The employees of TTG arent lying to us. It takes time to make two great games. We can be happy that TTG is even making this fuckin awesome games (sorry my language)!
It's a nice idea in theory but "Won't come out 'till ____" tends to be translated into "Will come out on ____" among fans. At that point, they might as well give out an expected release date, which of course is problematic for them.
Then again, the "Will come out before ____" that they're using right now has been taken by some to mean "Will come out a month before ____" so clearly that's not working too well either.
To me, the best thing to say would be something like "Is slated to be released sometime between ____ and ____, but probably more towards the later date," but people would probably still put way too much expectation on first date given.
Same thing I've meant this whole time. If I don't get to play this when everyone else does, because they decided without telling anyone not to release it on my console, I'm going to be very upset, especially since I'll have to leave the forum-my only source of updates,-because of all the spoilers.
It will come, and it will probably be awesome. Once it is out, you'll be like "This was totally worth the wait" and immediately start complaining that episode two should've shipped already.
I don't know why Telltale don't just say "Hi guys. Our estimated release date is sometime after now. It's ready when it's ready. You'll be happy when it comes, so relax, and prepare to have everything you love ripped away from you in horrifying and increasingly terrible ways, but this time, as a child!"
He is lying! it's a conspiracy! I found something... wait let me show you.. uh..oh. lost it.. damnit. argg I will find it again I swear and then I show the woooorld!
Don't worry, we'll have some new info before you know it. According to Job Stauffer we will be getting some info after Thanksgiving - Sometime after December 1. Telltale only have about four weeks left to release episodes for both The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us before Christmas. Something is sure to happen during these first two weeks about one of the games.
It will come, and it will probably be awesome. Once it is out, you'll be like "This was totally worth the wait" and immediately start complain… moreing that episode two should've shipped already.
I don't know why Telltale don't just say "Hi guys. Our estimated release date is sometime after now. It's ready when it's ready. You'll be happy when it comes, so relax, and prepare to have everything you love ripped away from you in horrifying and increasingly terrible ways, but this time, as a child!"
It's a nice idea in theory but "Won't come out 'till ____" tends to be translated into "Will come out on ____" among fans. At that point, they… more might as well give out an expected release date, which of course is problematic for them.
Then again, the "Will come out before ____" that they're using right now has been taken by some to mean "Will come out a month before ____" so clearly that's not working too well either.
To me, the best thing to say would be something like "Is slated to be released sometime between ____ and ____, but probably more towards the later date," but people would probably still put way too much expectation on first date given.
No way jobstaffer is the only one taking a week vacation. Like I said thanksgiving last New Years at least 30% of the work force will take a sizeable vacation.
I think there is a 50/50 chance one game comes in December be it the wolf or TWD.
It was never announced as coming in November by Telltale. Telltale has only ever announced Fall 2013 (which ends on December 20th, 2013) and before Christmas (which is December 25th).
Steam just made a blind guess in order to have something in their database, and when they realized they were wrong, adjusted it to December. Only trust sources that come directly through Telltale staff (either statements made by those marked as staff on these forums, on Telltale's facebook or twitter pages, on the Telltale blog, or by Telltale staff directly in interviews with gaming sites or through official press releases). Everything else is just a wild guess, and should be taken as false information.
This forum's FAQ is a good way to know what's going on with The Walking Dead: Season Two, as it's constantly updated with the latest information once it's revealed. The FAQ is maintained by moderators rather than Telltale staff, but we only update it with information that comes directly from Telltale staff themselves.
I really hope it is released on a tuesday, so that its on PSN. It would really suck if it was released on a different day for people like me who have PS3 or Vita. Telltale PLEASE release on a Tuesday!!!
I really hope it is released on a tuesday, so that its on PSN. It would really suck if it was released on a different day for people like me who have PS3 or Vita. Telltale PLEASE release on a Tuesday!!!
telltale let me tell you something number 1 stop with this Coming soon crap do you know how pissed you are making your fans and they will soon lose trust in you if you keep this up. Number 2 You are probably the only game Company that cant give us a freakin release date its been almost a year so give us a release date . I don't know about you but I am getting fed up with your company and if you keep this crap up a lot of people will be pissed
That's what people said before Ep. 2 was released.
There were plenty of people who said they "wouldn't buy anymore episodes" and I guarantee that 95% of them actually bought the rest of the season and 400 days.
History repeats it seems.
telltale let me tell you something number 1 stop with this Coming soon crap do you know how pissed you are making your fans and they will soon… more lose trust in you if you keep this up. Number 2 You are probably the only game Company that cant give us a freakin release date its been almost a year so give us a release date . I don't know about you but I am getting fed up with your company and if you keep this crap up a lot of people will be pissed
Ask yourself who would they want to get out the word to? People who have played Season 1 already know about Season 2 and are looking forward to it. People who have not played Season 1 aren't going to be convinced by a commercial to buy Season 2. The way to get more people interested in Season 2 is to get more people playing Season 1. That's where the GOTY edition comes in.
That's what people said before Ep. 2 was released.
There were plenty of people who said they "wouldn't buy anymore episodes" and I guarantee that 95% of them actually bought the rest of the season and 400 days.
History repeats it seems.
@domewing333 I'm not really plugged in to the kid gamers anymore so I asked my son about this. He said that 90% of the gamers interested in the zombie genre already seeked out and played TWDS1. It would have been pretty hard to miss. It's not like they are remaking aliens colonial marines what failed miserably. They are making a GOTY a edition of a already very popular well known game. My son went on to tell me that in a few months the GOTY edition will be in the 9.99 value game bin at Walmart with the rest of the ps3 greatest hits and other remade games.
I think the GOTY commercials are okay, but I find it comical that there are no TWDS2 teaser commercials on the TV. I've seen that comment by Job Stauffer saying that literally every single second of TWDs2 has spoilers.... Okay...I still wonder why we don't see more tv commercials and teasers like JJ Abrams did with cloverfield.
I mean for a game supposed to be released for the Holliday season I shocked with the lack of holiday promo for s2. Honestly in the USA promoting anything after Black Friday in 5 days is already too late. Just about everyone buys gifts Black Friday.
It's almost like TTG is promoting the TWD s1 GOTY version for Black Friday what really makes me question how confident TTG is that TWDs2 will be ready. In fact if it's not ready for the holiday rush yet why try to finish it before Christmas? TTG would be better suited to finish the game after Christmas, promote it after the holidays where advertising time is not marked up at the holiday premium and aim toward the gamers who got gift cards for Christmas gifts...
From what I can tell Job staffer is the SR marketing guy for TTG and shocker he is out all week on family vacation. Who is out next week Laura? The week after the programmers? Ect ect... Everyone has family and this is a huge time of the year for family activities.
That's why the PS3 and XBOX1 have already been released. If your product is not released already then your already too late for the Christmas holiday rush of gift buying.
Chances are if this week passes and there is not a release trailer promoted I really question if TWDS2 will be coming out before Christmas.
By the way dome I'm not calling you a kid gamer. I just was trying to say my son has much more insight in to gamers and if they would know about a game or not. I did not want you to think I was name calling or anything like that.
He said that 90% of the gamers interested in the zombie genre already seeked out and played TWDS1.
That's why the commercial wasn't geared towards "gamers." It was aimed at fans of the show who may not have heard much about the game but who might decide to check it out after hearing about how it got all of these "game of the year" awards. That's probably why they used that weird TV announcer for the voice-over.
I still wonder why we don't see more tv commercials and teasers like JJ Abrams did with cloverfield.
TV commercials cost money. Lots of money. Telltale is doing well but not so well that they can afford to throw money around on advertising like big movie studios. And given that their audience is mostly internet-savvy "gamers," it makes far more sense for them to use something like Youtube or social media to promote their game rather than TV commercials.
If your product is not released already then your already too late for the Christmas holiday rush of gift buying.
That's why there was a pre-order. So that people could purchase the game beforehand as a Christmas gift. You didn't think it was coincidence that they used Christmas as the date for when Episode 1 would be available, did you? Also, it's only important to release a product very early before Christmas if the product is something physical that you had to go to the store to get or have shipped to you. That's why it made sense to advertise for the GOTY edition before Black Friday. TWD S2, however, is a downloadable game. There's no need to worry about whether a store might run out of it or how long it would take to get to you. It can be bought and played instantly from any home as soon as it is released.
@domewing333 I'm not really plugged in to the kid gamers anymore so I asked my son about this. He said that 90% of the gamers interested in th… moree zombie genre already seeked out and played TWDS1. It would have been pretty hard to miss. It's not like they are remaking aliens colonial marines what failed miserably. They are making a GOTY a edition of a already very popular well known game. My son went on to tell me that in a few months the GOTY edition will be in the 9.99 value game bin at Walmart with the rest of the ps3 greatest hits and other remade games.
I think the GOTY commercials are okay, but I find it comical that there are no TWDS2 teaser commercials on the TV. I've seen that comment by Job Stauffer saying that literally every single second of TWDs2 has spoilers.... Okay...I still wonder why we don't see more tv commercials and teasers like JJ Abrams did with cloverfield.
I mean for a game supposed to be released for the Holliday sea… [view original content]
That preorder does not work on consoles. Most of my sons friends could care less of the PC preorder online. According to my son most his friends have moved on from TWD as a Christmas gift to COD ghosts or BF4. No kid is going to ask for TWDs2 for a console if there is promotional stuff to let them know it will be out by the end of the year.
In my mind that is TTG's biggest flaw in their business model. TTG can not set a release date because they have no idea when the game will get certified. It's the Christmas buying season now and no kid is banking on the console version of the game because there has been no advertisement, no release trailer, nothing let let them know it will be on the console by Christmas.....
My son is a huge fan of TWD it's all he and his friends could talk about for a year. TWDS2 is not on his Christmas list or any of his friends. When I asked him why he left off his favorite game he said the supposed "big news" really pissed him off and was a complete letdown. The trailer released was like one of those movie teasers studios put out a YEAR in advance. It was 3 seconds long.
The last reason he told me none of his friends are talking about it or have asked for it is because they have no idea if it will be there Christmas Day for Xbox and ps3.
Like I said no advertisement, no promotional stuff, no playing dead episodes.
Believe what you want but I think TTG missed the holiday window and I would not be shocked at all if this game gets released in 2014 after all the other holiday products hype goes down. From a profit standpoint advertising time is much cheaper after Jan1. The marketing campaign would be much cheaper if they waited and shot for a late February early April release for spring 2014.
I think that TTG set out to release TWAU for the end of summer and TWD for seasonal fall (it's 20f outside right now with a wind chill making the air feel 12F. It feels like winter) I know the actual date is dec 20 for the end of fall but it feels like winter outside. I believe TWAU got bumped for whatever reason and that set in motion the chain of events why TWDS2 has not been released yet.
Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope TTG keeps their words that episode 1 will be out this year.
He said that 90% of the gamers interested in the zombie genre already seeked out and played TWDS1.
That's why the commercial wasn't ge… moreared towards "gamers." It was aimed at fans of the show who may not have heard much about the game but who might decide to check it out after hearing about how it got all of these "game of the year" awards. That's probably why they used that weird TV announcer for the voice-over.
I still wonder why we don't see more tv commercials and teasers like JJ Abrams did with cloverfield.
TV commercials cost money. Lots of money. Telltale is doing well but not so well that they can afford to throw money around on advertising like big movie studios. And given that their audience is mostly internet-savvy "gamers," it makes far more sense for them to use something like Youtube or social media to promote their game rather than TV commercials.
If your product is not released already then your already t… [view original content]
telltale let me tell you something number 1 stop with this Coming soon crap do you know how pissed you are making your fans and they will soon… more lose trust in you if you keep this up. Number 2 You are probably the only game Company that cant give us a freakin release date its been almost a year so give us a release date . I don't know about you but I am getting fed up with your company and if you keep this crap up a lot of people will be pissed
Given that Telltale always goes for near-simultaneous releases for all the major platform, if it comes out by Christmas for PC, it will most likely come out by Christmas for consoles as well. But it's a fair point that not every kid out there would be aware of this and it makes sense that a lot of them would pass TWD over in favor of other games when asking for a Christmas gift. I mean even if Ep1 is out in time for Christmas, that's still just 1/5th of a game that they're getting, whereas they would have gotten a whole one if they just asked for COD Ghosts or BF4.
Telltale's episodic gaming business model makes it nigh impossible to market the game in a way that accounts for the ebb and flow of the shopping season. As a result, its games don't tend to make great Christmas gifts unless it's something like the GOTY edition. There's no denying that this is a shortcoming. But I don't think it's as detrimental as you think it is.
TWD might not be something that a kid asks you for as a Christmas gift, but it will be something that he asks for when his friends start playing it and he doesn't want to be left out. And while it's easy to deny a kid a one-time investment of $60 for a game by saying that it's too expensive, if all it takes is $5 to get him off your back for a month and a half, you're very likely to let him have it. Then out comes Episode 2. Then 3. By the end of it all, you'll pay for the whole game without even realizing it. It's a very different approach to selling games but it's effective in its own way.
That preorder does not work on consoles. Most of my sons friends could care less of the PC preorder online. According to my son most his frien… moreds have moved on from TWD as a Christmas gift to COD ghosts or BF4. No kid is going to ask for TWDs2 for a console if there is promotional stuff to let them know it will be out by the end of the year.
In my mind that is TTG's biggest flaw in their business model. TTG can not set a release date because they have no idea when the game will get certified. It's the Christmas buying season now and no kid is banking on the console version of the game because there has been no advertisement, no release trailer, nothing let let them know it will be on the console by Christmas.....
My son is a huge fan of TWD it's all he and his friends could talk about for a year. TWDS2 is not on his Christmas list or any of his friends. When I asked him why he left off his favorite game he said the supposed "big news" really… [view original content]
While reading your post this crossed my mind... Could the fact that the game has a "mature" rating be why Telltale isn't marketing to kids? It just kind of makes me wonder if TT thinks that kids don't play their games because of the rating, or maybe they don't want to get in legal trouble for marketing to kids. (red tape?) I wonder because what your saying makes alot of sense, and with the way some people are nowadays, the government system can be abused when it comes to lawsuits. (always trying to get money somehow.)
I don't know if I explained my thought well enough, but I think you will get what i'm saying. I'm not saying that what I was saying is whats going on, just that it is possible.
That preorder does not work on consoles. Most of my sons friends could care less of the PC preorder online. According to my son most his frien… moreds have moved on from TWD as a Christmas gift to COD ghosts or BF4. No kid is going to ask for TWDs2 for a console if there is promotional stuff to let them know it will be out by the end of the year.
In my mind that is TTG's biggest flaw in their business model. TTG can not set a release date because they have no idea when the game will get certified. It's the Christmas buying season now and no kid is banking on the console version of the game because there has been no advertisement, no release trailer, nothing let let them know it will be on the console by Christmas.....
My son is a huge fan of TWD it's all he and his friends could talk about for a year. TWDS2 is not on his Christmas list or any of his friends. When I asked him why he left off his favorite game he said the supposed "big news" really… [view original content]
I don't think it necessarily has to do with the "mature" rating, but Telltale certainly isn't trying to market any of their new games to kids. Even though they both have the "mature" rating, I think something like TWD or TWAU is way less appropriate for kids than something like Call of Duty or Mortal Kombat. The level of swearing and violence may be the same but the themes and settings require a lot more thinking to really appreciate and Telltale wants to market it the people who are most going to appreciate it. I'd be fine with letting a 10-year old play Mortal Kombat but I'd hesitate to let even a 14-year-old play TWD or TWAU.
While reading your post this crossed my mind... Could the fact that the game has a "mature" rating be why Telltale isn't marketing to kids? … moreIt just kind of makes me wonder if TT thinks that kids don't play their games because of the rating, or maybe they don't want to get in legal trouble for marketing to kids. (red tape?) I wonder because what your saying makes alot of sense, and with the way some people are nowadays, the government system can be abused when it comes to lawsuits. (always trying to get money somehow.)
I don't know if I explained my thought well enough, but I think you will get what i'm saying. I'm not saying that what I was saying is whats going on, just that it is possible.
When I say kid I'm talking my son 17 and daughter 21.
I consider both of them kids.....
I do not mean like 14 and 15 year olds. I was more or less taking about my sons high school friends.
I'm sure my son will eventually ask for it. But it's not happening for Christmas. I was just talking to him and his friends in Saturday night after the Christmas parade (football players, band, cheerleaders, and homecoming king and queen all walk and ride in the Christmas parade). Out of the 40 kids I was in chaperoning 20 of them or so played the walking dead game. When I asked about season 2 the group response was "not sure we can handle anymore of that. "Big news"" mocking the big news that TTG promoted October. All of them thought the the news would be the release of the game.
I asked so are you guys asking mom and dad for TWD s2 for Christmas and every single one of them said no. I said that the game is available for preorder on the PC and they were like "Umm PC? Nah. Have not seen one advertisement for it don't think it's on xbox" The one kid said that he was wondering who the new PC would be. When I told him that you played as clementine most the kids laughed historically. I kept telling them about the teaser trailer. I kid you not all those high school seniors thought that few second trailer was clementine running away from the new PC. none of them liked playing as a little girl. That led in to a entire other discussion for a different thread.
Bottom line none of them were taking about it for Christmas though or asking for it because they have no idea if it will be on console or if it will be ready for Christmas.
That is what I am trying to say most older high school and college kids don't care to visit telltalegames every day to check for the game. If they see it on the tv great, if they get a trailer forwarded on Facebook fine, if they see some twitter trending cool....
I chaperoned the Christmas parade in 2012. The walking dead I think it was episode 2 And 3 was all those high school kids were talking about. It was literally the talk of the day for the 2012 parade for the kids.
Not this year. TTG severely dropped the ball for season 2 for this Christmas.
I think the thing you're missing is that the current telltale episodic download business model is working incredibly well for them, despite what your kids think.
When I say kid I'm talking my son 17 and daughter 21.
I consider both of them kids.....
I do not mean like 14 and 15 year olds. I was mo… morere or less taking about my sons high school friends.
I'm sure my son will eventually ask for it. But it's not happening for Christmas. I was just talking to him and his friends in Saturday night after the Christmas parade (football players, band, cheerleaders, and homecoming king and queen all walk and ride in the Christmas parade). Out of the 40 kids I was in chaperoning 20 of them or so played the walking dead game. When I asked about season 2 the group response was "not sure we can handle anymore of that. "Big news"" mocking the big news that TTG promoted October. All of them thought the the news would be the release of the game.
I asked so are you guys asking mom and dad for TWD s2 for Christmas and every single one of them said no. I said that the game is available for preorder on the PC and they… [view original content]
I think the thing you're missing is that the current telltale episodic download business model is working incredibly well for them, despite what your kids think.
Comments
Still, a simple and official "Won't come out till (insert placeholder date)" would calm alot of people.
Agreed, it would. At least we can be calm till after Thanksgiving.
It's a nice idea in theory but "Won't come out 'till ____" tends to be translated into "Will come out on ____" among fans. At that point, they might as well give out an expected release date, which of course is problematic for them.
Then again, the "Will come out before ____" that they're using right now has been taken by some to mean "Will come out a month before ____" so clearly that's not working too well either.
To me, the best thing to say would be something like "Is slated to be released sometime between ____ and ____, but probably more towards the later date," but people would probably still put way too much expectation on first date given.
Same thing I've meant this whole time. If I don't get to play this when everyone else does, because they decided without telling anyone not to release it on my console, I'm going to be very upset, especially since I'll have to leave the forum-my only source of updates,-because of all the spoilers.
It will come, and it will probably be awesome. Once it is out, you'll be like "This was totally worth the wait" and immediately start complaining that episode two should've shipped already.
I don't know why Telltale don't just say "Hi guys. Our estimated release date is sometime after now. It's ready when it's ready. You'll be happy when it comes, so relax, and prepare to have everything you love ripped away from you in horrifying and increasingly terrible ways, but this time, as a child!"
I never thought it would be released in November, when they said before end of the year I knew it meant December
I think we need some new screenshots of the walking dead and an update on Wolf as well. We getting two games from you next month TTG?
Looks like it. And there's no contradicting info presently.
He is lying! it's a conspiracy! I found something... wait let me show you.. uh..oh. lost it.. damnit. argg I will find it again I swear and then I show the woooorld!
Yes, I bought it when it was coming in November and now it is pushed back by steam to December. wonder who gave them the order to do this.
Don't worry, we'll have some new info before you know it. According to Job Stauffer we will be getting some info after Thanksgiving - Sometime after December 1. Telltale only have about four weeks left to release episodes for both The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us before Christmas. Something is sure to happen during these first two weeks about one of the games.
Love your positivity. I sure hope it will be worth the wait.
I agree, we're desperate nerds
No way jobstaffer is the only one taking a week vacation. Like I said thanksgiving last New Years at least 30% of the work force will take a sizeable vacation.
I think there is a 50/50 chance one game comes in December be it the wolf or TWD.
I've pre-purchased the TWD S2 from Telltale Store, am I going to get steam keys?
Nope i think u can download the games from the telltale homepage. I dont know, bought both games on steam, cause i like to have a collection of games!
nope, I already have bought the BTTF from them and they don't give steam keys. Plus the mods answered a comment on the blog denying it also.
Both games in December huh?
Job J. Stauffer did say "check with Laura perusco for updates" so i guess news will come in a couple of weeks..
Nonono. THE FIRST EPISODE will come in a couple of weeks. Hell, advent is just around the corner!
Laura/puzzlebox will have a hell of a time actually squeezing in some more news before the actual release.
It was never announced as coming in November by Telltale. Telltale has only ever announced Fall 2013 (which ends on December 20th, 2013) and before Christmas (which is December 25th).
Steam just made a blind guess in order to have something in their database, and when they realized they were wrong, adjusted it to December. Only trust sources that come directly through Telltale staff (either statements made by those marked as staff on these forums, on Telltale's facebook or twitter pages, on the Telltale blog, or by Telltale staff directly in interviews with gaming sites or through official press releases). Everything else is just a wild guess, and should be taken as false information.
This forum's FAQ is a good way to know what's going on with The Walking Dead: Season Two, as it's constantly updated with the latest information once it's revealed. The FAQ is maintained by moderators rather than Telltale staff, but we only update it with information that comes directly from Telltale staff themselves.
I really hope it is released on a tuesday, so that its on PSN. It would really suck if it was released on a different day for people like me who have PS3 or Vita. Telltale PLEASE release on a Tuesday!!!
If I'm not mistaken PSN updates every Tuesday, soooo it'll have to be.
telltale let me tell you something number 1 stop with this Coming soon crap do you know how pissed you are making your fans and they will soon lose trust in you if you keep this up. Number 2 You are probably the only game Company that cant give us a freakin release date its been almost a year so give us a release date . I don't know about you but I am getting fed up with your company and if you keep this crap up a lot of people will be pissed
That's what people said before Ep. 2 was released.
There were plenty of people who said they "wouldn't buy anymore episodes" and I guarantee that 95% of them actually bought the rest of the season and 400 days.
History repeats it seems.
Watching The Walking Dead on AMC. I have seen 3 commercials for TWD S1 GOTY edition. Not anything about season 2 during the television episode.
I think their praise and hail of this GOTY has gone to override. They should focus on getting out the word about Season Two instead...
Have you thought to consider that this just might have something to do with fact that TWD S1 GOTY edition, you know, came out already?
Ask yourself who would they want to get out the word to? People who have played Season 1 already know about Season 2 and are looking forward to it. People who have not played Season 1 aren't going to be convinced by a commercial to buy Season 2. The way to get more people interested in Season 2 is to get more people playing Season 1. That's where the GOTY edition comes in.
This time around I'd say it's probably around 97%
@domewing333 I'm not really plugged in to the kid gamers anymore so I asked my son about this. He said that 90% of the gamers interested in the zombie genre already seeked out and played TWDS1. It would have been pretty hard to miss. It's not like they are remaking aliens colonial marines what failed miserably. They are making a GOTY a edition of a already very popular well known game. My son went on to tell me that in a few months the GOTY edition will be in the 9.99 value game bin at Walmart with the rest of the ps3 greatest hits and other remade games.
I think the GOTY commercials are okay, but I find it comical that there are no TWDS2 teaser commercials on the TV. I've seen that comment by Job Stauffer saying that literally every single second of TWDs2 has spoilers.... Okay...I still wonder why we don't see more tv commercials and teasers like JJ Abrams did with cloverfield.
I mean for a game supposed to be released for the Holliday season I shocked with the lack of holiday promo for s2. Honestly in the USA promoting anything after Black Friday in 5 days is already too late. Just about everyone buys gifts Black Friday.
It's almost like TTG is promoting the TWD s1 GOTY version for Black Friday what really makes me question how confident TTG is that TWDs2 will be ready. In fact if it's not ready for the holiday rush yet why try to finish it before Christmas? TTG would be better suited to finish the game after Christmas, promote it after the holidays where advertising time is not marked up at the holiday premium and aim toward the gamers who got gift cards for Christmas gifts...
From what I can tell Job staffer is the SR marketing guy for TTG and shocker he is out all week on family vacation. Who is out next week Laura? The week after the programmers? Ect ect... Everyone has family and this is a huge time of the year for family activities.
That's why the PS3 and XBOX1 have already been released. If your product is not released already then your already too late for the Christmas holiday rush of gift buying.
Chances are if this week passes and there is not a release trailer promoted I really question if TWDS2 will be coming out before Christmas.
By the way dome I'm not calling you a kid gamer. I just was trying to say my son has much more insight in to gamers and if they would know about a game or not. I did not want you to think I was name calling or anything like that.
That's why the commercial wasn't geared towards "gamers." It was aimed at fans of the show who may not have heard much about the game but who might decide to check it out after hearing about how it got all of these "game of the year" awards. That's probably why they used that weird TV announcer for the voice-over.
TV commercials cost money. Lots of money. Telltale is doing well but not so well that they can afford to throw money around on advertising like big movie studios. And given that their audience is mostly internet-savvy "gamers," it makes far more sense for them to use something like Youtube or social media to promote their game rather than TV commercials.
That's why there was a pre-order. So that people could purchase the game beforehand as a Christmas gift. You didn't think it was coincidence that they used Christmas as the date for when Episode 1 would be available, did you? Also, it's only important to release a product very early before Christmas if the product is something physical that you had to go to the store to get or have shipped to you. That's why it made sense to advertise for the GOTY edition before Black Friday. TWD S2, however, is a downloadable game. There's no need to worry about whether a store might run out of it or how long it would take to get to you. It can be bought and played instantly from any home as soon as it is released.
That preorder does not work on consoles. Most of my sons friends could care less of the PC preorder online. According to my son most his friends have moved on from TWD as a Christmas gift to COD ghosts or BF4. No kid is going to ask for TWDs2 for a console if there is promotional stuff to let them know it will be out by the end of the year.
In my mind that is TTG's biggest flaw in their business model. TTG can not set a release date because they have no idea when the game will get certified. It's the Christmas buying season now and no kid is banking on the console version of the game because there has been no advertisement, no release trailer, nothing let let them know it will be on the console by Christmas.....
My son is a huge fan of TWD it's all he and his friends could talk about for a year. TWDS2 is not on his Christmas list or any of his friends. When I asked him why he left off his favorite game he said the supposed "big news" really pissed him off and was a complete letdown. The trailer released was like one of those movie teasers studios put out a YEAR in advance. It was 3 seconds long.
The last reason he told me none of his friends are talking about it or have asked for it is because they have no idea if it will be there Christmas Day for Xbox and ps3.
Like I said no advertisement, no promotional stuff, no playing dead episodes.
Believe what you want but I think TTG missed the holiday window and I would not be shocked at all if this game gets released in 2014 after all the other holiday products hype goes down. From a profit standpoint advertising time is much cheaper after Jan1. The marketing campaign would be much cheaper if they waited and shot for a late February early April release for spring 2014.
I think that TTG set out to release TWAU for the end of summer and TWD for seasonal fall (it's 20f outside right now with a wind chill making the air feel 12F. It feels like winter) I know the actual date is dec 20 for the end of fall but it feels like winter outside. I believe TWAU got bumped for whatever reason and that set in motion the chain of events why TWDS2 has not been released yet.
Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope TTG keeps their words that episode 1 will be out this year.
They won't know what the exact release date is until a few days before.
Given that Telltale always goes for near-simultaneous releases for all the major platform, if it comes out by Christmas for PC, it will most likely come out by Christmas for consoles as well. But it's a fair point that not every kid out there would be aware of this and it makes sense that a lot of them would pass TWD over in favor of other games when asking for a Christmas gift. I mean even if Ep1 is out in time for Christmas, that's still just 1/5th of a game that they're getting, whereas they would have gotten a whole one if they just asked for COD Ghosts or BF4.
Telltale's episodic gaming business model makes it nigh impossible to market the game in a way that accounts for the ebb and flow of the shopping season. As a result, its games don't tend to make great Christmas gifts unless it's something like the GOTY edition. There's no denying that this is a shortcoming. But I don't think it's as detrimental as you think it is.
TWD might not be something that a kid asks you for as a Christmas gift, but it will be something that he asks for when his friends start playing it and he doesn't want to be left out. And while it's easy to deny a kid a one-time investment of $60 for a game by saying that it's too expensive, if all it takes is $5 to get him off your back for a month and a half, you're very likely to let him have it. Then out comes Episode 2. Then 3. By the end of it all, you'll pay for the whole game without even realizing it. It's a very different approach to selling games but it's effective in its own way.
While reading your post this crossed my mind... Could the fact that the game has a "mature" rating be why Telltale isn't marketing to kids? It just kind of makes me wonder if TT thinks that kids don't play their games because of the rating, or maybe they don't want to get in legal trouble for marketing to kids. (red tape?) I wonder because what your saying makes alot of sense, and with the way some people are nowadays, the government system can be abused when it comes to lawsuits. (always trying to get money somehow.)
I don't know if I explained my thought well enough, but I think you will get what i'm saying. I'm not saying that what I was saying is whats going on, just that it is possible.
I don't think it necessarily has to do with the "mature" rating, but Telltale certainly isn't trying to market any of their new games to kids. Even though they both have the "mature" rating, I think something like TWD or TWAU is way less appropriate for kids than something like Call of Duty or Mortal Kombat. The level of swearing and violence may be the same but the themes and settings require a lot more thinking to really appreciate and Telltale wants to market it the people who are most going to appreciate it. I'd be fine with letting a 10-year old play Mortal Kombat but I'd hesitate to let even a 14-year-old play TWD or TWAU.
When I say kid I'm talking my son 17 and daughter 21.
I consider both of them kids.....
I do not mean like 14 and 15 year olds. I was more or less taking about my sons high school friends.
I'm sure my son will eventually ask for it. But it's not happening for Christmas. I was just talking to him and his friends in Saturday night after the Christmas parade (football players, band, cheerleaders, and homecoming king and queen all walk and ride in the Christmas parade). Out of the 40 kids I was in chaperoning 20 of them or so played the walking dead game. When I asked about season 2 the group response was "not sure we can handle anymore of that. "Big news"" mocking the big news that TTG promoted October. All of them thought the the news would be the release of the game.
I asked so are you guys asking mom and dad for TWD s2 for Christmas and every single one of them said no. I said that the game is available for preorder on the PC and they were like "Umm PC? Nah. Have not seen one advertisement for it don't think it's on xbox" The one kid said that he was wondering who the new PC would be. When I told him that you played as clementine most the kids laughed historically. I kept telling them about the teaser trailer. I kid you not all those high school seniors thought that few second trailer was clementine running away from the new PC. none of them liked playing as a little girl. That led in to a entire other discussion for a different thread.
Bottom line none of them were taking about it for Christmas though or asking for it because they have no idea if it will be on console or if it will be ready for Christmas.
That is what I am trying to say most older high school and college kids don't care to visit telltalegames every day to check for the game. If they see it on the tv great, if they get a trailer forwarded on Facebook fine, if they see some twitter trending cool....
I chaperoned the Christmas parade in 2012. The walking dead I think it was episode 2 And 3 was all those high school kids were talking about. It was literally the talk of the day for the 2012 parade for the kids.
Not this year. TTG severely dropped the ball for season 2 for this Christmas.
I think the thing you're missing is that the current telltale episodic download business model is working incredibly well for them, despite what your kids think.
I'm sure it is. It's pretty oblivious that it works. Look at this new shiny forum...