Open Letter to Telltale, anyone reading this forum (The XBox issue)

[AdamantiumHip]

Hi All,

I know this is a somewhat tricky issue but this will be an open letter to telltale from me. I own an xbox 360, and wanted to have my say on franchises I love and put a lot of time and money into via merchandising, such as JP and the Walking Dead. I apologise if this has been done before but I wanted to put my views forward and have them heard at least.

First off, I got nothing against PS3 or PC owners. Gamers are gamers, and I dont like the idea of non first party exclusives as I think it's deliberately designed to exclude people. I dont think any REAL gamer would wish games withheld from fellow gamers who happen to have different consoles.

I also have put what I would honestly say more love into JP and Walking Dead than many others . I am sure others in this forum feel the same since we all care enough to sign up and talk about it.I saw JP in awe as a child, brought all the action figures, including a big playset of the compound, books, mags, cards, you name it. Walking Dead, I have been a fan of the comics since it started, long before it was a popular tv show. I have every single trade and have my eyes on the action figures coming out.

So I feel that as someone who has love for both franchises, its a bit unfair I might miss out because I dont own a PS3 and because my technical knowhow on PCs is limited and my PC is not a games PC.

I genuinely would love both the walking dead and JP games but I fear because of back to the future, I will not be seeing either any time soon.

I understand there were some problems with Microsoft, from what I hear, with previous telltale games...and I know Microsoft can be greedy little SOBs. But thats no reason to punish potentially millions of customers who own their platform such as myself who certainly dont agree with many buisness practicies and moves they make. That hurts the products potential audience and the fanbase more than Microsoft.

I just want to know...a straight awnser if possible. Is there any hope of either game coming to xbox 360? If not, fine, I just want to at least not be strung along and told ''we are listening to fans who want it'' but without any real reply. I just want some honesty. If its not coming at all, I would rather know. Maybe there are factors that stop total honesty or discussions, but I would at least, if possible, like to know if there is ANY hope at all of seeing these games or if I should just give up following them and getting excited now.

I hope we can have a decent discussion on this full of maturity, honesty and most of all, fellow fans and gamers making good discussion and debate.

cheers, and hopefully this forum will be worth sticking around :)

[Vainamoinen]

There has been a lot of very open discussion about this going on in this forum, mostly with Back to the Future. Some discussion was rather quiet, some very loud, some decent, some aggressive. But any discussion about this subject boils down to this: TTG WANTS to make its games available to anyone, WANTS to publish on as many systems as possible (and in as many languages, come to speak of it), if possible. With BTTF, the decision was obviously that it wasn't worth the hassle - yet. Microsoft's de-scheduling of previous TT titles is obviously directly opposed to what Telltale's fundamental concept is.

For JP, there are no platforms announced yet. Maybe you'll luck out. If you don't, however, it would be far better to direct complaints to Microsoft. I fear that right here, you're not addressing the root of the problem. :(

/edit: It IS worth sticking around. Honestly. ;)
And I'm absolutely sure the following posts will prove this.

[AdamantiumHip]

There has been a lot of very open discussion about this going on in this forum, mostly with Back to the Future. Some discussion was rather quiet, some very loud, some decent, some aggressive. But any discussion about this subject boils down to this: TTG WANTS to make its games available to anyone, WANTS to publish on as many systems as possible (and in as many languages, come to speak of it), if possible. With BTTF, the decision was obviously that it wasn't worth the hassle - yet. Microsoft's de-scheduling of previous TT titles is obviously directly opposed to what Telltale's fundamental concept is.

For JP, there are no platforms announced yet. Maybe you'll luck out. If you don't, however, it would be far better to direct complaints to Microsoft. I fear that right here, you're not addressing the root of the problem. :(

/edit: It IS worth sticking around. Honestly. ;)
And I'm absolutely sure the following posts will prove this.

I'm sure if Telltale REALLY do want to make its games avalible to everyone, they can.

MS are no angels, this I know...but every other publisher seems to work things out with them ok. I can't help but wonder if TT denied BTTF as a gesture to Microsoft rather than genuine difficulties of putting it on xbox. I'm sure if they wanted to work something out, they could.

I can't do anything about MS. Trust me, I KNOW that they are flawed, and are pretty much idiots about some things (the whole refusing to open xbox to community created content like for example campaigns for left 4 dead and other community creation tools). But I dont think I and others should be punished for that.

I don't blame TT at all by the way, sometimes hassles are a pain. But denying two or three series with huge amounts of fans on every console is somewhat self defeating, if only because they will be cutting off a HUGE amount of potential audience.

I'm sure BTTF will do VERY well on PC and PS3, but why limit yourself when you have potentially millions of other customers?

I just dont have the money any more to go out and buy a PS3 or new gaming PC, as much as I would love to. It's just not feasable at the moment. If I could for these games, I would.

[waroftheworlds01]

I would love to see at least Jurassic Park go multy platform. I feel that it has a bigger audience then Back to the Future and that it would sell better than BTTF would if it went to 360.

They haven't offically announced anything yet about what consoles Jurassic park will be going to. However, I would think since BTTF when to PS3 then Jurassic Park will be going there as well. But perhaps later on, and if there's enought demand for it, we'll see Jurassic Park and/or Back to the Future on the 360.

I'm a bit of a PS3 fanboy. I admit that. But I can understand what your talking about and I think it does suck that some will not be able to play what could possibly be the best video game based off the Jurassic Park franchise ever. I hope that this one does go multy platform but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[AdamantiumHip]

That's a mature attitude to have :)

I'm a bit of a 360 fan boy too. There's nothing wrong with console preference, the whole console wars thing is fun if you can not take it too seriously.

But I always do feel for PS3 owners when something good for 360 is not announced for PS3. Because I simply think , instead of gloating, well the shoe is going to be on the other foot sometime, and how would I feel then if people gloated about it? So I always feel sympathy because I know how I would feel.

It would honestly be a shame especially to see jurassic park and walking dead- not to insult back to the future, but as you say JP has a much bigger audience, and walking dead is a smash hit tv show now- never come to all platforms. They are mass audiences and deserve to be treated as such.

[waroftheworlds01]

THis an article of someone playing jurassic park... on a xbox It's on the thread
http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22396&page=5
I have to assume this means it's getting a 360 release.

[AdamantiumHip]

THis an article of someone playing jurassic park... on a xbox It's on the thread
http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22396&page=5
I have to assume this means it's getting a 360 release.

I honestly could kiss you right now :D

[AdamantiumHip]

If it's a hassle dealing with xbla , cant you just get it distributed through a boxed, retail product on disc?

I mean thats how the majority of games are sold anyway, so it would expand the audience even further, to the casuals who might not bother with digital downloads and wouldnt otherwise know there WAS a new JP or walking dead game.

what do ya think?

[Ribs]

The episodic format doesn't apply well to a disc, and a big focus of Telltale's presentation yesterday was on a digital market due to the developer/publisher making more off of the game when sold digitally.

[Pacificsun0481]

I have and love my 360. I hope it arrives there also. I want it foremost, though, to arrive on iOS. It would be fantastic on iPad.

BTTF just arrived and is Apples game of the week. I'm assuming it may more than likely arrive for iPad, however, with no announcement I'm hoping at least for 360.

I don't pc game...

So I'm hoping with all of you 360 gamers, too...in case iOS is left out of this one.

[StingingVelvet]

At the end of the day Telltale can't force their games onto Microsoft's console service, they have to be allowed to sell them there. If I were you guys I would let Microsoft know you want their platform to be more open, that would go a long way to getting more small and indie developer's games on the Xbox.

For me I am a PC only gamer, so I am glad Telltale prioritize my platform (and the platform adventure games were born on). That said I do agree that as many people as possible should have access to every game. There are many console games I wish I could play on my PC.

[StingingVelvet]

TTG have mate it pretty clear that they are all about digital... less production costs, direct line to consumers, no middle-men, etc.. We do get collector's DVDs at the end and hopefully always will, but a big console release on a disc is very unlikely.

That said I would guess that if the PC/iOS/Mac versions sell amazingly well that they might get a publisher to pay for a mass retail release.

[Icedhope]

I'm merging this thread with the other xbox thread you created.

[Eff One]

As an XBox owner I would also love to see Jurassic Park and Back to the Future made available on the platform as well. I think patience may be the key here and it wouldn't surprise me to see it happen eventually, maybe after all the episodes of each game are released? If it doesn't, you would really have to ask yourself why. Purely form a marketing standpoint it doesn't make sense for Telltale to ignore a platform as big as XBox Live Arcade when you consider all the profit they would be missing out on.

[AdamantiumHip]

The thing thats bothering me the most is that there's no definite yes or no

Just ''maybe''.

I mean if TT are probably never going to get it on 360, I would rather know and not keep hoping and being strung along. I would rather know straight up if its likely to happen or not. I dont see the secrecy and why TT cant give a straight awnser about it.

[corruptbiggins]

The main reason I think why there isn't really any comments on issues like this is probably due to company policy. I mean, there will be absolutely loads of things going on behind the scenes that we don't have a clue about, and this is just one of those things. Besides, I'd rather they spend more of their time creating games than posting on internet forums. Don't get me wrong, I do like to see the odd game related communication from the hard working guys and gals but for most of them it's not their place to say what is or isn't happening with regards to company decisions. And if they make an exception for one thing, like this 360 business, it'll be started to be expected of them, to comment on stuff like that.

[StingingVelvet]

It's likely that Telltale just honestly don't know yet if it will be on Xbox. Microsoft is notorious for being hard to get games through and if they do a disc then they would need a publisher.

It's probably very up in the air.

[Alan Johnson]

The thing thats bothering me the most is that there's no definite yes or no

Just ''maybe''.

I mean if TT are probably never going to get it on 360, I would rather know and not keep hoping and being strung along. I would rather know straight up if its likely to happen or not. I dont see the secrecy and why TT cant give a straight awnser about it.

Right now, all I can really say is that we are continuing to work with platform holders to get our games out to as many folks as possible. We don't have any console platforms for Jurassic Park to announce at this time though.

That's really all I have to say right now, but I'll leave you with this. If let's say, the Schick razor company wanted to sell their products at Target stores, but went around saying this and that about Target, would Target be thrilled to carry Schick products?

[RAnthonyMahan]

If it's a hassle dealing with xbla , cant you just get it distributed through a boxed, retail product on disc?

I mean thats how the majority of games are sold anyway, so it would expand the audience even further, to the casuals who might not bother with digital downloads and wouldnt otherwise know there WAS a new JP or walking dead game.

what do ya think?

That would indeed solve the problems Telltale has with XBLA, but it'd also open a share of new problems.

1. To start, a disc release can't happen until every episode is released. 360 gamers wouldn't be able to start the series until long after it's finished on the PC. I'd like to turn your attention to the only time so far Telltale has given an episodic series a console disc release: The Wii versions of the first two Sam and Max seasons. Season One came to the Wii a year and a half after it finished on the PC. Season Two took two years. As Wallace and Gromit has shown, XBLA isn't friendly to Telltale's episodic format and has caused the episodes horrible delays, but a disc release would mean waiting even longer.

2. The thing about digital distribution is there's no middleman to deal with, meaning most (if not all) of the profits can go straight to the developer. With a disc release, that isn't the case. To start, they'll need a publisher (the Wii versions of the first two Sam and Max seasons were published by The Adventure Company and Atari, respectively), so some of the profits need to go to them. The discs would be sold in stores, so profits need to go to them. People have to manufacture and ship the discs, so profits have to go to them. It ends up being a lot less convenient for Telltale.

3. There's no guarantee it'd be a proper port. The Wii versions of Sam and Max were...not unplayable, but they had their share of problems. Granted, the porting was handled by The Adventure Company and Atari. I'm sure it would've turned out better if Telltale had handled it themselves. But that's just thing: Right now they're working on BttF, Jurassic Park, The Walking Dead, Fables, Puzzle Agent 2, King's Quest, and who knows what else that they're not ready to announce just yet. Telltale's not a big company, and there's so much work spent on making new games they can't bother with re-releasing older ones. Any disc releases would probably be ported by another company, and whether they'd do a good job or not is anyone's guess.

While I don't work for them and can't say for sure, I seriously doubt Telltale will give one of their episodic series a disc release for the Xbox 360. I can see it happening on the Wii just because WiiWare is incredibly restrictive, but for the 360 XBLA would really be the better option.

[Pacificsun0481]

Right now, all I can really say is that we are continuing to work with platform holders to get our games out to as many folks as possible. We don't have any console platforms for Jurassic Park to announce at this time though.

That's really all I have to say right now, but I'll leave you with this. If let's say, the Schick razor company wanted to sell their products at Target stores, but went around saying this and that about Target, would Target be thrilled to carry Schick products?

I know this is an XBox 360 thread/topic (which I own also) however, I do wonder about arrival on iPad being a likely platform candidate or not?

I don't have a great gaming pc so it's really down to XBox or iPad...

Crosses fingers.

[RexMaster]

I know this is an XBox 360 thread/topic (which I own also) however, I do wonder about arrival on iPad being a likely platform candidate or not?

I don't have a great gaming pc so it's really down to XBox or iPad...

Crosses fingers.

Between those two its prolly gonna be xBox because a game that holds this kind of graphics and power could possibly blow up your iPad (although im hoping for both also)... but then again, Telltale has suprised me in teh past, mostly on that night when they released that amazing debut trailer of the upcoming Jurassic Park game!

[AdamantiumHip]

Right now, all I can really say is that we are continuing to work with platform holders to get our games out to as many folks as possible. We don't have any console platforms for Jurassic Park to announce at this time though.

That's really all I have to say right now, but I'll leave you with this. If let's say, the Schick razor company wanted to sell their products at Target stores, but went around saying this and that about Target, would Target be thrilled to carry Schick products?

Its just a shame to see the license wasted on a limited audience.

When companies care more about petty arguments than the fanbase, is it a wonder piracy is rife these days?

There's more to it than I know, obviously, and that I will ever know. But hurting me as a fan of the series doesn't endear telltale OR microsoft to me. I cant speak for anyone else, thats just me.

[AdamantiumHip]

I also want to add to the razor - target allegory. If the razors made Target enough money, I think they could brush off a little bit of trash talk- and if the razor makers wanted to deny themselves money by trying to sabotage one of the biggest audiences for their product, that makes them fools as well.

[waroftheworlds01]

Okay, I have to ask cause I honestly don't know. What's a razor? I'm guess another portable device?

Cause I know you're not talking about something you shave with. lol

[AdamantiumHip]

Okay, I have to ask cause I honestly don't know. What's a razor? I'm guess another portable device?

Cause I know you're not talking about something you shave with. lol

?

A razor is something you shave with :confused:

[waroftheworlds01]

Well, you know. Like Gillette razor blades. The stuff Gerry Harding probably used to shave his mustache off in TellTales Jurassic Park game.

[AdamantiumHip]

Well, you know. Like Gillette razor blades. The stuff Gerry Harding probably used to shave his mustache off in TellTales Jurassic Park game.

LOL No

I mean...thats exactly what a razor is

something you shave with

so I was confused why you thought otherwise

[waroftheworlds01]

Well, I was talking about this.

I also want to add to the razor - target allegory. If the razors made Target enough money, I think they could brush off a little bit of trash talk- and if the razor makers wanted to deny themselves money by trying to sabotage one of the biggest audiences for their product, that makes them fools as well.

What exactly are you talking about here cause I don't know. lol

EDIT!
OH! Shoot, I feel stupid. Scratch that. I totally overlooked a previous post. lol My bad. The reason I got confused was because I missed that first post and I could have sworn that there's a portable device called a Razor. But I didn't think it was anything that could play games. I thought it was a phone or something.

Don't mind me. It's 2 am over here. I'm going to bed. lol

[AdamantiumHip]

Well, I was talking about this.



What exactly are you talking about here cause I don't know. lol


well the post I was replying to was the one about razors and target


lol you are confusing me now dude

[waroftheworlds01]

I know, I edited my last post. lol

[Icedhope]

Let me put it like this since, well it makes sense to me and it's easy. When you release a game on a console, you have to abide by the consoles rules for distrubition, so a game needs to be sent to the ESRB to be rated, and it is put on a waiting list... Unless it is (announced before hand )so in all honesty, they could say they are releasing it for 360...but the truth is...you'll be waiting a long time, nothing in the gaming industry is instant, it all takes precious time, and honestly PC is a better platform because you don't have to deal with the stress of Big name companies, it's straight to the buyer.

[AdamantiumHip]

Let me put it like this since, well it makes sense to me and it's easy. When you release a game on a console, you have to abide by the consoles rules for distrubition, so a game needs to be sent to the ESRB to be rated, and it is put on a waiting list... Unless it is (announced before hand )so in all honesty, they could say they are releasing it for 360...but the truth is...you'll be waiting a long time, nothing in the gaming industry is instant, it all takes precious time, and honestly PC is a better platform because you don't have to deal with the stress of Big name companies, it's straight to the buyer.

But the vast majority of game sales are made through retail

[Icedhope]

But the vast majority of game sales are made through retail

Not entirely true..while there are a number of sales at retailers, a majority of all games bought are on Digital Distribution.

Unless it's it's AAA games, such as Halo, and Call Of Duty, and Sports games.


I'm not against your decision to have JP on a console, infact I would love it.

But Reality does come into play.

[Masta23]

I honestly could kiss you right now :D

Sorry but it was mentioned that it was just the PC version, being played with an xbox controller. There is still no mention on what platforms Jurassic Park will be released on.

[OMA]

Telltale's games are not really that graphically demanding. If you have a desktop PC you can just upgrade your graphics card to a halfway decent one and you'll be able to run all TTG games at maximum settings (even Jurassic Park, judging by the System Requirements posted in another thread).

[joek86]

I find it ironic for a lot of people to be upset about this, especially considering that the PS3 didn't get any TT games until ToMI and S&M3. I sincerely doubt at that time you were saying, "I feel sorry for the PS3 owners." If you haven't noticed, TT isn't the only company that Microsoft turned off due to it's ways of handling digital distribution. Valve, once Xbox fanboys, have now gone to Sony for future projects.

[Asian Inferno]

THis an article of someone playing jurassic park... on a xbox It's on the thread
http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22396&page=5
I have to assume this means it's getting a 360 release.
The article I'm sure you're referring to is this one correct?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/8658-Hands-on-Preview-Jurassic-Park
As far as I'm aware, there's no confirmation of "playing...on a xbox" in there. They only showed/demoed the game at the "Telltale's presentation" on the PC WITH a Xbox 360 Controller, which can be used on the PC version. That's what the author was referring to.

[AdamantiumHip]

the more I see of the game, the less I am sure telltale were right for the job...so if it comes to 360, I'll play it, and if not, hey it's telltale not getting my money. there's enough games on 360 that I can pay to play. so Im not as upset about this as I was.

[wish bones]

i wonder if there will be any in this game..what do you guys think?

[RAnthonyMahan]

There should be. It is coming to consoles.

I think "trophies" might be a more appropriate word than "achievements" here, though.

[wish bones]

ps3 is sorta lame with trophies...achievements are better

[Icedhope]

Nothing can be confirmed at this point.

[DerJan]

ps3 is sorta lame with trophies...achievements are better

Same here.

It's called "achieve something" not "trophy something" for a reason...

btw Nice avatar :D

[Irishmile]

LOL what does it matter what its called? They are the same thing.

[DerJan]

Wasn't really serious, love my PS3 the same way I love my Xbox 360.
You don't want to know how....
Well the trophies are clearly a rip off of the achievements, same goes with the PS3 button in the middle.

[veki]

No trophies/achievements please. It's killing immersion. Where in the movie (and this game pretend to be movie alike) you can get trophies?

[DerJan]

Dennis Nedry is 2 feet under...
that would be a cool achievement/trophy.

[Icedhope]

nothing has been confirmed by telltale wich consoles it will be released for or if it will be released for consoles, and the fact is all games released on PS3 and X-Box are required to have acheivments/Trophies.

[Irishmile]

No trophies/achievements please. It's killing immersion. Where in the movie (and this game pretend to be movie alike) you can get trophies?

Clearly you do not have the super secret BEIGE-RAY discs..
http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/2783/68834609.jpg

[Icedhope]

Now, I wonder what kind of tropy you would get if your eaten off a toilet?

Mmmmm...Chinese, or This Tastes Funny.

[Irishmile]

Now, I wonder what kind of tropy you would get if your eaten off a toilet?

Mmmmm...Chinese, or This Tastes Funny.

"when you gotta go, you gotta GOooooOH GAWD AAAAAHHH" trophy unlocked.

[Sisyphus]

No trophies/achievements please.

Trophies/achievements are mandatory on their respective platforms.

nothing has been confirmed by telltale wich consoles it will be released for or if it will be released for consoles,

The Jurassic Park fall console release on the main page of this site and the following quote from a recent Telltale e-mail:


Jurassic Park comes to life on PC/Mac this April and on consoles this fall!

strongly imply a console release. :)

[Asian Inferno]

Trophies/achievements are mandatory on their respective platforms.



The Jurassic Park fall console release on the main page of this site and the following quote from a recent Telltale e-mail:




strongly imply a console release. :)
Hell, it was even in the newest Dinosaur Behind The Scenes video.

Mark your calenders! Console Releases: Fall!

[Shadowknight1]

Which, IMO, implies a retail disk release on PS3/360...why else would they not do monthly episode release?

[Asian Inferno]

Which, IMO, implies a retail disk release on PS3/360...why else would they not do monthly episode release?
What do you mean? They are forgoing an episodic release because of the ease of having a complete game digital or retail vs coordinating a monthly release over a company's distribution chain.

Less wire to cut through, and probably the more effective method for consoles.

[jpsandhu]

Good thing this game is coming to Xbox 360, my PC is not meant for games.

XBOX 360 all the way!!!!!!

What are the chances this game will get an iPhone release?

[Woodsyblue]

Good thing this game is coming to Xbox 360, my PC is not meant for games.

XBOX 360 all the way!!!!!!

What are the chances this game will get an iPhone release?

You do know there has been no announcement about consoles yet, right? TBH with all the mentions of Heavy Rain-inspired gameplay I'd be very surprised if the first console announced for JP wasn't ps3.

[Asian Inferno]

You do know there has been no announcement about consoles yet, right? TBH with all the mentions of Heavy Rain-inspired gameplay I'd be very surprised if the first console announced for JP wasn't ps3.
Yet again...Fall. But it's unknown which.

[DefiantEnd]

I have to be honest, millions of people only have xbox. And I don't want an answer, I just want to know you are truly doing the best you can to get it to all platforms...


EDIT: And yes, it said consoles are coming in fall. Didn't specify which though..

That far down the road I can assume both xbox and ps3

[Woodsyblue]

I have to be honest, millions of people only have xbox. And I don't want an answer, I just want to know you are truly doing the best you can to get it to all platforms...


EDIT: And yes, it said consoles are coming in fall. Didn't specify which though..

That far down the road I can assume both xbox and ps3

Telltale have said they are trying to get all their games onto every console, it's just a matter of how long people are willing to wait. Unless Telltale change their distribution model JP will come out on PC/Mac and one console, likely ps3 or 360, and then after the season is released it will make it to the other. We just don't know how long that will take.

[DefiantEnd]

So basicly when the seasons are complete, they find there way to the consoles

[Woodsyblue]

That's the idea but sometimes they take quite a while. I don't even think they've got all their back catalogue to all the consoles yet. However JP and BttF are quite big licences so I wouldn't be surprised if Telltate prioritizes them after they have finished all the episodes, but that's just speculation on my part.

[tobar]

No trophies/achievements please. It's killing immersion. Where in the movie (and this game pretend to be movie alike) you can get trophies?

Achievements are pretty much a requirement for 360 games. I find the pop notification to be distracting as well, which is why I disabled them. Now I don't even know I've gotten an achievement unless I go check.