Telltale: Episodic drop-off 'substantially less' on iOS

Yeah, it's pretty much common sense, IMHO.

Players try out the first episode and they like it or don't. If they like it, they may slack off on buying the next episode (or remembering to buy it) because of other games (or real-world concerns). They may even forget a bit about the first episode with info that helps them on the second, since a bit of time can pass between episode releases (and some people don't care to replay to re-aquaint themselves).

Needless to say, I prefer to buy all episodes in one package, just to be done with it.

I love Telltale, but I typically don't like the season pass for Telltale games for several reasons. Many of their games seem to get the most work and polish done on their first episode, and after that, the episodes are phoned in or rushed out before their complete. There are exceptions to that, like the Monkey Island and Sam and Max series, which is comedy gold across the board from start to finish, but there were quite a few stinker episodes in the Back to the Future and Strong Bad games.

Even though I paid for the full runs of those games, I quit playing them two or three episodes in. Speaking as an OCD completionist who manages to rack up about 10,000 achievement points per year on my 360 alone, it takes a lot to make me give up on a game I've paid for. It's like going out to dinner and having the most delicious appetizer ever, then the main course and dessert are slopped into a bowl from a buffet. I think if Telltale put as much heart and soul into the later episodes in their series as they do the initial one, and just outright ignored whiny fan complaints about release dates, they'd get better numbers on people coming back to progress and finish the story.

That all said, I never gave up on a series as quickly as I did Hector. First off, for the first chapter, what was selling at the time as a 99 cent iOS game, I paid $10 for on Steam. The graphics and audio were not upscaled for the PC release at all, and the game had several CTD and freezing bugs at launch. Besides that, it was vulgar, gross out humor that had none of the charm of other Telltale releases. It definitely seemed like a competent adventure game, but it was like someone found a journal of game ideas Tim Schafer had deliberately thrown away in 2002, and then used it for evil.

Hector: Badge of Carnage is only on iOS devices, right? They aren't out for steam? I'd just go check myself but I've been having a spot of trouble with steam since yesterday.

I have an iPhone but I think I'd prefer to buy the games via Steam or PSN. Maybe next time they are on sale I should just get them for my phone...