Sorry folks, it’s going to be a boring piece, but I kept that for too long and this mistake gives me the envy to shout out.
I’m following Telltale since the first Bone. I remember how happy I was when they announced they were going to bring back Sam&Max to life. It came out, and it felt like a draft, a fangame (with budget) spin off, but scribbled from the heart. Episode after episode, listening to the customers on this very board, they tried their best to improve what they could. Episodic game was a new genre, Telltale was a new company. We could forgive them almost everything. They had already some major points right : voice acting was great, music was stunning, price was set right.
It was in 2006.
Then what happened ? I don’t know.
The games became different. S&M Season 2 was okay, with some very funny moments, but the writing seemed stuck at the draft level, and the meal started to taste a little bit… reheated. But it’s okay, we’re adventure gamers, we’ve waited for so long, we can bear with it. Popularity growing, I don’t know how it affected the development, but it seemed like Telltale was still not ready for a more challenging project. But they launched Monkey Island anyway. All the fans were crazy ; so was I. I don’t know if they (the fans) really liked it though, because that’s where I’ve started to fade away. Direct control was a mistake for me, a move to please console gamers, affecting the narration in an epic way that doesn’t suit the genre at all (and from Grim Fandango to Escape from Monkey Island, we’ve had the evidences, but let’s skip to another topic). Episodic structure was not good enough, writing was… not that good (doesn’t mean everything was bad though, and Armato&Boen were perfect in their roles), puzzle were still poorly designed, and too many reused elements everywhere. It was like the constraints that we thought in the beginning were due to a lack of employees/budget because Telltale was a small company were still all there, even with the most prestigious license of the adventure gaming in their hands. Even with a way bigger customer basis. And increasing. And becoming more popular, even in non-english speaking countries.
So TTG made The Devil’s Playhouse. I don’t understand how it can be that wrong. Why the scenario is so complex that you even sometimes just click randomly to trigger a cutscene without having any idea of why and what could possibly be the outcome ? I’m an adventurer. I live far from my homeland, in a foreign country, and I have to deal with problems in a foreign language everyday, deep into a totally different culture. And that’s really exciting. But what motivates me is the possible outcome. Here, the only reward I felt in the last TTG games was to see a new (not that beautiful, not that well designed) set. And I played the BttF demo, it was even hard to get through it, it was so unconvincing. And I played W&G, I bought the entire season, just played three episodes, it was also totally unconvincing (but the graphics were neat). I didn’t even try to play Jurassic Park (didn’t even read any review, customer or professional, actually), but reading that, I feel so sorry.
Yes, I feel sorry.
After bringing all my support to that company, saying all that good from this little sprout in the adventure gaming desolated soil, I don’t recognize it anymore. Maybe I was all wrong since the beginning. Maybe you’ve been successful in convincing us (me) that it was the beginning but in fact you thought the goal was already reached. I don’t know. But I’m sad.
I’ve recently replayed the first two Broken Sword and Beneath a Steel Sky (as you may know, Revolution Software is back in the business ), and just finished, two days ago, for an nth time Hit the Road… How can you be that far from the original material ? So far that you feel like you need to convince people by filling customer reviews meaning that they/you)'ve done an incredible job ? Sure, JP is not S&M or MI, but it’s not an external development from what I know (maybe external funding though, explaining the weird advertisement for the iPad version, selling more the iPad than the game itself), and it betrays to me a spirit that does not belong to a trustworthy company.
I’m not attacking you, sometimes constraints make our work not as good as we wish it could be, sometimes there’s just a malfunction in the society, and as we know, every chain will lower its strength to the weakest link. Then, don’t be proud of it. You can be proud of a nice 3D model you’ve been assigned to, and which turned out to look stunning in the final game. But why trying to convince people that the final product isn’t what it actually is ? Let the customers talk. Your job’s done. Your best shot may belong to the future… or to the past (Abe Lincoln is dead).
It’s not fair play.
I’m not following TTG’s new projects anymore, it’s been quite a while now, because instead of making progress, they’ve changed the contemplative aspect of adventure gaming into a passive entertainment*. I wish I’ll be surprised some day, and hope I’ll be as happy to buy a shiny new TTG game’s icon (no matter what’s the device) as I was when TTG was the symbol of the return of the good old adventure gaming.
*Heavy Rain was on the edge, but never crossed the line, you always know what you have to do, and have a very clever illusion of choice… like a movie director’s. Besides, the art, the gameplay and the writing allow this game to get rid of puzzle, just like Shenmue did on his time.
After the garbage they made with BTTF (that's unforgivable, because there was just almost no way to fail... and they did, in the worst way possible), they kinda had it coming.
Though, for their defense, at least we KNEW JP would be bad. While they lied about BTTF.
I also got to thank the few people who actually played Heavy Rain, because it was not about "QTE", it was about choices, doing or NOT doing the action prompted on screen, that was really neat, and a clever way to use QTE and giving the player actual choices and way to act, instead of the button mashing crap we got in games like God of War (but it's just boss scenes) or... Jurassic Park (the whole game ...) * sigh * .
But I gotta say the troll about MGS4 should just shut the F up. As if MGS 2 and 3 weren't story heavy. A game can allow itself to have a strong and long story, as long as it has actual GAMEPLAY. You don't like MGS, don't play MGS. Millions of people do love it, because there is clever gameplay behind it to support the heavy story.
Even a story driven game, like Shadow of Memories, proved that it is possible to make a great gaming experience while basing everything on the story. The key word is : CHOICE.
If it's only story driven, it HAS to give the player the ability to CHOOSE what to do. Otherwise, it's in no way a game. It's tolerated if the game uses "story mechanics" instead of actual "gamepad/keyboard mechanics". You make choices to get further, find new stuff etc... There's always gonna have exploration, items to pick up etc...
BTTF removed choices, implication, smart story and dialogs... It was just "walk and click that thing to trigger an unbelievable magical cut scene".
JP understood walking was pointless in BTTF (with all those invisible walls, it turned the simple act of walking into something painful and in no way enjoyable as it SHOULD have been ...), but instead of fixing it they... got rid of it ...
Problem is, now we get no exploration, no choice (come on, don't dare to talk about the "plumbing" answer or stuff), repetitive and forced action sequence that compose the WHOLE game...
That is ridiculous. Universal went to the wrong people.
Now, I trust in The Walking Dead, because of Jake, and because it looks amazing.
Their last chance for me, is King Quest. If they fail that, I won't just "dislike" telltale, I will hate them for ruining all my favorite licences ...
also :
I'm sick of people saying the writing on BTTF and JP is "INCRADIBULE IT IS MAGNIFICENT", wait, what ?
I'm not saying it's BAD but, seriously ? How in the world is that brillant writing ? Haven't you played any adventure game before ... ?
I don't know, I'm playing Gabriel Knight 1 right now, let me tell you I'm choking when I read those kind of comments about those two games' writing ...
I guess the writing was better on JP than BTTF. On BTTF I just have everything from scratch, besides the voice acting and MJ Fox (what a shame...) cameo.
This is rather puzzling and somewhat disappointing situation. Were Telltale really so unsure of their own game that they had to resort to padding the reviews with perfect 10s?
I thought the game was actually pretty good. Its obviously not going to be for everyone, but I think it was good enough to stand on its own merit.
I really hope this isnt the start of some terrible downwards slide for your company Telltale. I really do.
This is rather puzzling and somewhat disappointing situation. Were Telltale really so unsure of their own game that they had to resort to padding the reviews with perfect 10s?
I thought the game was actually pretty good. Its obviously not going to be for everyone, but I think it was good enough to stand on its own merit.
I really hope this isnt the start of some terrible downwards slide for your company Telltale. I really do.
guys come on, its got a good story line, and they only made several games so far, so their still working on it, give ehhm a brake
They've pretty much established themselves of what they are all about now. They've made quite a number of series, let alone seasons. They're not "still working on it". They're it.
Also, giving them a break doesn't mean supporting them and buying every single game just because they're "still working on it". I'm not paying for Jurassic Park and I'm going to let them know why. That's giving them a break. Otherwise they'll just continue to make severely lacking products like this one. Fans don't exist to hang on their idol's every whim, they exist because they made something the fans enjoy and fans must continue to support them by giving them feedback.
They've pretty much established themselves of what they are all about now. They've made quite a number of series, let alone seasons. They're not "still working on it". They're it.
Also, giving them a break doesn't mean supporting them and buying every single game just because they're "still working on it". I'm not paying for Jurassic Park and I'm going to let them know why. That's giving them a break. Otherwise they'll just continue to make severely lacking products like this one. Fans don't exist to hang on their idol's every whim, they exist because they made something they enjoy and must continue to support them by giving them feedback.
why are you on this website then, i dont understand, if your not fans with telltale, why are you on?
Did I say I wasn't a fan? I don't remember that. In fact, I think I was pretty clear about what I said which in turn says a lot about my status as a fan.
0/10!? Lord of the Rings would make a great restaurant! The ham is delicious!
And the salted pork is particularly good.
So much negativity. I guess I just don't get why BttF and JP are being hated on. I can sort of understand why someone might not like it, but outright hatred against the company that made it, I just don't get. Maybe it's because every one of my friends that have played either game have enjoyed them. I dunno.
BTW Strayth, I find it the height of irony that you're railing against BttF, but you have Marty as your icon.:p
All right, you lost your original topic two pages ago. And now there are some long and entirely misplaced game reviews in here. Mind if I transfer at least these into the review thread?
This whole thread seems to be going no where in my opinion.
Some employess gave their own game a ten, some people got mad, others didn't care. In the end it doesn't matter. I enjoyed the game.
But I can see why this could leave a bad taste in peoples mouth. Unfortunitly, a lot of people depend on reviews because they are unable to voice their own opininos. They read a review and all of a sudden, with out even trying it for themselves, that review is set in stone. So by that logic, reviews can be used as a type of bait to get people to play the game.
Give the game a ten, people see that, flock to buy it, and it doesn't matter if they enjoy it or not cause they already paid. Was this the employees intention? We'll never know. Maybe they were just having an excitment high and wanted to express that using the user review section. That section, btw, will be full of other reviews with 10's, 8's, 5's 0's and you'll see an overall average. But that adverage means nothing. Why? Because it's not your opinion. You can't really know for sure if you'll like the game based on someone elses opinion. You have to play it yourself.
.... I'm speaking in circles it seems. My opinion on this whole situation still stands. I don't really care cause I'm enjoying the game.
All right, you lost your original topic two pages ago. And now there are some long and entirely misplaced game reviews in here. Mind if I transfer at least these into the review thread?
I hate the concept that every single post in a thread must be exactly about whatever the topic of the thread is. If a thread goes off on a semi-related tangent, let it. It's not a big deal. Dividing and merging threads kills any and all discussion happening in them.
The problem was that TTG made fake reviews to forge the meta critic score for their game in order to sell more games rather than just make a good game.
They did not send out review copies which meant the reviews where empty and then they posted their fake 10/10 reviews which gave the game a temporary perfect meta critic score in an attempt to sell more games on a forged premise that it was a spectacular game before any real person even had a chance to review it.
I support people giving the game 0/10 on mere principle. Developers need to understand that forged reviews will not be tolerated and that doing so will have consequences. Painful ones right in the wallet
The problem was that TTG made fake reviews to forge the meta critic score for their game in order to sell more games rather than just make a good game.
They did not send out review copies which meant the reviews where empty and then they posted their fake 10/10 reviews which gave the game a temporary perfect meta critic score in an attempt to sell more games on a forged premise that it was a spectacular game before any real person even had a chance to review it.
I support people giving the game 0/10 on mere principle. Developers need to understand that forged reviews will not be tolerated and that doing so will have consequences. Painful ones right in the wallet
You know, I've said it several f-ing times in this thread. Not everyone at TellTale did this. Nor did everyone at TellTale work on Jurassic Park. Frankly, they might have been people that ACTUALLY PLAYED THE GAME.
Also, I find this entire situation to be completely full of BS. Do you want to know why? Metacritic started the investigation on this matter because of one thing: The reviews used proper grammar and spelling. That is BS.
You know, I've said it several f-ing times in this thread. Not everyone at TellTale did this. Nor did everyone at TellTale work on Jurassic Park. Frankly, they might have been people that ACTUALLY PLAYED THE GAME.
Also, I find this entire situation to be completely full of BS. Do you want to know why? Metacritic started the investigation on this matter because of one thing: The reviews used proper grammar and spelling. That is BS.
Oh please. The reviewer referred to the game as "Heavy Rain as directed by Spielberg" When reviewing his own freaking game while posing as an anonymous user. That is complete bullshit and the ensuing shitstorm was well deserved. If I wanted to read what the developers thought about their own freaking game I would check their website and the information would be useless. People go to metacritic to see what regular users have to say about games. Actual reviews by unbiased people who played the game and want to express their opinion on it.
People go to metacritic to see what regular users have to say about games. Actual reviews by unbiased people who played the game and want to express their opinion on it.
Then 0/10 reviews by people who are pissed are just as wrong then.
Also, I find this entire situation to be completely full of BS. Do you want to know why? Metacritic started the investigation on this matter because of one thing: The reviews used proper grammar and spelling. That is BS.
You are aware that the grammar and spelling were merely clues that prompted further investigation, which then led to evidence indicating that Telltale employees were indeed responsible? I have difficulty grasping how the nature of the initial clues that lead to the discovery of some action by some party could have any bearing on whether the action in question should be considered right or wrong.
You are aware that the grammar and spelling were merely clues that prompted further investigation, which then led to evidence indicating that Telltale employees were indeed responsible? I have difficulty grasping how the nature of the initial clues that lead to the discovery of some action by some party could have any bearing on whether the action in question should be considered right or wrong.
I think it's wrong of them to assume that a normal person writing a review for a game will not use proper grammar.
Not everyone in the world writes their own reviews like this: "OMG this game roxxorz!!!!11 kthxbai!"
Therefore, I find it extremely insulting that they automatically assumed that, since the reviews were written intelligently, they must not be real gamers.
I think it's wrong of them to assume that a normal person writing a review for a game will not use proper grammar.
Not everyone in the world writes their own reviews like this: "OMG this game roxxorz!!!!11 kthxbai!"
Therefore, I find it extremely insulting that they automatically assumed that, since the reviews were written intelligently, they must not be real gamers.
But they didn't "assume". They suspected and they investigated further. Again, I fail to see how the clues that prompted further inquiry could have any bearing on whether the action is right or wrong.
Also, I don't think it was the spelling and grammar strictly speaking; it was the language and tone of the comments, which screamed "marketing-speak". I see this kind of thing on the iOS and Mac App Stores all the time: a brand new game starts off with a handful of five-star "reviews", all of which have been obviously parroted from the publisher's promotional materials.
Then 0/10 reviews by people who are pissed are just as wrong then.
Not really because they are just expressing how upset they are with TTG while TTG actually forged the games meta score to make people think the game was better than it actually was to trick people into buying the game rather than let the game stand on its own merit. They where so afraid of real opinions on the game that they saw the need to fake opinions. That is ironically TTG giving their own game a bad review.
a 10/10 game does not need a forged meta score. The game stands up on its own from real reviews. The real reviews have however given the game a much less flattering image.
The fact was the telltall reviews were early on as to promote and boost game sales when in fact it was done by the people who work for or made the game itself,Thats like john hammond giving his park a 10/10 rating before the people look at the rating then go in the park there only to find out...they got eaten.Thats just bad business practice,and by all means i have to point out:
Were the Telltall people who reviewed these game even gamers?
When i say gamer im talking about someone who played games like final fantasy,or resident evil,games that are both punishing yet rewarding.
Something that comes both as an adventure yet a challange.
Well then since Jurassic park the game isnt a game and dubbed more an interactive movie,then i must rate as a movie.
And as a movie then im gonna admit,it was bad,Hey yeah before you start writing those negative comments below in responace to this i'm gonna tell you both as a game and or as a movie this Jurassic spin was not good.
There was no major surprises,most the game you were just pressing buttons to sneak around or run away from the dinosaurs,aside from only 2 dinosaurs everything is trying to murder you,there was very little suspence or magic feel to it compared to the other 3 movies,and the ending itself was a toned down version of the third movie,you escape the rex jump in a boat and drive off...im sorry but theres no epicness there at all.
The game was only 4 hours long,and again most of it your just running away or sneaking around dinosaurs,if again this game was an interactive movie i wouldnt consider it anything like the other 3 movies,the dinosaurs didnt even act like animals they acted like ravenous monsters.
I am a gamer i have played mario,sonic,megaman,metroid,and years of gaming
I have a right to say what Telltall did was offensive,and i have a right to say when i dont enjoy something,when people brought those ratings down on them,it wasnt because of what Telltall games did its because their gamers,they know videogames and i know videogames and when something doesnt feel right we make it known to the public,when aliens vs predator came out for the ps3 and 360 i let it known the game was bad because it was too scripted and even worst then the pc counterpart with shorter gameplay,same can be said of jurassic park.
I actually enjoyed this game up until after the whole Nedry/embryo scavenging part,but everything after that felt blant...and tasteless like a "B" Grade monster movie,and again i know my movies as mentioned earlier im familar with classics as early as star wars,alien,jaws,terminator,so if anyone wants to call me out on this im gonna think your a closet case,the simple truth is whether it was a a game or a movie,jurassic park the game was a short unthrilling experience nothing like the movies,its something you rent and return.
Now does Telltale games deserve the harsh backlash it got from people who actually went out,spent money and played this game?The answer is yes.
Does Telltall games deserve the harsh treatment it got from Metacritic and 1-up for their actions of voluntarily having people within their own company pose as gamers whom quote:"Should have never never played the game beforehand till recently and are having a review based on their gamer experience and whether or not the game was enjoyable along with its advantages and its downfalls?"
Then the answer is also yes,they failed to mention any of its flaws and their not true reviewers,they are there to boost the game popularity which in turn affects its sales.The recent big price drop on the game speaks for itself.
Rather Dashing (where is he, by the way? With how he freaked out about BttF you think he'd be having a field day now)
Oh hi, post from the past!
I'm here because I woke up at 3 AM with a sore throat, read that lovely(read: disgusting, deplorable, gag-inducing) press-skewing blog post(if you don't read the blog, read today's post! It's the worst piece of shit you'll ever read! Look up the scores of the reviews cited!), and got to wondering about the press goings-on in Jurassic Park land. Woah, this was a rather nasty thing to pop up!
I've not been posting here. After all, I have:
-Not bought or played Jurassic Park, nor do I plan to. With Back to the Future, I'd actually PAID for that garbage, I'd actually PLAYED it, and frankly I had thoughts on the matter that were based on very in-depth analysis of the gameplay and its lack of connection to the narrative elements occuring on screen. Not so here. I could only really bash a basic direction Telltale is going, bash their press, but without playing the game I can't levy anything concrete against it.
-Never been a Jurassic Park fan
-had classes and tests to take
-SKYRIM
-MORE SKYRIM
-OH MY GOD WHERE DID MY TIME GO, OH RIGHT, TO SKYRIM
-Honestly got sick of dealing with a realm in which "WHO GIVES FIVE FUCKS ABOUT GAMEPLAY?" is considered an actual, worthwhile point by the greatest defenders of a game.
A few points:
1. Gamespot definitely poorly worded what prompted the investigation. Proper spelling and grammar? They should have iterated more clearly that:
-These were 10/10 reviews for a game that has had a very negative press response.
-They praised the developer and the game in a way that felt "press-y"
-They did not read like user reviews
These are things that arouse suspicion, and when it was found that the Metacritic user IDs were ones known to be used by Telltale employees with some rather quick Google-fu, Telltale defended the reviewers. This WAS DONE BY TELLTALE, and we HAVE to establish that in order for any conversation of the matter to take place.
2. Having a public opinion of your work is fine, but it's NOT COOL to do so under the guise of a "user" without even placing a disclaimer on said review. People go to user reviews to see what people who've played the game think about it. Developers have plenty of avenues to express their thoughts, positively, without being the least bit deceptive. Don't tell me that this was about expression. This was about raising the average review score on a site that is known for its effect on sales, and frankly, that's deplorable no matter how good you think the game is. To put it in one simple sentence:
DECEPTION is bad and WILLFULLY SKEWING REVIEW NUMBERS in your favor is also bad.
3. Intentionally conflating people who have concrete complaints about a product with those who have absolutely stupid, or at least incidental, complaints about a product is willful misdirection of the conversation. If you are going to reply to a person who has made complaints, and you are wanting to nullify them, THEIR points have to be addressed, NOT the points made by some random individual somewhere else on the same matter, even if they share the same "side"(I for one would HATE, for example, to be confused with a fellow who hates Back to the Future: The Game for art style reasons, for not having free-roaming, for not being a GTA rip-off, for not having enough time periods, or for not having every single actor from the films playing their roles, as those are NOT my complaints and I don't want someone acting as if they are)
4. My opinion on this matter is that this practice is vile and disgusting. While I feel Gamespot's article is sadly somewhat poorly written, their core points are on the whole solid. Suspicious reviews popped up, they looked into it with some simple Googling, and found that Telltale employees were obscure enough to not be immediately recognizable as employees at a glance while not smart enough to cover their tracks when performing an action which was OBVIOUSLY illicit. They are right in saying that defending this action on those grounds shows incompetence more than anything.
The quality of the game doesn't matter. It could be a 10/10, this would still be wrong.
Whether or not the employee thought it was a 10/10 doesn't matter. Even if that's his or her opinion, reviewing your own work inherently creates a position of bias, especially on industry-affecting Metacritic, and it's extremely poor form to not even include a disclaimer.
Even with a disclaimer, it's poor form because it skews a user number that is NOT meant to be an average of the opinions of the users and the game's press department.
IF YOU SAY I CARE ABOUT THE JEEP I WILL GUT YOU.
I'm here because I woke up at 3 AM with a sore throat, read that lovely(read: disgusting, deplorable, gag-inducing) press-skewing blog post(if you don't read the blog, read today's post! It's the worst piece of shit you'll ever read! Look up the scores of the reviews cited!), and got to wondering about the press goings-on in Jurassic Park land. Woah, this was a rather nasty thing to pop up!
I understand that blog post as a protest from TT team, to prove that there's something good in this game, and it's not all bad - and maybe they feel attacked by negative response & scandals.
It's the first post made by "Telltale Team", and not by Alan himself or Jake or some other specific TT member. And the QUANTITY of the picks is so big that it truely seems a protest.
To some extent I agree to the protest, because this game it's not as bad as almost anyone says - and it actually introduce some great things.
(One of the greatest things is that you don't need to walk around, such a useless heritage of old school games. I always say that most of the users use double click to travel trhoug locations, because walking is almost useless and really boring.)
BTW, any other company would have produced another game like Sam&Max, and would have stick to that formula forever to avoid financial risks in a field (the graphic adventures one) that's full of dangerous path. Just see what happened to Bill Tiller's Autumn Moon.
Instead of appreciating the risks of jumping into the void, anyone laughs at the fall of the body.
I'm not saying that JP is a masterpiece. But at least is far better than BTTF. JP tries to explore new territories, but detractors just enjoy old things - until they watch the final product and call it "derivative".
It's a pity that TT will not be able to explore anymore by the fear of another JP-case.
And about the reviews: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What I have to point out instead is how you ended to trust such a loose user valuation method just to bash the actual TT directions.
Why now USERS review become so important? After all TT did not paid Metacritic to tell "the game is good".
To some extent I agree to the protest, because this game it's not as bad as almost anyone says - and it actually introduce some great things.
(One of the greatest things is that you don't need to walk around, such a useless heritage of old school games. I always say that most of the users use double click to travel trhoug locations, because walking is almost useless and really boring.)
BTW, any other company would have produced another game like Sam&Max, and would have stick to that formula forever to avoid financial risks in a field (the graphic adventures one) that's full of dangerous path. Just see what happened to Bill Tiller's Autumn Moon.
Instead of appreciating the risks of jumping into the void, anyone laughs at the fall of the body.
I'm not saying that JP is a masterpiece. But at least is far better than BTTF. JP tries to explore new territories, but detractors just enjoy old things - until they watch the final product and call it "derivative".
It's a pity that TT will not be able to explore anymore by the fear of another JP-case.
It is not true. Walking is not boring. Walking ten times in the same direction of the same location can be boring when you suddenly have an idea about a puzzle and it’s far from your actual location. Remember that adventure game is a contemplative pleasure, it’s about reading/listening stories, it’s about walking peacefully in a beautiful set, discovering it piece by piece, trying to figure out the personality of who you are playing, by listening to his comments, etc. Walking is not boring. That’s what many people who hated Heavy Rain pointed out and made fun of (hahaha you walk, you don’t run -_-)… and that’s exactly what the people who actually liked the game (and they’re a majority) liked in it : the old investigation process of a guy wandering until he finds a clue. That’s what many adventure gamers like, that’s why the first Sam&Max was so popular, that’s why the broken swords/beneath a steel sky are so popular (an even now, more than ten years after, still selling incredibly good on iOS without any marketing).
You tell me about Autumn Moon ? I tell you about Pendulo. Selling very good, right ? What was wrong about autumn moon it’s because it was obviously aimed for kids, but you know what the kids play now. They all think that reading is boring. While Pendulo’s titles are not that good (bad writing, very boring and vulgar dialogs, game design awkwardnesses), they sell good because they’re not trying to make something new while the genre is already under represented (especially when so many "object hunting" games are defining themselves as adventure games while it’s only a "Where’s Waldo : lost and found edition"). Why do you think Revolution Studio announced they will come back to the original schedule for all their upcoming productions ? Because that’s what the adventure gamers want. We agreed Telltale using 3D because we knew it was more convenient for a startup, they can easily tweak, reuse, and it costs way less than 2D art (mainly because of animation). But it doesn’t mean that’s what we wanted.
Taking risk is ok when you master your job. Telltale never reached that state. They haven’t yet. When just like a Nintendo game (for example) everybody will agree in a single voice that they’ve produced a work of art, then everything will be open (and Nintendo made Wii Music :P no one remember ^^). Right now, they’re still a long way until we see Telltale as a hall of fame candidate. But they can, if they slow down, maybe, the process, work way more in the writing, avoid all the cheap laugh elements they always try to add, be more subtle and more simple. There’s nothing better than simple things, really
Taking risk is ok when you master your job. Telltale never reached that state. They haven’t yet. When just like a Nintendo game
If you're under 25, forgive me for this....
...but Nintendo did a whole bunch of garbage while experimenting. They had games that froze, crashed, just plain didn't work, sports games with wrong colors, tons of typos, broken dialog etc etc etc while they brought out novelty trash just to make money. Nintendo was actually a really bad example of your point for an up and coming company.
It took Nintendo about 10 years to get their quality down pat(and I mean a seamless game for the time...they still put out bad games), granted they were innovating(and stealing) technology and Telltale is kind of trying to play catch-up while doing their own thing, it's not the same scenario. However, yes, Nintendo DID release products knowing full well they weren't "quality". Sometimes you just have to do your best at what you want to try.
The fact was the telltall reviews were early on as to promote and boost game sales when in fact it was done by the people who work for or made the game itself,Thats like john hammond giving his park a 10/10 rating before the people look at the rating then go in the park there only to find out...they got eaten.Thats just bad business practice,and by all means i have to point out:
Were the Telltall people who reviewed these game even gamers?
When i say gamer im talking about someone who played games like final fantasy,or resident evil,games that are both punishing yet rewarding.
Something that comes both as an adventure yet a challange.
Well then since Jurassic park the game isnt a game and dubbed more an interactive movie,then i must rate as a movie.
And as a movie then im gonna admit,it was bad,Hey yeah before you start writing those negative comments below in responace to this i'm gonna tell you both as a game and or as a movie this Jurassic spin was not good.
There was no major surprises,most the game you were just pressing buttons to sneak around or run away from the dinosaurs,aside from only 2 dinosaurs everything is trying to murder you,there was very little suspence or magic feel to it compared to the other 3 movies,and the ending itself was a toned down version of the third movie,you escape the rex jump in a boat and drive off...im sorry but theres no epicness there at all.
The game was only 4 hours long,and again most of it your just running away or sneaking around dinosaurs,if again this game was an interactive movie i wouldnt consider it anything like the other 3 movies,the dinosaurs didnt even act like animals they acted like ravenous monsters.
I am a gamer i have played mario,sonic,megaman,metroid,and years of gaming
I have a right to say what Telltall did was offensive,and i have a right to say when i dont enjoy something,when people brought those ratings down on them,it wasnt because of what Telltall games did its because their gamers,they know videogames and i know videogames and when something doesnt feel right we make it known to the public,when aliens vs predator came out for the ps3 and 360 i let it known the game was bad because it was too scripted and even worst then the pc counterpart with shorter gameplay,same can be said of jurassic park.
I actually enjoyed this game up until after the whole Nedry/embryo scavenging part,but everything after that felt blant...and tasteless like a "B" Grade monster movie,and again i know my movies as mentioned earlier im familar with classics as early as star wars,alien,jaws,terminator,so if anyone wants to call me out on this im gonna think your a closet case,the simple truth is whether it was a a game or a movie,jurassic park the game was a short unthrilling experience nothing like the movies,its something you rent and return.
Now does Telltale games deserve the harsh backlash it got from people who actually went out,spent money and played this game?The answer is yes.
Does Telltall games deserve the harsh treatment it got from Metacritic and 1-up for their actions of voluntarily having people within their own company pose as gamers whom quote:"Should have never never played the game beforehand till recently and are having a review based on their gamer experience and whether or not the game was enjoyable along with its advantages and its downfalls?"
Then the answer is also yes,they failed to mention any of its flaws and their not true reviewers,they are there to boost the game popularity which in turn affects its sales.The recent big price drop on the game speaks for itself.
I agree telltale are a company full of fanboys who get in a piss if they face the facts im glad you put what you think and not something to make everyone agree with you.
Oh and the bttf game was just like this, it had no action and the graphics were shit.
...but Nintendo did a whole bunch of garbage while experimenting. They had games that froze, crashed, just plain didn't work, sports games with wrong colors, tons of typos, broken dialog etc etc etc while they brought out novelty trash just to make money. Nintendo was actually a really bad example of your point for an up and coming company.
It took Nintendo about 10 years to get their quality down pat(and I mean a seamless game for the time...they still put out bad games), granted they were innovating(and stealing) technology and Telltale is kind of trying to play catch-up while doing their own thing, it's not the same scenario. However, yes, Nintendo DID release products knowing full well they weren't "quality". Sometimes you just have to do your best at what you want to try.
Excuse me? Could you give an example of a Nintendo PRODUCED game that was broken? Nintendo themselves, not just a game on a Nintendo system?
Also, STOLEN technology? Since f-ing when? You want thieves, I suggest you redirect your eyes towards Sony.
Now, I am NOT going to say that everything Nintendo does is gold. They've made some odd choices over the years. Releasing the DSiXL a couple of months before the announcement of the 3DS was one. And surely I don't need to bring up R.O.B. or the Virtual Boy.
I said broken dialog. And as for glitches and bugs, pick any title released before SMB3. As for reputation, look it up, in the early days they had a habit of firing or not hiring people and keeping "ideas". Okay, not technology as a tangible object, but design, thoughts, artwork. Keep in mind this was before you signed your life away to a company. A lot of people were not paid for contributions...especially before games had credits. Fairly common practise at the time...but still, it wasn't moral.
...and no, Sony isn't any better... even today. Want to pick on a company with a real shady past, Samsung or Panasonic....not game developers I know... but... awful history...and I like Samsung products..sad sad.
I'm not a fanboy either. I'm not partial to either Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. I have owned a Wii, PS3, and XBOX360. They got my money, I can pick on them :P
I said broken dialog. And as for glitches and bugs, pick any title released before SMB3. As for reputation, look it up, in the early days they had a habit of firing or not hiring people and keeping "ideas". Okay, not technology as a tangible object, but design, thoughts, artwork. Keep in mind this was before you signed your life away to a company. A lot of people were not paid for contributions...especially before games had credits. Fairly common practise at the time...but still, it wasn't moral.
...and no, Sony isn't any better... even today. Want to pick on a company with a real shady past, Samsung or Panasonic....not game developers I know... but... awful history...and I like Samsung products..sad sad.
I'm not a fanboy either. I'm not partial to either Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. I have owned a Wii, PS3, and XBOX360. They got my money, I can pick on them :P
Every game has glitches. No doubts about that. Sometimes graphical, sometimes game-breaking.
And at least Nintendo hasn't begun intentionally screwing over a good portion of their fans by cancelling two games with one of their biggest mascots and releasing what should've been DLC as a full-on retail release without giving a download option and rebooting a franchise that was in no need of a reboot. **** you Capcom. **** you.
...but Nintendo did a whole bunch of garbage while experimenting. They had games that froze, crashed, just plain didn't work, sports games with wrong colors, tons of typos, broken dialog etc etc etc while they brought out novelty trash just to make money. Nintendo was actually a really bad example of your point for an up and coming company.
It took Nintendo about 10 years to get their quality down pat(and I mean a seamless game for the time...they still put out bad games), granted they were innovating(and stealing) technology and Telltale is kind of trying to play catch-up while doing their own thing, it's not the same scenario. However, yes, Nintendo DID release products knowing full well they weren't "quality". Sometimes you just have to do your best at what you want to try.
I think this is a little bit off-topic, and I don’t see the point, except saying that 20 years ago, games were full of glitches, which is true (and obvious). And everything had to be invented back then. And I’m not 25 yet (24 ), but I’m aware of it. But it’s got nothing to do with what I’m talking about, in fact. I’m not talking about the "old" gaming industry, about Nintendo making gaming cards (or even Game&Watch). My point is simple : it’s ok to try to bend the rules once you master them. Telltale hasn’t made its "perfect" adventure game yet, mainly because of the structure, rush, and many flaws in the writing. Instead of flushing away elemental gameplay routines, they should first focus in their real flaws. Jurassic Park makes Telltale look like Fantasia’s "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" to me.
I agree telltale are a company full of fanboys who get in a piss if they face the facts im glad you put what you think and not something to make everyone agree with you.
Oh and the bttf game was just like this, it had no action and the graphics were shit.
I agree on the fanboys part and the graphics being shit but saying there was no action is not true, sure it was not as epic as the films but I loved the two deloreans chasing eachover and having to connect the satellite dish things!!!
I said broken dialog. And as for glitches and bugs, pick any title released before SMB3. As for reputation, look it up, in the early days they had a habit of firing or not hiring people and keeping "ideas". Okay, not technology as a tangible object, but design, thoughts, artwork. Keep in mind this was before you signed your life away to a company. A lot of people were not paid for contributions...especially before games had credits. Fairly common practise at the time...but still, it wasn't moral.
...and no, Sony isn't any better... even today. Want to pick on a company with a real shady past, Samsung or Panasonic....not game developers I know... but... awful history...and I like Samsung products..sad sad.
I'm not a fanboy either. I'm not partial to either Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. I have owned a Wii, PS3, and XBOX360. They got my money, I can pick on them :P
Any game before SMB3? Huh? SMB3 had bugs but the ones before it were not unplayable due to bugs. SMB, Zelda, Metroid, all of these games were pretty good actually. No game ending glitches either.
The wholeeeeeeee point was that companies DO release games they don't feel are perfect. Okay? Whether it's Sony, Nintendo, Telltale. They do what they can with the time, resources, people allotted. Since we're talking JP, on PC with the controller(the primary intended method), I encountered zero problems with the game(aside from the 2 dialogue repetitions in episode 1). Music cued perfectly, dialogue matched, no button issues, no animation problems. Was the game great? No. Did it work great? Yes.
Absolutely. But remember that you’re the one who talked about bugs, while it was totally unrelated. I’m glad now you agree that it was, indeed, uncalled for.
Comments
I’m following Telltale since the first Bone. I remember how happy I was when they announced they were going to bring back Sam&Max to life. It came out, and it felt like a draft, a fangame (with budget) spin off, but scribbled from the heart. Episode after episode, listening to the customers on this very board, they tried their best to improve what they could. Episodic game was a new genre, Telltale was a new company. We could forgive them almost everything. They had already some major points right : voice acting was great, music was stunning, price was set right.
It was in 2006.
Then what happened ? I don’t know.
The games became different. S&M Season 2 was okay, with some very funny moments, but the writing seemed stuck at the draft level, and the meal started to taste a little bit… reheated. But it’s okay, we’re adventure gamers, we’ve waited for so long, we can bear with it. Popularity growing, I don’t know how it affected the development, but it seemed like Telltale was still not ready for a more challenging project. But they launched Monkey Island anyway. All the fans were crazy ; so was I. I don’t know if they (the fans) really liked it though, because that’s where I’ve started to fade away. Direct control was a mistake for me, a move to please console gamers, affecting the narration in an epic way that doesn’t suit the genre at all (and from Grim Fandango to Escape from Monkey Island, we’ve had the evidences, but let’s skip to another topic). Episodic structure was not good enough, writing was… not that good (doesn’t mean everything was bad though, and Armato&Boen were perfect in their roles), puzzle were still poorly designed, and too many reused elements everywhere. It was like the constraints that we thought in the beginning were due to a lack of employees/budget because Telltale was a small company were still all there, even with the most prestigious license of the adventure gaming in their hands. Even with a way bigger customer basis. And increasing. And becoming more popular, even in non-english speaking countries.
So TTG made The Devil’s Playhouse. I don’t understand how it can be that wrong. Why the scenario is so complex that you even sometimes just click randomly to trigger a cutscene without having any idea of why and what could possibly be the outcome ? I’m an adventurer. I live far from my homeland, in a foreign country, and I have to deal with problems in a foreign language everyday, deep into a totally different culture. And that’s really exciting. But what motivates me is the possible outcome. Here, the only reward I felt in the last TTG games was to see a new (not that beautiful, not that well designed) set. And I played the BttF demo, it was even hard to get through it, it was so unconvincing. And I played W&G, I bought the entire season, just played three episodes, it was also totally unconvincing (but the graphics were neat). I didn’t even try to play Jurassic Park (didn’t even read any review, customer or professional, actually), but reading that, I feel so sorry.
Yes, I feel sorry.
After bringing all my support to that company, saying all that good from this little sprout in the adventure gaming desolated soil, I don’t recognize it anymore. Maybe I was all wrong since the beginning. Maybe you’ve been successful in convincing us (me) that it was the beginning but in fact you thought the goal was already reached. I don’t know. But I’m sad.
I’ve recently replayed the first two Broken Sword and Beneath a Steel Sky (as you may know, Revolution Software is back in the business
I’m not attacking you, sometimes constraints make our work not as good as we wish it could be, sometimes there’s just a malfunction in the society, and as we know, every chain will lower its strength to the weakest link. Then, don’t be proud of it. You can be proud of a nice 3D model you’ve been assigned to, and which turned out to look stunning in the final game. But why trying to convince people that the final product isn’t what it actually is ? Let the customers talk. Your job’s done. Your best shot may belong to the future… or to the past (Abe Lincoln is dead).
It’s not fair play.
I’m not following TTG’s new projects anymore, it’s been quite a while now, because instead of making progress, they’ve changed the contemplative aspect of adventure gaming into a passive entertainment*. I wish I’ll be surprised some day, and hope I’ll be as happy to buy a shiny new TTG game’s icon (no matter what’s the device) as I was when TTG was the symbol of the return of the good old adventure gaming.
*Heavy Rain was on the edge, but never crossed the line, you always know what you have to do, and have a very clever illusion of choice… like a movie director’s. Besides, the art, the gameplay and the writing allow this game to get rid of puzzle, just like Shenmue did on his time.
Though, for their defense, at least we KNEW JP would be bad. While they lied about BTTF.
I also got to thank the few people who actually played Heavy Rain, because it was not about "QTE", it was about choices, doing or NOT doing the action prompted on screen, that was really neat, and a clever way to use QTE and giving the player actual choices and way to act, instead of the button mashing crap we got in games like God of War (but it's just boss scenes) or... Jurassic Park (the whole game ...) * sigh * .
But I gotta say the troll about MGS4 should just shut the F up. As if MGS 2 and 3 weren't story heavy. A game can allow itself to have a strong and long story, as long as it has actual GAMEPLAY. You don't like MGS, don't play MGS. Millions of people do love it, because there is clever gameplay behind it to support the heavy story.
Even a story driven game, like Shadow of Memories, proved that it is possible to make a great gaming experience while basing everything on the story. The key word is : CHOICE.
If it's only story driven, it HAS to give the player the ability to CHOOSE what to do. Otherwise, it's in no way a game. It's tolerated if the game uses "story mechanics" instead of actual "gamepad/keyboard mechanics". You make choices to get further, find new stuff etc... There's always gonna have exploration, items to pick up etc...
BTTF removed choices, implication, smart story and dialogs... It was just "walk and click that thing to trigger an unbelievable magical cut scene".
JP understood walking was pointless in BTTF (with all those invisible walls, it turned the simple act of walking into something painful and in no way enjoyable as it SHOULD have been ...), but instead of fixing it they... got rid of it ...
Problem is, now we get no exploration, no choice (come on, don't dare to talk about the "plumbing" answer or stuff), repetitive and forced action sequence that compose the WHOLE game...
That is ridiculous. Universal went to the wrong people.
Now, I trust in The Walking Dead, because of Jake, and because it looks amazing.
Their last chance for me, is King Quest. If they fail that, I won't just "dislike" telltale, I will hate them for ruining all my favorite licences
also :
I'm sick of people saying the writing on BTTF and JP is "INCRADIBULE IT IS MAGNIFICENT", wait, what ?
I'm not saying it's BAD but, seriously ? How in the world is that brillant writing ? Haven't you played any adventure game before ... ?
I don't know, I'm playing Gabriel Knight 1 right now, let me tell you I'm choking when I read those kind of comments about those two games' writing ...
I guess the writing was better on JP than BTTF. On BTTF I just have everything from scratch, besides the voice acting and MJ Fox (what a shame...) cameo.
I thought the game was actually pretty good. Its obviously not going to be for everyone, but I think it was good enough to stand on its own merit.
I really hope this isnt the start of some terrible downwards slide for your company Telltale. I really do.
guys come on, its got a good story line, and they only made several games so far, so their still working on it, give ehhm a brake
Also, giving them a break doesn't mean supporting them and buying every single game just because they're "still working on it". I'm not paying for Jurassic Park and I'm going to let them know why. That's giving them a break. Otherwise they'll just continue to make severely lacking products like this one. Fans don't exist to hang on their idol's every whim, they exist because they made something the fans enjoy and fans must continue to support them by giving them feedback.
why are you on this website then, i dont understand, if your not fans with telltale, why are you on?
Cause we WERE fans ? And we still care ? (for now, another trash like BTTF and I'm done)
And the salted pork is particularly good.
So much negativity. I guess I just don't get why BttF and JP are being hated on. I can sort of understand why someone might not like it, but outright hatred against the company that made it, I just don't get. Maybe it's because every one of my friends that have played either game have enjoyed them. I dunno.
BTW Strayth, I find it the height of irony that you're railing against BttF, but you have Marty as your icon.:p
Some employess gave their own game a ten, some people got mad, others didn't care. In the end it doesn't matter. I enjoyed the game.
But I can see why this could leave a bad taste in peoples mouth. Unfortunitly, a lot of people depend on reviews because they are unable to voice their own opininos. They read a review and all of a sudden, with out even trying it for themselves, that review is set in stone. So by that logic, reviews can be used as a type of bait to get people to play the game.
Give the game a ten, people see that, flock to buy it, and it doesn't matter if they enjoy it or not cause they already paid. Was this the employees intention? We'll never know. Maybe they were just having an excitment high and wanted to express that using the user review section. That section, btw, will be full of other reviews with 10's, 8's, 5's 0's and you'll see an overall average. But that adverage means nothing. Why? Because it's not your opinion. You can't really know for sure if you'll like the game based on someone elses opinion. You have to play it yourself.
.... I'm speaking in circles it seems. My opinion on this whole situation still stands. I don't really care cause I'm enjoying the game.
I hate the concept that every single post in a thread must be exactly about whatever the topic of the thread is. If a thread goes off on a semi-related tangent, let it. It's not a big deal. Dividing and merging threads kills any and all discussion happening in them.
They did not send out review copies which meant the reviews where empty and then they posted their fake 10/10 reviews which gave the game a temporary perfect meta critic score in an attempt to sell more games on a forged premise that it was a spectacular game before any real person even had a chance to review it.
I support people giving the game 0/10 on mere principle. Developers need to understand that forged reviews will not be tolerated and that doing so will have consequences. Painful ones right in the wallet
You know, I've said it several f-ing times in this thread. Not everyone at TellTale did this. Nor did everyone at TellTale work on Jurassic Park. Frankly, they might have been people that ACTUALLY PLAYED THE GAME.
Also, I find this entire situation to be completely full of BS. Do you want to know why? Metacritic started the investigation on this matter because of one thing: The reviews used proper grammar and spelling. That is BS.
Oh please. The reviewer referred to the game as "Heavy Rain as directed by Spielberg" When reviewing his own freaking game while posing as an anonymous user. That is complete bullshit and the ensuing shitstorm was well deserved. If I wanted to read what the developers thought about their own freaking game I would check their website and the information would be useless. People go to metacritic to see what regular users have to say about games. Actual reviews by unbiased people who played the game and want to express their opinion on it.
Then 0/10 reviews by people who are pissed are just as wrong then.
You are aware that the grammar and spelling were merely clues that prompted further investigation, which then led to evidence indicating that Telltale employees were indeed responsible? I have difficulty grasping how the nature of the initial clues that lead to the discovery of some action by some party could have any bearing on whether the action in question should be considered right or wrong.
I think it's wrong of them to assume that a normal person writing a review for a game will not use proper grammar.
Not everyone in the world writes their own reviews like this: "OMG this game roxxorz!!!!11 kthxbai!"
Therefore, I find it extremely insulting that they automatically assumed that, since the reviews were written intelligently, they must not be real gamers.
But they didn't "assume". They suspected and they investigated further. Again, I fail to see how the clues that prompted further inquiry could have any bearing on whether the action is right or wrong.
Also, I don't think it was the spelling and grammar strictly speaking; it was the language and tone of the comments, which screamed "marketing-speak". I see this kind of thing on the iOS and Mac App Stores all the time: a brand new game starts off with a handful of five-star "reviews", all of which have been obviously parroted from the publisher's promotional materials.
Not really because they are just expressing how upset they are with TTG while TTG actually forged the games meta score to make people think the game was better than it actually was to trick people into buying the game rather than let the game stand on its own merit. They where so afraid of real opinions on the game that they saw the need to fake opinions. That is ironically TTG giving their own game a bad review.
a 10/10 game does not need a forged meta score. The game stands up on its own from real reviews. The real reviews have however given the game a much less flattering image.
Were the Telltall people who reviewed these game even gamers?
When i say gamer im talking about someone who played games like final fantasy,or resident evil,games that are both punishing yet rewarding.
Something that comes both as an adventure yet a challange.
Well then since Jurassic park the game isnt a game and dubbed more an interactive movie,then i must rate as a movie.
And as a movie then im gonna admit,it was bad,Hey yeah before you start writing those negative comments below in responace to this i'm gonna tell you both as a game and or as a movie this Jurassic spin was not good.
There was no major surprises,most the game you were just pressing buttons to sneak around or run away from the dinosaurs,aside from only 2 dinosaurs everything is trying to murder you,there was very little suspence or magic feel to it compared to the other 3 movies,and the ending itself was a toned down version of the third movie,you escape the rex jump in a boat and drive off...im sorry but theres no epicness there at all.
The game was only 4 hours long,and again most of it your just running away or sneaking around dinosaurs,if again this game was an interactive movie i wouldnt consider it anything like the other 3 movies,the dinosaurs didnt even act like animals they acted like ravenous monsters.
I am a gamer i have played mario,sonic,megaman,metroid,and years of gaming
I have a right to say what Telltall did was offensive,and i have a right to say when i dont enjoy something,when people brought those ratings down on them,it wasnt because of what Telltall games did its because their gamers,they know videogames and i know videogames and when something doesnt feel right we make it known to the public,when aliens vs predator came out for the ps3 and 360 i let it known the game was bad because it was too scripted and even worst then the pc counterpart with shorter gameplay,same can be said of jurassic park.
I actually enjoyed this game up until after the whole Nedry/embryo scavenging part,but everything after that felt blant...and tasteless like a "B" Grade monster movie,and again i know my movies as mentioned earlier im familar with classics as early as star wars,alien,jaws,terminator,so if anyone wants to call me out on this im gonna think your a closet case,the simple truth is whether it was a a game or a movie,jurassic park the game was a short unthrilling experience nothing like the movies,its something you rent and return.
Now does Telltale games deserve the harsh backlash it got from people who actually went out,spent money and played this game?The answer is yes.
Does Telltall games deserve the harsh treatment it got from Metacritic and 1-up for their actions of voluntarily having people within their own company pose as gamers whom quote:"Should have never never played the game beforehand till recently and are having a review based on their gamer experience and whether or not the game was enjoyable along with its advantages and its downfalls?"
Then the answer is also yes,they failed to mention any of its flaws and their not true reviewers,they are there to boost the game popularity which in turn affects its sales.The recent big price drop on the game speaks for itself.
I'm here because I woke up at 3 AM with a sore throat, read that lovely(read: disgusting, deplorable, gag-inducing) press-skewing blog post(if you don't read the blog, read today's post! It's the worst piece of shit you'll ever read! Look up the scores of the reviews cited!), and got to wondering about the press goings-on in Jurassic Park land. Woah, this was a rather nasty thing to pop up!
I've not been posting here. After all, I have:
-Not bought or played Jurassic Park, nor do I plan to. With Back to the Future, I'd actually PAID for that garbage, I'd actually PLAYED it, and frankly I had thoughts on the matter that were based on very in-depth analysis of the gameplay and its lack of connection to the narrative elements occuring on screen. Not so here. I could only really bash a basic direction Telltale is going, bash their press, but without playing the game I can't levy anything concrete against it.
-Never been a Jurassic Park fan
-had classes and tests to take
-SKYRIM
-MORE SKYRIM
-OH MY GOD WHERE DID MY TIME GO, OH RIGHT, TO SKYRIM
-Honestly got sick of dealing with a realm in which "WHO GIVES FIVE FUCKS ABOUT GAMEPLAY?" is considered an actual, worthwhile point by the greatest defenders of a game.
A few points:
1. Gamespot definitely poorly worded what prompted the investigation. Proper spelling and grammar? They should have iterated more clearly that:
-These were 10/10 reviews for a game that has had a very negative press response.
-They praised the developer and the game in a way that felt "press-y"
-They did not read like user reviews
These are things that arouse suspicion, and when it was found that the Metacritic user IDs were ones known to be used by Telltale employees with some rather quick Google-fu, Telltale defended the reviewers. This WAS DONE BY TELLTALE, and we HAVE to establish that in order for any conversation of the matter to take place.
2. Having a public opinion of your work is fine, but it's NOT COOL to do so under the guise of a "user" without even placing a disclaimer on said review. People go to user reviews to see what people who've played the game think about it. Developers have plenty of avenues to express their thoughts, positively, without being the least bit deceptive. Don't tell me that this was about expression. This was about raising the average review score on a site that is known for its effect on sales, and frankly, that's deplorable no matter how good you think the game is. To put it in one simple sentence:
DECEPTION is bad and WILLFULLY SKEWING REVIEW NUMBERS in your favor is also bad.
3. Intentionally conflating people who have concrete complaints about a product with those who have absolutely stupid, or at least incidental, complaints about a product is willful misdirection of the conversation. If you are going to reply to a person who has made complaints, and you are wanting to nullify them, THEIR points have to be addressed, NOT the points made by some random individual somewhere else on the same matter, even if they share the same "side"(I for one would HATE, for example, to be confused with a fellow who hates Back to the Future: The Game for art style reasons, for not having free-roaming, for not being a GTA rip-off, for not having enough time periods, or for not having every single actor from the films playing their roles, as those are NOT my complaints and I don't want someone acting as if they are)
4. My opinion on this matter is that this practice is vile and disgusting. While I feel Gamespot's article is sadly somewhat poorly written, their core points are on the whole solid. Suspicious reviews popped up, they looked into it with some simple Googling, and found that Telltale employees were obscure enough to not be immediately recognizable as employees at a glance while not smart enough to cover their tracks when performing an action which was OBVIOUSLY illicit. They are right in saying that defending this action on those grounds shows incompetence more than anything.
The quality of the game doesn't matter. It could be a 10/10, this would still be wrong.
Whether or not the employee thought it was a 10/10 doesn't matter. Even if that's his or her opinion, reviewing your own work inherently creates a position of bias, especially on industry-affecting Metacritic, and it's extremely poor form to not even include a disclaimer.
Even with a disclaimer, it's poor form because it skews a user number that is NOT meant to be an average of the opinions of the users and the game's press department.
IF YOU SAY I CARE ABOUT THE JEEP I WILL GUT YOU.
I understand that blog post as a protest from TT team, to prove that there's something good in this game, and it's not all bad - and maybe they feel attacked by negative response & scandals.
It's the first post made by "Telltale Team", and not by Alan himself or Jake or some other specific TT member. And the QUANTITY of the picks is so big that it truely seems a protest.
To some extent I agree to the protest, because this game it's not as bad as almost anyone says - and it actually introduce some great things.
(One of the greatest things is that you don't need to walk around, such a useless heritage of old school games. I always say that most of the users use double click to travel trhoug locations, because walking is almost useless and really boring.)
BTW, any other company would have produced another game like Sam&Max, and would have stick to that formula forever to avoid financial risks in a field (the graphic adventures one) that's full of dangerous path. Just see what happened to Bill Tiller's Autumn Moon.
Instead of appreciating the risks of jumping into the void, anyone laughs at the fall of the body.
I'm not saying that JP is a masterpiece. But at least is far better than BTTF. JP tries to explore new territories, but detractors just enjoy old things - until they watch the final product and call it "derivative".
It's a pity that TT will not be able to explore anymore by the fear of another JP-case.
And about the reviews: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What I have to point out instead is how you ended to trust such a loose user valuation method just to bash the actual TT directions.
Why now USERS review become so important? After all TT did not paid Metacritic to tell "the game is good".
It is not true. Walking is not boring. Walking ten times in the same direction of the same location can be boring when you suddenly have an idea about a puzzle and it’s far from your actual location. Remember that adventure game is a contemplative pleasure, it’s about reading/listening stories, it’s about walking peacefully in a beautiful set, discovering it piece by piece, trying to figure out the personality of who you are playing, by listening to his comments, etc. Walking is not boring. That’s what many people who hated Heavy Rain pointed out and made fun of (hahaha you walk, you don’t run -_-)… and that’s exactly what the people who actually liked the game (and they’re a majority) liked in it : the old investigation process of a guy wandering until he finds a clue. That’s what many adventure gamers like, that’s why the first Sam&Max was so popular, that’s why the broken swords/beneath a steel sky are so popular (an even now, more than ten years after, still selling incredibly good on iOS without any marketing).
You tell me about Autumn Moon ? I tell you about Pendulo. Selling very good, right ? What was wrong about autumn moon it’s because it was obviously aimed for kids, but you know what the kids play now. They all think that reading is boring. While Pendulo’s titles are not that good (bad writing, very boring and vulgar dialogs, game design awkwardnesses), they sell good because they’re not trying to make something new while the genre is already under represented (especially when so many "object hunting" games are defining themselves as adventure games while it’s only a "Where’s Waldo : lost and found edition"). Why do you think Revolution Studio announced they will come back to the original schedule for all their upcoming productions ? Because that’s what the adventure gamers want. We agreed Telltale using 3D because we knew it was more convenient for a startup, they can easily tweak, reuse, and it costs way less than 2D art (mainly because of animation). But it doesn’t mean that’s what we wanted.
Taking risk is ok when you master your job. Telltale never reached that state. They haven’t yet. When just like a Nintendo game (for example) everybody will agree in a single voice that they’ve produced a work of art, then everything will be open (and Nintendo made Wii Music :P no one remember ^^). Right now, they’re still a long way until we see Telltale as a hall of fame candidate. But they can, if they slow down, maybe, the process, work way more in the writing, avoid all the cheap laugh elements they always try to add, be more subtle and more simple. There’s nothing better than simple things, really
If you're under 25, forgive me for this....
...but Nintendo did a whole bunch of garbage while experimenting. They had games that froze, crashed, just plain didn't work, sports games with wrong colors, tons of typos, broken dialog etc etc etc while they brought out novelty trash just to make money. Nintendo was actually a really bad example of your point for an up and coming company.
It took Nintendo about 10 years to get their quality down pat(and I mean a seamless game for the time...they still put out bad games), granted they were innovating(and stealing) technology and Telltale is kind of trying to play catch-up while doing their own thing, it's not the same scenario. However, yes, Nintendo DID release products knowing full well they weren't "quality". Sometimes you just have to do your best at what you want to try.
I agree telltale are a company full of fanboys who get in a piss if they face the facts im glad you put what you think and not something to make everyone agree with you.
Oh and the bttf game was just like this, it had no action and the graphics were shit.
Excuse me? Could you give an example of a Nintendo PRODUCED game that was broken? Nintendo themselves, not just a game on a Nintendo system?
Also, STOLEN technology? Since f-ing when? You want thieves, I suggest you redirect your eyes towards Sony.
Now, I am NOT going to say that everything Nintendo does is gold. They've made some odd choices over the years. Releasing the DSiXL a couple of months before the announcement of the 3DS was one. And surely I don't need to bring up R.O.B. or the Virtual Boy.
...and no, Sony isn't any better... even today. Want to pick on a company with a real shady past, Samsung or Panasonic....not game developers I know... but... awful history...and I like Samsung products..sad sad.
I'm not a fanboy either. I'm not partial to either Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. I have owned a Wii, PS3, and XBOX360. They got my money, I can pick on them :P
Every game has glitches. No doubts about that. Sometimes graphical, sometimes game-breaking.
And at least Nintendo hasn't begun intentionally screwing over a good portion of their fans by cancelling two games with one of their biggest mascots and releasing what should've been DLC as a full-on retail release without giving a download option and rebooting a franchise that was in no need of a reboot. **** you Capcom. **** you.
I think this is a little bit off-topic, and I don’t see the point, except saying that 20 years ago, games were full of glitches, which is true (and obvious). And everything had to be invented back then. And I’m not 25 yet (24
I agree on the fanboys part and the graphics being shit but saying there was no action is not true, sure it was not as epic as the films but I loved the two deloreans chasing eachover and having to connect the satellite dish things!!!
(and im off topic... sorry)
Any game before SMB3? Huh? SMB3 had bugs but the ones before it were not unplayable due to bugs. SMB, Zelda, Metroid, all of these games were pretty good actually. No game ending glitches either.