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Also there's a little error in that Gamespot article - they say GameTap's exclusivity is for an undisclosed period. It's actually 15 days (hence the release on Telltale's site Nov. 1). Also the article says the games will only be available through digital distribution... this is true initially, but there will most likely be a box set of Season 1 for sale once all the episodes are out.

More info here.

TFA says that the title will be exclusive on GameTap for an unknown length of time. Looking quickly at Telltale's site shows that the game will be downloadable from the developer's site starting November 1st.

We think GameTap is a great fit for Sam & Max, but we know that not everyone will subscribe. (Plus, right now GameTap isn't available in all parts of the world.) That's why every Sam & Max episode will be available on Telltale's website, as well as on GameTap.

Episodes mean you get more Sam & Max with less waiting. More fun with shorter dry stretches in between. We all know what it's like to wait three or four (or five) years for a game to come out -- no fun. Telltale's sending that model out of style. Steve Purcell has always said one of the best things about Sam & Max is that they work in any format you throw at them. Just take a look at the crime-fighting duo's vast body of work. These guys have appeared in comics ranging from one-page gag strips to 40-page epics, half-hour Saturday morning cartoons, web-based flash animations, and of course, the age-old graphic adventure. The way we see it, the format doesn't change Sam & Max. Sam & Max change the format.

Lucasarts finally released the rights to Sam and Max (plus some of the dev team) to Telltale games - and its due for an episodic release starting sometime this fall. So maybe adventure cames can still live on at least in episodic form in this case - check out http://www.telltalegames.com/comics/samnmax

There's more info about the Sam & Max project (and some fun stuff to play with) on Telltale's site. Steve Purcell (the creator of Sam & Max) is doing a webcomic on the site - the most recent installment just went up yesterday.

There's more info about the Sam & Max project (and some fun stuff to play with) on Telltale's site. Steve Purcell (the creator of Sam & Max) is doing a webcomic on the site - the most recent installment just went up yesterday.

Did someone say "Sam and Max"?

I seem to recall that their next adventure is due out this fall... with many goodies like T-shirts out already.

http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax

You mean like this?

http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax
http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=35697

That's wonderful. Now if only they would commit themselves to making some great adventure games again. Like a "Sam & Max" sequel, maybe?

(BTW, whatever happened to the Sam & Max comic? Is it ever going to be updated?)

But one my all time favourite adventure games is Beneath A Steel Sky. Props to Revolution for releasing it as freeware, and giving the ScummVM team the source code and documentation that enabled them to support it in ScummVM. It's on the ScummVM download page, and is well worth playing if you're into adventure games.

Telltale Games are apparently releasing the new Sam and Max game this autumn. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

I know I certainly will buy this as soon as it comes out!

I know I certainly will buy this as soon as it comes out!

Am I the only one here that feels uneasy about TellTale Games? I guess it's just because their web site makes it seem as if they actually made Grim Fandango and Sam and Max 2 - games that in reality certain members of their team worked on, and one of which was never even finished. It sits uneasy with me, knowing that Tim Schafer, the real creative engine behind Grim Fandango, is out there running his own indie game studio and not padding his resume with every game project he ever worked on. It just feels dishonest.

Honestly. Look at the about pages for TellTale and Double Fine and tell me which company looks like an outfit worth putting your money on. It looks like one is a game company, and the other is a venture capital vacuum.

Yes, the adventure genre had its golden hour back in the Sam and Max/Monkey Island days, but there are still companies that are dedicated to the genre. For example, I can't wait for the guys at TellTale to release their first Sam and Max episode. (This is the company that was formed by those who were on the Sam and Max sequel team when LucasArts idiotically abandoned their Sam and Max development when it was estimated to be 90% finished.)

You're not going to make a successful adventure game for $10 million. But you can certainly make successful one for one or $2 million.

This really sums up the problem with the current video game industry. The big wigs apparently have this ridiculous attitude that spending more will mean earning more, but only with certain genres. Otherwise, it's just not worth it because they apparently believe that they "have" to spend big bucks. Look at how many licenses are purchased every year, particularly from sports organizations. You can't tell me that in all circumstances changing the offical logos, changing the names of the players, getting very talented voice actors who sound like the real announcers but cost 1/10th a much, but keeping the exact same game play suddenly means death for the game. People want games that they can play and enjoy. Changing a name from NFL to "Pro-Football" thereby saving who knows how many millions in licensing costs might turn a few narrow-minded morons away, but if the game is really good, people will buy it. History has shown that time and time again. A probably-now-forgotten company originally called "Apogee" comes to mind.

And that brings up another question. Does he really need a publisher? With electronic distributions as popular as they are, the increase in the number of people who have broadband, and the increasing popularity of delivery methods like Steam, does any game company really need a distributor to hold them back from at least an initial release - just enough to get the word spreading about the games that he releases? Again, look at Apgoee and its associated company iD, both of which were very popular from the electronic/shareware release method. No, it won't work with all types of games, but in this world of broadband and the Internet, where we only had dial-up and BBSes, I think that electronic distributin has a much better opportunity for success than ever.

Just my two cents.

You just like saying "pre-adolescent girlyness" don't you?

(Sorry, your post just sounded like Sam to me)

Only the new funding is newsworthy.
The Bone game itself has been around for a while.
It was first reported on slashdot almost a year ago to the day, when the developers were still working at LucasArts.
You can play a demo or buy the full game at the developers' website

Steve Purcell has created some interesting interactive online comics on their site at:

http://www.telltalegames.com/comics/samnmax/?perma link=8367058FE9CC052C2FEB69468A83EE4C.txt

Fairly entertaining, but only a few pages so far. He doesn't seem to have lost much of his sense of humor after all these years.

On a related note - I checked ebay recently. Steve Purcell's comics have become surprisingly valuable - found out my copy of "Sam & Max: Surfing the Highway" is worth hundreds. I'm keeping it though - it's the one comic I own, and it's worth the humor.

Sometimes they come back.
http://www.telltalegames.com/comics/samnmax/

Haven't you heard that there will be a Sam & Max game after all? Best of all, it isn't being made by Lucasarts, but it is being made by the people who were on Lucasarts' "Freelance Police" project.

The crew of TellTale Games has already acquired the rights to Sam and Max from Steve Purcell. Most of the crew of TTG were the developers of the cancelled "Sam and Max: Freelance Police" and therefore are probably the best team to get the rights to it.

In order to keep the blindly inept LucasArts off their back, the new game will be completely different from what they were making at LucasArts and will most likely use the engine that they used for Bone. My only gripe is that the game will be episodic, not a complete game at once but "episodes" scattered over time; but as long as all of the great aspects of the original "Sam and Max" are intact (with a 3D engine, of course), I'll be thrilled when this is released.

From what I understand, it is also an "all-inclusive" license meaning that TTG has the rights to create more than just games using the Sam and Max license. TTG already has started a web comic for Sam and Max as well. Make sure to put the mouse cursor over each comic frame to see the "action".

The crew of TellTale Games has already acquired the rights to Sam and Max from Steve Purcell. Most of the crew of TTG were the developers of the cancelled "Sam and Max: Freelance Police" and therefore are probably the best team to get the rights to it.

In order to keep the blindly inept LucasArts off their back, the new game will be completely different from what they were making at LucasArts and will most likely use the engine that they used for Bone. My only gripe is that the game will be episodic, not a complete game at once but "episodes" scattered over time; but as long as all of the great aspects of the original "Sam and Max" are intact (with a 3D engine, of course), I'll be thrilled when this is released.

From what I understand, it is also an "all-inclusive" license meaning that TTG has the rights to create more than just games using the Sam and Max license. TTG already has started a web comic for Sam and Max as well. Make sure to put the mouse cursor over each comic frame to see the "action".

Sam and Max games are no longer Lucas related.

See: http://www.telltalegames.com/

The summary link just points to some blog. The actual link is at http://www.telltalegames.com/comics/samnmax.

Was "Bone: Out of Boneville", based on the Bone series of graphic novels/comics. I didn't buy the full $20 game, but I played the demo and I'm sorry but these guys have experience in making games like this and that demo is not a good example of an adventure title. I don't mind 3D, I don't mind action sequences. I do mind terrible voice-acting and bad graphics. They may have been going for a simplistic look, but....see for yourselfs at http://www.telltalegames.com/products?pc=bn0102&CI D=0&dlact=1 I'm a little worried about these guys having the Sam 'n' Max license to be honest, I hope their later attempts are better than the first Bone game. Or that the later demo versions better show what good games they are, if that's the case.

A demo just came out here... I haven't downloaded it yet myself. But I hope it's good because apparently the Sam & Max games are going to be done in a similar format.