 |
|
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 2004 |
| Founder(s) | Dan Connors Kevin Bruner Troy Molander |
| Headquarters | San Rafael, California, U.S. |
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Products | Graphic adventure games |
| Employees | ~70[1] |
| Website | www.telltalegames.com |
Telltale Games is an American video game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts. Its business model revolves around episodic gaming and digital distribution,[2] and it is best known for its various graphic adventure game series based on popular licensed properties.
Contents |
History
Telltale was founded by a group of former LucasArts employees who had been working on Sam & Max: Freelance Police, a sequel to the 1993 game Sam & Max Hit the Road, prior to its cancellation on March 3, 2004. In an early press release the vocal public response to said cancellation was cited as a main reason the company was founded.[3] The Telltale Games team has a large collective experience working on LucasArts' famed classics.
On February 11, 2005 the company released their first game — Telltale Texas Hold'em, a poker card game simulator which was intended primarily to test their in-house game engine.[4] After going on to make two games based on Jeff Smith's Bone comic book series and developing CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder for Ubisoft, Telltale started pursuing actual episodic gaming with Sam & Max: Season One, published in collaboration with GameTap. Notwithstanding the non-episodic CSI: Hard Evidence released in 2007, Telltale has since focused on episodic games, resulting in a second Sam & Max season starting November 2007.
Telltale Games and episodic gaming
Telltale Games presents itself specifically as a developer of episodic games. Many critics feel that Telltale is the only company to have done episodic gaming right[5][6][7][8], usually citing its ability to consistently deliver on a monthly schedule.
Platforms
Telltale aims to have a presence on as many platforms and avenues of digital distribution as possible.[9] To date, they have released games through GameTap, Steam, WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, various casual games portals and their own online store. They intend to distribute through the PlayStation Network as well[10] and have expressed interest in the DSi and iPhone platforms[9] as well as Mac and PSP Go.[11]
Publishing status
While chiefly a developer, Telltale Games values its ability to self-publish their games[12]; the only times it has had a classic developer-publisher relationship is with Ubisoft for the CSI games.[13] They have struck financial arrangements with GameTap for the Sam & Max games, but for the rest their publishing arrangements have been made after the games were already completed and had already turned a profit through digital distribution.
Games by Telltale Games
- Telltale Texas Hold'em (2005)
- Bone: Out from Boneville (2005)
- CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder (2006)
- Bone: The Great Cow Race (2006)
- Sam & Max Save the World (Oct 2006–Apr 2007, 6 Episodes)
- CSI: Hard Evidence (2007)
- Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space (Nov 2007–April 2008, 5 Episodes)
- Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (Aug-Dec 2008, 5 Episodes)
- Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures (Mar-Jul 2009, 4 Episodes)
- Tales of Monkey Island (Jul-Nov 2009, 5 Episodes)
- CSI: Deadly Intent (2009)
- Sam & Max Season Three (TBA)[14]
References
- ^ Wiltshire, Alex (2009-05-12). "Interview: Telltale's Dan Connors". Edge. http://www.edge-online.com/features/interview-telltale%E2%80%99s-dan-connors. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- ^ GameCyte - The Telltale Art: Heads of Tales
- ^ "Telltale Games, A New Game Development Studio, Opens Doors In Northern California". Telltale Games press release. 2004-10-04. http://www.telltalegames.com/company/pressreleases/id-8. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
- ^ Morganti, Emily (2009-05-15). "Give us your opinion, we'll give you Telltale Texas Hold'em". the Telltale Blog. http://www.telltalegames.com/community/blogs/id-451. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
- ^ Sinclair, Brendan (2008-04-10). "Q&A: Telltale tells why Sam & Max works". GameSpot. http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/samandmaxseason1/news.html?sid=6189014&om_act=convert&om_clk=newsfeatures&tag=newsfeatures;title;2. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ Kollar, Philip (2007-10-17). "Why is Episodic Gaming So Hard?". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3163746. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ^ Elliott, Phil (2009-03-16). "More companies will move into episodic games – Telltale". GamesIndustry.biz. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/more-companies-will-move-into-episodic-games-telltale. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ^ Geddes, Ryan (2009-03-16). "Are Episodic Games the Future?". IGN. http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/962/962852p1.html. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ^ a b Grant, Christopher (2009-02-10). "Joystiq interview: Telltale's Dan Connors on XBLA, Wallace & Gromit". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/10/joystiq-interview-telltales-dan-connors-on-xbla-wallace-and-gro/. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- ^ Remo, Chris (2009-05-08). "Telltale CEO Connors On Bringing Episodic To Consoles". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23527. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- ^ Kietzmann, Ludwig (2009-10-20). "Telltale hoping to push content to new consoles, handhelds & Macs". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/20/telltale-hoping-to-push-content-to-new-consoles-handhelds-and-mac. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ Remo, Chris (2007-03-19). "Telltale CEO Dan Connors on Sam & Max". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=266. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
- ^ Remo, Chris (2009-05-06). "Interview: Telltale's Connors On Episodic Gaming's Bite". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23178. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- ^ Thang, Jimmy (2007-05-27). "Sam & Max Season 3 Coming 2009". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/articles/876/876768p1.html. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
