RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS - CON SEASON

[Keyrock]

Personally, I thought the Telltale formula for games had grown quite stale and other studios had taken their formula and made it better.  That said, it's always sad to see people lose jobs.  Hopefully they all find employment elsewhere soon.

[Tale]

I'd agree that others were taking their idea and doing better. Until Dawn comes to mind. But Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us were still incredible. I'll continue to wonder what could have been with season 2.

[Malcador]

Telltale games is shutting down. From what I can gather, it sounds like they're laying everyone off except just enough team to finish the final season of The Walking Dead. Then they're done.

 

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/327085/Report_The_Walking_Dead_developer_Telltale_Games_closing_down.php

https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/21/17888162/telltale-games-layoffs-the-walking-dead

 

As always, here's to hoping people land on their feet.

 

https://twitter.com/joeparlock/status/1043227346692726784

 

No severance pay, ouch.

[Sarex]

 

I'd agree that others were taking their idea and doing better. Until Dawn comes to mind. But Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us were still incredible. I'll continue to wonder what could have been with season 2.

 

Someone is going to buy the licenses, they always do, so maybe season 2 happens under another studio.

[Tale]

Only TWD season 1 made a profit. Wow. (Edit: And Minecraft)

Edit: Official Statement from their Twitter.
https://twitter.com/telltalegames/status/1043252010999410689/

[Keyrock]

I've been meaning to get Tales From the Borderlands as I really like the Borderlands universe and its humor but I hate Borderlands' gameplay, so that game seems perfect for me.  Maybe they'll hold a Telltale fire sale on the Playstation store and I can pick it up on the cheap. 

[injurai]

Well, Telltale never evolved their technology. So I'm not surprised they found themselves in an unsustainable rut.

[Lexx]

For me it simply was their style of games. TWD S1 was ok, TWD S2 already bored me so much, I never finished it. Also the graphic style was pretty much always the same, etc. etc. Just didn't worked that well on me.

[SonicMage117]

"We can Cyberpunk too..." -Square Enix

[Keyrock]

Realistically, the dream of another Sam & Max game from Telltale has been dead for a long time, but now it's truly dead.  Can somebody else get that IP and make another Sam & Max game please?  Pretty please?

[SonicMage117]

9.9 GigaFlops

Ryzen Tech

Aerospace-dynamic design

 

 

PS4 Pro power pc console hybrid, but more smaller.

 

In short, it's very nice. Period.

[injurai]

"We can Cyberpunk too..." -Square Enix

 

This is awesome. Sadly it's probably another Agni's Philosophy. There is so much vision at Square it's a shame so little of it every escapes to be realized.

[AwesomeOcelot]

Telltale games is shutting down. From what I can gather, it sounds like they're laying everyone off except just enough team to finish the final season of The Walking Dead. Then they're done.

 

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/327085/Report_The_Walking_Dead_developer_Telltale_Games_closing_down.php

https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/21/17888162/telltale-games-layoffs-the-walking-dead

 

As always, here's to hoping people land on their feet.

 

Telltale games "success" made no sense to me. I watched some playthroughs of their "best" games and they were badly written, badly animated, with mediocre voice acting and graphics, and the worst part was they were essentially non-interactive. They reminded me of the worst television shows, but by machinima in a dated game engine. Also I imagine any developer could at least match a Telltale game, it can't be that hard to make them, competition probably hurt their sales, and their team seems unjustifiably huge.

Edited September 22, 2018 by AwesomeOcelot

[Hurlshort]

Geez, kick 'em while their down, Mr. Ocelot.

 

It is a bummer that a developer committed to a struggling genre like adventure has gone belly up.

[LadyCrimson]

Telltale - I tried Walking Dead Season 1 and didn't get very far. I could sorta see why it would appeal to some but at the time it wasn't for me. I think they likely tried to expand too fast, too far once they got some fame and then didn't expand their style enough to keep interest up. Happens.

[Keyrock]

I don't know that I would call what Telltale made from 2012 onward adventure games, at least not point & click adventures, in the traditional sense.  Before 2012 they made those.  Anyway, the fact that their games, post 2012, were generally critically acclaimed and the fact that they never bothered investing in updating their aging engine and always used the same technology yet they still kept losing money suggests to me that they either made some really bad deals in acquiring the rights to use the various IPs they licensed and/or that someone was skimming money off the top.

Edited September 23, 2018 by Keyrock

[Gorgon]

I never even knew it was a Danish company. Apparently 200 people worked there. 

 

I wonder how many of those were actually making games. 

[Vitalis]

I don't know that I would call what Telltale made from 2012 onward adventure games, at least not point & click adventures, in the traditional sense. Before 2012 they made those. Anyway, the fact that their games, post 2012, were generally critically acclaimed and the fact that they never bothered investing in updating their aging engine and always used the same technology yet they still kept losing money suggests to me that they either made some really bad deals in acquiring the rights to use the various IPs they licensed and/or that someone was skimming money off the top.

From earlier reporting, it seemed as if they spent too much on acquiring the licenses combined with not doing anything to update their animations. It points towards extremely bad management.

[Lexx]

I guess they thought the fans will buy it anyway, just because of franchise X... turns out this isn't how it works.

[AwesomeOcelot]

Geez, kick 'em while their down, Mr. Ocelot.

 

It is a bummer that a developer committed to a struggling genre like adventure has gone belly up.

 

They're not adventure games, they're barely games. Adventure games aren't really struggling, it's just a niche genre that became a fad for a short time because of CD-ROM capacity and pre-rendered 3D graphics that aren't really related to the genre. They've been an unpopular genre for about 20 years, they were just a small fish in the small pond of PC gaming, and when gaming expanded the genre didn't. Some of the gameplay of adventure games transferred to other genres like RPGs, platformers, action-adventure, which scratches the itch for some people. Adventures were primarily narrative based where as most games weren't, but now most games are narrative focused. All the money goes to mutli-platform, graphically impressive 3D games, but adventures never worked well in 3D or on controller.

[SonicMage117]

Hmmm....

 

What is an Adventure game? I suppose based on one's generation/age, it could mean something completely different but to say Telltale games aren't as such means that we probably shouldn't consider text based rpg's and visual novels as video games or even something like Quantum Break which has live action tv show episodes.

 

Extreme picky gamers who have never played a Telltale game will probably say "It's poorly done interactive cgi films with limited exploration and poorly done puzzles." None of which is true but I suppose that would be the argument on arise. Next, some will try to convince me that they're games that "play themselves".

 

 

Personally, I'd much rather prefer something like The Wolf Among Us or Life Is Strange over a point-and-click Adventure game if I want a serious and engaging story. You see, I grew up on point-and-click but there's some level of emotion that's delivered in modern adventure games. The storytelling of say, Life Is Strange is still more developed and emotionally investing than a Crpg we might put against it but very short lived with multiple branch's and endings... Just as Telltale games.

 

Whatever the case, Telltale type of Adventure games has a large following, never found them to be niche. Also featured some very good voice-acting. I know I speak for all of us when I say, Telltales sense of originality and uniqueness will be missed. They really did impact the industry.

 

#JustSonicThings

Edited September 23, 2018 by SonicMage117

[Tigranes]

"I know some extremely picky people will disagree, they will probably say some stuff none of which is true! But anyway I know I speak for all of us when I say they were great!"

 

Yeah, sure.

 

Not quite Telltale, but I faced a version of the issue with the recent release of Unavowed by Dave Gilbert - who has made a series of cool point-and-click adventure games in the past, and Unavowed is still in that format, but in reality gets rid of most puzzles or gameplay in favour of a visual novel-style story delivery. Unavowed has very few puzzles, very little exploration, just a long track of dialogue after exposition with a couple of story choices thrown in.

 

I've never been a big old school adventure game buff, and some of the more hardcore puzzling was never for me, so I don't really think adventure games are required to have that by law. What I took issue with in Unavowed was that when you take away this gameplay, what you are left with is the story, the writing, the cinematography, to make the whole experience worthwhile. And then I think the bar really does become a lot higher. Now your storytelling has to be so bloody good that you don't mind you're not actually doing a whole lot other than watching it. And whether 'new' or 'old school' adventure games, I don't think there are many where the storytelling passes that bar.

[bugarup]

Pity about Telltale, I loved "Wolf among us". Happy about "Unavowed" dropping majority of puzzles though -- as I grow old, I have less and less patience for cat hair moustache nonsense. 

[213374U]

So, for like the one of you or so that care about Star Control. Stardock's Brad Wardell is "privately" admitting that his ultimate goal is to shut down the original creators of Star Control completely, and his approach to the Ur-Quan Masters community is best summed up as "Submit or Die!".

 

 

 

http://forum.uqm.stack.nl/index.php?topic=7396

 

https://0bin.net/paste/LUet5738Nn06BlFa#+lo-z77Wk9LU/rzi1KJj6xPorxfUBK1UrLkxazmvixm

 

"draginol" and "Frogboy" are some of Wardell's online handles.

 

Congratulations, sir. The money I would have spent on Star Control Origins, I'm now giving instead to Fred and Paul to fight your sorry ass in court.

[SonicMage117]

"I know some extremely picky people will disagree, they will probably say some stuff none of which is true! But anyway I know I speak for all of us when I say they were great!"

 

Yeah, sure.

 

Enlighten us, oh great one - Which part wasn't true? Most people who judge Telltale games in such negative light haven't even played them or have never completed one. What else is new? But it looks like everything I said rubbed you the wrong way or another.

 

And I do speak for everyone, as in all the members when I say: Telltale will be missed. Whether their games sold well enough to turn profit or not, they did make an impact on the industry in ways that people tend to overlook. That's rather easy to see now.

Not quite Telltale, but I faced a version of the issue with the recent release of Unavowed by Dave Gilbert - who has made a series of cool point-and-click adventure games in the past, and Unavowed is still in that format, but in reality gets rid of most puzzles or gameplay in favour of a visual novel-style story delivery. Unavowed has very few puzzles, very little exploration, just a long track of dialogue after exposition with a couple of story choices thrown in.

 

I've never been a big old school adventure game buff, and some of the more hardcore puzzling was never for me, so I don't really think adventure games are required to have that by law. What I took issue with in Unavowed was that when you take away this gameplay, what you are left with is the story, the writing, the cinematography, to make the whole experience worthwhile. And then I think the bar really does become a lot higher. Now your storytelling has to be so bloody good that you don't mind you're not actually doing a whole lot other than watching it. And whether 'new' or 'old school' adventure games, I don't think there are many where the storytelling passes that bar.

It was never meant create a war of old/new generations of games or genres but I think I made my point. To day that there isn't he sane amount of environmental exploration and hands-on experience in newer Adventure games wouldn't exactly be true and as others have said, there have been other devs who have taken the Telltale fornula and improved upon it. That indeed includes storytelling.

 

DontNod Interactive has made a few games via Telltale formula and the stories are something special, erasing all bias and only giving credit where it's due, they are modern adventure games with storylines which have only pushed the game industry with empathy and relatablity, no other games have went there before but plenty have after so that's probably why it's fairly easy to overlook it now.

 

More importantly, the lack of action and/input never qualified a project to be considered not a game, which was perhaps my more redefined point. When I go to a Pizzeria and stop at a pinball machine, I don't do much because your balls takes forever to drop down to my level so I wait, and wait and watch the story on the screen and the score - that doesn't mean that the challenge and the feeling of reward isn't present.

 

Furthermore on the subject, here is an informative and educational video which confirms my "blah blah blah" as more than just some stand-offidh opinion.

https://youtu.be/EpR4Txswh6E