Sam And Max Get a Price Tag

Joystiq is reporting that Telltale games has finally announced pricing on episodic Sam and Max content. The game installments will be available as part of GameTap's $10/month service, but each episode will also be available for download straight from the Telltale site. From the article: "Gamers will be able to download individual episodes from Telltale directly for $9 per episode or $35 per season (six episodes). The season pass will save you nearly $20 off the individual price and earn you the option of ordering a CD of the entire season when it's all wrapped up for just the cost of shipping. That's all the benefits of episodic distribution, with none of the non-physical hangups our retail-addicted brains insist are so important."

Comments

$9 ??

[revlayle]

Finally... someone who can price episodal content at a point where even *I* would want to give it a shot. Unless the episodes last a measly hour of gameplay or so, sound like a decent deal.

Call me a cynic...

[Delusion_]

...but "episode-based" game content just seems like yet another excuse for game developers to release incomplete products, except this time rather than hide that fact, they can tout it as a feature?

[episode 2 of this rant scheduled for release next week]

Re:Call me a cynic...

[iocat]

Cynic.

Seriously, I -- maybe -- have a couple hours every month for adventure games. I'd RATHER get episodic content.

Another advantage for game players (and makers)is this. If someone does a 40 hour game, they gotta pack a lot into that last hour for those players who make it. But a lot of people don't make it that far. They lose out, and the developer did a lot of work for nothing.

Doing several two or three hour episodes, as a game maker, I'd know most of the people who play them will get to see everything, so the player gets more reward, we can pack more exctement up front, and the artists and designers get to know that more people are seeing their hard work.

Finally, it gives the team the option to do a game with (potentially) a more complicated story-line, with multiple arcs and climaxes, than you'd see in just in one game. Each episode can have a story, as part of a larger story arc, like, you know, an EPISODE OF TV, versus having to do every game as one giant story, like a movie or book.

Shamless plug: there's some good discussion of this topic in the current next-gen.biz podcast, on which I am a guest.

Re:You're only half a cynic

[Anonymous Coward]

Games are becoming too costly to develop and, as such, are a huge gamble for investors. Episodic content is a way for the game to prove it has financial merit, and gives the investors a low risk option of cancelling further work on the product if the returns aren't there.

which would really really really piss off those that did buy the first episodes, probably preventing them from buying (episodic) content (from this developer) ever again.

Maybe if every episode is just a small complete game this would be ok, or small sets of episodes that are certainly released.

You're forgetting some important factors.

[WidescreenFreak]

It also allows the game companies to get immediate feedback on the game, not only froma story but also a technical standpoint.

For example ... All of the episodes are going to use the same engine. So if there's a problem in the first episode that they didn't catch, which is very possible because of the huge number of combinations of hardware out there, they can quickly make engine adjustments for the next episode. In some respects that might be the same thing as a "patch", but considering the negative connotation that the word "patch" includes, this is probably a better solution from a public relations frame of mind.

Additionally, it gives them immediate feedback that can be allpied in the next episode. What if people play the first episode then make great game comments about "Would that be great if they did such and such in the next episode based on this particular occurrence in the first episode?" If it's a really good idea, it could be written into the next episode. If this was a complete game, there'd be no opportunity to work it into the story.

On a similar tangent, it gives the writers more opportunity to expand the breadth of the story for future episodes, which is something that could not be done with a complete. That most likely could not be done with a sequel not only because it could be years until a sequel comes out but also because the sequal might have a storyline that is not compatible with ideas that were thought of before the prequel was finished.

I am the kind who does not like episodic games. I admit it. Imagine is a game like "Battlefield 2" went episodic where you got one map every month. That's unacceptable. But when it comes to games where the strength is the storyline, I can see where episodic releases would be a wise idea.