Gametap only available in the States?

[Udvarnoky]

I can only make guesses here, but I'd think the reason Sam & Max will not be on Steam is because Telltale has its own digital distribution system - Telltale Now. The reason it's also on Gametap (which I'd argue is not the same kind of service as Telltale Now or Steam), and the reason Gametap is premiering it, is because Gametap co-produced it, which is probably a less blunt way of saying they helped finance it.

You make it sound like you know Valve offered Telltale an ideal agreement and a boatload of money (or, for that matter, that they even talked at all) and that they refused it not because of important underlying reasons but simply because they didn't know any better.

A Telltale representative is the only person who could tell us the nitty gritty details involved with selecting their partner, but that's unlikely, and, really, unnecessary, because the reasons given make enough sense on their own. Nothing I'm about to say is necessarily factual, but darn it, if you can speculate then I can too ( ):

1) The way I see it, Valve is a competitor of Telltale. Telltale's trying to establish themselves as their own digital distribution system. It wouldn't make sense to give up control of their property to another company doing the exact same thing. From what I gather Telltale's trying to be as much a publisher as a developer. While for us consumers it would be convenient for there to be one single service for all digitally distributed games, a company has the right to sell their own games their own way without having to give up sales, creative control, or whatever compromises are inevitably made in such a contract.

2) Apparently funding was needed for the independently developed Sam & Max, so collaboration was necessary. According to Telltale they talked to a lot of partners before choosing Gametap, and I'd imagine Telltale would know more than you or I which deal would be best for them. Gametap is indeed a digital distribution service, but a totally different kind. They're a subscription service that mainly boasts itself as a kind of gaming library, with exclusive content (Sam & Max being the first) serving as added enticement for potential subscribers. The Gametap spokesman in that "Making of Sam & Max" interview described Gametap as an HBO with Sam & Max being their "Tales of the Crypt."

3) What appears to be the case is that in exchange for creative freedom and money for the game, as well as Telltale getting to retain control of their product, Gametap gets to showcase the game 15 days early. That seems very fair and makes a ton of sense in context. The fact the Gametap is not yet worldwide is unfortunate, but a two week delay is probably better than partnering with a company that mandates Sam & Max be a driving game (which may be an exaggeration but this was suggested in a Kevin Bruner interview).

4) We can't just assume that any theoretical contract between Valve and Telltale would have been the overall best situation for the game, for Telltale, and for the players.

So instead of equating the fact that Sam & Max is on Gametap two weeks before its full release with a slap in the face to Gabe Newell or the international gaming public, you should consider the possibility that Telltale had more on their minds than trying to personally piss you off when they were deciding who to join forces with for producing the games.

Of course, it's not like I can blame a lot of people who've complained about this. It's not every gamer's job to research the details of the publishing contracts for a game they want to buy - all they know is they're being screwed out of seeing a Sam & Max game for two weeks. In that light, knee-jerk reactions are expected. But I hope more people come to realize that the whole Gametap thing was probably for good reason.

And that's my rant for the day. (Hey, what else is there to do as long as Mojo's down?)

EDIT: Ack, Linque beat me! And, unlike me, avoided being overwrought.

[Udvarnoky]

Who knows, Steam might've even wanted a more binding contract and if in fact TellTale wants to publish their own games in the future alone if possible, the contract would've been something TTG wasn't up for.

I think this is worth pointing out because in a Telltale interview from...maybe six months ago, Dan Connors was talking about the importance of having full ownership of their products so that their games could still make money for them in years to come. If someone discovers Out from Boneville 10 years from now, that's another sale for Telltale, a definite advantage of being an independent. And there's no doubt that this is most effective for story-driven games given they age much better than other genres. If LucasArts had the recognition to put their old classics like Monkey Island up on their site for pay download from the day they went out of print, I guarantee it would have made them, in the long-term, a significant amount of money. No, it wouldn't have been some immediate, gigantic source of revenue, but it would have been a consistent money-maker methinks. There's a market...you still see people, not in droves, but at any given time there's one or two people who go around forums asking where they can find a copy of Sam & Max Hit the Road or Monkey Island 1, and they're told their choices are: buying a grossly overpriced copy on ebay, or getting it illegally. With Telltale's games, long-term sales are probably as important, maybe even more important, than first week sales.

A Telltale representative is the only person who could tell us the nitty gritty details involved with selecting their partner, but that's unlikely, and, really, unnecessary, because the reasons given make enough sense on their own. Nothing I'm about to say is necessarily factual, but darn it, if you can speculate then I can too ( tongue ):

Well, indeed, but I thought I'd ask one anyway.

And I never said anything like Valve would definately have offerend them a great deal off the bat, but it would be unlikely for them not to offer somthing good under the circumstances in my opinion.

Anyhow, am off to play Insaniquarium. I <3 Popcap. Who incidentally have their own online districution but still used Steam because they could reach a much wider audience due to the massive install base.

Anyhow, all online distribution is good provided it will be done right (Unlimited re-downloads and ability to play at times when you have no net connection available are a must). Every step that takes us further away from archaic disk protection schemes and typing in badly printed cd keys from an undisclosed location somwhere in the packaging is a step worth taking.

My only problem with this is whatever way you look at it. This is casual discrimination based solely upon where you live.

It isnt just Telltale who are guilty of it and to be fair it isnt 100% their fault that Gametap are US only. But you think they would have done better research beforehand before doing this. In todays modern society where information can be sent from one side of the world to the other in a few seconds rather than a few weeks, this kind of discrimination is totally unneccesary. The movie industry is slowly starting to realise this. More and more movies boast their "Simultaneous worldwide release".
This is good for the audience AND the movie company. The audience dont feel cheated and the movie company profits more because people who would have had to wait for a release are less likely to say "Screw em ill just pirate it"
It simply generates bad feelings all round to have something available to one group but not to another.

Just my 2 PENCE!

It's a game that easily can be downloaded from the Internet at any time as soon as it's ready (as opposed to other games that must be shipped etc.).

But I'm not allowed to download it since I live in the wrong place. That's annoying, especially since I've been waiting for that "day in the middle of October" for a long time.

Dude - to reiterate previous posters - IT'S A GAME!
That you have become so excited about having to wait 2 WEEKS for a video game to be released, that you are publically contenplating piracy seems more than a little extreme (actually it sounds like you 'really' need to get laid man, I mean c'mon get a little perspective here - It's 2-3 hours entertainment your crying over here)

& as Tell-Tale have already stated, if GameTap drop them a bundle of cash for two weeks exclusivity - By waiting two weeks you get to play a new S&M game - If they hadn't accepted GameTaps offer, there would be no S&M game at all

That's not because I'm childish,

Yes dude, yes it is.

it's because of other things that catches my interest. I'm not a millionaire so I can't buy every new game that gets released. However, I WAS indeed planning to buy Sam&Max yesterday....but something got in the way.

Nothing has gotten in your way - Man, I know it sounds like I'm ragging on you here & I'm sorry, but if you've so little else going on in your life that your getting this wound up over a two week delay, then you really need to take a step back and re-evaluate what kind of life you've set up for yourself here.

(besides, if you've only limited funds for game buying, another two weeks can be used to build up the anticipation for whe you do get your hands on it and allow you to start saving your cash for the next game you are after - S&M Episode 1 isn't a long game in itself)

Stupid film festivals that let people see movies before the rest of the world. DAMN THEM!


How about we pretend the game isn't even out yet and that November 1st is the real release.
Horay! Everything's back to normal!


(As soon as episode 2 comes out (and beyond), the whole gametap complaining thing will be gone (mostly) because everyone (gametappers /rest of world) will both have exactly one month between releases.)

I admit that I was one of the many people who grumbled and groaned when GameTap was the only place to get Sam and Max on release. I ended up getting a free month trial for Gametap just to play it. But the service itself is really well done. I spent more time last night playing the old sierra classics - space quest, kings quest, and quest for glory than I did playing the new S & M.

The service is really great - they just need to make it available in other countries. It's a shame that customers lining up for a chance to pay need to wait 2 wee...erm it's only 12 days now.

Hold on guys, it's worth the wait - funny as can be.

sorry other world wide fans, but canada is supported by gametap, we are having prob.'s with canadian zip codes with letters in it, but even that will be fixed shortly, we are planning to expand to the other countries, asap.

expanding the grounds at which we play on!

IronCladChicken: I've never said anything about piracy. Stop putting words into my mouth.

If I don't buy the game, I simply wont play it.

sorry other world wide fans, but canada is supported by gametap, we are having prob.'s with canadian zip codes with letters in it, but even that will be fixed shortly, we are planning to expand to the other countries, asap.

expanding the grounds at which we play on!

I hope N. Korea gets first dibs. They need cheering up.

Contact the distributers there pronto!

[Maratanos]

I'm kindof a latecomer here, but there's several things I'd like to point out.

These people you are talking about who will pirate the games because internationals can't get it early...

will have to be pretty persistent piraters. Trust me. The exe file for the game, as it is run on your computer, is located at the UNC address \\.\TGN131000150\Sam & Max - Culture Shock.exe, which as far as I can tell, is RELATIVE to something (you know, like ..)

I'd like to know if a single one of you who isn't a part of GameTap has any clue how to access this file...

You see, GameTap stores it's game data encrypted TWICE, until it is time for the game to be played, at which point it decrypts it to the aforementioned UNC address, which is not listed in the file allocation table...

Unless you know exactly how to decrypt it, or brute force the decryption (which probably takes more than two weeks on any computer available to people who are willing to do it), or know how to access the game while it's stored decrypted, you probably won't be able to release this game pirated...

And I have to say, finally, that people don't pirate games because they want to play them early. They pirate games because they want to play them FREE... I think it is more likely that piraters will be willing to wait 2 weeks until they can buy a copy, which will be MUCH easier to pirate...

IronCladChicken: I've never said anything about piracy. Stop putting words into my mouth.

If I don't buy the game, I simply wont play it.

You're right, That was another poster - sorry man
(still think you are overreacting though )