The Adventure Company and Telltale Games have partnered to bring the first season of Sam & Max to retail in August. The game, which is currently avaiable from Telltale and Turner’s online game service GameTap, is an episodic adventure currently on its fourth installment.
Over the last two decades, Sam & Max have appeared in a number of formats, including independent comics created by Steve Purcell, an interactive PC adventure game, a Saturday morning cartoon, a webcomic strip, and now innovative episodic games developed by Telltale. The Adventure Company’s Sam & Max: Season 1 release marks this series’ first foray into retail stores since the original LucasArts’ release of Sam & Max Hit the Road.
“The Adventure Company will be an excellent partner for Sam & Max’s path to retail,” said Telltale CEO Dan Connors. “Our internal development studio’s been having a fun time working with Steve’s characters and we’re looking forward to getting the games out to new audiences in the Fall.”
Earlier this week Crave [url=http://www.snackbar-games.com/n2439.html]announced plans[/url] to bring a port of the PSP’s Dave Mirra BMX Challenge to the Wii, and today the publisher added to its support for Nintendo platforms, this time by announcing a somewhat strange Crayola crayon-themed project for the Nintendo DS.
Details are still sketchy on the upcoming handheld adventure game, other than it is the result of a partnership between Crave and Crayola, and will involve “a colorful romp to find hidden treasure.” Players will use a treasure map and crayons to complete quests and complete mini-games to find hidden treasure.
“Crayola crayons are an integral part of American childhood,” said Mark Burke, senior vice president of product planning and business development for Crave Entertainment. “We’re honored to be partnering with a company that has been synonymous with childhood creativity for more than a century to bring a classic piece of American culture to an entirely new medium.
Officials from Namco Bandai have confirmed plans to bring the ridiculously addictive Monopoly/CCG hybrid Culdcept Saga to North American Xbox 360 owners this summer, complete with Xbox Live gameplay. I may never sleep again.
The latest entry to the series, the game is particularly notable not just for it’s fun turn based gameplay and fantastic art, but also an original storyline developed by “one of Japan’s premiere sci-fi writers.”
In Culdcept Saga, individuals known as Cepters move around a game board by the roll of the dice, using magical cards to call upon creatures and cast spells to occupy each area they encounter. Using alluring cards designed by Japan’s top illustrators, players can customize different decks to assist in their struggle for territorial dominance. As they maneuver their way around the board and land on occupied properties, opponents can opt to pay a fee for their brief stay or attack the guarding creature to inhabit the zone.
Players can fortify their decks and develop strategies in single player mode, then apply those tactics against up to 3 friends on Xbox Live or on a single console. Gamers can further modify the game with their own unique style when they alter their characters’ appearances using parts won during matches, providing a distinctive experience for every personality.
“Namco Bandai is proud to bring such a unique concept to the Xbox Live community.” said Makoto Iwai, executive VP and COO of Namco Bandai Games. “It’s the perfect blend of classic board games and modern competitive trading cards in one beautiful package!”
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The PlayStation 2 is not dead yet, far from it in fact, with a number of titles just released or on the way in the near to immediate future. One among them is Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, confirmed by Activision today as being ported to Sony’s aging platform.
The game, which debuted on the Wii and Nintendo DS, is in development at SuperVillian Studios and is scheduled to ship this spring for the PlayStation 2. On top of the content featured in earlier releases, Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam for the PlayStation 2 will include four new single player events, three new multiplayer modes and three new playable characters not found in other versions.
Take Two label Rockstar Games announced that it has partnered with music producer Timbaland for a PSP music creation application called Beaterator. The software is being developed by Rockstar Leeds for release this summer.
Rockstar describes Beaterator for the PSP as “both a powerful music mixer with robust beatmaking features, as well as a highly addictive collection of original music and rhythm games and challenge modes.”
“Music has always been a hugely important part of everything we do here,” said Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar Games. “Two years ago, we launched a web-based version of Beaterator on our own website and people really embraced it.”
He added: “That inspired us to build and create something very interactive and unique. Having Timbaland involved in the game is a real honor and only adds to our excitement about the title.”
