No option to buy the first Wallace & Gromit episode on its own?

[Dyson]

As the title states. I was interested in picking up the first episode -- to see if I'd really like the series, but I really don't want to buy all 4 episodes in one go. So is there going to be an option either here or on Steam to buy the episodes standalone? If not, then I guess I'll just give these a miss.

[Bryko614]

Unfortunately, on some other thread the TellTale staff confirmed that on PC you can only buy every episode together.

[tobar]

Download the demo, it's a good taste of the game. Should be able to make a decision from that I think.

[Barcodeuk]

The game is great so don't worry it's not money wasted.

I'm now late for work, this game should have a health warning.

[tobar]

Heh, I know what you mean Barcodeuk, it's gonna be 3 in the AM and I have to be up at 8!

[Dyson]

The demo is not enough for me to dertimine if I will like the other 3 stories. So I guess I'll just skip all these, plenty of other games out there anyhow. And I'm sure Telltale games won't mind losing a sale. So, thanks anyhow.

[leChuckie]

Does that not slightly defeat the point of the episodic model if you can't buy individual episodes? I would be interested in hearing Telltale's reasoning behind this.

[BancoLavadero]

I second you, leChuckie.

It's just wrong to call it episodic if it's not an option on the buyer's end. I'm amazed.

For the record, I bought the game and enjoyed it a lot. You ought to as well.

[NickTTG]

I don't know why the decision was made to sell W&G as a series instead of individual episodes, but I will say that "episodic" definitely doesn't mean individually priced and packaged games.

[Rather Dashing]

The only reason I can think of is to reduce complexity on the buyer's side, and to de-clutter the shopfront? But that'd be ridiculous, considering that such a thing could be fixed by making one icon for each season on the storefront, with a drop-down menu for each episode.

Must be something more complicated.

[Pantagruel's Friend]

Originally Posted by NickTTG

but I will say that "episodic" definitely doesn't mean individually priced and packaged games.

unless you can quote Webster on that, I'm inclined to disagree

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by Pantagruel's Friend

unless you can quote Webster on that, I'm inclined to disagree


"Episodic"

2. divided into separate or tenuously related parts or sections; loosely connected: an episodic novel.
3. occurring sporadically or incidentally.


"Episodic" refers to how the story's told, not how it's sold. If you buy a DVD set of a season of "Lost," it's still a series of episodes.

[HappyCoincidence]

Aaaaand there's your next license.

[chris95]

In the middle of financial meltdown its disappointing that we have to buy all W&G episodes upfront. (What has changed that the Sam & Max model had to be abandoned?).

I have this thing about being asked to pay for something I won't get for a few months....

[Sir Lemming]

Well, the bottom line is that if you buy it now you're getting 4 episodes for $30, which is pretty much the lowest price yet. Considering how few people only buy one or two episodes, I think it's quite a nice deal.

[The Burninator]

Well then I'm not getting it, I just want the first one.


EDIT: Nevermind, I'll just get them all, but I'm dissapointed that I have to spend it all at once.... and I hope Telltale don't to this again.

[HappyCoincidence]

My understanding of the situation is that Telltale is experimenting. I'm guessing there were a lot of 'stragglers' in the past who bought an episode from a series and didn't upgrade or buy more. So Telltale wants to see if these stragglers, given an all-or-nothing choice, will buy more or less. I'm sure that if the 'stragglers' don't buy at all, it's not impossible that we'll see individual episodes for sale a few months down the line. Nothing ever got done efficiently without changing the formula up now and then. Am I close?

P.S. great job with the game! Enjoying it thoroughly.

[chris95]

Be nice to get this cleared up by a company rep!

For me this is a nobrainer:
If its episodic, then you pay per episode as for Sam&Max.

If you have to pay for the whole game up front, you get the whole game up front.

Hate to be so negative 'cos I love Sam&Max and being a Brit Aardman are gods. Looks like I'll wait until all episodes are available and buy the lot at once...Gives me time to save up.

My cent's worth? Telltale have cash flow problems just like the rest of us!!

[Emily]

Nothing ever got done efficiently without changing the formula up now and then.

Amen to that.

I understand people being wary that something isn't available the way it was for other series. On the other hand, it was only a couple of years ago that people were hugely wary of the idea of paying as you go. In fact, one reason we came up with season bundles in the first place was to convince people we weren't trying to rip them off by making them pay per episode...

So, defining episodic gaming as "the ability to buy one episode at a time" is definitely not a no-brainer for us. We hope that people interested in Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures will pick up the full season (or check it out on Xbox, where episodes will be sold individually), but if you can't do that for financial reasons or simply don't want to, of course that's your choice!

[chris95]

Many thanks for the reply Emily.

I don't want to prolong this thread unnecessarliy, but if episodes can be bought individuallly for the XBox 360, why not for the PC?