Jurassic Park Message Board older than one year ago

#impressions With the license to make a Jurassic Park game in hand, Telltale Games had to find the perfect starting point for a story that would fit into its canon without upsetting or reimagining the events of the first film. More »

Take a stroll through the ultimate wild as Jurassic Park The Game hits E3 2011 with this two-part walkthrough with Executive Producer Kevin Boyle!

The Dinosaurs attack! Get another glimpse at gameplay from Jurassic Park in the conclusion to the E3 2011 Walkthrough!

Check out this lengthy scene from Jurassic Park: The Game, featuring multiple outcomes of success and failure during the climactic battle between the Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex!

I've written about as many stories regarding Telltale Games this week as PlayStation Network, it feels. 

First, the company revealed Jurassic Park: The Game was being pushed back until this fall, citing the need for additional polish. Then, it released a cyptic press release about obtaining a publishing licensor agreement for Xbox 360--something Telltale would need to publish at retail. Today, we know why.

Jurassic Park: The Game will be arriving on a disc for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year. The whole season will be packed on the disc, which raises a few questions about Telltale's plans. Does this rule out a downloadable, episodic release through Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network? Presumably, the PC and Mac crowd will still have the opportunity to buy and play episode-to-episode.

I've asked Telltale to better clarify what's up with their console plans, and I'll update if I hear anything.     

 One can only hope Telltale will take the time to add a pile of dino droppings.

Do you remember when Telltale announced its status as an official publisher for Xbox 360 and we surmised that the San Rafael-based developer may have finally worked something out with Microsoft, allowing it to pre-sell episodic wares as a full season, as it's done successfully on the PC, Mac, and PS3 platforms? Yeah, forget about all that. Telltale is still an official publisher on 360, but it's going to be distributing Jurassic Park: The Game "in North America as a retail release containing the full series on disc."

It's not certain how the PS3 release will be handled, since Telltale says Jurassic Park will be hitting the "Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms as a simultaneous release this fall." Though not mentioned in this latest press release, Telltale CEO Dan Connors said just this week that Jurassic Park "will be released simultaneously on every platform this fall," meaning the PC and Mac releases will appear alongside the "full series" Xbox 360 release. We've reached out to Telltale for some answers but this sounds to us like the episodic pioneer may be releasing an entire season un-episodically.

Telltale Games, the San Rafael-based purveyor of episodic adventure games, has struck an accord with Microsoft, the studio announced today. Exact details on the length and nature of the licensing agreement are forthcoming, but it pertains to publishing games on the Xbox 360 (presumably through Xbox Live Arcade), specifically, with no mention of Windows Phone 7 in the deal. The Xbox 360 hasn't seen a Telltale release since Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventure, due to Microsoft's stringent development restrictions. With this new agreement, we could potentially see episodic seasons pre-sold, a la PlayStation Network.

"Adding console support to our acknowledged expertise in digital downloads is another positive step in our long-term growth strategy," said Telltale co-founder and CEO Dan Connors in the announcement. "We are pleased to expand the size of our potential audience by encompassing the Xbox 360 console consumer and bring our vision of video gaming to them."

Telltale currently publishes on PC, Mac, iOS and PSN. The studio has a ridiculous number of projects in the pipeline, offering some compelling possibilities for hopeful Xbox 360 users.

Confused at the headline? Understandable.

Just after announcing Jurassic Park: The Game has been moved from a later-this-month release into the fall, Telltale Games has announced a publishing licensor agreement for Xbox 360. A what now? At the moment, we don't know the motivation; Telltale isn't willing to talk about the reasons behind this move.

“Adding console support to our acknowledged expertise in digital downloads is another positive step in our long-term growth strategy,” said Telltale co-founder and CEO Dan Connors in the press release. “We are pleased to expand the size of our potential audience by encompassing the Xbox 360 console consumer and bring our vision of video gaming to them."

To date, Telltale has been laser focused on digital download platforms. This could signal Telltale moving into the retail space, though whether it's for anything more than issuing bundles of episodic adventures isn't known. Issuing a press release over the agreement may suggest bigger plans.

After being asked on Twitter, Telltale had nothing more to tell fans.

"No announcements on what's coming to the XBox 360 from us yet but we have some exciting stuff in store!" the company said, understandably cryptically. "Stay tuned!"

We don't really have a choice in the matter, so we will, Telltale, we will.    

PC Gamer report that Telltale have sent an apologetic letter to everybody who pre-ordered Jurassic Park, stating that the game will not be coming out this month as planned and will instead be arriving this Autumn, together with fallen leaves and a creeping loss of daylight. The slightly funereal missive, which contains such grim strings of words as “This has been a hard choice for us,” “We regret any disappointment” and “We will begin issuing the refunds” can be read in full after the jump. Poor Telltale.(more…)

The first episode in Telltale Games' Jurassic Park: The Game, set after the events of the original Steven Spielberg film, was supposed to arrive later this month. Instead, Telltale's pushing it back until this fall.

"The game's mechanics and storytelling have come together in such a way that we see great potential, so much so that we feel we can push these elements to the next level if we spend some extra time working on them," said CEO Dan Connors in a statement. "It is because of this that we are delaying Jurassic Park: The Game on PC to ensure PC players get the best possible gaming experience."

One positive consequence of the move is all platforms will end up receiving at least the first episode simultaneously, ala Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network (which we expect should be up then).

Zing, right? Sigh. Okay, sorry. 

No dinosaur fighting until after the summer. Bummer. 
"We regret any disappointment on the part of our fans but we are confident you’ll be pleased with our decision when the game comes out," said Connors. "This has been a hard choice for us, but it is the right decision."

To help make things right, Telltale is offering full refunds to its customers and a free Telltale game of their choice. Refunds, plus details on redeeming said free game, should be arrive via email this week.

I just wanted some more Jurassic Park, man. Back to putting the John Williams soundtrack on loop.    

#delayofgame Telltale Games' take on Jurassic Park was supposed to hit in April, bringing prehistoric episodic fun to gamers. But the company behind Jurassic Park: The Game now expects the title to hit this fall, according to an e-mail sent to those who pre-ordered the game. More »

Dinosaurs are usually known for their timeliness -- think of people being referred to as "dinosaurs" when they're ahead of the curve on trends -- but the dinosaurs of Telltale's Jurassic Park game aren't going to make their appointed release date.

Telltale CEO Dan Conners sent an email out to people who had pre-ordered the adventure series, informing them that the PC and Mac release of the first episode would not occur in April as planned. "The game's mechanics and storytelling have come together in such a way that we see great potential," he said, "so much so that we feel we can push these elements to the next level if we spend some extra time working on them."

That means that the PC and Mac releases will now take place simultaneously with the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions this fall. In addition, Telltale is issuing full refunds to those who pre-ordered, and throwing in a free Telltale game of the user's choice.

Can we put Telltale in charge of PSN customer service?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

What's that? You were hoping for over ten solid minutes of frantic dino/dino combat today in video form? GameSpot's Hot Spot is here to deliver on just that with a show featuring upcoming action-adventure game Jurassic Park.

#thelostworld Telltale Games, normally adventure game developers, are trying something a little more "Heavy Rain" with their next game, Jurassic Park. If you were curious how that was panning out, here's thirteen minutes of gameplay footage. More »

The second trailer for Telltale’s Jurassic Park game has come stomping and snorting onto the internet (you can see the first here), and it features a lot of Telltale types confirming that they’re dropping their traditional point’n'click formula like a hot stone for something more action-heavy. A guy totally gets skewered by a horned dinosaur in the trailer below! Top stuff. Triceratops, specifically.

Telltale also talk about the new, never-before-seen dinosaur they’re bringing to Jurassic Park for the first time. What could it be, do you think? I was hoping for the Protarchaeopteryx but was disappointed. (more…)

We hope you guys have a few hours to kill. No, the dev diary for Telltale's upcoming Jurassic Park adventure games isn't feature-length, but we'll be damned if it doesn't fill you with an overwhelming desire to pop in the film on which its based. Check out the lengthy behind-the-scenes just below.

As it has been foretold: Dinoday is almost upon us!

What new horrors await you in Jurassic Park? Find out in this interview with Telltale Games CEO Dan Connors!

Jurassic Park represents an obvious departure from the games regularly associated with Telltale. It's not humorous, the graphical style exchanges whimsy for something more realistic, and it's even driven by some action sequences. Having played a brief demo of the game (the first episode is due in April), I think Telltale can successfully break out of its pattern.

It's not hard to see the aforementioned influences from Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain in Jurassic Park's reliance on quick-time events and context-based interactions. However, unlike Heavy Rain, you don't march your character through the environment -- instead, you move the camera and highlight points of interaction within your field of view. Select one, and a small cutscene shows the result of your action.

Telltale Games has updated its website to host the latest tourist-eating attraction, Jurassic Park: The Game. The five-episode series will debut this April on PC and Mac, and can be pre-ordered for $29.99 (representing a $5 discount off the regular price).

The site offers a brief trailer of the game, which is -- as design designer Dave Grossman implied last year -- utterly devoid of talking cartoon animals. It's clearly representative of a darker, more serious approach to storytelling than we've come to expect from Telltale, and isn't likely to be conducive to our usual point-and-click perambulations. "I don't want to have it be a game about hanging around and solving thinky puzzles at your own pace," Grossman said. "It just doesn't seem like the right thing to do for that."

You'll hear more about Jurassic Park and how it works later today.

Telltale's Jurassic Park game has broken cover, with this debut trailer showing that it at least has rain, electric fences and dinosaurs in it! More »

Return to Isla Sorna in the all-new adventure in the events following the first film!