By John Walker on December 9th, 2008 at 11:14 pm.
The Strong Bad episodic adventures come to an end later this month with the final chapter, 8-Bit Is Enough. In the meantime, there’s something of a spat occurring between developer/publisher Telltale and their development partner, Videlectrix. The details are below, along with statements from both companies, and a trailer for the next episode.
The dispute has broken out over the handling of the Strong Bad games, with Videlectrix disagreeing with the direction Telltale took, using elements such as 3D, and VGA graphics. Their disappointment was expressed with the following graphic on the company’s website.
They have responded by releasing their own game based on the Strong Bad license, describing it thusly.
“Got the EPISODIC GAMING blues? In this age of calculator wristwatches, who has the time for 2-4 hours of gameplay? With Videlectrix’ new ROOMISODIC GAMING, we guarantee several minutes of gameplay!”
The result is a one-room point and click adventure, in which Strong Bad must complete some paperwork for a case, in order that he can leave his office.
In a press release for Episode 5, Telltale’s Emily Morganti made the first public statement from the studio regarding the disagreement between the two firms.
“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.”
With the first series of the game complete, it is unknown whether the two companies will be able to reconcile their differences for a further season. Meanwhile, here’s the trailer for the forthcoming official episode.
09/12/2008 at 23:26 sana says:
Is this a marketing plot?
09/12/2008 at 23:33 RodeoClown says:
@sana: um, yes.
09/12/2008 at 23:33 Pags says:
Colour me confused.
09/12/2008 at 23:39 Meat Circus says:
Are Videlectrix still planning on suing Telltale Games? I doubt that Mike Stemmle can afford a protracted legal battle with the 8-bit gaming giant.
We all know what happened to Atari when they fucked with Videlectrix. Let’s just say that, since the great Snake Boxer licensing war, they were never the same company again.
I’d really hate to see Telltale driven under by the rash machinations of Videlectrix.
I guess they’re gonna have to… SETTLE?
09/12/2008 at 23:43 Tannrar says:
And I thought a Dangeresque sequel was the epitome of awesome.
09/12/2008 at 23:52 manintheshack says:
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
09/12/2008 at 23:59 Al3xand3r says:
And that’s how marketing should be done, folks.
10/12/2008 at 00:13 Ben Abraham says:
HAHAHHA! Roomisodic.
Classic Homestar runner.
10/12/2008 at 00:34 Idle Threats and Bad Poetry says:
This is confusing. So they companies are faking a “creative difference” as a marketing ploy? That’s weird. Of course, we’re talking about the Brothers Chapp here, so should I be so surprised?
10/12/2008 at 00:45 Smee says:
Well, the Strongbad games *would* have looked better done in flash.
10/12/2008 at 01:17 Larington says:
Funnily enough, I’ve played Roomisode one already but haven’t yet gotten around to the telltale produced games, its likely I’ll visit those in the summer as I daren’t start any other new games once GTAIV is done as I’ll then be (Hopefully) getting Uni work done. Such is life.
10/12/2008 at 02:03 BooleanBob says:
Joke or no, that’s precisely the amount of adventure game I would ever want to play in one sitting. And this is from someone who has played literally half-dozens of adventures games.
10/12/2008 at 02:27 John Walker says:
But Larington, they’re only 2-4 hours each. That’s a maximum of 20 hours! And what are you going to do with a degree anyway?
10/12/2008 at 03:45 SanguineLobster says:
Did anyone else get chills at the Trogdor theme?
10/12/2008 at 04:01 qrter says:
Post it online with “lol!!1 kthxbye.” typed under it?
(I know, I know.. ‘t is the stuff dreams are made of)
10/12/2008 at 05:11 thefanciestofpants says:
Once again Videlectrix flexes it’s mighty muscles.
When will people learn to fear it’s mustachio’d overlords??
10/12/2008 at 06:18 bildo says:
so are they trying to say the games are too short?
10/12/2008 at 07:59 Hermit says:
@John,
It’s not about the degree, it’s about the three years of Government loan funded gaming.
10/12/2008 at 09:35 Heliocentric says:
First midway goes under from debt. Now telltale have started a conflict the likes of which have not been seen since the war of pigs bay. Good riddence, if i want to click on things *and* be amused i’ll go to http://www.yomomma.com
10/12/2008 at 10:02 Garrett says:
@Idle Threats and Bad Poetry: Videlectrix is not a real company. SBCG4AP includes various references to Videlectrix because, within the fictional context of the Homestar Runner “universe”, the game was designed with their aid; in the real world, however, Videlectrix does not exist—Telltale acts as both the developer and publisher. This breakup is simply a continuation of the “creative differences” theme of Strong Bad’s development blog (like Videlectrix, the blog is real only within the Homestar Runner universe). This is an in-universe event; they are in no way attempting to pass this off as a real-world disagreement.
10/12/2008 at 10:42 John Walker says:
Yeah right, Garrett. And next you’ll be saying the tooth fairy isn’t real, and Jim can’t transform into a giant killer robot. You must be enormous fun.
10/12/2008 at 10:46 Pod says:
That roomisode game was very well made…are the real strongbad games like that?
10/12/2008 at 11:45 Denton says:
Indeed – the roomisode was superb. I have only seen the demo for the first episode of the real games though – had some interesting ideas.
10/12/2008 at 13:08 manintheshack says:
Roomisode got me all nostalgic about the Good Sam & Max Game. It also pissed me off. Because I couldn’t figure it out. Bah.
10/12/2008 at 15:34 Gap Gen says:
Yeah, the first blare of 8-bit sound with 256-colour backgrounds gave me a little twinge of nostalgia.
10/12/2008 at 18:49 nullspace says:
Pod, the real SB games play pretty much the same as this roomisode, just more rooms. There are also 3D graphics and voiceovers. And some more stuff to do besides the adventure game puzzle solving.
And another thing, Videlectrix is real! If they’re not real, then who developed Trogdor, Peasant’s Quest, etc.? Videlectrix is only about 70% fictional.
10/12/2008 at 18:55 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
Oh please, don’t tell me the tooth fairy isn’t real T_T I guess I’ve still got the magazine fairy to believe in ^_^
Anyway, it’s good news the season has concluded because it means it’s highly possibly coming to Steaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!
10/12/2008 at 19:20 JonFitt says:
Moar!
10/12/2008 at 23:03 Psychopomp says:
Here’s to waiting for my Stinkoman 20×6 game, made by the guys behind Devil May Cry. If you think they can’t do funny, I point you towards any cutscene starring Dante in DMC4.
C’mon, IT WOULD BE AWESOME.
11/12/2008 at 02:45 Hmm.Hmm says:
Is there anyone else who prefers the 8-bit look over the look of the trailer?