Questions about the Collector's DVD

[Philski]

Precisely!

I figure that something like this could solve the issue.

[jweir]

For those that apparantly missed it:

Originally Posted by Jake

We probably won't do two discs, both because that takes more time than you'd think to make (and test), and because it becomes expensive quickly. It's pretty unlikely that we'll be able to do a special for Wii owners (we have no way of knowing who is actually a Wii customer) -- we haven't got any plans for such a thing -- but I wouldn't rule anything out 100%. It's a free country, etc.

Basically he means, because of the time they will already be spending on the PC DVD and development of Wallace and Gromit, and possibly early work on S&M Season 3 (possibly even a second Homestar related series), time will be already extremely limited and getting together packaging and the like just for wii customers would be really expensive. In a perfect world there would probably be a way to know who purchased the game and just give you a memory card to store the games on as well as a DVD with other content. Unforunately, they are human with limited resources as to how many things they can juggle at once. I'm glad for what they do for us, as it's still above and beyond was nearly every game company out there does. THANKS FOR WHAT YOU DO TELLTALE!

[Philski]

For those that apparantly missed it

I did indeed see that (admittedly after my initial post). However I wanted to concentrate on last part of Jake's statement: "...I wouldn't rule anything out...".

Don't get me wrong, I realise Telltale have a lot on their plate right now, and I appreciate all that they do. As you said, they go above and beyond what other companies do - I certainly wouldn't have bothered voicing such an idea with any other game company.

It is totally acceptable and understandable that Telltale are unable to provide the disc to WiiWare customers and I realise there is always a cost in doing such things. What I was trying to suggest is something that would be the least amount of effort (removing the DVD ROM content and perhaps creating an SD card label) in a way that Telltale wouldn't be short changed and that Wii owners wouldn't feel ripped off for paying for something that that PC owners only have to pay shipping for.

THANKS FOR WHAT YOU DO TELLTALE!

Hear, hear!

[The Burninator]

Is it just Nintendo's fiddily system with WiiWare that you cant do this? Could you do it with say XBox Live's accounts by sending it to that persons address, if you see what I'm getting at.

[Emily]

No, it's not just WiiWare. Our Sam & Max games are available in many places (including Steam, GameTap, retail stores...) but the collectors discs are an exclusive bonus for Telltalegames.com customers.

[CKcheeseboy]

Originally Posted by The Burninator

Is it just Nintendo's fiddily system with WiiWare that you cant do this? Could you do it with say XBox Live's accounts by sending it to that persons address, if you see what I'm getting at.

They COULD do it with certain Wii owners, too, as long as stuff cleared with Nintendo. If the person registered all 5 games with Club Nintendo, Nintendo would have that information, as well as the person's address. I'm not sure if XBox Live has your address public or not, but if not, they would probably have to clear it with Microsoft in that situation as well since Microsoft would have the information. Same with Nintendo/Club Nintendo.

Of course, that's a lot of effort to go through to give something away FREE, which is why that is not likely to ever happen and why people have suggested/requested things like a low-cost disc with just the bonus content so they don't miss out but Telltale doesn't have to go through too much unnecessary effort.

[Weeblerjake]

Maybe they'll make a big soundtrack, DVD bundle like with Sam and Max.

[meaty85203]

I have an idea, why not have two disc Wii Version

Disc 1: Special Mode To Play Ep 1-5 with no wait or Indivisouly (You'll need some Bonus Footage for Transitioning Episodes) (Wii Disc)

Disc 2: Bonus Content (DVD)

[Philski]

The problem is that would require the creation of a Wii formatted optical disc that would (as far as I'm aware) have to go through official Nintendo channels and be much more expensive.

There have been hints that SBCG4AP may appear at retail but this would have to be a separate product. Not to mention full priced.

It would be better to do something more cost effective.

[meaty85203]

Originally Posted by Philski

The problem is that would require the creation of a Wii formatted optical disc that would (as far as I'm aware) have to go through official Nintendo channels and be much more expensive.

There have been hints that SBCG4AP may appear at retail but this would have to be a separate product. Not to mention full priced.

It would be better to do something more cost effective.

Fully aware, man. But didn't they do that with Sam & Max, I saw a picture with the Wii case and a sleeve with a Bonus Disc.
I'm Waiting Til April For W&G Marathon.
Sorry, that was unnesecary

[Emily]

That Sam & Max bonus disc was a special preorder incentive at GameStop. It didn't come bundled with the game.

[Holyxion]

Y'know, isn't the DVD supposed to be a special bonus thing for just Telltale.com buyers? Then why are we scrambling for the most costly and inefficient way to give them to people who, if you look at it one way, don't qualify for the free stuff? Heck, why doesn't Telltale create a painful, complicated truckload of paperwork to get it? Then they wouldn't even have to make the product because no one would want do go through the whole process. Win-Win? None of the current suggestions are.

[Philski]

That's for the guys at Telltale to decide. Previous comments have hinted that the main reason is they can't verify who purchased the game outside of their own store (which is fair enough).

My suggestion is the opposite of what you're getting at - a cheap package that Wii owners could get from Telltale without the expense of re-purchasing the games but not short-changing Telltale for their troubles. I honestly think that it is pretty much win/win.

And as you looked at it one way, for fairness sake we could play devil's advocate for a moment

You could say the opposite and that the Wii version was promoted (at least initially) as the premiere system for SBCG4AP and therefore feel/be more entitled.

Please don't misconstrue this as a flame, I don't feel that way personally but it is a contrary viewpoint.

Seriously though, please feel free to explain why you feel my suggestion couldn't possibly work.

[jweir]

Originally Posted by Philski

That's for the guys at Telltale to decide. Previous comments have hinted that the main reason is they can't verify who purchased the game outside of their own store (which is fair enough).

My suggestion is the opposite of what you're getting at - a cheap package that Wii owners could get from Telltale without the expense of re-purchasing the games but not short-changing Telltale for their troubles. I honestly think that it is pretty much win/win.

And as you looked at it one way, for fairness sake we could play devil's advocate for a moment

You could say the opposite and that the Wii version was promoted (at least initially) as the premiere system for SBCG4AP and therefore feel/be more entitled.

Please don't misconstrue this as a flame, I don't feel that way personally but it is a contrary viewpoint.

Seriously though, please feel free to explain why you feel my suggestion couldn't possibly work.

I think the key words you're focusing on with underlines are just the contrary to TellTale. When it comes to doing specialty packaging, there is no such thing as cheap. With the collectors DVD it's essentially the games already done in pc format with some extra content already viewable on a computer/DVD player added in.

Also, the Wii was not advertised as a premiere system, just an alternate way of playing the game as opposed to their other games. With that logic, all of the GameTap customers should get cheap packages of just the bonus video content for Sam&Max. I think it's best to expect nothing (since nothing was promised in the first place) and be surprised if something surfaces. Yes, TellTale listens to us, but when you're asking for something not promised to begin with, how is that fair to them? Also, I'd be more than willing to bet that many who got the game on wii ware have never been to this website. In that case, you'd also have to somehow convince Nintendo to let you run an ad to get the package on the wiiware system in order to actually profit from such a niche market product.

[Philski]

Hey jweir, I just typed a long response to your thoughts then foolishly forgot to copy the text before clicking 'submit' and lost it all

Let me see, I think it went something like this...


Hehe! I thought that comment might be somewhat controversial. However, if you go and look at the first three teasers for the game the only sign that it would be released for PC was a small 'stamp' at the end of the Actionsodes trailer. So I think the point (hypothetical as it is) could stand. But anyway, back on topic.

I certainly didn't mean to intimate that what Telltale does is cheap, far from it. What I was trying to convey is that it could be conceivable to put together a package that could recoup its cost, but without Wii owners having to purchase the PC version.

Your point about GameTap is an interesting one. If you cast your mind back to Sam & Max: Season 1 the GameTap customers did infact have access to those features, as did everyone else, via the Telltale website. If Telltale choose to do that with SBCG4AP, that'd be grand (heck, that way it'd even be compatible with the Wii!).

Trust me, I do expect absolutely nothing (I guess I'm cynical). As you say, it could be a nice surprise. In fact (believe it or not) I'm not overly bothered either way. I simply saw several posts about the possibility of a DVD for Wii gamers and the reasons as to why it wasn't feasible and thought of a conceivable solution to this. I certainly don't feel myself entitled to to any such thing, that would be rather self righteous. The ball is entirely in Telltale's court, whether they want to reach out to the Wii gamers is their call and I'm fine with that. I just wanted to post a suggestion that I thought could be feasible if they wanted to take that route.

There is the possibility that there are people who picked this up on WiiWare and have never even been to the site. That being said, you could argue that Homestar is niche product as it is, not to mention web-based, so I would imagine that anyone interested enough would be able to find it. The fact is this and other threads dedicated to the Wii version exist, not to mention the fact that traffic to the Telltale site was said to have doubled(?) with the announcement of SBCG4AP and I wouldn't have thought all those people bought only the PC version.

...

I think that's roughly what I attempted to post before, I apologise if this seems rushed and ineloquent. Please post back if you want me to clarify something or I didn't address something you brought up.

[deadlinejon]

update time telltale! do you still think it will come out in spring?
so...bored...grarglbargl

[jweir]

Originally Posted by Philski

Hey jweir, I just typed a long response to your thoughts then foolishly forgot to copy the text before clicking 'submit' and lost it all

Let me see, I think it went something like this...


Hehe! I thought that comment might be somewhat controversial. However, if you go and look at the first three teasers for the game the only sign that it would be released for PC was a small 'stamp' at the end of the Actionsodes trailer. So I think the point (hypothetical as it is) could stand. But anyway, back on topic.

I certainly didn't mean to intimate that what Telltale does is cheap, far from it. What I was trying to convey is that it could be conceivable to put together a package that could recoup its cost, but without Wii owners having to purchase the PC version.

Your point about GameTap is an interesting one. If you cast your mind back to Sam & Max: Season 1 the GameTap customers did infact have access to those features, as did everyone else, via the Telltale website. If Telltale choose to do that with SBCG4AP, that'd be grand (heck, that way it'd even be compatible with the Wii!).

Trust me, I do expect absolutely nothing (I guess I'm cynical). As you say, it could be a nice surprise. In fact (believe it or not) I'm not overly bothered either way. I simply saw several posts about the possibility of a DVD for Wii gamers and the reasons as to why it wasn't feasible and thought of a conceivable solution to this. I certainly don't feel myself entitled to to any such thing, that would be rather self righteous. The ball is entirely in Telltale's court, whether they want to reach out to the Wii gamers is their call and I'm fine with that. I just wanted to post a suggestion that I thought could be feasible if they wanted to take that route.

There is the possibility that there are people who picked this up on WiiWare and have never even been to the site. That being said, you could argue that Homestar is niche product as it is, not to mention web-based, so I would imagine that anyone interested enough would be able to find it. The fact is this and other threads dedicated to the Wii version exist, not to mention the fact that traffic to the Telltale site was said to have doubled(?) with the announcement of SBCG4AP and I wouldn't have thought all those people bought only the PC version.

...

I think that's roughly what I attempted to post before, I apologise if this seems rushed and ineloquent. Please post back if you want me to clarify something or I didn't address something you brought up.

Not trying to be a pain, but with the Sam and Max there was a lot that wasn't seen on the website. For instance, they lined up all the cutscenes so you could watch them back to back. There are a few other things as well, but it's not like GameTap subscribers got everything as you are implying. In my book my argument still stands.

[Philski]

I'm just looking through the Season One disc now, I believe the only things that weren't accessible online were the cinematics sans commentary and perhaps some/all of the wallpapers/concept art. As for that 'Play All' feature you brought up; it was convenient, but I'll live clicking a button for each video

However the important and most interesting stuff was indeed available (I still have the commentary podcast and probably watch them there more than via the DVD to be honest). If that were available to those of us without the PC version then I would be thrilled.

That being said, I realise how much everyone at Telltale must have on their plates at the moment, and I thought (perhaps naively) that putting out such a disc would at least compensate them for their efforts.

The other important difference here is that this isn't a choice between where you choose to purchase the game, the choice here is system. I have no doubt that if it were possible to purchase the Wii version directly from here, the majority of us would have done.

But when all is said and done, if the only compensation is not having to boot into Windows, I'm a happy man and if I have the burning desire to see the extras I will buy the DVD when it comes out. Happy to support Telltale, but a little disappointed inside that I'm having to do so by purchasing something I didn't want.

[deadlinejon]

well, now that we has a release for w&g, can we have an update on the dvd's progress? please?

[Emily]

It's not done yet.

When we have news, we'll keep you guys posted.