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

DysonDyson
edited April 2009 in Shopping or Activation Support
As the title states. I was interested in picking up the first episode -- to see if I'd really like the series, but I really don't want to buy all 4 episodes in one go. So is there going to be an option either here or on Steam to buy the episodes standalone? If not, then I guess I'll just give these a miss.

Comments

  • Bryko614Bryko614
    edited March 2009
    Unfortunately, on some other thread the TellTale staff confirmed that on PC you can only buy every episode together.
  • tobartobar
    edited March 2009
    Download the demo, it's a good taste of the game. Should be able to make a decision from that I think.
  • BarcodeukBarcodeuk
    edited March 2009
    The game is great so don't worry it's not money wasted.

    I'm now late for work, this game should have a health warning. :)
  • tobartobar
    edited March 2009
    Heh, I know what you mean Barcodeuk, it's gonna be 3 in the AM and I have to be up at 8!
  • DysonDyson
    edited March 2009
    The demo is not enough for me to dertimine if I will like the other 3 stories. So I guess I'll just skip all these, plenty of other games out there anyhow. And I'm sure Telltale games won't mind losing a sale. So, thanks anyhow.
  • leChuckieleChuckie
    edited March 2009
    Does that not slightly defeat the point of the episodic model if you can't buy individual episodes? I would be interested in hearing Telltale's reasoning behind this.
  • BancoLavaderoBancoLavadero
    edited March 2009
    I second you, leChuckie.

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

    For the record, I bought the game and enjoyed it a lot. You ought to as well.
  • NickTTGNickTTG Telltale Alumni
    edited March 2009
    I don't know why the decision was made to sell W&G as a series instead of individual episodes, but I will say that "episodic" definitely doesn't mean individually priced and packaged games.
  • Rather DashingRather Dashing
    edited March 2009
    The only reason I can think of is to reduce complexity on the buyer's side, and to de-clutter the shopfront? But that'd be ridiculous, considering that such a thing could be fixed by making one icon for each season on the storefront, with a drop-down menu for each episode.

    Must be something more complicated.
  • Pantagruel's FriendPantagruel's Friend
    edited March 2009
    NickTTG wrote: »
    but I will say that "episodic" definitely doesn't mean individually priced and packaged games.

    unless you can quote Webster on that, I'm inclined to disagree :)
  • ChuckChuck
    edited March 2009
    Pantagruel's Friend wrote: »
    unless you can quote Webster on that, I'm inclined to disagree :)
    
    "Episodic"

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


    "Episodic" refers to how the story's told, not how it's sold. If you buy a DVD set of a season of "Lost," it's still a series of episodes.
  • HappyCoincidenceHappyCoincidence
    edited March 2009
    Aaaaand there's your next license.
  • chris95chris95
    edited March 2009
    In the middle of financial meltdown its disappointing that we have to buy all W&G episodes upfront. (What has changed that the Sam & Max model had to be abandoned?).

    I have this thing about being asked to pay for something I won't get for a few months....
  • Sir LemmingSir Lemming
    edited March 2009
    Well, the bottom line is that if you buy it now you're getting 4 episodes for $30, which is pretty much the lowest price yet. Considering how few people only buy one or two episodes, I think it's quite a nice deal.
  • The BurninatorThe Burninator
    edited March 2009
    Well then I'm not getting it, I just want the first one.


    EDIT: Nevermind, I'll just get them all, but I'm dissapointed that I have to spend it all at once.... and I hope Telltale don't to this again.
  • HappyCoincidenceHappyCoincidence
    edited March 2009
    My understanding of the situation is that Telltale is experimenting. I'm guessing there were a lot of 'stragglers' in the past who bought an episode from a series and didn't upgrade or buy more. So Telltale wants to see if these stragglers, given an all-or-nothing choice, will buy more or less. I'm sure that if the 'stragglers' don't buy at all, it's not impossible that we'll see individual episodes for sale a few months down the line. Nothing ever got done efficiently without changing the formula up now and then. Am I close?

    P.S. great job with the game! Enjoying it thoroughly.
  • chris95chris95
    edited March 2009
    Be nice to get this cleared up by a company rep!

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

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

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

    My cent's worth? Telltale have cash flow problems just like the rest of us!!
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited March 2009
    Nothing ever got done efficiently without changing the formula up now and then.

    Amen to that. :D

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

    So, defining episodic gaming as "the ability to buy one episode at a time" is definitely not a no-brainer for us. We hope that people interested in Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures will pick up the full season (or check it out on Xbox, where episodes will be sold individually), but if you can't do that for financial reasons or simply don't want to, of course that's your choice!
  • chris95chris95
    edited March 2009
    Many thanks for the reply Emily.

    I don't want to prolong this thread unnecessarliy, but if episodes can be bought individuallly for the XBox 360, why not for the PC?
  • SoultakerSoultaker
    edited March 2009
    Emily wrote: »
    We hope that people interested in Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures will pick up the full season (or check it out on Xbox, where episodes will be sold individually), but if you can't do that for financial reasons or simply don't want to, of course that's your choice!
    What I really liked about the pricing structure for the Sam & Max games was that you could buy only the first episode for a reasonable price to see if you like it and upgrade to the full season at no additional cost later on, allowing you to basically get an extended demo for cheap. This was one of the reasons I gave Sam & Max a chance, as I wasn't familiar with Telltale Games at the time and wouldn't feel comfortable buying into the whole season when I wasn't sure it was something I'd like.

    So even if a majority of your customers ended up buying the full season, the single-episode purchase option may well have reeled in a lot of potential customers. Of course, you have the actual sales data that I am only speculating about, so I trust this decision wasn't taken lightly, but I hope you're not shooting yourself in the foot here by preventing casual gamers from trying out just a single episode.
  • QuuuxQuuux
    edited March 2009
    Chuck wrote: »
    "Episodic" refers to how the story's told, not how it's sold. If you buy a DVD set of a season of "Lost," it's still a series of episodes.
    HappyCoincidence wrote: »
    Aaaaand there's your next license.

    No thanks. I'd rather have episodic MacGyver games.
  • DihardDihard
    edited April 2009
    Emily wrote: »
    We hope that people interested in Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures will pick up the full season (or check it out on Xbox, where episodes will be sold individually), but if you can't do that for financial reasons or simply don't want to, of course that's your choice!
    How come 360 owners can buy each episode individually, while PC gamers who, along with Wii gamers, have been supporting Telltale thus far, cannot?
  • chris95chris95
    edited April 2009
    Dihard wrote: »
    How come 360 owners can buy each episode individually, while PC gamers who, along with Wii gamers, have been supporting Telltale thus far, cannot?

    Check my earlier post - I asked the same question. I'm getting the impression that this decision is going down like a lead ballon with long-time PC players/Telltale supporters. A company response would be nice....
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited April 2009
    Xbox Live Arcade doesn't offer a season bundling option for games before they're released, so selling the W&G episodes individually is our only option on Xbox. If offering Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures as a full four-episode bundle had been an option on Xbox Live Arcade, that's probably what we would have done.
  • MussKattMussKatt
    edited April 2009
    The demo gives you a decent enough feel if you'll like it or not. I think TellTale proved so far that we can trust them, after all, all of there series have improved the further we got in the seasons, didn't they?:D I dropped the monay without giving it a tought for this series and trust me, it's awesome.

    Of course it doesn't have a deathmatch mode online but.... (j/k)
  • deadlinejondeadlinejon
    edited April 2009
    MussKatt wrote: »
    The demo gives you a decent enough feel if you'll like it or not. I think TellTale proved so far that we can trust them, after all, all of there series have improved the further we got in the seasons, didn't they?:D I dropped the monay without giving it a tought for this series and trust me, it's awesome.

    Of course it doesn't have a deathmatch mode online but.... (j/k)

    amen. id get it, but i need money.
This discussion has been closed.