Telltale appear to be getting into the Marvel business in a big way:

At an event in San Francisco today, Marvel discussed the company's future plans in the video game space, announcing a partnership with Telltale Games.

According to Roseman, the company's future Marvel games will strive for authenticity, will feel "exquisite" and "sexy," and will be celebrated by Marvel fans. Roseman said the games will look "eye-popping" and feel well-built and hand-crafted.

I'm kind of torn about this. On the one hand, it would be nice to play a superhero game that isn't just a crappy movie tie-in or ersatz Arkham Asylum. On the other hand, I was hoping that Telltale would start to divest itself of licensed games and get back to doing their own thing. Marvel do seem like a pretty good fit for them, though. Tales from the Borderlands showed they can do adventurous whimsy just as well as bleak turmoil, so there's no reason to believe they couldn't successfully appropriate Marvel's cinematic tone.

@conmulligan: I don't know, I think it's kind of cool. Telltale is becoming the go-to for making licensed games for big properties that don't suck. Can you imagine if Game of Thrones or the Marvel Cinematic Universe became a thing during the PS1/PS2 eras? We'd be drowning in half-assed 3rd person tie-in games.

@conmulligan said:

It's a studio that has been doing adaptations for as long as they've existed, and primarily so. I agree that Telltale is maybe making a smarter business choice over something else but this is probably a win-win situation. Win for Marvel because Telltale has done nothing but right by the properties they've made games for, perhaps excluding Jurassic Park, and are sure to make something people will feel good about. And it's a win for Telltale because it's a great property that will no doubt earn them a bunch of cash to keep that studio going for a while.

Keep in mind they're also a multi-game studio so inherent to the studio if you don't have more projects coming in, then the studio could run the risk of being financially shaky and maybe laying people off rather than keeping people on to make more rad games.

will feel "exquisite" and "sexy,"

God. Business guys can't help but sound really dumb when they try to talk about stuff nerds like me like.

On the other hand, I was hoping that Telltale would start to divest itself of licensed games and get back to doing their own thing.

Um... you realize they've made license games from the beginning right? That's all they've ever made. None of their games are original IP (except Puzzle Agent which was long after they started and was an experiment more than anything- oh and maybe the poker games?). I mean, I get why someone would say that, but you're making the (false) attempt to insinuate that they used to make original games and then "sold out". That never happened.

I think this is... interesting news. On the one hand I love Telltale and adventure games. I love story a lot, so I'm not against this, but I'm hoping this isn't a sole proposition. Action games are fun too.

I assume this is just the only avenue they have right now since most video game studios are either dead or being really tightfisted about anything they make. I'm kind of surprised video games is one thing Marvel has never cared if it was good or not (Marvel games have always run the gamut of terrible to really good so it never seemed like they cared which it is) since they have cared so much about that in film (movies and TV) the last several years.

@flstyle, @bacongames: Yeah, it does make a ton of sense both creatively and financially, so I'm not too worked up about it. I really would like Telltale to spread their wings a bit, though. They do such a good job fleshing out other people's worlds that I can help but wonder how they'd do creating their own.

@cornbredx said:

By "get back to doing their own thing", I was mostly using Telltale and LucasArts interchangeably, since there's so much shared lineage there. I wasn't trying to insinuate that they'd sold out at all; in fact, I think their approach to licensing has been admirable and creatively successful.

I can dig it.

IRON MAN GAME! I WANT!

it'll probably be avengers, i assume... but he will be there so i'm cool with that.

i'm kinda over telltale. walking dead was fun for awhile- but if i want comic book stories, i'll stick to actual comic books.

@conmulligan: Fair enough, but keep in mind just because some people that used to work at Lucasarts started Telltale doesn't mean that Telltale is Lucasarts, you know what I mean? It's not all the same people, and teams and what not. Their business is different on top of that. They really are different companies entirely just with pedigree. It doesn't make them the same, if you know what I mean, so don't get your hopes up for them to have some kind of Lucasarts renaissance or whatever (as awesome as that would be).

Working with Marvel is a good move on their part, but we'll see what that amounts to. Bacongames above makes a similar point already, though.

Yeah I'll care when they know how to build a game without stu-stu-stu-stu-stuttering tra-tra-transitions and Ch o pp y fra me ra te.

So this is probably that multimedia experience they were teasing. (Telltale said before announcing that other thing, that they had other multimedia projects with a major group)

Meanwhile Sam and Max weep in a corner forgotten.

@conmulligan said:

Even when they did all those seasons of Sam & Max, and the one season of Monkey Island, it's not like that entire team was ex-Lucas people. Some of it was, but even then, it was a licensed property created like 10 years prior that they happened to kinda fall into as TellTale, and those 2 series still weren't a new game world they created from the ground up. TellTale has never made original game worlds.

@demoskinos: Never forgotten. Sam and Max is awesome. Including the cartoon show that somehow only got one season despite (even today) being hilarious.

But ya, I do miss Telltale making Sam and Max games- it was actually the reason I even learned about Telltale a long time ago (but that's a long other story).

To be fair, though, they did make three "seasons" and at some point you have to move on to something else. Three (for all intents and purposes) games is generally pretty successful for a series of games (and Sam and Max technically had four if you count the one they made at Lucasarts), and up to this point Telltale hasn't made any series of games that has gone on that long (I know they are making another season of The Walking Dead, but that isn't out yet =P ).

I guess all I mean to say is- I don't think Telltale has forgotten Sam and Max.

@bisonhero said:

Yeah, I know the ex-LucasArts contingent at Telltale has always been a minority, and especially so now that they're up to ~300 employees. But, for better or worse, they're still seen as the spiritual successors to LucasArts. That's what I was getting at.

In any case, when I talk about them getting back to doing original stuff, I'm not actually referring to Lucas-era properties or even that style of adventure game. I'd just like to see them apply all that they've learned over the past couple of years to something new and original.

@cornbredx: I dunno they seem to be really aggressively pursuing the licensed games. Which I mean, to be fair they did some licensed stuff before Walking Dead came around and blew everyone away. It just seems that might be their entire focus now.

@demoskinos: Uh... you realize that Sam and Max is a licensed game too, right? As I said earlier, they've never made a game that wasn't licensed (except the poker games, and maybe Puzzle Agent).

Sure they're getting bigger licenses now, but the only thing that has actually changed is the way they build Adventure games. Their business has been this from the beginning. Since the Walking Dead they've had more money and clout to reel in bigger licenses. Nothing has really changed- licenses have always been their focus haha

Wasn't Puzzle Agent based on some books or something?

Anyways, this could cool I guess, I dunno. A Telltale Marvel game almost seems like a waste. If it was Telltale collaborating with a dev that makes action games I'd be more excited. Unless it's Damage Control. Oh my god if it's a Damage Control Telltale game I'd be way into that. Fuck, I really hope it's Damage Control.

@cornbredx: Actually i didn't. I thought Sam and Max was an original IP.

Jarvis will remember that.

I hope Telltale don't burn themselves out with all of their projects, lots of fingers in lots of pies, good for them though, they make really engaging stuff.

I really hope that they've replaced/redone the Telltale Tool by the time this comes out. I still like what they're putting out writing and design wise, but goddamn if that engine isn't janky as fuck.

@theht: Oh, was it? I wasn't sure. I just know it was an experiment. If that's the case they have technically never done any games that weren't licensed (as even the poker games used licensed characters, technically).

@demoskinos: Sam and Max started as a comic created by Steve Purcell when he was a teenager or something like that. Interestingly the license was bought by TellTale when the sequel to "Sam and Max Hit The Road" (with Lucasarts) fell through. =)

Edit: Sorry, I know a lot (maybe too much) about Sam and Max and also, somewhat, Telltale haha. I have a history with them so I just happen to know too much =P

Sure, why not. It might be a good format for something like a Dr. Strange game.

Sure this makes a lot of sense to me.

As much as I like superhero movies and games, their natural near exclusive focus on combat sequences doesn't capture a lot of what makes comic book stories compelling.

I could see this being a great vehicle for Marvel, especially for X-Men.

I'm into this for sure, but "exquisite" and "sexy" - huh?

List of things I want this to be but it probably won't be:

- An Agent Carter game

- An X-men game where you play a new student at the Jean Grey Academy

- Spider-man Loves Mary Jane: The Video Game

- Just basically Sam and Max but it's Heroes for Hire

- A weird ass She-Hulk Phoenix Wright clone

Yes, please.

I'm starting to lose interest in what Marvel are doing. Besides hoping for second seasons of Agent Carter and Daredevil, on the movie front the only thing I really have any interest in is the Deadpool movie. By the time this Telltale game rolls out, I'll probably be out of the loop.

*Spiderman will remember that*

She Hulk legal series go. I would love a game where you're Jen Walters trying to prepare for cases when villains interrupt or some shit. And then it ends with a legal scene.

Yuck. Capeshit permeates everything, doesn't it?

Maybe they could spend that Marvel money on a NEW FUCKING ENGINE!

@a_e_martin said:

Just give me anything with Haley Atwell. She's the greatest.

@conmulligan: Howard the Duck will finally shine once more!

Seriously though, this could be very cool. No idea who I'd like to control, or even if I'd want it to be a mainstream or lesser known character.

No kidding, their engine is a clunky piece of garbage. It would be nice if their tech matched their creativity.