Telltale Games

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Telltale Games logo (pre-2018)

Telltale Games, in its original incarnation, was a video game company that partnered with Videlectrix (actually The Brothers Chaps) to produce Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, a game in five episodes (or "actionsodes" in Strong Bad's term) for PC and WiiWare, later released for PlayStation 3 and OS X.

The Telltale offices were seen in the series Behind the Bad, a video series featuring Strong Bad interacting with staff as they produced the game.

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[edit] History

Hard at work
Telltale has been rejecting my ideas for green text adventures for years, but we finally reached a compromise with this puffy 3D point-and-click-em-up adventure. They claim all the coding was done with green text, so I guess that's pretty cool.
—Strong Bad[1]

Telltale Games was founded by former LucasArts employees who had worked on the company's adventure games. The company focused on releasing adventure games in an episodic format, licensing niche IPs with strong fanbases like Sam & Max (which previously had been licensed to LucasArts). The partnership with Telltale was the first time The Brothers Chaps had licensed out their work. After receiving and turning down offers from companies like Sega,[2] the brothers felt that Telltale would make for a fitting partnership given their LucasArts pedigree and understanding of Homestar Runner.

A hint of Homestar Runner's "first large scale game in the works" was mentioned by Matt Chapman in a 2006 interview; a later interview revealed that Telltale had first been in contact around 2006-2007, during the release of Sam and Max: Season 1. On the website, the first true hint of a collaboration with Telltale was the short Strong Bad Gameways released (via an Easter egg in shapeshifter) on April 1, 2008. The game Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People was officially announced via a press release[1] on April 10, 2008; with the first chapter scheduled for June. The game's five episodes were released on a monthly basis, from August 11, 2008 to December 15, 2008:

The main menu animation of strongbad_email.exe Disc Six utilized the CG models from SBCG4AP, and the intro was choreographed by Telltale employees Jake Rodkin and Nick Herman. Telltale Games is thanked in the credits of the DVD.

On September 2, 2010, Telltale Games announced Poker Night at the Inventory. The game featured several characters from previous Telltale games; Strong Bad appeared as one of the poker players, and the game featured several musical and visual elements from Homestar Runner. The game was released on November 22, 2010.

[edit] Rivalry with Videlectrix

Telltale's fictional relationship with Videlectrix was often humorously portrayed as combative, with Videlectrix's relatively low-tech output clashing with the 3D graphics used by Telltale. On November 19, 2008, Videlectrix expressed jealousy of Telltale Games and announced that they plan to "strike back". Attempts included releasing Dangeresque Roomisode 1: Behind the Dangerdesque to cash in on Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective and creating an alternate SBCG4AP box (which later became the reverse artwork for the SBCG4AP Collector's DVD). The release of Roomisode 1 prompted a press release from Telltale Games:[4]

"I'd also like to take a moment to address a serious issue that has recently come to our attention. Unhappy with our Strong Bad games, Videlectrix has taken it upon themselves to release a Strong Bad game of their own from www.videlectrix.com. "Roomisode 1: Behind the Dangerdesque" is completely unauthorized and it's unfortunate that they've resorted to this. In spite of our creative differences and some weird late night phone calls from the irate Videlectrix CEO, Telltale has successfully completed production on the Strong Bad season finale and many of us think it's the best episode of the season. We only wish Videlectrix could have been a bit more grown-up about the whole situation."

[edit] Closure and Relaunch

Although the Brothers Chaps would share ideas or joke about a potential second season of SBCG4AP, no concrete plans were ever brought forth by them or Telltale. The Brothers emphasized that the game was "the biggest thing that we'd probably do" due to the amount of work and hours-long runtime of the games compared to typical minutes-long toons. Homestar Runner additionally went on an extended hiatus about a year after the release of the final chapter of SBCG4AP.

Telltale Games abruptly closed in 2018, going into bankruptcy assignment in October of that year. As a result, its games were delisted from digital storefronts Steam and GOG in the following months. LCG Entertainment, Inc. acquired and revived the brand on August 28, 2019 with plans of republishing much of the back catalog.

SBCG4AP was relisted on December 7, 2020; although differences in licensing deals meant that the Brothers Chaps did not receive income from this relisting, @StrongBadActual still reacted positively to the news that people could play the game again. When Telltale no longer had the rights to the IP,[5] the game was delisted again on May 30, 2023. Poker Night at the Inventory has remained unavailable for purchase.

[edit] Store

"No, you can't..."
"...handle my style!"

Alongside digital and physical versions of SBCG4AP, the Telltale Games store also sold Homestar Runner merchandise:

[edit] Fun Facts

[edit] Sources

  1. ^  " Announcing Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People for WiiWare" press release (archived)
  2. ^  "Lunchtime With The Brothers Chap: Strong Bad's Creators Speak And Eat", Kotaku, 13 Jun 2008
  3. ^  "How did you first find out about HSR?", Telltale community thread
  4. ^  "Telltale And Videlectrix Come To Blows", Rock Paper Shotgun
  5. ^  "Important Information for Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People", The Telltale Team

[edit] See Also

[edit] External Links


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