Telltale Games

Ashton · 12/26/2009, 08:36 am

I was just curious, as most of you original members of the Telltale Team were former, disgruntled, employees of Lucus Arts, if you had a lot of trouble getting the lisence to make ToMI (or if the reverse happened - they knew you personally and were more willing to give you the rights as opposed to other game studios)

Falanca · 12/26/2009, 08:46 am

I think LucasArts was willing to give the rights because they kinda felt bad about focusing on Star Wars and leaving the franchise of Monkey Island behind. Then they thought like "screw it, give it to another company so we can squeeze up SW for more profit without any remorse".

*Irishmile* · 12/26/2009, 09:16 am

I do not get the feeling that they were all disgruntled, just that the direction they wanted to go with LA's games where not entirely in tune with what their talent wanted to do so it was time for some of them to go on and try new things...

Its like friends you see years after graduation... you have all grown up, and your interests may have changed but there is still some mutual respect and you decide to do something together that you used to love back in the day.

Leak · 12/27/2009, 02:14 am

Might have something to do with Darrell Rodriguez becoming president of LucasArts in April 2008; IIRC it was said then that one thing he wanted to do was breath some fresh air in LucasArts adventure franchises...

Ashton · 12/27/2009, 08:33 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leak

Might have something to do with Darrell Rodriguez becoming president of LucasArts in April 2008; IIRC it was said then that one thing he wanted to do was breath some fresh air in LucasArts adventure franchises...

I hadnt heard that (I kinda fell out of the gaming news world after my subscriptions to EGM and NP ran out in like 2002) I thought it was odd that so many adventure games were popping up now with the familiar LA logo (and re-releases/Remakes of older games) oh it would be nice if they dug out the old code for S+M:FP and completed it

lol

It's highly amusing also that they went to TTG for ToMI since TTG is most of the old LA Adventure game department... I have to wonder if anyone from TTG went back to LA...

jp-30 · 12/27/2009, 12:26 pm

I think you'll find TTG approached LA with the intention of reviving the MI licence.

Friar · 12/27/2009, 12:37 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leak

Might have something to do with Darrell Rodriguez becoming president of LucasArts in April 2008; IIRC it was said then that one thing he wanted to do was breath some fresh air in LucasArts adventure franchises...

This. It wouldn't surprise me if they had approached LA before he became president, and had been declined.

jp-30 · 12/28/2009, 12:39 pm

Check this thread out and in particular the below excerpt from 2006;

Quote:

(Source);

GI: A lot of those LucasArts franchises are still very popular - you spoke about Day of the Tentacle. Is there a chance you'll be able to wrangle a few more of those away for more episodes? Are you working on that at all?

Connors: It's definitely on our minds and it's definitely something we think about. Maybe I can give you more information a while from now. It's definitely something that makes good sense to everybody. For them it's the same thing. For them it's "What's the business model? What's the retail model?" It's not their type of game - it's not Star Wars, it's not with the movie, with the lightsaber - an action game. When trying to do the two things at the same time it makes it challenging. They've been trying to figure out the right solution, and hopefully Telltale is part of it.

Leak · 12/29/2009, 02:36 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp-30

this thread

TioAlli · 12/29/2009, 04:28 am

"Looks like something went horribly wrong somewhere in the Internet. As a result, the page you've requested isn't available. Or maybe it doesn't exist. Maybe it never existed. Maybe this page is a figment of your imagination. Maybe you're a figment of your own imagination. Did we just blow your mind?"

*Lena_P* · 12/29/2009, 04:37 am

I had heard LA approached them, actually, although I can't find where I read that, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Also, I think most of the Telltale employees left LA awhile ago or were fired in the purges of the early 2000's. I mean, Ron Gilbert left way back, and Dave Grossman and Chuck Jordan were both freelancers for awhile before they joined Telltale, Grossman even more so than Jordan. Plus there's a lot of new blood at Telltale as well.

jp-30 · 12/29/2009, 07:04 pm

Sorry about the dead link. Still, the quote and its source are what I was pointing out.

Everlast · 12/29/2009, 08:02 pm

I did read that the president of LA was looking into reviving some franchises and revive some adventure genres. In all honesty Lucas Arts needs some diversity. It's like Nintendo, they had a lot of momentum in NES and Super Nes but when N64 came out they lost momentum against Sony's PS1 and later PS2. They then decided out with a great idea to appeal to not only gamers, but also other age groups as well. The result is a simpler system in graphics and limited memory, but a more involved addicting gameplay that actually enables you to work out with the Wii system.

Lucas Arts has been for decades all about Star Wars and Indiana Jones games, but you gotta wonder how much money they could have dug out if they could have continued building in franchises like Sam and Max, Monkey Island and created new ones like Grim Fandango. I feel like they had something good going on with adventure games and it was adding to diversity, i can never understand why they took steps back and didn't made other franchises. Even action games that dont involve indiana jones.

Their best game of Indiana jones even came from Fate of Atlantis an adventure game, and yet the rest of the game have been utterly bad, filled with bad reviews, the same can be said with their latest installment. If Lucas Arts where more creative and aggressive in using their resources with other franchises they would have had more success.

OzzieMonkey · 12/29/2009, 08:47 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leak

Can I have a cookie?

jmm · 12/30/2009, 08:30 am

You may not

OzzieMonkey · 12/30/2009, 04:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmm

You may not

Oh, I'm sorry. MAY I have a cookie?

jp-30 · 12/30/2009, 04:59 pm

Still no magic word.

OzzieMonkey · 12/30/2009, 07:06 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp-30

Still no magic word.

Cookie? May I please Have a cookie? Pretty Please with a rubber-chicken-with-a-pully-in-the-middle on top?

*Lena_P* · 12/31/2009, 07:43 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp-30

Still no magic word.

Abracadabra!

jmm · 12/31/2009, 03:03 pm

<poof>
Turns jmm into a frog, but still NO COOKIE!

12/26/2009, 08:36 am	#1
Ashton Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1,017	Was it difficult to get the rights? I was just curious, as most of you original members of the Telltale Team were former, disgruntled, employees of Lucus Arts, if you had a lot of trouble getting the lisence to make ToMI (or if the reverse happened - they knew you personally and were more willing to give you the rights as opposed to other game studios)

12/26/2009, 09:16 am	#3
Irishmile The Skipping Dead Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: WI, its a paradise 3 months of the year Posts: 6,542	I do not get the feeling that they were all disgruntled, just that the direction they wanted to go with LA's games where not entirely in tune with what their talent wanted to do so it was time for some of them to go on and try new things... Its like friends you see years after graduation... you have all grown up, and your interests may have changed but there is still some mutual respect and you decide to do something together that you used to love back in the day. __________________ unholy THIS! I am a community moderator, here to assist, keep the peace, and keep these boards clean and friendly for all. I am a volunteer, and not a Telltale employee, and my opinions are my own.

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12/26/2009, 08:46 am	#2
Falanca Hasn't Played TWDG Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,239	I think LucasArts was willing to give the rights because they kinda felt bad about focusing on Star Wars and leaving the franchise of Monkey Island behind. Then they thought like "screw it, give it to another company so we can squeeze up SW for more profit without any remorse".

12/27/2009, 02:14 am	#4
Leak Blorp blorp blorp... Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Linz, Austria Posts: 983	Might have something to do with Darrell Rodriguez becoming president of LucasArts in April 2008; IIRC it was said then that one thing he wanted to do was breath some fresh air in LucasArts adventure franchises...

12/27/2009, 12:26 pm	#6
jp-30 Lint Miner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: New Zealand. Posts: 2,735	I think you'll find TTG approached LA with the intention of reviving the MI licence.

12/29/2009, 04:28 am	#10
TioAlli Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Fortaleza, Brazil Posts: 89	"Looks like something went horribly wrong somewhere in the Internet. As a result, the page you've requested isn't available. Or maybe it doesn't exist. Maybe it never existed. Maybe this page is a figment of your imagination. Maybe you're a figment of your own imagination. Did we just blow your mind?"

12/29/2009, 04:37 am	#11
Lena_P Capricious, Quirky Kook Join Date: May 2008 Location: West of Mount Diablo! Posts: 2,003	I had heard LA approached them, actually, although I can't find where I read that, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Also, I think most of the Telltale employees left LA awhile ago or were fired in the purges of the early 2000's. I mean, Ron Gilbert left way back, and Dave Grossman and Chuck Jordan were both freelancers for awhile before they joined Telltale, Grossman even more so than Jordan. Plus there's a lot of new blood at Telltale as well.

12/29/2009, 07:04 pm	#12
jp-30 Lint Miner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: New Zealand. Posts: 2,735	Sorry about the dead link. Still, the quote and its source are what I was pointing out.

12/29/2009, 08:02 pm	#13
Everlast Holy Awesome Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 370	I did read that the president of LA was looking into reviving some franchises and revive some adventure genres. In all honesty Lucas Arts needs some diversity. It's like Nintendo, they had a lot of momentum in NES and Super Nes but when N64 came out they lost momentum against Sony's PS1 and later PS2. They then decided out with a great idea to appeal to not only gamers, but also other age groups as well. The result is a simpler system in graphics and limited memory, but a more involved addicting gameplay that actually enables you to work out with the Wii system. Lucas Arts has been for decades all about Star Wars and Indiana Jones games, but you gotta wonder how much money they could have dug out if they could have continued building in franchises like Sam and Max, Monkey Island and created new ones like Grim Fandango. I feel like they had something good going on with adventure games and it was adding to diversity, i can never understand why they took steps back and didn't made other franchises. Even action games that dont involve indiana jones. Their best game of Indiana jones even came from Fate of Atlantis an adventure game, and yet the rest of the game have been utterly bad, filled with bad reviews, the same can be said with their latest installment. If Lucas Arts where more creative and aggressive in using their resources with other franchises they would have had more success.

12/30/2009, 08:30 am	#15
jmm Fremen Fedaykin Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Arrakis (also known as Dune) Posts: 1,177	You may not

12/30/2009, 04:59 pm	#17
jp-30 Lint Miner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: New Zealand. Posts: 2,735	Still no magic word.

12/31/2009, 03:03 pm	#20
jmm Fremen Fedaykin Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Arrakis (also known as Dune) Posts: 1,177	<poof> Turns jmm into a frog, but still NO COOKIE!