Slashdot Mirror
Sam And Max May Be Wiibound
1up reports that fan outcry to Nintendo may result in Sam and Max on the Wii. From the article: "Telltale contacted 1UP last Friday, letting us know gamers can stop pestering the company, as Telltale received a call from Nintendo earlier that afternoon. 'They took notice! We got a phone call from Nintendo this afternoon. We'll take it from here - please don't email them anymore!,' said Telltale's Web Coordinator Emily Morganti to 1UP, who also wrote the original blog asking gamers to begin virtually rioting."
They seem to be talking about these guys: http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax . Can't say I've heard of them before. But cool. The link is already slashdotted.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
Quite Frankly, I'm ecstatic about this news! I just hope it comes to fruition, because it will greatly simplify my future computer purchases. There have been so few Adventure games (my favorite genre) and other games that appeal to me released lately that I've become a Mac user, reveling in a virus-free computing experience and relying on game consoles for my gaming needs. However, once I knew about the new Same and Max titles, I knew I would have to play them, and now that will be much simpler.
Max making an obscene joke about the WiiMote.
My Photography - http://ian-x.com
The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
...as if a great many point-and-click veterans and Wii fans rejoiced!
I seriously can't wait for another adventure game from LucasArts... ok not developed by them but here's hoping those guys do a good job of it. It's been too long.
Yes, but only those who have licensed the Sam and Max copyrights can write an official Sam and Max game. That's the difference.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
If this turns real in the end and we really do get Sam'n Max on Wii this could be a big thing, not so much because Sam'n Max is the best game ever (well, maybe it is ;), but since it would be so far the first real demonstration I know of, of a small developers game making it onto the Wii. Which in turn could mean that we will get more small developers on the Wii, which in turn means me get more games, maybe lots more, depending of course on how open Nintendo is with their.
Lack of third part party support is the reason why I personally consider the Gamecube a failure, if they can turn that one around and get plenty of third parties, even when it are just small developers, the Wii definitvly would get quite a bit more interesting.
Anyone else finding that the Wii prefix on everything is getting hideously annoying?
Really? I've got 1800$US right here. Where do I order my official dev kit from Nintendo?
Not anyone. You have to jump through some hoops before Nintendo accepts your money.
More information can be found at http://warioworld.com/
(no, it's not a gamesite; it's the Nintendo Software Development Support Group Home Page)
A quick copy&paste from their "Become a Licensee" page :
If, after a review of the appropriate summary, you remain interested in becoming a Nintendo licensee, please forward the following non-proprietary information to Nintendo:
1) A detailed description of your company, including a summary of your software development experience, financial resources and stability and your industry leadership. This information should be in the form of a prospectus, business plan or summary statement;
2) A detailed introduction to your key personnel and developers setting forth any technical, managerial or sales experience that may be relevant;
3) A marketing plan for your proposed products, including targeted distribution channels, advertising commitments, consumer service resources, merchandising, etc.;
4) Any market study information on consumer demand for your proposed product which you may be relying on;
5) A written description of your proposed software product;
6) A complete summary and at least three samples of software programs you have previously developed and upon which you rely for establishing your technical know-how.
Nintendo will then undertake to make a determination if your qualifications would support your selection as an authorized licensee. Because Nintendo licensees are provided with highly proprietary information and because our licensees must be able to successfully market and support high quality product to a broad base of Nintendo product users throughout the United States, Canada and South America, Nintendo exercises a high level of care in its appointment of its licensees. If we elect to proceed, we will prepare a formal license agreement which will be forwarded to you for your review. After the mutual execution of an Agreement, Nintendo will provide you with software development specifications, and support.
Nobody believes the official spokesman, but everybody trusts an unidentified source. -- Ron Nesen
Since when? Last time I tried to click myself Wario World it was impossible to get one unless you already are a large game company.
Please, for the love of Xenu, PLEASE let them get better voice actors for the main characters this time!
If you've heard any of the previews on YouTube, the current voices of Sam and Max sound like disinterested bloggers mouthing the jokes compared to the 90's game or [shudder] the TV Cartoon voices.
Preview video
Even the announcer sounds distinctly 8th rate.
Really, the core of the product for an adventure like this IS the voices! Not that you need to believe the characters... but you need SOME skilled actors with some range in their voice to actually sound like they are meaning to tell jokes, perhaps with SOME sense of timing. There's other examples of the voice acting for the new Sam & Max too, on their web site. It's even worse, for my taste.
I love the old Sam and Max game and comics, I love the humor that is present in them so far - but man, do those mumbly voices annoy me. If they were at least immitating 30's radio, or 50's cartoons, I could understand, but it's like a substitute math teacher showed up in place of Lewis Black on stage and just mumbled his act without emotion - the concepts would be as funny, and perhaps the guy speaking would put a new spin out - but the emotionless presentation would destroy the work. You don't have to get someone amazing - just a pair of voice actors capable of pushing the sarcasm inherent in the caracters, and capable of some timing that can work of eachother.
Ryan Fenton
That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!
That Nintendo doesn't try to hold back on the adult-themedness of the game. I know they put out games like RE4 in the past, but I'm just kind of worried that they'll want to make it appeal to a wider audience. Everyone knows that zombies = gratuitous violence, but they may not realize the same about a cute and fury talking dog/rabbit thing team.
I can't bend that!
It's true. What XBOX360 or PS3 games have you roaring to give up your cash? I might buy 6 *launch* titles, which says a ton about that console. Hell, even E*Frikkin*A is changing the control-scheme for madden enough to wanna *rent* it for a few days and see if Tecmobowl is still king!
I'm not a fanboy, as I have *issues* with the gamecube, and it's requirement to own multiple nintendo ds units just to play a nice 4-player adventure, a severe lack of KOEI games, or 3rd party support in general. But the wii is the correction, and worth being excited about.
Why can't all fpga/microcontroller manufacturers just release free optimizing compilers???
"Unlike all the shit that Sony puts out on PlayStation 3, like RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACER, Nintendo knows what I want"
:) )
RAAAAAAAD RACEEEEEERRRR!
(I swear, all of Square's work has been downhill since then.
You don't have to be a large company. You do have to be a business tho, and be able to demonstrate that you're profit oriented and have created games in the past.
.. its not like you have to be Namco, you just have to be serious about it.
Not an unreasonable demand, really
"Old man yells at systemd"
Keep in mind that the Sony devkits are 15,000 to 20,000. The test kits are significantly cheaper, but you can't debug live on those .. in that case, you probably have to be a big company, or if you are small, all 30 of you share one kit.
Its definately an artificial barrier to entry, more so than the Wii which simply requires some evidence of proficiency and a desire to create commercial success on the Wii platform.
"Old man yells at systemd"
That's funny: I actually don't want HD yet. Although, I also don't want to sped $600 on a media center that I have no use for. I just want to play some video games.
Conker's Bad Fur day was done by Rare (a 2nd party developer at the time) for the N64. I'm sure they came to grips with 'mature themed' talking animals a while ago.
I've already spent (over) $600 on my media center.. I call it a Cohmpewtire!
Wiibound for sure. A console should not cost more than an off-the-shelf computer that's capable of playing any game I'd put on it -- and right now, the XBox and PS3 are failing that test horribly. The Wii's the only winner (wiinner? I'll buy the damned thing just for the pun potential.. pun-tential if you will.)
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about.
I may finally get a new S&M (zing!) game on a system I might have.
Interesting, I have never thought of parents as institutions.
I recently started again playing Sam and Max: Hit the road thanks to these lovely people porting scummvm to the Nintendo DS:
http://scummvm.drunkencoders.com/
You'll need a Nintendo DS with some method of playing homebrew, which isn't as scary as it sounds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_homebrew
I'd recommend getting a Supercard, as you can utilise the 32M GBA ROM space in DSLinux.
Sony and M$ also tell you what you want--you want better graphics and faster processor speeds, despite the fact that it will not do a thing for true game enjoyability! I mean, I can only play "Doom" so many times...whether or not it's called "Halo" or "Doom" or whatever. I've never been interested in Madden, and it's on version, what, 27?
But wait, Madden for the 360 or the PS3 will LOOK AMAZING!!!
Who cares. I haven't played a football game since 1992. It was boring then and it's boring now.