Grrrrrrr :mad: . Gametap is only available in the US and A and Canada. Which makes us Europeans have to wait until January to play Episode 2. I don't want to wait, I want to play.
Still I'm glad that, according to a review (find the link at MixNMojo), the over-plot, that binds the episodes together, will start to dawn. Who will be the Great Villain controlling the smaller ones. My money is on the Royal Swedish Guild of Dentists and Malcomb "lizardeyes" Cartwright.
The wait is painful. If Gametap would just open up to people outside of their beloved USA they would, A) Make more money, and Make us Aussies happier.
Seriously, the condition should have been, Sam'n'Max avail to all ppl in USA through Gametap, cannot download from any other source. All others in all other countries can download directly from Telltale on the release date. Gametap dont lose out cause they still get all the customers in US and Canada. Also saves those who cant wait the 15 days from downloading a pirated copy..even though they've already paid to Telltale!
Unfortunately I think we will. It annoys everyone but the Canadians and the Americans, regardless of the fact that without Gametap we wouldnt have the game. We'll get over it though )
A lot of games come out in America..and are never released in Australia..or released months later..(hmm psychonauts) same with other countries around the world.. 15 days is nothing compared to this.. if this was a game only available in stores trust me we'd all be waiting a lot longer..
Unfortunately I think we will. It annoys everyone but the Canadians and the Americans, regardless of the fact that without Gametap we wouldnt have the game. We'll get over it though )
I'm European and I don't mind. Sorry to spoil your fun.
Seriously, I'm going to be able to play the game very soon anyhow, so I don't care about the wait. Not that I'd find it acceptable for TTG to make the wait 30 days just because I'm not ranting and raving yet.
What irks me most about Certain Companies is that if the customers don't voice their great disapproval of a certain issue, they think that it's ok to shaft them a bit more. Actions like those make me try to actively search for optional suppliers to change to. I'm glad TTG isn't one of them.
Another non North American right here who is not at all disturbed / annoyed / throwing a tantrum because of the 2 week longer wait than GameTap subscribers for the chance to play Sam & Max episodes.
OHHH BOY! It came out on my week off.. the bad is i solved it in about 4 hours of gameplay...
But the good is that its funnier then the first, and it was a good game just short as the complaints with culture shock.. While I enjoyed the first episode, Max had some lines in this one that had me literally LOL'ing aloud at the computer. (my chihuahua probably thinks im nuts)
I'll probably play this again in a week or two.. for the non gametap people out there its worth the wait, its getting closer to the S&M glory of the Lucasfilm original.
OHHH BOY! It came out on my week off.. the bad is i solved it in about 4 hours of gameplay...
But the good is that its funnier then the first, and it was a good game just short as the complaints with culture shock.. While I enjoyed the first episode, Max had some lines in this one that had me literally LOL'ing aloud at the computer. (my chihuahua probably thinks im nuts)
I'll probably play this again in a week or two.. for the non gametap people out there its worth the wait, its getting closer to the S&M glory of the Lucasfilm original.
thanks for the review! if its funnier than episode 1 it must be pretty damn funny.. looking forward to it
Much, much better than Episode one. All the great humor from S&M1 is still intact for the most part, plus some seriously comedic dialog to make it all the better. The game is also more challenging (though still fairly easy in comparison to more advanced games). Most importantly, the plot in this game is leaps and bounds better than the last, and longer!
The whole episode kind of reminded me of that theatre level in Psychonauts, where you switch between scripts to complete the entire play. Except this is somewhat more puzzly, and with TV shows.
Keep up the great work TTG, can't wait for the next episode (though my Gametap subscription runs out soon, so if you want to release an early version to just me before that day, I'd appreciate it!)
i just finished too, was SERIOUSLY funny but very easy and short, A++ guys. but please can you make max go whee when sam hits him, like in ep 1, it may seem trival but i mourned greatkey fir it's loss
I'll have to wait till the 5th of January, but I don't mind. That means I have something to look forward to after the Christmas vacation has ended, amidst all the stress that comes with a new term at school.
I'm really looking forward to this! I purchased the season upgrade yesterday, so I'm all ready.
It's like having a belated christmas present. You'll be all like "Ho hum. There goes Christmas. No more presents for me". Then, "Well, that was a good new year celebration. Now what?". Then you'll be all like, "Sam and Max. OMFG!".
I live in the US, but I intentionally didn't use Gametap as I figured TTG would make more cash per game from their site, not from the Gametap sponsorship. I know Gametap forked over a major portion of the cash, but I figured TTG would get more cash in the long run from individual sales.
After hearing that episode 2 is even funnier than the first, I'm definitely going to buy the full season come January. I was waiting just in case the success of the first was a one-off lol (no offense to Telltale of course, I'm just pessimistic like that)
i ordered the whole season and what better way to start the new year with some S&M. if they can top ep1 in fun and wackiness I'm gonna explode laughing.
Great episode, I felt it was much better plotwise--this episode got me to realize that Sam and Max really is at it's best when it's poking fun of the latent absurdities in American culture, and I felt that this episode really ran with it in terms of that theme; Hit the Road did it in terms of American roadside attractions, and Situation: Comedy did it in terms of television and entertainment.
Really makes me wonder what the guys have up their sleeves for the next episodes... politics? theme parks? annoyingly-themed chain restaurants?
Or they could keep running with the celebrity/entertainment subtext for the entire season and there'd still be a lot of material to work with--just means that the possibilities are endless for other seasons.
That said, I discovered this site when I saw an ad for Game Tap on the television. Lucky me, since I usually don't watch TV. In that commercial, I saw Sam & Max advertised... in 3-D. I'd thought that they were lost when Lucasarts stopped properly supporting them, and when I discovered they still existed, I immediately looked them up.
Another plus for Gametap involvement here--I'm sure everyone's seen the ads on all the game sites for Sam and Max + Gametap (or maybe only N. American viewers see those ads), but I didn't realize that Gametap ads on TV have also been including Sam and Max in them.
I highly doubt that Telltale would've been able to get such television advertising exposure were it not for their partnership with Gametap (whose parent company owns several of the more popular TV channels).
That review is pretty damning though for the most part I agree with it.
But god how can it be even SHORTER and EASIER than Ep1? A game which for me I coulda run through in my sleep.
No offence but if these "puzzles", and I use the word grudgingly, are and indication of the average persons intelligence im not sure if I want to be on this rock any more.
Lazerus: Have you seen the latest Telltale blog posting by Sam and Max game designer Brendan Ferguson? He talks about the issue of puzzle difficulty in the Sam and Max Season One episodes, and how they plan to ramp up the puzzles as they move forward.
No offence but if these "puzzles", and I use the word grudgingly, are and indication of the average persons intelligence im not sure if I want to be on this rock any more.
Could we quit playing the intelligence/stupidity angle here? The ability to solve adventure game puzzles has nothing to do with intelligence, but a lot to do with experience.
There's a reason why experienced Halo players can pick up Gears of War pretty quickly, and experienced Street Fighter players can pick up Mortal Kombat quickly, and it has nothing to do with intelligence levels. It also explains why fighting games have devolved into a niche genre for only hardcore gamers and why every First Person Shooter game has a tutorial and/or beginning levels of easy difficulty level--do FPS fans complain that Halo sucks because the first couple of levels are a breeze to experienced FPS gamers?
I think it's to the point where it's better to think of it as an "interactive cartoon." It's beyond excellent in that regard.
I did think it was odd that this one felt a bit shorter than Episode 1, especially considering all the new locations.
Unrelated note:
How weird was it, in the office and on the street, to hear Max's new voice making the exact same jokes from the first episode? It highlights the difference between the two voices. Don't know which I like better, they're both good.
I did think it was odd that this one felt a bit shorter than Episode 1, especially considering all the new locations.
I think the length and the difficulty level are along the lines of Episode 1.
But you pointed out the real issue of Episode 2 (IMHO). I don't understand why we should get old locations and old gags if they add so little to the game length or extension. Telltale could've easily got rid of the initial scenes in Sam & Max's neighbourhood and sent them right to the tv station, increasing the number of locations there.
There's no need to meet Bosco, Sybil and Jimmy in EVERY episode. The return of Bosco was spot-on and funny, but Sybil's and Jimmy's presence felt a little... mandatory.
Yeah, I think new jokes would be preferable to recycling responses--it is a little extra reward for repeat customers for them to get that feeling of, "I wonder what they'll say about the lava lamp in this episode." I enjoyed the new jokes put in place for the water cooler and wilting plant, for example.
But practically, I know it's probably very difficult to write 6 different jokes about 20 different items (and I don't know if they can top some jokes like the Not'chos and lava lamp).
Could we quit playing the intelligence/stupidity angle here? The ability to solve adventure game puzzles has nothing to do with intelligence, but a lot to do with experience.
I'm not sure I agree with that.. If I can take a 7 year old who has never played an adventure game..and he can figure out the puzzles in culture shock all by himself .. and quite quickly.. Then surely its about how much you ask the gamer to think.. its that thought process of .. having a problem and thinking of ways to solve it.. I dont know about episode 2 cause i havent played it..but episode 1 the solutions came to mind very quickly..now i've talked to people who havent played games in years and years and they found culture shock easy.. I just think all forms of entertainment have been dumbed down..it seems you have to do it to reach the masses.. music..film..and video games.. it explains why "The Wire" the greatest show on television is only watched by 1.5 million people.. Hit The Road was released 13 years ago..pretty difficult game but it sold a heap of copies..to a wide audience.. would it do the same if it was released today? people are probably too stupid to figure it out these days.. sad times indeed
Numble said it well. Some of the jokes probably can't be topped. Or, it IS to show the contrast between the 2 maxes? The world may never know...
The shorter length could be because you arent exploring an entirely new gameworld this time through, and not because it actually IS shorter (I dont know this for fact, as I haven't got the game yet, but it seems plausible)
I just think all forms of entertainment have been dumbed down..it seems you have to do it to reach the masses.. music..film..and video games.. it explains why "The Wire" the greatest show on television is only watched by 1.5 million people.. Hit The Road was released 13 years ago..pretty difficult game but it sold a heap of copies..to a wide audience.. would it do the same if it was released today? people are probably too stupid to figure it out these days.. sad times indeed
That is so true. And try getting a younger gamer to play a game without flashy polygons and ragdoll-based urinal cakes and quadruple-anti-aliased pants. They won't do it, as all they've known was fancy graphics. It's mindnumbingly sad to see kids play the games that we grew up with and say they "suck". Either because they're too hard, too ugly, too repetitive... the list goes on. I reccomend that schools should teach their students "Early PC gaming " classes lol
That review is pretty damning though for the most part I agree with it.
But god how can it be even SHORTER and EASIER than Ep1? A game which for me I coulda run through in my sleep.
The funny thing is Chris (the Wired blogger) actually enjoyed playing episode 2 better than episode 1. At least, that's what he told me, and that's the impression I got from reading his blog, but it seems like not everyone who reads it is getting that impression.
I've seen several reviews now from people who liked episode 2 better than episode 1. Don't take a few offhand comments about the game's difficulty or length as gospel. It's a very funny game, and it'll be followed up by another very funny game a mere month later.
Review copies went out 1-2 weeks before the game's launch, and since it hadn't been released yet, the only way for someone to get a hint when they got stuck was to ask me. I had far more requests for help this time around than I did with episode 1.
I live in the US, but I intentionally didn't use Gametap as I figured TTG would make more cash per game from their site, not from the Gametap sponsorship. I know Gametap forked over a major portion of the cash, but I figured TTG would get more cash in the long run from individual sales.
Same here. I would rather wait two weeks - give Telltale all my money (well not all of it, just what it costs to buy Sam N Max) - and not have to pay a monthly subscription fee.
I'm not sure I agree with that.. If I can take a 7 year old who has never played an adventure game..and he can figure out the puzzles in culture shock all by himself .. and quite quickly.. now i've talked to people who havent played games in years and years and they found culture shock easy..
Isn't that the point, that Culture Shock isn't supposed to be very difficult, since it's to allow newcomers to get through it without being frustrated?
I gave Culture Shock to an 18 year old and watched the person play (without any help from me), and it took them over 30 minutes to find the cheese and get the phone back.
But we have clearly established biases, so I doubt Telltale would (or even should) take our anecdotes as clear market research. They've got the gorilla of Gametap there that says Culture Shock has probably been the most played game ever on Gametap with it being on the Top 5 list for over 2 months, and Gametap has just launched a much-anticipated adventure game (Myst Online: Uru Live) based on the premise of people helping each other solve puzzles so they can advance the storyline faster (How weird that so many people are attracted to a game that involves getting through puzzles quickly).
I just think all forms of entertainment have been dumbed down..it seems you have to do it to reach the masses.. music..film..and video games.. it explains why "The Wire" the greatest show on television is only watched by 1.5 million people..
Fewer people watch The Wire because it is on HBO in the United States, and very few people pay for that premium--it is a hit amongst those that have HBO, which is why it's still running.
Hit The Road was released 13 years ago..pretty difficult game but it sold a heap of copies..to a wide audience.. would it do the same if it was released today?
How many games were released 13 years ago? You need only look at Myst to see why it was so popular at the time--there was nothing else, and these games were in CD-ROM, with 16-bit sound and music, talkie voices, and VGA graphics (Just look at what they advertise on the old game boxes). Main point being, they were top of the line in technology at their time, and there wasn't much else out there -- the consoles at the time were the Super Nintendo and Genesis, but nowadays the consoles are much more on equal terms or better with their PC counterparts. Are you surprised that many of the top selling games now are also top of the line?
I'm not sure I agree with that.. If I can take a 7 year old who has never played an adventure game..and he can figure out the puzzles in culture shock all by himself .. and quite quickly.. Then surely its about how much you ask the gamer to think.. its that thought process of .. having a problem and thinking of ways to solve it.. I dont know about episode 2 cause i havent played it..but episode 1 the solutions came to mind very quickly..now i've talked to people who havent played games in years and years and they found culture shock easy.. I just think all forms of entertainment have been dumbed down..it seems you have to do it to reach the masses.. music..film..and video games.. it explains why "The Wire" the greatest show on television is only watched by 1.5 million people.. Hit The Road was released 13 years ago..pretty difficult game but it sold a heap of copies..to a wide audience.. would it do the same if it was released today? people are probably too stupid to figure it out these days.. sad times indeed
I don't think you and I share the same definition of "dumbed down" especially when you try to compare your issues with the games' difficulty to making movies or other art forms more mainstream. Making a Sam & Max game is about being true to the characters, getting the sense of humor right, capturing the essence of the comics, etc. I'd say Telltale has pretty much done that with their games so far. Is the fact that they're doing it in a way that doesn't arbitrarily shut out 70% of their potential audience really dumbing it down? Maybe if Max followed up his firearm abuse jokes with a public service reminder that guns are not toys, I'd agree with you, but sticking to 15-year old puzzle design philosophies of hardcore adventure games is not a requirement in making a good Sam & Max game. It's not like having hard puzzles is a staple of Sam & Max just because they occurred in Hit the Road. Don't confuse Sam & Max priorities with the priorities of 1993-style graphic adventure games - something Telltale never claimed to be trying to make.
And no, being able to solve Hit the Road does not make you smart and other people stupid. Back when I first beat Hit the Road, the experience of solving the puzzles might have given me pleasure in the sense that I was finally able to overcome the problem that stumped me for so long, but I rarely thought, "Wow, that puzzle really made me think!" so much as I thought, "Wow, that puzzle really made me use every item in my inventory with every hotspot in every environment until it worked!" The fact that a lot of the puzzles in Culture Shock came naturally to us and the fact that we had a perverse affinity for the puzzles in some of the more nonsensical older games comes from the adventure gamer mentality that we built up. We keep a constant eye out on things on the screen that we could possibly stick a golf ball retriever into in a way that non-adventure gamers don't not because we're smarter, but because we're more familiar with the adventure game formula. It's hard to do, but I think if you could manage to step back for a minute and try to look at the Sam & Max episodes the way a person who's never played such a game might then you might appreciate the way the puzzles are presented a bit more.
Also did you really see a 7-year old who's never played an adventure game beat Culture Shock quickly with no help, or are you just saying you could imagine it?
Also also, I really don't think you can prove just how wide an audience Hit the Road supposedly sold a heap of a copies to.
Don't take a few offhand comments about the game's difficulty or length as gospel.
Well, at least those "few" offhand comments about episode 1 were absolutely true. So, these same people suddenly can´t evaluate episode 2´s difficulty correctly?
I gave Culture Shock to an 18 year old and watched the person play (without any help for me), and it took them over 30 minutes to find the cheese and get the phone back.
Yippeee!!! Because of people with a brain capacity like this, I´ll probably have to skip season 2, just because I don´t want to feel that I am not stupid enough for the game. Goddamn! If I am not entirely mistaken, S&M basically spell out that the CHEESE MUST BE IN THE OFFICE somewhere. So, how freaking hard can it be to find a fucking closet and open the door?
Now come on, are people actually that stupid nowadays?
Comments
GameTap link, for anyone too lazy to type it out.
Still I'm glad that, according to a review (find the link at MixNMojo), the over-plot, that binds the episodes together, will start to dawn. Who will be the Great Villain controlling the smaller ones. My money is on the Royal Swedish Guild of Dentists and Malcomb "lizardeyes" Cartwright.
doesnt contain any spoilers..
Seriously, the condition should have been, Sam'n'Max avail to all ppl in USA through Gametap, cannot download from any other source. All others in all other countries can download directly from Telltale on the release date. Gametap dont lose out cause they still get all the customers in US and Canada. Also saves those who cant wait the 15 days from downloading a pirated copy..even though they've already paid to Telltale!
--Erwin
Fine. Your loss. If you think anyone else will join you in this boycott, I think you're sadly mistaken.
/agree. Have fun trying to find another game as entertaining as this one is.
I'm European and I don't mind. Sorry to spoil your fun.
Seriously, I'm going to be able to play the game very soon anyhow, so I don't care about the wait. Not that I'd find it acceptable for TTG to make the wait 30 days just because I'm not ranting and raving yet.
What irks me most about Certain Companies is that if the customers don't voice their great disapproval of a certain issue, they think that it's ok to shaft them a bit more. Actions like those make me try to actively search for optional suppliers to change to. I'm glad TTG isn't one of them.
But the good is that its funnier then the first, and it was a good game just short as the complaints with culture shock.. While I enjoyed the first episode, Max had some lines in this one that had me literally LOL'ing aloud at the computer. (my chihuahua probably thinks im nuts)
I'll probably play this again in a week or two.. for the non gametap people out there its worth the wait, its getting closer to the S&M glory of the Lucasfilm original.
thanks for the review! if its funnier than episode 1 it must be pretty damn funny.. looking forward to it
Much, much better than Episode one. All the great humor from S&M1 is still intact for the most part, plus some seriously comedic dialog to make it all the better. The game is also more challenging (though still fairly easy in comparison to more advanced games). Most importantly, the plot in this game is leaps and bounds better than the last, and longer!
The whole episode kind of reminded me of that theatre level in Psychonauts, where you switch between scripts to complete the entire play. Except this is somewhat more puzzly, and with TV shows.
Keep up the great work TTG, can't wait for the next episode (though my Gametap subscription runs out soon, so if you want to release an early version to just me before that day, I'd appreciate it!)
I'm really looking forward to this! I purchased the season upgrade yesterday, so I'm all ready.
Really makes me wonder what the guys have up their sleeves for the next episodes... politics? theme parks? annoyingly-themed chain restaurants?
Or they could keep running with the celebrity/entertainment subtext for the entire season and there'd still be a lot of material to work with--just means that the possibilities are endless for other seasons.
Another plus for Gametap involvement here--I'm sure everyone's seen the ads on all the game sites for Sam and Max + Gametap (or maybe only N. American viewers see those ads), but I didn't realize that Gametap ads on TV have also been including Sam and Max in them.
I highly doubt that Telltale would've been able to get such television advertising exposure were it not for their partnership with Gametap (whose parent company owns several of the more popular TV channels).
That review is pretty damning though for the most part I agree with it.
But god how can it be even SHORTER and EASIER than Ep1? A game which for me I coulda run through in my sleep.
No offence but if these "puzzles", and I use the word grudgingly, are and indication of the average persons intelligence im not sure if I want to be on this rock any more.
Momma stop the world I want to get off!
Could we quit playing the intelligence/stupidity angle here? The ability to solve adventure game puzzles has nothing to do with intelligence, but a lot to do with experience.
There's a reason why experienced Halo players can pick up Gears of War pretty quickly, and experienced Street Fighter players can pick up Mortal Kombat quickly, and it has nothing to do with intelligence levels. It also explains why fighting games have devolved into a niche genre for only hardcore gamers and why every First Person Shooter game has a tutorial and/or beginning levels of easy difficulty level--do FPS fans complain that Halo sucks because the first couple of levels are a breeze to experienced FPS gamers?
I did think it was odd that this one felt a bit shorter than Episode 1, especially considering all the new locations.
Unrelated note:
How weird was it, in the office and on the street, to hear Max's new voice making the exact same jokes from the first episode? It highlights the difference between the two voices. Don't know which I like better, they're both good.
I think the length and the difficulty level are along the lines of Episode 1.
But you pointed out the real issue of Episode 2 (IMHO). I don't understand why we should get old locations and old gags if they add so little to the game length or extension. Telltale could've easily got rid of the initial scenes in Sam & Max's neighbourhood and sent them right to the tv station, increasing the number of locations there.
There's no need to meet Bosco, Sybil and Jimmy in EVERY episode. The return of Bosco was spot-on and funny, but Sybil's and Jimmy's presence felt a little... mandatory.
But practically, I know it's probably very difficult to write 6 different jokes about 20 different items (and I don't know if they can top some jokes like the Not'chos and lava lamp).
I'm not sure I agree with that.. If I can take a 7 year old who has never played an adventure game..and he can figure out the puzzles in culture shock all by himself .. and quite quickly.. Then surely its about how much you ask the gamer to think.. its that thought process of .. having a problem and thinking of ways to solve it.. I dont know about episode 2 cause i havent played it..but episode 1 the solutions came to mind very quickly..now i've talked to people who havent played games in years and years and they found culture shock easy.. I just think all forms of entertainment have been dumbed down..it seems you have to do it to reach the masses.. music..film..and video games.. it explains why "The Wire" the greatest show on television is only watched by 1.5 million people.. Hit The Road was released 13 years ago..pretty difficult game but it sold a heap of copies..to a wide audience.. would it do the same if it was released today? people are probably too stupid to figure it out these days.. sad times indeed
The shorter length could be because you arent exploring an entirely new gameworld this time through, and not because it actually IS shorter (I dont know this for fact, as I haven't got the game yet, but it seems plausible)
That is so true. And try getting a younger gamer to play a game without flashy polygons and ragdoll-based urinal cakes and quadruple-anti-aliased pants. They won't do it, as all they've known was fancy graphics. It's mindnumbingly sad to see kids play the games that we grew up with and say they "suck". Either because they're too hard, too ugly, too repetitive... the list goes on. I reccomend that schools should teach their students "Early PC gaming " classes lol
The funny thing is Chris (the Wired blogger) actually enjoyed playing episode 2 better than episode 1. At least, that's what he told me, and that's the impression I got from reading his blog, but it seems like not everyone who reads it is getting that impression.
I've seen several reviews now from people who liked episode 2 better than episode 1. Don't take a few offhand comments about the game's difficulty or length as gospel. It's a very funny game, and it'll be followed up by another very funny game a mere month later.
Review copies went out 1-2 weeks before the game's launch, and since it hadn't been released yet, the only way for someone to get a hint when they got stuck was to ask me. I had far more requests for help this time around than I did with episode 1.
Same here. I would rather wait two weeks - give Telltale all my money (well not all of it, just what it costs to buy Sam N Max) - and not have to pay a monthly subscription fee.
Isn't that the point, that Culture Shock isn't supposed to be very difficult, since it's to allow newcomers to get through it without being frustrated?
I gave Culture Shock to an 18 year old and watched the person play (without any help from me), and it took them over 30 minutes to find the cheese and get the phone back.
But we have clearly established biases, so I doubt Telltale would (or even should) take our anecdotes as clear market research. They've got the gorilla of Gametap there that says Culture Shock has probably been the most played game ever on Gametap with it being on the Top 5 list for over 2 months, and Gametap has just launched a much-anticipated adventure game (Myst Online: Uru Live) based on the premise of people helping each other solve puzzles so they can advance the storyline faster (How weird that so many people are attracted to a game that involves getting through puzzles quickly).
Fewer people watch The Wire because it is on HBO in the United States, and very few people pay for that premium--it is a hit amongst those that have HBO, which is why it's still running.
How many games were released 13 years ago? You need only look at Myst to see why it was so popular at the time--there was nothing else, and these games were in CD-ROM, with 16-bit sound and music, talkie voices, and VGA graphics (Just look at what they advertise on the old game boxes). Main point being, they were top of the line in technology at their time, and there wasn't much else out there -- the consoles at the time were the Super Nintendo and Genesis, but nowadays the consoles are much more on equal terms or better with their PC counterparts. Are you surprised that many of the top selling games now are also top of the line?
I don't think you and I share the same definition of "dumbed down" especially when you try to compare your issues with the games' difficulty to making movies or other art forms more mainstream. Making a Sam & Max game is about being true to the characters, getting the sense of humor right, capturing the essence of the comics, etc. I'd say Telltale has pretty much done that with their games so far. Is the fact that they're doing it in a way that doesn't arbitrarily shut out 70% of their potential audience really dumbing it down? Maybe if Max followed up his firearm abuse jokes with a public service reminder that guns are not toys, I'd agree with you, but sticking to 15-year old puzzle design philosophies of hardcore adventure games is not a requirement in making a good Sam & Max game. It's not like having hard puzzles is a staple of Sam & Max just because they occurred in Hit the Road. Don't confuse Sam & Max priorities with the priorities of 1993-style graphic adventure games - something Telltale never claimed to be trying to make.
And no, being able to solve Hit the Road does not make you smart and other people stupid. Back when I first beat Hit the Road, the experience of solving the puzzles might have given me pleasure in the sense that I was finally able to overcome the problem that stumped me for so long, but I rarely thought, "Wow, that puzzle really made me think!" so much as I thought, "Wow, that puzzle really made me use every item in my inventory with every hotspot in every environment until it worked!" The fact that a lot of the puzzles in Culture Shock came naturally to us and the fact that we had a perverse affinity for the puzzles in some of the more nonsensical older games comes from the adventure gamer mentality that we built up. We keep a constant eye out on things on the screen that we could possibly stick a golf ball retriever into in a way that non-adventure gamers don't not because we're smarter, but because we're more familiar with the adventure game formula. It's hard to do, but I think if you could manage to step back for a minute and try to look at the Sam & Max episodes the way a person who's never played such a game might then you might appreciate the way the puzzles are presented a bit more.
Also did you really see a 7-year old who's never played an adventure game beat Culture Shock quickly with no help, or are you just saying you could imagine it?
Also also, I really don't think you can prove just how wide an audience Hit the Road supposedly sold a heap of a copies to.
Well, at least those "few" offhand comments about episode 1 were absolutely true. So, these same people suddenly can´t evaluate episode 2´s difficulty correctly?
Yippeee!!! Because of people with a brain capacity like this, I´ll probably have to skip season 2, just because I don´t want to feel that I am not stupid enough for the game. Goddamn! If I am not entirely mistaken, S&M basically spell out that the CHEESE MUST BE IN THE OFFICE somewhere. So, how freaking hard can it be to find a fucking closet and open the door?
Now come on, are people actually that stupid nowadays?