Telltale, Mojang Partnering for Minecraft: Story Mode

unspecified playstation consoles :P

@zeeman155: You say "prove" twice in your comment, and it sounds like you're prescribing a character trait on a company where it doesn't make any sense. How do you think Telltales current situation reflects on then in such a way as to make you think they're only doing this because they have something to "prove"?

Look, the way it's happening to Telltale is the way it happens to a lot of people/entities in entertainment. Your company is full of talented and hard working people who take every chance you get and have a ton of dream ideas you're chomping at the bit for. When the big break happens and suddenly you have a ton if offers...well if you can scale up correctly to facilitate the many opportunities then why wouldn't you do a ton of stuff?

There is this attitude of fear, where people wait for Telltale to screw up instead of enjoying the good stuff they put out. There will always be stinkers but if they're continually putting out mostly good stuff then let's be positive. Not blindly but rationally.

Specifically in regards to Minecraft, I think that by now we all should have learned that execution is where it really matters. Any idea can turn out great or crap so why poopoo this just because it sounds difficult to pull off on paper?

You see articles like this is why I love the Onion.

Minecraft: This time it's a game!

@kblosnack: I would buy that in a heartbeat.

The irony of these post is that Minecraft in its current sandbox - emergent gameplay form is actually way more of a game than most traditional videogames due to its huge possibilities of player choice.

And in fact game theory-design wise Tell Tale "games" are more like linear interactive stories. Talk about erroneous pre conceived notions of what a video game is or could be.

@fazzle It has no score, you can't level up, you can't kill stuff... It can't be a videogame!

I guess I'm speaking more from personal taste. I was a huge fan following the release of the first Sam & Max season up until and including The Walking Dead. I remember falling off when the Back to The Future games came out and then coming back on board with the Walking Dead. I dunno, I feel like there's less passion behind their latest projects. The increased number of odd property choices only furthers this feeling I have of them being more business-focused then they perhaps were in the past.

Maybe this is unique to the time when they were working on Sam & Max, but I always got a grass-roots feeling from them. Like "Hey! We're making this stuff because we want to see it exist!". It doesn't really seem that way anymore. Especially with the announcement of a spin-off to a game lacking any form of narrative element but a game that is promising from a financial perspective. Just sharing the impression I'm getting of what they are these days versus their past. To summarise, current Telltale makes me feel icky.

I suppose what ever floats their boat. Won't be something I invest in as I see cash grab written all over this. Sorta like those direct to dvd sequels of Disney movies. Some people enjoy them so hey, why not.

this is insane

Capitalism, ho!

Somewhere, somehow, someone is ringing the Swelling Bubble Bell with all their furied might.

Few things interest me less than this.

That sounds so fucking stupid. It'll probably print money but holy shit I can't think of a more baffling combination.

How can you not know what Telltale is? They haven't changed at all since The Walking Dead. Telltale makes narrative focused games with dialogue and decision-making as their main mechanics. And that is a fantastic formula (if you're into these sorts of games) in which most fictional universes would fit in. That's what their take on Minecraft will be and that would be their take on EVE as well, a pretty promising one if you ask me.

@bargainben: It isn't counter to the product at all. Go and see how wildly successful Minecraft novels are.

Huh, weird choice. I got tired of Telltale's formula halfway through Wolf Among Us. At this point I rather watch this stuff on youtube.

@patrick A telltale X-Files game would be amazing! Damn, now that's the only game they could announce that would make me happy. Get on it Telltale!

The tree you cut down will remember that.

@crembaw: dude your avatar is kiilling me, must clean that bin!

Hopefully this will be written for the true fans (example: my 7-year old)

Why can't Telltale just die already? All they've been is a cancer to the adventure game genre.

I don't see Telltale games as 'adventure games' really, more like 'interactive fiction'. Hence the name 'Telltale' :)

Hey, for what it's worth I sorta did the same thing and skipped Back to the Future but that's probably as much a function of having no attachment to the franchise. Indeed it was about time for a shakeup but in my experience you're in for a penny in for a pound with adventure games at a base level. As for the grass-roots feeling, I'm sure there was some of that but so were the tight purse strings then as well. Telltale expanding is likely as much a direct correlation with their growth rather than sitting on the pile of cash. So in their minds hey what if more of our talented team were able to make more games with all these different, lucrative, and creatively interesting properties. With growth they likely had to be more business-focused like any company would, no matter how cool the people behind it.

I don't know, I've heard this narrative before and while I can see where it comes from, I haven't really felt it at all. I suppose I don't hold it against Telltale when I skip something because I know I'll enjoy the stuff I will play. If I know good people are behind these projects and I trust them to keep making good stuff down the line, it's totally okay to skip over some stuff and they would agree.

Of course the irony of all this is that I guarantee you plenty of people at Telltale feel the same way of the criticisms this might be getting. At the same time, I also bet there are a ton of people who are genuinely excited to do what they love and have a crack at this project.

Actually I think it's becoming less of a game?

Didn't think they could go any lower than Borderlands, but here we are.

Does makes me wonder if MS understand why is Minecraft popular. It is one thing to milk toys, it is another to canibalize your franchise with a spin off. For some people this is going to be the "new" Minecraft game, just that it is a substancial different game.

hey guys lets make a linear interactive story for our newly adquired sandbox emergent gameplay franchise, let the milking begin.

I'm in as long as it's not a point and click adventure.

Sounds awful but this will make literal assloads of money.

Troy Baker & Telltale take on anything.

Wait. this isn't a twitter joke?

I assume they're going to get the authors of those 18 page Minecraft books on Amazon to write for them.

This could be good, think of it like a Lego kit. This will further expand the possibilities it's only going to create new ideas.

That makes sense. They've ported it to every possible platform and made a billion dollars on all of them already so the next logical step is to branch out into things the game isn't and try new things with it.

Since Microsoft owns it now I expect to see a lot more silly nonsense with this franchise. It will probably all make billions of dollars, too.

I don't know. It could be good. I don't really understand what they'll do with it, but whatever.

Welp, maybe we can get another sam and max series in 2020

You know, I wanted something original out of Telltale, but it definitely wasn't this. Dear god.

All I can say is good luck with that. LOL

How many other ways can Minecraft not be a game? Tune in to this piece of trash to find out.

Minecraft:story mode? Is that really the title? thats lame

"This porterhouse could really use a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top"

Nnnnnnnnnnnnnope. Totally unneeded.

Did you know that "telltale" is an anagram for "overreaching the bounds of one's talent or means"?

That's fair. It's just after having these feelings for a while, another announcement of a new series mixed with it being Minecraft of all things put a really sour taste in my mouth. For the most part, I was keeping quiet about this stuff hoping that I was wrong. But Minecraft? Like, really? Who knows... Maybe they thought blank enough slate, maybe this could be our first step towards something more original, but... I dunno, dude. Seems like a lot of wishful thinking.

Nobody will remember that

It will sell, and Telltale will make loads and loads of fucking money, which they can then use to fund their "real" projects. Telltale merely chose to make it an Adventure game because that's what they're good at. They're pulling a Lionsgate.

As for this game... I'm gonna assume they'll try their hand at a comedy children's game, in the vein of Adventure Time.

Minecraft, aka "kids buy anything with this shit on it".

I can't wait for Tell Tale to make another adventure game that looks like its running on the PS2.

This sounds entirely uninteresting, and I like Minecraft.

Is it just me, or is Telltale getting a bit... overzealous?

And Sonic has mountains and mountains of written fan fiction about it. Does that mean Sonic is a fountain of narrative potential or simply that hardcore scribe Sonic/Minecraft fans are weirdos.