to decline and disappear?

 

Dan Connors: I think it is pretty amazing that the adventure game mechanic has stayed so similar all these years. I mean, what is a classic third-person action game? A side-scroller? Like other genres, the adventure game is evolving.

 

Currently, it feels like there is a revitalization of the genre happening with games like Law and Order and CSI. These are two hugely popular licenses that use the adventure game mechanic, because the mechanic works for making those licenses interactive. A Law and Order action game would definitely lose many things about the license that its fans love.

 

As far as the corporate structure is concerned, the simple fact is that it is a huge business, and to get and keep shelf space you need to do massive numbers. In order to make those numbers, you need to throw down serious cash marketing the product. With that kind of money at stake, there isn't much room for a boutique product. There are ways to make boutique products and be profitable, especially if you know your costs, know your market and can solve distribution, but for larger companies the margins don't work. A 2,000 person company has a lot of overhead.

 

GS: How do you see your approach affecting the overall health of the genre? IOW, what will you bring to the genre that may have been missing?

 

DC: Telltale is all about story telling and character. Kevin Bruner, our CTO, is a huge fan of Infocom games because of their ability to immerse a player in an unfolding story. The work he has done since then, including a major stint on Grim Fandango, has continued to inspire that vision. It's very easy, as an adventure game developer, to focus on just wiring the puzzles and making them work. At Telltale, our focus is on filling out the world and story around the puzzles. I definitely agree with Steven Spielberg when he points to interactive storytelling as a place for huge growth in the industry.

 

GS: The original Sam and Max Hit The Road is considered one of the classics of the genre, perhaps even the best ever made. What would you say are its most compelling features? Are those features significant still, in the context of what you intend to build onto Telltale's products?

 

DC: The characters, the creativity, the art, and the quality writing of Stemmle, Clark and Purcell. All of that is tremendously significant. We have worked with great writers like Mike Stemmle and Tim Schafer, and we know how to execute their vision and deliver their punchlines, which is not something you see very often in games. Going forward, we are always going to seek out writing talent.

 

We also consider the art to be amazing, and we want to hit that same level. Not in a "Wow, did you see those dynamically lit particles?" kind of way, but in a "Wow, that is a great animation!" kind of way.

 

GS: How is your working relationship with LucasArts today? Is there one?

 

DC: We have lots of friends over there, but on a business level it's hard to get traction. They are very focused on dealing with what's in front of them. So unfortunately there is none, which is sad because we really love those old licenses, and of course Sam and Max. We do chat with Steve Purcell from time to time.

 

GS: When do you expect to announce a publishing partner?

 

DC: We may not. The proliferation of broadband has opened a direct channel to fans of these types of games. We started Telltale to push the market forward and quickly take advantage of advances in technology. There are many behemoths in the industry going about things in a very formulaic way; Telltale isn't down with that. If we do choose to work with a publisher, it will be because we have a shared vision.

 

GS: What does it take to embark on the road towards a start-up?

 

DC: You need to believe in yourself and your partners, you need to be confident in your vision, and you need an urgent patience to deal with all the ups and downs.

 

GS: Thanks very much, Dan.

 

By Chris Kohler -- GameSpot

POSTED: 10/01/04 05:21 PM PST "

 

 

 

So in conclusion, there's a chance Sam & Max 2 will be resurrected. In my opinion, they talk about Sam & Max a suspicious amount.

[Zell]

Brilliant. It sounds to me like Telltale have the right sort of ideas. I do agree with conners about how adventure game genre should not be static and dwell on the past, but should continue to evolve. This has partly renewed my faith in game designers actually listening to the public instead of going off on their own tangent and focus on abstract elements of games such as "dynamically lit particles" as conners put it. Here is to hoping.

[StonerDave&Max]

Thats a ****load of reading. Someone sum all of that up.

[sheaday6]

In Summary: Learn to read you lazy piece of shit

[StonerDave&Max]

Learn to insult you cheap mongoloid.

[Zell]

Retort

[StonerDave&Max]

I love your extensive vocabulary.

[Zell]

See, there is this nice balance between being a annoying and insightful that you have to find Dave. Here is a prime example of an anonymous person being a jackass.

 

i love the extent of your vocabulary

 

it's all well and good (very good actually) that you are no longer the meek individual you once were, but don't overdo it there buck'o, children are watching.

 

This is Sally Sensitive signing off.

[StonerDave&Max]

Wasn't a sarcastic responce, just a comment. Sarcasam is hard to deteced over the internet, so assumption is somewhat common. Found it funny, so figured I'd throw out a compliment. As for "overdoing it" as you say, I assume thats what word word censors are for. Either way, If I do i'ts not like I will get in trouble.

[Zell]

‘Overdoing it’ referred to your brash, overbearing behaviour as oppose to your lexicon. But I have just realised brash, overbearing behaviour is what defines this forum. So continue on your way good citizen, there is nothing to see here.

[abcdefgustik]

Theres a good chance of sam n max 2, but i wouldn't get our hopes up. im just glad its not gunna be a star wars game, it definately isn't a game most of us love!

[Cosmo Jones]

The interview seemed promising to me. Telltale has the right idea on how to make the game; now if only they could get the licsence from Lucasarts...

[toenail1]

Originally posted by Cosmo Jones

The interview seemed promising to me. Telltale has the right idea on how to make the game; now if only they could get the licsence from Lucasarts...

 

the rights are running out soon for lucasarts, and after that happened purcell said that he'd love to sell the rights to somebody else who would make a new sam and max game

 

im thinking he'll sell it to Telltale

[Skinkie]

Hopefully they can buy the right to what they've already created off of LucasArts, at one point there were rumours that LA might be willing to sell what they already consider scrap.

[SyntheticGerbil]

Well I hope that StonerDave gobbles TellTaleGames big fat dick. Then I hope that TellTaleGames lubes up StonerDaves asshole really fucking good, circling around his nasty creased rim ever so carefully, then shoves their huge fucking rooster right in AND IT STILL BLEEDS BECAUSE IT'S STILL SUCH A BIG FUCKING VEINY ROTTEN SMELLY DICK. WHAT WILL HIS MOTHER SAY WHEN SHE FINDS OUT THAT HE HAS GAY SEX WITH TELLTALE GAMES!?!?!

 

HAHAHAHA CHINK ASS!