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Sam and Max Hit the GameTap

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i'm-not-a-malefactor-i'm-a-lagomorph dept.

Gamespot reports that the episodic sequels to the original Sam and Max title will be available on GameTap starting next month. Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock will be available starting on October 17th for subscribers to the PC-download service. Non-subscribers will be able to download the game at some future point. From the article: "Just under a year ago, indie studio Telltale Games acquired the rights to make games based on the underground comic Sam & Max: Freelance Police. The news was a godsend to many old-school gamers who loved the first game the comic inspired, 1993's Sam & Max Hit the Road, and lamented the 2004 cancellation of its sequel, Sam & Max: Freelance Police." Update: 09/08 19:24 GMT by Z : Jake Rodkin from TellTale wrote to make sure we pointed out the copious details that didn't make it into the Gamespot piece. For those of us without GameTap, we can look forward to the non-subscription release on November 1st.

56 comments

  1. FIST SPORT! by ringbarer · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Yet another proprietary download service that's only as reliable as the venture capital behind the servers.

    --
    "Why did they cancel my favorite Sci-Fi show? I downloaded ALL the episodes!"
    1. Re:FIST SPORT! by couch_potato · · Score: 1

      I take it that you have used GameTap then? Is there a problem with the service, and if so, what are your complaints? Or are you just trolling? I've seen the ads on TV for GameTap, and was thinking about checking it out, so I'd like to know if there are compelling reasons to not use it.

      Cool links.

    2. Re:FIST SPORT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are aware that turner owns/operates it, right?

    3. Re:FIST SPORT! by daddyrief · · Score: 1

      After it was all over, I ended up complaining about GameTap to the BBB. Like any month-to-month 'subscription' service [see: gym], they will try to shaft you on exit. I cancelled my service TWO TIMES, then got charged the subsequent two months, but didn't notice until that second month. All I was able to get back was one $15 monthly payment. Be careful what you tell the GameTap associates on the phone, as if they don't enter notes into their 'call log' then the call didn't really take place, despite cell phone records or anything else.

      Oh, and the only reason I was entered into a month-to-month agreement was because I failed to opt-out of their 'FREE TRIAL' after two weeks. Really not worth my trouble, as almost everything they offered I already had...ah well. What would you expect from Time Warner?

      --
      "Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies." -Thomas Jefferson
  2. Sam and Max! by Scutter · · Score: 1

    It's a shelf full of Snuckey's crap! :-)

    --

    "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
  3. Question for current Game Tap users by revlayle · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I would love to play the new Sam & Max, however, is the GameTap service worth its cost? Is their current library of games decent?

    1. Re:Question for current Game Tap users by Zinnian · · Score: 3, Informative

      Personally I enjoy it. There are a lot of old school games on there that I have played but lost the disk to, never got a chance to try, or didn't realize were so fun. Variety of games is nice too, from strategy, to action, to fighter, to educational games. The downloads seem slow sometimes while it loads the resources for your game but other then that I'm happy with it. They also offer a free trial period of a couple weeks. Last time I payed attention they were over 600 games and counting. New games every week so far too.

    2. Re:Question for current Game Tap users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      It won't work on my Lunix boxen or my haxored PSP with homebrew-enabled firmware downgrades, so no.

    3. Re:Question for current Game Tap users by revlayle · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's kinda like saying: My Toyota keys won't work in Hondas. They won't start, so they MUST suck! *sheesh*

    4. Re:Question for current Game Tap users by Lynoitus · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you're into old-school games, yes. The nostalgia is shocking when you browse through the selection of titles. Reminiscent of Blockbuster's game section circa 1993. There's certainly an enormous selection, and the price isn't too bad. But I have two warnings for you: 1. Many of the games did not port to PC very well. There will be crashes/bugs. Said bugs prevented me from completing the last level of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. 2. Canceling your account is torture. You have to call the company in order to axe your account, at which point they will bribe you with a free month's subscription and plead with you to be patient as they fix/add games. You've been warned. But overall I applaud GameTap. I'd recommend trying out the free two-week trial to give yourself a full scope of the pros/cons of GameTap.

    5. Re:Question for current Game Tap users by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      > If you're into old-school games, yes. The nostalgia is shocking when you
        > browse through the selection of titles. Reminiscent of Blockbuster's game
        > section circa 1993.

      Add in the fully stocked video arcade three doors down. Robotron 2084, Midway: 1943, Darkstalkers, just to name a few of my favorites. The video arcade ports seem to run mostly pretty well. It may not be to everyone's taste, but if you dropped a lot of quarters in arcades ten, fifteen years back, you'll love it.

      Chris Mattern

    6. Re:Question for current Game Tap users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Pandora Tomorrow was released for PC! That's no porting bug.

      Incidentally, I saw GameTap had Toy Commander, one of my favourite Dreamcast games and probably the only half-decent one that didn't get ported to something else already. Does it actually work? Is it running in a Dreamcast emulator or a port?

    7. Re:Question for current Game Tap users by Colonel+Blimp · · Score: 1

      Of course, thousands and thousands of MAME roms are out there of all the games you played back in the 70's and 80's. Same thing, but free.

  4. Cheesy retro ambience by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Funny

    [Sam hangs up the phone]
    Max: Another confused census taker?
    Sam: Actually, it was the Commissioner with another idiotic and baffling assignment.
    Max: Does it involve wanton destruction?
    Sam: We can only hope.

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
    1. Re:Cheesy retro ambience by Toasty16 · · Score: 1

      Sam: [looking at rasp "Rasp, rasp, rasp."
      Max: "You're losing it Sam."

  5. Yes! Oh GOD Yes! by borodir · · Score: 1

    I have been waiting for this for over a decade.

    --
    Check it Out http://aarondavidson.com
  6. Non-Subscribers? by Monkelectric · · Score: 1
    Love Sam and Max. Have no intention of subscribing to GameTap to play them...

    Why is the new business model to turn products into services?

    --

    Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

    1. Re:Non-Subscribers? by fish+waffle · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why is the new business model to turn products into services?

      With a product you pay once. With a service you pay over and over.

      Future business models will involve you paying over and over, and also having to become an employee.

      Future future business models will involve you paying over and over, being an employee, and requiring your children to do the same.

      The future is feudalism.

    2. Re:Non-Subscribers? by NekoXP · · Score: 1

      Because you make more money that way.

    3. Re:Non-Subscribers? by mobiux · · Score: 1

      Because... why sell a game one time for $20, when you can take a person for $5 a month instead.

    4. Re:Non-Subscribers? by jea6 · · Score: 1

      Seriously? Because investors LOVE recurring revenues.

      --

      sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
    5. Re:Non-Subscribers? by grammar+fascist · · Score: 1

      Hello to you, sir! I think you ought to read this:

      Slippery Slope

      --
      I got my Linux laptop at System76.
    6. Re:Non-Subscribers? by Jboost · · Score: 3, Informative
      You don't need Gametap.
      From the faq:
      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.
    7. Re:Non-Subscribers? by fish+waffle · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hello to you, sir! I think you ought to read this:

      Slippery Slope

      I dunno...if i read your link i'll have to read other people's links, and then the links from those pages; eventually i'll have to read everything on the internet, and i just don't have time.

    8. Re:Non-Subscribers? by Chaffar · · Score: 1

      Renting isn't half-bad. Most games are cleared in less than 4 days anyway, and I'm being nice... 90% would actually be completed in less than 30 hours, breaks and sleep included. Will it spell the death of 250-hour games (BG 2 we'll never forget you :'( ? Or will it make the people who SELL games make sure that people get their money's worth out of the game since there now is a cheaper alternative? I'll vote for "Whatever screws the consumer best".

    9. Re:Non-Subscribers? by Monkelectric · · Score: 1

      hahah! You must have free time :)

      --

      Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

    10. Re:Non-Subscribers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Wow! I can't tell if you're a genius or just lucky. Your original post (on feudalism) probably should have been modded Funny, while your response above should have been insightful.


      If you don't believe in the "slippery slope", then why do you think we're headed toward feudalism?

    11. Re:Non-Subscribers? by master_p · · Score: 1

      It won't work though. Open source will thrive.

  7. Tears! by nappingcracker · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sam: I think I've got something in my eye.
    Max: Try digging it out with a fork. That always works for me.

    Why why why! *sob *sniff.
    Oh terrible horror. I /really/ wanted to play this game. Alas. Thwarted again.

    --
    |plastic....or gasoline?|
    1. Re:Tears! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wouldn't worry about it too much...the game will make its debut on Gametap, but two weeks later will be available for download from the Telltale website.

  8. Rent seeking by spun · · Score: 1

    It's called rent seeking and it's yet another example of the ways in which an unregulated free market fails miserably.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  9. Nov. 1st by RealErmine · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.

    --
    Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
  10. Confused by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 1

    Sam and Max is an old but good game. Some company has bought the rights to the name "Sam and Max". When you buy something's name, you don't become the thing. LIke I wouldn't suddenly become smarter if I named myself "Albert". So why does anyone care what some untrustworthy looking startup is doing just because they bought the 9 characters "SAM AND MAX"?

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
    1. Re:Confused by EvilIdler · · Score: 1

      >Sam and Max is an old but good game. Some company has bought the rights to the name "Sam and
      >Max". When you buy something's name, you don't become the thing.
      Well, they ARE the thing. The company was founded by people who made the original
      Sam & Max game. I don't think there is any becoming needed.

    2. Re:Confused by ja2ke · · Score: 5, Informative

      Telltale "bought the rights to the name 'Sam and Max'?"

      Actually, no. Telltale is working on these Sam & Max games with Steve Purcell, the guy who created Sam & Max as comic book characters in the 80s and brought them to LucasArts in the first place. Sam & Max aren't LucasArts' characters, they're Purcell's, and Purcell is working with Telltale on this game. The team at Telltale worked with Purcell at LucasArts on Sam & Max Freelance Police, which was cancelled. The Freelance Police team left LucasArts and started their own studio. Purcell trusted them enough with his characters that came to Telltale and asked to work with them on making the next Sam & Max game.

      Also, as far as "untrustworthy" goes, yeah Telltale's website is a bit crusty right now, but they've released four games in the last two years - a casual game, two independently developed episodic titles, and a full retail game for Ubisoft - which is something that very few, uh, "untrustworhty looking startups" can claim. Telltale also employs Dave Grossman, one of the writers and game designers behind Monkey Island 1 and 2 as well as Day of the Tentacle, as their senior writer and designer.

      Basically, despite all your smarm and textual smirking, you have no idea what you're talking about.

    3. Re:Confused by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 1
      despite all your smarm and textual smirking, you have no idea what you're talking about.
      No I didn't. But thanks to your brief history I now know much better and you've answered my question, thank you.
      --
      Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
    4. Re:Confused by ja2ke · · Score: 1

      Happy to oblige! I really hate it when people write extremely authoritatively and angrily on Slashdot when stating things which are patently false. It makes me grumbly. I am frequently grumbly when reading Slashdot. :) No personal harm intended though.

    5. Re:Confused by ShawnDoc · · Score: 1

      Uh, because this "untrustworthly looking startup" is founded by several of the people who created the original Sam and Max game at Lucasarts. Oh and because Steve Purcell (You may have heard of him, he created Sam and Max) is working directly with them on the game.

  11. availability by fov · · Score: 2, Informative
    GameTap won't be the only place to get the new Sam & Max games. Starting Nov. 1, the pilot episode will be available for purchase from Telltale's site as well. So, people who don't want to subscribe or who live in countries other than the US will not be left out.

    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.

    1. Re:availability by Neflyte_Zero · · Score: 1
      "GameTap won't be the only place to get the new Sam & Max games."

      Starting Nov. 1, the pilot episode will be available for download from your local torrent site. (Perhaps sooner if one of the subscribers feels like uploading it.)

      --
      Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
    2. Re:availability by fov · · Score: 1

      And people wonder why no one can afford to make quality adventure games anymore.

  12. Games never make me happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    But videos do...

    http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/videos.html

  13. Sam and Max: By-the-Numbers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm ambivalent about this. On one hand, it's Sam and Max. I loved "Hit the Road." However, Telltale Games also brought us "Bone: Out from Boneville," which, IMO, lacked the comic book's charm, and padded itself out with too much walking around.

    Comparing the old title to the new one, I just get the impression that Telltale has made it too sterile, and drained it of some character.

  14. Bone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I found the two Bone games from Telltale pretty underwhelming, although the second was an improvement over the first. I hope they do a better job with Sam & Max.

  15. I will refuse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I refuse to use this service because I'm cheap. I use Linux and Open Office and if software isn't free than I just pirate it. The only paycheck I worry about is my own and I shouldn't have to pay for anything.

    The Slashdot Staff

  16. Windows only :( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    "Look at this Max, it's a new game starring us. Why do you suppose it's Windows only?"

    "I keep telling you Sam, my name isn't an abbreviation for the plural of Macintosh. It's Max with an X. The X makes me more appealing to those miscreants on soda commercials. After all, they're our demographic."

    "You need to watch less TV Max."

  17. Rent seeking is anti free market by tepples · · Score: 1
    It's called rent seeking and it's yet another example of the ways in which an unregulated free market fails miserably.

    A lot of rent seeking consists of lobbying the state to regulate the market more, which diminishes the freedom of the market.

    1. Re:Rent seeking is anti free market by spun · · Score: 1

      A lot is also of the Microsoftian variety, where a corporation leverages their domination of a market to provide a steady and unearned source of income. Without regulation, this kind of rent seeking would predominate, and the free market would collapse due to a lack of any kind of checks and balances against this kind of economic, as opposed to regulatory manipulation. Sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't proposition.

      I suggest creating super smart robots to rule over us with an iron fist, as we are obviously incapable of doing it ourselves. Did I mention I get to program the robots? ;-)

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    2. Re:Rent seeking is anti free market by tepples · · Score: 1
      A lot is also of the Microsoftian variety, where a corporation leverages their domination of a market to provide a steady and unearned source of income. Without regulation, this kind of rent seeking would predominate

      Without regulation, it would also be lawful to publicly trade commented disassemblies of Microsoft Windows software.

    3. Re:Rent seeking is anti free market by spun · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Without regulation, it would be lawful to trade copies of any software, period. For that matter, without regulation it would not be illegal for me to take a dump on your front lawn. And it would not be illegal for you to kill me for it. Or for looking at you funny, for that matter. Very few people argue for no laws whatsoever. It then becomes very like the apocryphal story about Mark Twain, who supposedly met a woman and asked if she would sleep with him for $10,000, to which she responded certainly. Then he asked if she would sleep with him for $10, to which she responded "What kind of a woman do you think I am?" and he said, "My dear, we've already established that. Now we're just haggling over the price." Well, we're just haggling over how much regulation is good.

      I'm familiar with all the counter arguments involving natural rights and intiation of force. Going on to someone else's property is not intitiation of force. Fencing that property off in the first place, in order to mix your labor with it and claim some kind of 'natural right' to keep it is initiation of force. That kind of justification is tantamount to saying that the bicycle I "found" parked on the street and then painted a new color is mine because I mixed my labor with it.

      Microsoft is not the only company to use unfair practices such as leveraging monopoly power to game the free market, and there have been plenty of cases (such as the railroads, or the canals before them) where (for instance) the high marginal cost of entry into a market provides that power, rather than the regulation of intellectual property. And as I pointed out, the regulation of real property is no less coercive than the regulation of intellectual property. The free market also has other weaknesses and failure modes which can be gamed in a similar fashion to provide unfair advantage and lock out real competition.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    4. Re:Rent seeking is anti free market by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      That works for MS but not for Big Oil or the telcos.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  18. Confusing by I+Like+Pudding · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why in the hell didn't they go with Steam? When smaller releases like Darwinia get so much press, a Sam and Max game should be a slam dunk.

    1. Re:Confusing by ja2ke · · Score: 1

      GameTap isn't just a distribution partner on the game - they helped fund it, and they really like it. That's why it's debuting on their service.And, regardless of how Darwinia was/is promoted on Steam, GameTap is doing a good job of promoting Sam & Max.

  19. I liked Sam and Max because it was easy by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 1

    Sam and Max was the only adventure game I beat without using a strategy guide. I hope the same holds true for this one. Oh wait, the n'terw3b ftw.

    --
    God spoke to me.
  20. torrentialism.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll just get the new Sam & Max from a torrent anyway....releasing stuff on GameTap is like giving every non-american the finger since its a USA exclusive and that I dont take likely to.. so paying is out of the question :D

    its my way of getting back at them!

    1. Re:torrentialism.. by shadowcode · · Score: 1

      That's fine, as long as you buy the game when it becomes available to everyone else who doesn't like Gametap.

      Or are you too poor to shell out that $7.50 - $10.00 (Whatever the price will be for this episode)?