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Steve Purcell On Sam & Max 2's Cancellation
An anonymous reader writes "Saw this newsbit on AdventureGamers.com - Steve Purcell, creator of Sam & Max, made the following statement in a letter to the LucasArts fansite Mixnmojo regarding LucasArts' cancellation of Sam & Max 2: 'LucasArts' sudden decision to stop production on Sam & Max is mystifying. Sam & Max was on schedule and coming together beautifully... It's a shame to think that the [dev team's] accomplishments, as well as the goodwill that has been growing in the gaming press toward this project, will all go to waste due to this shortsighted decision.' Check out the link for the full letter. There is also an interesting editorial posted on AdventureGamers.com as well." Is this cancellation a blow the commercially developed traditional graphic adventure can recover from?
Send your emails direct to LucasArts people.
Fight the good fight, else we may not see a decent AND funny adventure for a very very long time.
Robert Anton Wilson
I don't really want to start another "is PC gaming dying" thread, but I think that probably has something to do with the cancellation. Even though the game may have made a nice profit, on a gaming landscape where console games sell millions of copies, greed takes over and good titles get canned.
It would make more sense for Lucas Arts to publish Sam and Max 2 on a console and the PC. I still have very fond memories of the graphic adventure and think there's a whole generation of gamers who are missing out on this genre. Unfortunately, I doubt if any of the heavy weights really have the guts to risk bringing it to consoles. Funny thing is that adventure games might actually do pretty well in Japan on the PS 2. The so called dating sims that sell reasonably well there are not all that different, but home PCs are not as common there as in the U.S., so you really have to publish on a console.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
LucasArts seems to only see to the end of the fiscal year. They want to go with the games they know will be profitable, and by that I mean the Star Wars game du jour. As far back as I can remember, they've been grafting Star Wars onto whatever genre is popular: flight sim (X-Wing/TIE Fighter,) FPS (Dark Forces series,) a somewhat original RTS (the abysmal Force Commander) and a more traditional RTS (Galactic Battlegrounds) to name a few. Oh, not to mention the upcoming squad-level tactical shooter (read: Rainbow Six clone) Republic Commando. As adventure games are in a constant near-death state according to the popular gaming press, I'm not surprised that LucasArts decided to cancel Sam & Max 2. That doesn't mean that I'm not disappointed, however. I'll be writing a letter to LucasArts too. Just don't be surprised when the truly innovative and fun games (Sam & Max 2 and Full Throttle 2) get cancelled in favor of the safe bet that is a Star Wars game.
This sig has been stolen. Return it to its original user for a reward.
They are a company whose job it is to make money. At least they haven't stooped to suing people randomly, like the makers of ScummVM or ... God, whatever else.
The email address to email to is pr@lucasarts.com. Send them a polite, well worded, well thought out email. If your intent is to help get Sam and Max 2 published then you'll be polite. Any other actions will simply irritate LucasArts.
As well, another poster mentioned a console port. I would most certainly purchase a console port of an adventure game - of all the PC games out there the generally simple interface of the adventure game would work wonderfully well!
My reality check bounced.
> Fight the good fight, else we may not see a decent AND funny adventure for a very very long time.
There was Escape from Monkey Island not too long ago, but I get your drift.
I think the only way LucasArts is willing to revive Sam and Max is to turn it into a first-person shooter. Just imagine Max with two assault rifles gunning down the bad guys, and to add insult to injury, bounces on top of the dude who just got gunned down.
Let LucasArts have their way with their FPS. We should focus on supporting the companies who specializes on adventure games. Those are the ones that truly understands the essence of Adventure Gaming.
Of course, that was before people got so blase about these things. It's like running a hunger strike these days, instead of the sixties; nobody pays attention.
Also, Quest for Glory V sucked, and sold badly.
Once upon a time, long ago in video game company land, there was a development team that developed a super-neato cool 3D shooting game with technology that wouldn't even be mainstreamed until several years later.
The development team, excited by their creation, presented it to the marketers and overlords of the company, in hopes that it would be granted the next stage of production.
And the marketers and overlords saw the advanced technology, and all agreed that it was, indeed, advanced.
But the project was killed you see. Because everybody knew that "3D games just don't sell." and the marketers moved onto, and apporved, their own creation... a new golf game.
"Too many notes." - Amadeus
1. A Sam and Max FPS could be insanely cool and funny. Toss in some frying pans, giant mallets and fire hoses, and all of a sudden you've got first-person cartoon action.
2. LucasArts has proven MORE than capable of doing good adventure games. That's kind of the whole issue here. If it was Microsoft, EA or [insert other big company producing often lousy games here] it wouldn't be that big a deal. The cancellation of a LucasArts adventure game, however, IS a big deal to fans of the genre.
Where can I buy this?!?! It must be mine!
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
Sent to pr@lucasarts.com
Dear LucasArts,
While I'm sure you've received few emails regarding LucasArts' decision to cancel the much-awaited title Sam & Max 2, I wanted to make my opinion known as a representative of a whole generation of gamers who grew up with LucasArts' classic graphic adventures. Our fond memories of these games, especially the original Sam & Max, have not faded - even just a few weeks a whole group of my friends sat down for a weekend and played through six of our favorite LucasArts graphic adventures, with a packed room of people watching. When gamers around the world heard that Full Throttle 2 had been canceled, they thought "That's sad, but at least LucasArts can concentrate on Sam & Max 2." The news of two days ago was heartbreaking - everyone I knew who had played or seen the original Sam & Max had been excited about its sequel's release. The news reported today - that Steve Purcell's team was on schedule, and that Mr. Purcell thought the product they had so far was excellent, is even more confusing. Whatever market research led LucasArts to believe that the game was not worth making is wrong - the graphic adventure market is not dead, it's just been waiting for Sam & Max 2. Please reconsider the cancellation of this project, and keep in mind the generation of gamers who would be thrilled to have another Sam & Max in their hands. Thank you.
-My Name
Fantastic idea - oh, and don't forget the smart remarks they make when they frag someone.
A la the original game,"You threw the bomb out into the street? There are lots of people out there", "Yeah, but nobody we know".
"Well, put a stake in my heart and drag me into sunlight."
Obviously some moderators have misplaced their sense of humor. Perhaps it wasn't funny, but it was hardly a troll.
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
If Lucas Arts doesn't want to make this game, what would it take for someone else to do it? If someone offered to finance the development and give Lucas Arts 10% of the profits for the license, surly they wouldn't refuse?
..is basically telling that you should become a corporate whore!
"And I understand now more than ever how important the success of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude will be. Unquestionably I will buy it at full price the moment it's available, and I'll encourage everyone to do the same. Even if the game isn't great...even if the game isn't much of a pure adventure...it is the game that every major publisher is going to look at to evaluate whether or not there's any life in adventures, fair or not."
WHAT???? You think we should shoot them a message that whatever whoring you can do of old franchises is good and will go through? buy games that suck just because major publishers would get more intrested??
screw 'em if they don't make good stuff. what good is crappy adventure games?
it's not like they have a total monopoly on games biz anyways, there can always come games like Siberia 'out of the blue'(and in fact, if there's not much press flooding from the big houses they're mor probable to actually make it to the fans even if published by smaller publishers).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Max would appear in every Lucasarts game? And their catalog would feature a Sam and Max comic in each? Where did the love go?
Look it's a joke about my sig IN MY SIG! LOL!
I'm worried about what would happen if they somehow got convinced to start development again. The suits already cancelled it once, they wont be very likely to budget much more money for it. It will be rushed out the door.
:)
So then we'd get a terrible, buggy release. The game wont sell, and the suits will say "We told you so". That would be the end of adventure games. The current situtation is just a bit of a speedbump.
Or am I just too pessimistic?
Heh, there was a fairground-style shooter on the end-credits of Sam & Max Hit The Road.
Well I've taken the advice of the AdventureGamers editorial and mailed LEC and PCG about this in a typical kind of "grr I'm a bit cut up about that" letter, lambasting endless bloody Star Wars titles and generally being polite but hey, anyway here's what I sent them (btw, it's long and I doubt they'll really read it all.)
to: pr@lucasarts.com
After advertising the fact that Sam & Max: Freelance Police is in production, getting so much press coverage and generating an incredible amount of anticipation and gratitude from LucasArts fans the world over, you suddenly destroy your reputation and yet again damage your fanbase by suddenly deciding to cancel production of Sam & Max: Freelance Police for *no discernable reason*. What the hell do you guys think you're doing?
A long time ago LucasArts led the industry in innovative and enjoyable adventure titles. Now you seem to becomming Just Another Software Company making endless tired repeats and cash-ins on Star Wars, so much so that you must be close to running out of names for the things now.
I have been a loyal LucasArts fan for many years, I always purchase LucasArts games because I can be assured of quality, enjoyment and replayability. However, in recent years your contribution to the gaming scene has been lacklustre, your reputation is based on the fact that you once were the ultimate developer of adventure games with style and class, not that you make a lot of Star Wars titles that let people fly in an X-Wing and shoot stuff, or run around with a lightsabre and slice stuff. This has all been done countless times before and you seem to churn out games every other month that don't have the depth or plotline of any of your earlier titles.
It seems to me that you are now pandering to the console market, thinking that console gamers want action and can't handle the slow pace of adventure. The amount of work that went into both the Full Throttle sequel AND Sam & Max: Freelance Police by your developers, artists and musicians must have been colossal, and by throwing all that out in favour of cheap nonsense with gratifying explosions you're not only harming the gaming community but also yourselves. What incentive is there for employees of LucasArts to continue to work for your reputable company when their work on a project is so swiftly dismissed? I earnestly hope that a good deal of your developers decide that LucasArts is no longer providing them with the support that they had come to expect and leave your company in favour of one that respects their talents. I believe I am speaking for a good share of LucasArts fans and the developers themselves when I say this.
One day I hope that LucasArts will steer away from it's current course of "Price of everything, Value of nothing", where you seem to be attempting to earn a swift buck rather than concentrate on your reputation. In the gaming industry reputation is extremely important, probably more important than sales, especially in this age of increased piracy. Reputation brings you loyal customers who believe that your software is worth paying for. If you lose that, you lose to piracy and people will just rip off your games for a quick blast and you won't see a cent.
LucasArts needs to release another adventure title to uphold itself as a leader in this genre. Your press release says that it does not seem like the right time to release an adventure title, perhaps because there are few profilic adventure titles out there right now (except for things like Syberia and Broken Sword). Perhaps you should consider that the reason there are few adventure titles out there, is that the well known companies such as LucasArts just aren't interested in publishing them. This leaves a huge proportion of your potential market disappointed and disillusioned with LucasArts, after all, there are plenty of people out there that do not play any other game but adventures (usually the older segment of the market) and enjoy a plot, comedy, and an easygoing game pace.
Release it, and get $50 from me and the whole of the rest of the community. Don't release it, and lose thousands of dollars in development costs, all for nothing. The choice is yours.
[end of mail]
There is a continuing theme in these posts whinging about good LucasArts projects being cancelled in favor of their latest Star Wars project.
Isn't the natural response, then, a Star Wars graphic adventure? This would seem to be right up their ally, and they would have a host of charaters and situations to put them in. Possibility?
On another note, they have not only done this to their "extra" licenses. The license for the Star Wars CCG (Collectible Card Game) was pulled out from under them. Decipher had put out a very high quality AND profitable product; the license was given to a different company to make a game better suited to 10-12 year olds because apparently they are a larger market and could turn more profit at the expense of an intelligent and fun game.
And yes, they ARE a company and it IS their job to make money, we've all read those posts- but it is important not to piss off your current consumers in chasing after new ones.
Dear Lucas Arts,
I am dissapointed over the cancellation of Sam and Max 2. It would've been the first game of yours that I haven't bootlegged since Full Throttle and The Dig came out. Thanks a lot, now go and shove a light saber up your stupid asses!
Emailing the management at Lucasarts will do nothing. Their shortsighteness cannot be cured with a few emails. It really is rediculous that Lucasarts is compromising themselves for profit/costs reasons. Too bad Lucas can't put ILM and Lucasarts together (that would make too much sense). As for the quote "It's not a good time to release an adventure game." Well, neither was it suppossedly a good time to release "Star Wars," but look how well that did!
"Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
I just sent the following email to LucasArts.
1985:
A Japanese game company tried to debut a new product into the American market. It was well designed and a testament to the ingenuity of its creators. Yet no one would give it a chance.
The retailers said "we won't stock it, it's doomed to fail."
Fellow developers said "these games will never sell."
The focus groups said "this is shit."
Their product went on to gross billions of dollars: the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Today:
Developers tried to complete a new adventure game. Their work was on time, well done and universally appraised by fans and critics. Yet the publisher would not give it a chance.
LucasArts said "we won't publish it, it's doomed to fail."
Fellow developers said "Adventure games are dead."
The marketing department said "it's the wrong time to launch a PC graphic adventure."
Their product, Sam & Max 2, would gross millions if it had the chance, but now it may never see the light of day.
The Nintendo had potential, had quality. That's why Nintendo took a risk against far worse odds, and went on to gross 14.5 billion in 1991. Sam & Max 2 has potential, has quality. We've seen it, the critics have seen it. Squandering it threatens the future of adventure games. Impossible, you might say? Stop and think about this - what if Nintendo had listened to their market research? No Nintendo. No revitalization of the game industry, post-crash. Game companies wouldn't exist. LucasArts wouldn't exist.
Quality tells the future. It is your choice to listen.I tried to keep my tone civil (I certainly avoided any naughty words, and I was careful with grammar and spelling), but I had rather unpleasant things to say regarding my opinion of LucasArts's current corporate strategy.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
A la the original game,"You threw the bomb out into the street? There are lots of people out there", "Yeah, but nobody we know" "or care about."
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
Actually Max was in Jedi Knight, hidden in a house somewhere, and when you freed him, he would go on killing about anything he encountered.
The Official Address
Randy Breen, VP of Development
Mary Bihr, VP of Global Publishing
Michael Nelson, Acting President
LucasArts has published numerous Star Wars games so far, in almost every thinkable genre (FPS, TPS, RTS, racing, spacesim, RPG), except the adventure game genre.
If it's true that a Star Wars game would always sell and would therefore be a safe bet, then I guess a perfect solution for both LucasArts and the advanture game fans among us would be a SCUMM game set in the Star Wars Universe.
They made Indiana Jones adventures, right? Why not Star Wars adventures?
If such a Star Wars adventure would turn out to be a hit, that might persuade LucasArts that perhaps the Adventure game genre isn't really all that dead yet, and they might then reconsider games like Full Throttle 2 and Sam & Max 2.
"Oooh, does that mean we get to kick some puffy white mad zionist butt?"
Actually, it was more like:
*Sam whips head/bomb out of his coat*
Sam: "Where should I put this so it doesn't hurt anyone we know or care about?"
Max: "Out the window, Sam. There's nothin' but strangers out there."
*Sam tosses head/bomb out window, and BLAM*
Sam: "I hope there was nobody on that bus."
Max: "Nobody WE know at least!"
Yes, I'm a pedant.
Sam: "That was needlessly cryptic."
Max: "I'd be peeing my pants if I wore any!"
I didn't see this posted already, so I will. The web site Save Sam and Max lists several ways of letting LucasArts know that we want this game. The site includes email info, petition info, adress info, telephone info, picket info, et cetera. If you don't know much about Sam and Max, search for it! Do research! Get some of the comics! Find the tapes of the old tv series (and let me know about that, I've been looking for such a long time for them)! Most of all, be heard!
Save Sam and Max!
You might look into Cel Damage. Third person driving shooter. Very Cartoonish, quite humorous. Panned by the critics, but lots of fun.