samandmax posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Sam and Max: Season One has finally released on the Wii. We've been talking about the duo coming to the Wii for some time now. Has the wait been worth it? There haven't been that many reviews yet, so we'll keep updating this post when they come in. But, that's not to say a few outlets haven't tossed their two cents in. So, without further delay, let's get to the scores.

• 1UP (67/100) explains you'll need lots of patience to get through this one: "The game's still fun and unusual, and it's worth checking out if only to enjoy some of the more clever writing in gaming. But don't forget your patience -- you'll need lots."

• Game Informer (70/100) found the gameplay to be lacking: "When the laughter dies and some of the jokes fall flat, however, Sam & Max teeters as its gameplay is unable to support much interest for some stretches." [Sept 2008, p.105]

• Nintendo Power (70/100) says the game isn't really that funny: "There are moments of genuine hilarity, but the humor too often feels overwrought or simply falls flat." [Oct 2008, p.89]

Okay, here's the deal: we all thought Sam & Max Wii released, right? Well, it didn't. Instead, Telltale just didn't, uh, tell anyone about it and continued to labor on the title. Now, it's finally revealed the game will definitely be hitting retail shelves next month, on October 7th. Telltale also informs us that anyone who preorders Sam & Max: Season One through GameStop will receive a bonus CD, which has "a behind-the-scenes 'making of' featurette, trailers, concept art, a soundtrack sampler, and desktop wallpapers."

For those of you awaiting the game, hit up the trailer above, then check out some new screens in our gallery above.


[Via press release]

Telltale Games continues to display respectable business acumen by releasing the first season of its episodic adventure, Sam & Max: Freelance Police, on the Wii. You can expect to find the lovable doggy detective and his demonstrably deranged bunny thing in North American stores on October 7th, complete with newfangled "widescreen" support and a tutorial. Remember, point ... then click.

If you consider yourself of a fan of the highly untrained duo, you'll want to investigate a pre-order offer from Gamestop, which sweetens the $30 deal with a bonus CD (see: behind-the-scenes "making of" featurette, trailers, concept art, a soundtrack sampler, and desktop wallpapers). Nice, though we would have preferred a Prismatology book.

Unless you consider clicking on one of the thumbnails at the bottom of this post a puzzle, consider these new screens from the upcoming Wii adaptation of the episodic PC title on the house. All we ask is that you give them a good home and care for them as much as we have. It took quite a bit of effort to get Sam & Max Season One onto the Wii, so don't go wasting that effort by ignoring delicious new screens.

So, hit up the gallery below and then tell us how you're handling the wait for the game!

The folks at Telltale Games have been talking up Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, as well as the upcoming Wii port of Sam & Max, to TheBBPS. Aside from what was said to Joystiq last week, the team at Telltale Games revealed that the Strong Bad game will be running on the same engine that powers Sam & Max. Also revealed about Strong Bad is the inclusion of a "bizarre 'edutainment' title" in one of the upcoming episodes.

In regards to Sam & Max, the decision to go with a retail product made more sense, but they aren't ruling out the possibility of hitting up WiiWare.


[Via X3F]

Wouldn't it be terribly sad if you missed the opportunity to play Sam & Max: Season 2 for free? As far as deeply depressing events go, we'd say it's on par with a plane full of puppies crashing into an orphanage. Only you can prevent it by naming your favorite adventure game character on our giveaway post! No, not here, there. On the giveaway post. You have until 5:00PM EST on Friday, April 11th!

Update: Entries are closed. We'll be alerting the winners via e-mail soon, so please keep an eye on your inbox!

In celebration of this Friday's release (Thursday if you're on GameTap) of the Sam & Max Season 2 finale, "What's New, Beelzebub?" Joystiq and Telltale Games are giving away three full Season 2 bundles (valued at $34.95 each). If you've yet to point and click your way through the highly untrained duo's second stab at episodic adventure, you can start right here and right now. These rules are all self-explanatory, so be sure to carefully explain them to yourself:

• To enter this giveaway, leave a comment naming adventure gaming's best character (any game).
  
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec).
  
• Limit 1 entry per person per day. If you enter this giveaway more than once each calendar day you'll be locked up in a circus cage alongside the amazing giraffe-necked girl.
  
• This entry period ends at 5:00pm EST on Friday, April 11th. We'll randomly select 3 winners at that time (please check your email!).
  
• For a list of complete rules that you can blow away with a very large Luger, click here.

Telltale finally confirmed to GameSpot that Sam & Max's first season is coming to the Wii this fall. Rumors of Sam & Max bringing their freelance form of policing to the Wii began in early 2007 and became pseudo-confirmed this January in a German press release. The game will be a port of the Sam & Max: Season One PC compilation.

Sam & Max for Wii will be published in the US by Dreamcatcher and The Adventure Company. In Europe, JoWood will handle publishing duties of the game, which will have French and German voice acting, with Italian and Spanish subtitles added. No word yet on price for the title, but if it does end up being budget priced (PC was $30), we're very curious to see if this excellent adventure game finds an audience on the Wii.

[Thanks Sam]

It's time for Sam & Max to go to hell and bargain for Bosco's soul. Of course, this being Sam & Max, hell isn't exactly what you would. Above you'll see the trailer for the last episode, What's new Beelzebub?, the grand finale of dynamic duo's second episodic season.

The episode will be available April 10th on GameTap and through other outlets the following day. No announcement yet on a Season Three for the dog detective and his insane rabbity-thing partner, but we wouldn't worry about that if we were you.

GameTap brings an all new episode of Sam & Max this week to give gamers their adventure genre fix. In the latest episode, Chariot of the Dogs, the dog detective and his rabbity-thing compadre search for the missing Bosko. Don't know who Bosco is? Then you're obviously not playing these games! Shameful!

• Sam & Max Season 2: Episode 4 Chariot of the Dogs (Windows) - Help find Bosco!
  
• Iron Warriors (Windows) - A game where you play as a tank commander in the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian War. Seriously, that's what it's about.

After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games. New additions this week are Fatal Fury and Vulgus. There's also very little time left to check out Myst Online: Uru Live before it disperses into the void of the intertubes.

We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle.

The Player
Recent Telltale Games addition Mike Stemmle, co-designer of Sam & Max Hit the Road and Escape from Monkey Island, and designer on the ill-fated Sam & Max Freelance Police. He also worked on Afterlife, but he doesn't think you remember it.

The Puzzle
You're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first.

The Inventory

• (1) perforated parasol
• (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle
• (1) sealed manila envelope
• (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue

Peek hard at Mike Stemmle's Star Trek strategy after the break.

We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle.

The Player
Steve Purcell, illustrator and writer best known as the creator of Sam & Max. We're surprised he even talked to us after last year's drunken debacle.

The Puzzle
You're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first.

The Inventory

• (1) perforated parasol
• (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle
• (1) sealed manila envelope
• (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue

Find Steve Purcell's solution to the "meta-puzzle" after the break.

Telltale Games has bolstered its collection of adventure veterans with Mike Stemmle, a man you may remember as the co-designer of Sam & Max Hit the Road, Escape from Monkey Island and the lead designer of the thoroughly canned Sam & Max Freelance Police. What you're less likely to remember (by the designer's own admission) is his game Afterlife, a title which has been unable to enjoy the complete resurrection bestowed upon everybody's favorite dodgy doggy detective and hyper-kinetic rabbity thing.

"Mere words are proving woefully inadequate to describe my delight at hooking up with this fiendishly dedicated crew," said Stemmle. "The excitement and talent swirling around Telltale remind me of the geysers of iagination that erupted across the gaming industry in the early 90's. Only this time, with rational production schedules."

Also joining the Telltale Team is award-winning artist and designer Justin Chin, whose credits include the Dark Forces: Jedi Knight series and more recently, The Simpsons Game. Chin will be serving Telltale as an executive producer, alongside newly acquired hired Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike and Lair veteran, Brett Tosti. Both are expected to contribute to Telltale's output and its "growth in multiplatform development."

Sam and Max have altered the space-time continuum and moved the GameTap Thursday update ahead by a couple of days this week. The dog detective and his insanely platonic life partner start their latest adventure, Night of the Raving Dead, today on GameTap and tomorrow on Telltale Games' website.

• Sam & Max Season Two: Episode 3 Night of the Raving Dead (Windows) - If you have any moderate love for the adventure genre and still haven't played Sam & Max ... well, we're just going to hope you've been off the grid for a couple years.
• Gondomania (Arcade) - A top-down vertical shooter from the late '80s where the protagonist rides a hover-bike and destroys everything in his path. Good times.
  

After the break you'll find GameTap's list of free games for perusal. Aside from a few new additions this week (bolded), Myst Online: Uru Live still warrants a spin before it dies in 52 days.

It's been almost a year now since the rumor of a Wii version of the Sam & Max series surfaced after Telltale Games began searching for a Wii programmer to add to their staff. Now, a German press release for JoWooD Productions' latest creation, a Wii adaptation of the PC adventure title Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None, has all but confirmed a Sam & Max adventure on Nintendo's console, which JoWooD is apparently porting.

A translation of the press release specifically mentions that "Sam & Max will soon be hunting criminals on the Nintendo Wii," though Telltale Games, the developers of the PC adventure, have not yet confirmed their intent to port the game to consoles. However, the press release seems on the level, and based on earlier evidence, we're fairly certain that we'll be seeing everyone's favorite revolver-toting, anthropomorphic dog and hyperkinetic rabbity thing on the Wii in the near future.

[via Evil Avatar]