telltale might be working with nintendo

[reiss123]

In one of the videos for puzzle agent, telltale said that it would be a professor
layton style game.
Is telltale games secretly working with nintendo to make puzzle agent?????

[jp-30]

No.

[akaimizu]

It only indicates that those who played Professor Layton will be familiar with the overall structure of Puzzle Agent. A narrative adventure story laced with puzzle challenges. The idea is that the game structure is a genre not just one series of games.

[Wizpig]

Professor Layton is not developed by Nintendo. :|

And I think it's great that they are admitting it's inspired by a certain game instead of just ripping it off.

[Gman5852]

And technically they are working with nintendo via wiiware(and by working with I mean telltale does all the work and nintendo posts it on their online shop and takes credit and some of the profits)

[akaimizu]

True. Companies are good to mention what inspires them. Though, I also agree that the style of game Professor Layton is, is more of a genre and not just one game. If you come up with a different story, art-style, flavor, while giving people fresh puzzles; then it's a good addition to the genre. Fortunately, outside of the idea of putting a narrative with a collection of puzzles, in such a manner, even Professor Layton is a game that pays lots of homage to things that came before it. Such is the good life of how products progress and we're given more of it.

[Irishmile]

I just hope there is some character development and a cool story.

[adventureaddict]

People have to see that Professor Layton was not the first game to incorporate puzzles into a story line.
I do love Prof. Layton so, but I hate that it gets all the credit for this genre.

[Wizpig]

Originally Posted by Gman5852

And technically they are working with nintendo via wiiware(and by working with I mean telltale does all the work and nintendo posts it on their online shop and takes credit and some of the profits)

"Takes credit"?

Developed by Telltale Games means developed by Telltale Games in my book, and that's listed in the WiiWare section of course.
And well, of course they take some of the profits.

Originally Posted by adventureaddict

People have to see that Professor Layton was not the first game to incorporate puzzles into a story line.
I do love Prof. Layton so, but I hate that it gets all the credit for this genre.

Not-strictly-plot-related brain teasers, a hint system... I do think it was the first game to do that.

[Gman5852]

Originally Posted by Wizpig

"Takes credit"?

Developed by Telltale Games means developed by Telltale Games in my book, and that's listed in the WiiWare section of course.
And well, of course they take some of the profits.Not-strictly-plot-related brain teasers, a hint system... I do think it was the first game to do that.

True but they take some of the money which in arcade terms is counted as "credits"

[thom-22]

Originally Posted by Wizpig

Not-strictly-plot-related brain teasers, a hint system... I do think it was the first game to do that.

Really? I've never played Prof. Layton so I might be missing something, but brain teasers wrapped in a story of some kind have been around for a long time, certainly since the early days of CD-ROM. I'm thinking of titles like 7th Guest, the 11th Hour, and Cliff Johnson's games (Labyrinth of Crete is the one I remember best). When I first heard about Puzzle Agent, I thought of SafeCracker (the 90's one, I haven't played the newer one). And casual game developers are doing this kind of thing now, though the ones I've seen have little animation and forgettable storylines.

[Yadda]

Well, at least in my opinion, the two are different. The Layton games are more like brain teaser books with a visual novel tacked on for fun. The puzzles are ENTIRELY unrelated. Stuff like 'you want this key? Solve this riddle I came up with last night,' or 'if you want this piece of vital information, you must have solved at least X puzzles.' With games like the 7th Guest and Myst, the story is usually more esoteric, and the puzzles are at minimum vaguely related to the plot.

[thom-22]

I have to wonder about your point since you brought up Myst (I didn't). Myst is based primarily on environmental puzzles and is entirely different, not only from Layton & PA but from all the games I mentioned as well. Most of the puzzles in the games I mentioned are unrelated, standard puzzle-book brainteaser fare, except maybe they've been graphically themed to match that of the game's story. That seems to be true in PA, though -- the puzzles seem to be graphically related like a plate of food and tapeworms instead of pipes. If that disqualifies them from your definition of "unrelated", then I would say PA is more like the games I mentioned than it is like Layton.

[Yadda]

I watched some samples of 7th Guest... The puzzles are rather integrated, taking place within the world. Games like Layton and PA just jump out of the game world, pop up a box, and throw a puzzle at you. That's what I meant by unrelated. And I doubt that tapeworms and rubber bands are related to the mystery in Scoggins.

[LordKinbote]

Originally Posted by Yadda

I watched some samples of 7th Guest... The puzzles are rather integrated, taking place within the world. Games like Layton and PA just jump out of the game world, pop up a box, and throw a puzzle at you. That's what I meant by unrelated. And I doubt that tapeworms and rubber bands are related to the mystery in Scoggins.

7th Guest is a funny example, because they *are* integrated in that they exist in the world of the game, but they're still completely, 100% unrelated to the story. Here's a chess set with a chess puzzle on it that unlocks a cut scene. There's a microscope with a puzzle on the petri dish. Solving it will give us a cut scene! Ooh, looking through that telescope gives a planetary word puzzle. Cut scene!

Compare that to Sam & Max, where every puzzle actually is story driven. Every action you do has a reason other than "This will get me one step closer to the end of the game." The 7th Guest has you solving puzzles for the sake of solving puzzles.

Don't think I'm being harsh on the game, because I really like it for what it is, and it will always have a special place in my heart as my first CD-ROM game (on a computer that my father said "was more powerful than God" which seems really, really, really funny now).

[Yadda]

Actually, you're touching on my precise point. Story-wise, in Layton, the characters, and sometimes the world itself, GIVES you the puzzles. In 7th Guest, and Myst, and other games of that type... You find the puzzles WITHIN the world.

And Sam & Max doesn't count because we're talking brain teaser games. Different kind of puzzle.

[thom-22]

Originally Posted by LordKinbote

7th Guest is a funny example, because they *are* integrated in that they exist in the world of the game, but they're still completely, 100% unrelated to the story. Here's a chess set with a chess puzzle on it that unlocks a cut scene. There's a microscope with a puzzle on the petri dish. Solving it will give us a cut scene! Ooh, looking through that telescope gives a planetary word puzzle. Cut scene!

Yes, exactly. Same with the safes in SafeCracker. It seems -- from the trailer; we won't know for sure til it's out -- that PA gets at least a little bit close to that kind of style. The trailer says the the town-people are doing puzzles, and there's that factory door with what looks like a puzzle on it?

So I still maintain that PA's gameplay format evolves not only through Layton but from games that go much further back than Layton.

[thom-22]

Originally Posted by Yadda

Story-wise, in Layton, the characters, and sometimes the world itself, GIVES you the puzzles. In 7th Guest, and Myst, and other games of that type... You find the puzzles WITHIN the world.

Sounds like a distinction without a difference.

[Yadda]

I'm only saying that the way the puzzles are presented are more inspired by Layton in the way they are given. The puzzles are similar in most cases, yes, but the distinction is a fairly solid one, even if only in presentation.

[BadStrong]

Because Nintendo always releases their games on Mac, PC, and iPod Touch.