It's been a week and we've finally caught up on sleep (mostly) and tracked down the blackmail photos (hopefully?) and we're ready to let you in on The Telltale GDC Experience!
For those of us working the booth, it was a wonderful time, meeting fresh faces and recruiting for the positions we have available, which you'll be able to find right here. Hint hint. (We're the greatest.)
Some special news outlets got a sneak peek at The Devil's Playhouse demo, so if you're not writing for The Onion, Gamespot or IGN, you may want to check out their articles and live vicariously through their talented journalists.
Things were all going well until someone let Sean Vanaman do a panel. Giving his thoughts about Comedy in Games, Vanaman joined Tim Schaefer and Rhianna Pratchett to expound their vast knowledge of what makes people laugh, and what regrettably does not. There to document where Sean "hides his babies" were 1up, the Onion and Gamespot.
As if that wasn't enough, on Wednesday we hosted our very own party at the Cartoon Art Museum with gallery showings from Steve Purcell himself. Unveiling our trailer for Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse (which you can see here) we had food and debates over which of the cartoon panels on the wall best embodied our childhood. Through the wonders of modern technology, you can check out pictures of the party, which is this close to actually being there.
As we step into the week after GDC, our cravings for nightly parties subsiding and the incriminating photographs beginning to surface, we'll call this year's GDC SF a success. ...But before you go, let me talk to you about our wonderful Timeshare opportunities available to all Telltale employees... Wait, you're not an employee? Well, you should give that a try, then!
Last week, the always diligent Google News alerted me to this Gamasutra article, Toward Better Readability in Adventure Games. Telltale's name comes up (in a good way) as the only company really addressing the problem of getting stuck -- and, ultimately, unstuck -- in notoriously linear adventure games, thanks to our built-in hint system. You should check out the article, it's a good read (and not just because it says nice things about us!)
What struck me about this article is that it talks about a lot of the same issues our own Brendan Q. Ferguson identified in this blog way back on July 4, 2004. The company was just getting off the ground and Brendan was no doubt sitting in his old broom closet "office" when he wrote it, so it's interesting to look back on that blog, knowing what we know now. Kind of like digging up a time capsule in your back yard, but not as dirty.
I'm not the only one feeling nostalgic these days. Dan sat down with Edge Online to talk about where the company has been these past five years, and where we're headed. Part one of the interview is up today, with part two coming tomorrow. Read it, and be enlightened!
The Great Cow Race at IndieCade's E for All booth in 2007
We received an email from IndieCade this morning asking for help spreading the word about their current call for submissions. If you're an independent game designer, this is a great chance to get recognition for your work!
Bone: The Great Cow Race was included in IndieCade a couple of years ago. If your game is chosen for their 2009 showcase, it'll be featured throughout the year at industry shows like E3 and others around the globe.
Black coffee: the secret to design director Dave Grossman's success?
IGN is in the process of counting down the Top 100 Game Creators of All Time, and today the venerable Dave Grossman appeared at number 73. As a Telltale fan, you probably already know who Dave is. If not, well, play one of our games and watch for his name in the credits. (Or just click here.)
We caught up with Dave mere moments after he received the news of this exhilarating win. "I'd like to thank the editors of IGN for their kindness in accepting my humble but substantial bribe and including me on their list," he said. "I am honored to be in such noble company, but am even more excited that they plugged my awesome book, Ode to the Stuff in the Sink!"*
Having expressed these sentiments, Dave went back to work on Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, which will be coming soon to a PC and Xbox 360 near you.
Update 2/26! Videogamer.com just posted a lengthy interview with Dave Grossman himself. So if you're one of those who doesn't know who he is (blasphemy!), now you will.
