Telltale games to make Strong Bad game for the Wii

[Rob_Merritt]

http://www.telltalegames.com/company/pressreleases/id-65

I vaguely remember reading a rumor weeks ago that they were going to make a Strong Bad game but I assumed it was an early april fools joke. Still, its a good fit. Now i just have to hook my Wii up to the internet before june.

[RichardC]

They're doing it for PC too.

[Rob_Merritt]

Is it the same game released at the same time? if so then I'll just get if for the pc. Wonder who is publishing the pc version? it would be great if its on gametap. hehe Is Wiiware their download xbox arcade like service or is this a retail thing? Because the Sam n Max games are too big for Xbox arcade live and at least the xbox 360 can have a hard drive. I imagine you'll have to format the Wii's memory storage each time you want to play a new Strong Bad episode.

[Scrax]

Shouldn't they have released this 5 years ago?

[WarrenM]

Sounds extremely niche and unprofitable.

[nixon66]

Sounds like something I will spend my Wii points on. Profit + 1

[WarrenM]

Congrats on being in the niche.

[JD]

And we all know that nobody should make games for the niche anymore. They should have grabbed some, I dunno, movie license instead!

-Julian

[Jazar]

BALEETED

[Rorschach]

I hope it's better than the AngryGamers game that they released with that XNA stuff during GDC.

[Wholly Schmidt]

Get ye flask.

[nixon66]

Congrats on being in the niche.

Thanks.

Seriously though, I like adventure games, I like a bit of humor (and Strongbad has made me laugh years ago), I like niche, and I want to support the WiiWare niches, so I get more niches. Lots and lots of niches. Then maybe I'll get more than the latest Mario themed game, or big guy with guns! Not that I don't enjoy the games, but I like the PC indie scene enough that I'm happy to see that there are a number of developers looking to bring something different to WiiWare, if Live Arcade and PS3 aren't working out for them.

[WarrenM]

And we all know that nobody should make games for the niche anymore. They should have grabbed some, I dunno, movie license instead!
What about ... hang on now, this may shock you ... an original IP? That's so crazy it just might work. Hell, if they were crazy enough to do that they might build value into their company and not be relegated to knocking out game after game based on someone else's IP.

They might even make money! Oh, dare to dream...

[Kunikos]

Don't be dissin movie tie ins, that Ratatouille game sold 3.3 million copies. That's gotta count for something, right? ^_^

[Zylon]

Considering that the last officially announced Homestar Runner game was for the Atari 2600 (no, I'm not kidding (http://www.watercoolergames.org/archives/000139.shtml)), I suppose this is a step up.

[Jazar]

Here's a little trailer:

http://homestarrunner.com/sbcg4ap.html

Here is the website:

http://www.telltalegames.com/strongbad

Also has minigames like Snake Boxer 5!

http://files.telltalegames.com/strongbad/snakeboxer5.jpg

I used to really like Homestar (plus Peasant Quest (http://www.homestarrunner.com/pqtrailer.html) rocked) so I'm interested.

[Chuck Jordan]

Shouldn't they have released this 5 years ago?
We weren't done with it then. That's partly because Telltale didn't exist then.



Sounds extremely niche and unprofitable.
[...]
What about ... hang on now, this may shock you ... an original IP? That's so crazy it just might work. Hell, if they were crazy enough to do that they might build value into their company and not be relegated to knocking out game after game based on someone else's IP.
We're still a ways from being able to do an original IP. Until then, we have to build value into the company using stuff like a "niche and unprofitable" underground comic from the 80s and early 90s about dog and rabbit detectives. Those have been received pretty well and helped build the company's reputation.

In the meantime, we're stuck in the position of taking stuff we're big fans of, meeting & working with the creators of the stuff we love, and having to make videogames out of it. Sucks, but it pays the bills.


Is it the same game released at the same time? if so then I'll just get if for the pc. Wonder who is publishing the pc version? it would be great if its on gametap. hehe Is Wiiware their download xbox arcade like service or is this a retail thing? Because the Sam n Max games are too big for Xbox arcade live and at least the xbox 360 can have a hard drive. I imagine you'll have to format the Wii's memory storage each time you want to play a new Strong Bad episode.
WiiWare is the original content download service for the Wii, similar to XBLA. WiiWare's storage requirements are a lot more strict than the Xbox360's, because of the [lack of a] hard drive, and currently, the Sam & Max episodes wouldn't fit. Strong Bad episodes will fit without having to clear space for each one, though.

The other questions I can't answer, not because I'm being coy or anything, but because I have no idea.

[Chuck Jordan]

Here's a little trailer:

http://homestarrunner.com/sbcg4ap.html
Oh yeah, I meant to say: even if the game completely flops somehow, it caused the creation of that trailer on the Homestar site. Nothing that could bring that into the world could possibly be bad.

Plus the Strong Bad Gameways safety video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uSyK2RdlUY).

[Jon Rowe]

They're doing it for PC too.

Eff yes... eff yes indeed.

[peacedog]

Mode 8 graphics? Awesome.

[Aeon221]

Chuck, your suave suave ways get you all the hot niches.

[Linoleum]

Sold!

[WarrenM]

We're still a ways from being able to do an original IP. Until then, we have to build value into the company using stuff like a "niche and unprofitable" underground comic from the 80s and early 90s about dog and rabbit detectives. Those have been received pretty well and helped build the company's reputation.

In the meantime, we're stuck in the position of taking stuff we're big fans of, meeting & working with the creators of the stuff we love, and having to make videogames out of it. Sucks, but it pays the bills.
Hey, I wish you all the best. I just don't think it's a viable long term plan. The real money is in original IP.

[forgeforsaken]

Hey, I wish you all the best. I just don't think it's a viable long term plan. The real money is in original IP.

Have you looked at the top 100 selling games that sold last year posted at Next-Gen?

[WarrenM]

Hey, I'm sure I'm 100% wrong and will be shown demonstrably that original IP is meaningless in the long run. Thanks!

[RepoMan]

All I can say is when I read the subject line I felt warm in my pants. I will play this game, believe it.

[JD]

Sign up to be a playtester (http://www.telltalegames.com/community/blogs/id-333) - if you happen to live in or near San Rafael, that is.

-Julian

[Fooey]

FYI, episode 1 is out tomorrow. I know very little about the source material, but I got the season pass on the strength of Sam and Max.

[RichardC]

Without wanting to violate review-copy confidentiality (not that I would anyway, but I like Telltale) or say anything too specific, I'd recommend heading over to the site and watching some of the cartoons (specifically the Strong Bad E-Mails) before playing it. Not so much for plot as to just have an idea of who the characters are and what the basic setup of the HSR universe is.

[Chuck Jordan]

Good suggestion, there's a characters (http://www.homestarrunner.com/characters2.html) page, but just diving into the Strong Bad e-mails (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html) in random order is probably more entertaining.

I'm too mired in the games to be able to tell if they read to "outsiders," but I will say this: for the longest time I thought that the HSR site was impenetrable wall of in-jokes, and clearly I was missing something by not being caught up. Then I realized the "zen of Homestar," which is just to dive in and stop expecting it to all make sense. I think the Chapmans' brains just operate on some different wavelength than us normal humans.

Also: I hope we eventually end up selling or letting users print out the Videlectrix game boxes (http://www.flickr.com/photos/solgrundy/2712324789/), because they're awesome.

[RichardC]

Yeah, it's a tricky one. I think there's a couple of things that will be a bit impenetrable to complete newbies (the comic for instance was a sticking point for me, and I've got the DVDs), but for the most part, I think the risk on this one is people being scared off by thinking they're missing out on more than they actually are. But we'll see.

[Rob_Merritt]

I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to subscribe for a season pass or wait for the full release to show up on Steam. I had issues with the Telltale store back in the Bone days and I got use to playing their games via Gametap. I might try to get it on the Wii but I've never hooked it up to the net.

[ZekeDMS]

Hey, it's 12:01 am PST on the 11th now!

I can say "Holy shit I loved this" now, can't I? Because I did. A lot. It was a little short and a little abrupt ending, and the mouse only control slightly irritated me. But otherwise it was top notch Brothers Chaps work and top notch Telltale work, I laughed my way through the game and irritated my roommates infinitely.

[RichardC]

Just in case, I really liked the [REDACTED] and [CENSORED]. Wasn't entirely sure about the [BALEETED], but it was made up for in spades by the [SPOILER] and the bit with the [THING]. Oh, and the [OTHER THING]! That was great. Although I was stuck for hours on the second voodoo crime scene investigation, until I realised I could cast the spell I got from the dark priest in the underground temple to upgrade my plasma rifle. The hints system needed a bit of a polish there, methinks.

[Rob_Merritt]

First fan boy review is positive

http://www.mixnmojo.com/features/read.php?article=sb11

[MSUSteve]

Any word on how the Wii version compares (control wise) to the PC version? For $1 more, I'm leaning toward the Wii version so I sit on my couch and play on my 42" HDTV, but if the control is really annoying with the Wiimote, I'll go for the PC version and save the buck.

[JD]

Demo's available (http://www.telltalegames.com/strongbad/). Downloading it now.

-Julian

[RichardC]

Any word on how the Wii version compares (control wise) to the PC version? For $1 more, I'm leaning toward the Wii version so I sit on my couch and play on my 42" HDTV, but if the control is really annoying with the Wiimote, I'll go for the PC version and save the buck.

I've not played the Wii one, but they share interface elements. The PC one has very large icons and very chunky hotspots for everything, so I doubt it'll be an issue with a controller.

[Cubit]

IGN (http://wii.ign.com/articles/897/897858p1.html) review is up: 8.1

[ZekeDMS]

Just in case, I really liked the [REDACTED] and [CENSORED]. Wasn't entirely sure about the [BALEETED], but it was made up for in spades by the [SPOILER] and the bit with the [THING]. Oh, and the [OTHER THING]! That was great. Although I was stuck for hours on the second voodoo crime scene investigation, until I realised I could cast the spell I got from the dark priest in the underground temple to upgrade my plasma rifle. The hints system needed a bit of a polish there, methinks.

I thought that was made really clear by all the piles of whatsit the [DELETED] was shoveling.

[RichardC]

You'd think, but he doesn't TELL you that until AFTER the sex scene, and who cares once you've seen that? Oh, Modestly Hot Girl. You're too good for him...

[Fooey]

Ugh, I tried playing the Minerva mod for Half Life 2 last night and it appears to have melted my video card (so that I'm just barely able to read email and other stuff with much difficulty with the screen constantly flashing in and out and filling up with artifacts), so I'm not going to be able actually play this now until I get a new PC rush delivered from Cyberpower hopefully in a couple days.

[Cubit]

I played the demo, and thought it was pretty good. A must buy for strong bad fans. If you don't like point and click adventure games though, stay away. Gamespot gave the game a 5.0, but I don't really agree with the review. Their major point was that the humor didn't translate well to the game format, but to me that seems like a major subjective view.

[OrfBC]

Anyone have any idea when this might show up on Steam? And if there will be a "season pass" type deal or if it'll only be after the entire season is complete? How did it work with Sam and Max?

[Chuck Jordan]

Anyone have any idea when this might show up on Steam? And if there will be a "season pass" type deal or if it'll only be after the entire season is complete? How did it work with Sam and Max?
On the PC version, it works the same as Sam & Max. The season pass deal is available now, from Telltale's site (http://www.telltalegames.com/strongbad). You can also buy the first episode and later upgrade that to the season pass if you want (the upgrade is the season pass cost minus the cost of the first ep).

Nintendo doesn't have any support for subscription-type deals with WiiWare, so you have to get each episode individually if you want the Wii version.

And there's no guarantee it'll show up on Steam; that deal gets worked out individually for each series, if it happens at all. If it does, it'd be a while after the last episode ships. I can't remember how long it was between 205 and season 2's appearance on Steam, but I think it was like four months?

[Sol Invictus]

Never really understood the draw of Strongbad. It's just not in my brand of humor, maybe.

[ZekeDMS]

I'd say the humor translated extremely well, but hey, I wrote a super positive review.

There's just a bit more clickity than watching a normal ep, and hey, that's full of easter egg clickity anyway. The sight gags work just as well, the dialog is just as funny, and the story at large keeps the same level one expects from HSR.

[flyinj]

I played the demo, and thought it was pretty good. A must buy for strong bad fans. If you don't like point and click adventure games though, stay away. Gamespot gave the game a 5.0, but I don't really agree with the review. Their major point was that the humor didn't translate well to the game format, but to me that seems like a major subjective view.

I think they're completely off the mark. The humor translates brilliantly into the game... TellTale did a fantastic job as always.

I'm absolutely loving it.

[ZekeDMS]

Seriously. I don't want to say too much, but the KoT's Castle? Hilarious. Not just the success, but the failure, repeated failure, hilarious.

[MSUSteve]

I got it for Wii last night and I'm absolutely loving it. I was laughing through my entire time playing the game. That said, I'll be picking up future episodes on the PC I think. For one, getting the game on the Wii was a pain due to connection errors and the fact that whatever format the Wii Shop is displayed in is somehow incompatible with my LG LCDTV, even though all my Wii games and menus appear without any problem. (Anyone know what that's all about?) Secondly, it being displayed in 480p is fairly ugly, though I do appreciate the surround sound at least. Finally, using the Wiimote as a mouse pointer works just fine, but it's a little slow and kind of annoying. I think I'll just get the season pass on PC and play the remaining episodes there.

[flyinj]

I got it for Wii last night and I'm absolutely loving it. I was laughing through my entire time playing the game. That said, I'll be picking up future episodes on the PC I think. For one, getting the game on the Wii was a pain due to connection errors and the fact that whatever format the Wii Shop is displayed in is somehow incompatible with my LG LCDTV, even though all my Wii games and menus appear without any problem. (Anyone know what that's all about?) Secondly, it being displayed in 480p is fairly ugly, though I do appreciate the surround sound at least. Finally, using the Wiimote as a mouse pointer works just fine, but it's a little slow and kind of annoying. I think I'll just get the season pass on PC and play the remaining episodes there.

I actually really enjoyed playing it on the Wii. First time I've ever played a classic adventure game on the bigscreen sitting on my couch.

And the Wiimote worked as well as I thought it would for a point and click.

[MSUSteve]

I didn't mean to say that the game doesn't work on the Wii, but there are some drawbacks. I do like sitting on my couch and having the big TV and surround sound, but I'm not sure it's preferable to the PC experience. I'll finish up this episode and see how I feel before deciding to defect to the PC version.

[Chuck Jordan]

[...] (the comic for instance was a sticking point for me, and I've got the DVDs), but for the most part, I think the risk on this one is people being scared off by thinking they're missing out on more than they actually are.
Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it. It's funny to me how at least 90% of the reviews I've seen say, "Well, *I* liked it, but people who don't know Homestar will be confused..." It just gets kind of funny hearing dozens if not hundreds of people talk about it as if it's some obscure thing only they're aware of.

Plus, whenever we've done a playtest, the Chapmans have asked, "What did people who aren't familiar with Homestar think?" And we always have to answer, "Uh... we have yet to meet anyone who's not familiar with Homestar Runner." It's a side effect of going to panel after panel and having people walk up wearing Strong Bad or Trogdor T-shirts and asking, "What's Sam and Max?"

And if by "comic" you mean the Teen Girl Squad, that's based on a series of toons (http://www.homestarrunner.com/tgsmenu.html) that rose out of this original e-mail (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail53.html). And if Comic-Con was any indication, it was the first thing people asked about (after "are you guys the Chapmans?")

[RichardC]

Oh, I know Teen Girl Squad. I was just trying to be circumspect due to the pre-release thing and to avoid Emily and Jake murdering me with knives. It wasn't the actual puzzle that caught me, it was the fact that you can't 'win' it with the resources at your disposal. You can kill them all (seemingly solving it) but it only gets a "Meh" response from the Strong of Much Bad. I didn't realise at that point that you could collect extra Ideas around the gameworld, or know for certain that it was just a fun aside. AFAIR, the Help button doesn't tell you that there are collectables, and since I hit it at the start of the game...

Not a big deal at all. Just a moment that briefly threw me, which coincidentally seemed the most impenetrable bit of the game if you didn't know the base gag.


It's funny to me how at least 90% of the reviews I've seen say...

Yeah. Love it or hate it, you're pretty much guaranteed to have HEARD of it.

(strokes sbemail DVDs)


And if Comic-Con was any indication, it was the first thing people asked about (after "are you guys the Chapmans?")

Goddamn it! I paid them to ask about Cheat Commandos mini-games. That does it. None of them get the antidote...

[ZekeDMS]

Maybe HSR isn't as ubiquitous as we think. I found out two of my friends, guys going to DeVry who I'd thought of as pretty net savvy being /b/tards and all, didn't know Strong Bad at all. I linked them to Trogdor, since they knew the song but not the origin, which they loved, but otherwise, new to them.

That said, I'm willing to bet they'd have rapidly fallen in love with the game even if they didn't know HSR, since the tutorial somewhat explains characters, and the game itself really doesn't bring up any obscure plot points of past. The characters are just presented to you as they are on the website, and you enjoy it.

[flyinj]

I skipped the tutorial. Looks like I need to watch it after all the comments on how funny it is.

[ZekeDMS]

No watching! Doing!

It's interactivawesome!

[RichardC]

Yeah, the tutorial's nicely done.

[Fooey]

I got my new computer and am inaugurating it with this game! Maybe it's just because this is my first high quality big LCD monitor, but it looks great to me. I decided to just jump in pretty much knowing nothing about the comics, and I think it's hilarious so far. The one thing that totally baffled me too was the teenage girl comic strip thing, but where I am in the game at this point (around an hour and half in) it doesn't seem to be mandatory so far, and I think I know what I'm supposed to be trying to do at least (kill all the girls?) if it does turn out to be needed. I'm sure there are some references I'm not quite getting but they're coming out pretty hilarious anyway. Is "the stick" something notable in the Homestar world? If so, Strong Bad's reaction to it is funny even if you don't know the reference.

[Wobbo]

Sold!

Great demo also, btw.

[RichardC]

The one thing that totally baffled me too was the teenage girl comic strip thing, but where I am in the game at this point (around an hour and half in) it doesn't seem to be mandatory so far, and I think I know what I'm supposed to be trying to do at least (kill all the girls?) if it does turn out to be needed.

It's purely an aside. The trouble with it is that you can kill all the girls with the icons you're given at the start, but you need other items found round the gameworld to actually get a high enough score on it to not get a bad rating.

[ZekeDMS]

Teen Girl Squad is entirely optional, just hilarious. And yep, that's the goal.

As for The Stick, well, that's about it. It's The Stick. It's a nice place to hang out, I guess. Good meeting point in an otherwise barren area.

Any other questions are well answered by the Homestar Runner wiki. hrwiki.org!

[Rob_Merritt]

Got it via Telltale's store today and finished. Went ahead and got the season pass. I liked it. I'm not a huge Strongbad fan but not a hater. I liked the Sam n Max adventures more but their humor just appeals to me more.

[Rob_Merritt]

FYI the next episode is coming out the 15th. Thats this monday.

[dannimal]

I don't know if it's worth $10/chapter. I liked the first one, I was just left feeling that it was a little thin for $10, and unless future chapters are longer I might pass.

[RichardC]

The second one is about the same length.

[Jazar]

FYI the next episode is coming out the 15th. Thats this monday.

Thanks for the reminder, I just went and beat ep 1 today. Very fun adventure game and worth the $10 for me.

[Rob_Merritt]

Season pass for $34.95 FTW. Thats 6.99 per episode. Unless ofcourse you are Wii-ing it, which has no season pass.

[dannimal]

Which I am.

[Jazar]

Got an email:

"Strong Bad Episode 2: Strong Badia the Free is available!"

(Strang Badia the Free is not really free).

[ZekeDMS]

Woo, embargo is lifted!

It's funnier than episode 1, but the puzzles are a bit simplistic. It's got a lot of really great original material and ends up with a lot of places that are essentially glimpses into the psyches of each of the major characters. Still a no-brainer of a purchase though, I played it twice quite happily. Plus, it's got a statistic for "things set on fire." Every game needs that.

[RichardC]

There's one you only get to torch in Extended Play mode too.

Really didn't like the M&M bit near the end (very easy but dull) but the rest was really good fun. Algebros is just a terrible, terrible, terrible joke, but in a good way. And Strong Mad remains great. Loved that bit on the bridge.

[Rob_Merritt]

I down loaded it, though I probably won't touch it till this weekend since I'll want to play it in one sitting.

[ZekeDMS]

I absolutely loved my visit to Country and the Homsar Reservation.

M&M bit was amusing but poorly implemented, funny though, and the same for Algebros. Which oddly started getting to be kinda good in a Math Blasters way on higher levels.

Still, the overall was a lot of fun and tons of funny, same as before. Easy purchase there.

[Fooey]

After what's been an incredibly stressful week of work for me, I have been so looking forward to playing through this all week as a release. I'm going to play it through in one sitting Saturday since I'm too exhausted tonight. I'm sure it's going to be awesome since it's one of the ones Chuck Jordan wrote and we know what great work he did on Sam and Max.

[Rob_Merritt]

Finished today. Great writing. I loved this episode. Probably liked it than most of the Sam n Max ones.

[Jazar]

Just beat Strong Badia the free! I liked it a lot, even better then the first.

The next episode: Baddest of the Bands comes out next Monday.

[marxeil]

I got the entire season for 5$ on steam couple of weeks ago. Just finished the 1st episode. I used a walkthrough for the race and onwards. Couldn't be arsed to figure this stuff by myself. Anyway, does it get funnier or something in the other episodes, because it was sort of boring.

[Pogue Mahone]

Hate to break it to you marxeil but if you don't like adventure games and you don't find Strongbad funny, you just wasted $5.

[marxeil]

Hate to break it to you marxeil but if you don't like adventure games and you don't find Strongbad funny, you just wasted $5.

I used to like adventure games but I stopped. I though SB would be funny but it isn't. So you are right.