LucasArts’ sudden decision to stop production on Sam & Max is mystifying. Sam & Max was on schedule and coming together beautifully.
I couldn’t have been more pleased with the quality of the writing, gameplay, hilarious animation and the gorgeous 3D world that Mike Stemmle’s team has created. The rug has been pulled out from under this brilliant team who’ve so expertly retooled Sam & Max for the 21st century.
I’m extremely frustrated and disappointed especially for the team who have devoted so much effort and creativity to Sam & Max. It’s a shame to think that their accomplishments, as well as the goodwill that has been growing in the gaming press toward this project, will all go to waste due to this shortsighted decision.
Thanks everyone, for continuing to make your feelings known.
–Steve Purcell
By the way everybody make sure to sign the petition. I know usually these things don’t work but there are over 4,000 signatures now and maybe if we get enough we can show there was more of a demand then they thought
The problem with that petition is that it might as well be titled “Please make the game so we can download it from suprnova.” That’s exactly the kind of demand it shows.
I felt the same way but then I tried Broken Sword III last year. In some ways they were trying to revive the genre, with simplified interface, fancy graphics and animations, etc, but the game overall was… kinda OK. I mean I thought it was a pretty decent example of a graphical adventure, although a mite dumbed-down. It just didn’t grab me. Specifically, doing the old-school stuff I used to love (searching for interaction points, trying goofy inventory fu, etc) just seemed kinda lame and trial-and-error. I’ve gotten more picky in my old age, or my attention span has shrunk :).
In any case, I wonder if any point and click adventure will grab me again. I may just be “done” with the genre.
Although I do intend to try Jane Jensen’s next game.
It’s a sad time of the times, particularly for nostalgists like me. Graphic adventures and flight sims, once two great towering pillars of gaming, are now just about extinct.
Damnit “Tonight all the hells of young grief have opened up again”. I could’ve accepted the cancellation (and in fact I was trying to convince myself) if the project was going horribly wrong and conclude no Sam&Max is better then a bad Sam&Max. But this is too painful :(
The suits must have been pissed about the numbers for Armed and Dangerous, among other things.
Sheesh, the fact that the devs were happy with the content of the game is just salt in the wound.
They better keep using those fat sacks of cash they have lying around to hire out devs like Bioware again. Because Lucasarts doesn’t have a clue when it comes to making games anymore.
Was Purcell actually working on the game? I heard he was dropped from the team a few months back. I can’t help but notice his letter always refers to the developers in the third person.
Bob Violence… that’s from American Flagg, isn’t it?
I had a similar issue with Broken Sword III, but it’s not so much the inventory fu for me as it is the new muddled verbiage. I grew up on the original four King’s Quests, and the Space Quests, so when I think “adventure game,” I tend to think of the single poor bastard who’s trapped and alone in a bad situation. Whenever you have to interview somebody, or gather information from other characters, modern adventure games really fall flat for me. It’s why I haven’t gone back and completed Syberia.
That being said, I was looking forward to the new Sam & Max, and I really don’t get this either. The entire Internet seems to have caught fire over this, too… has LucasArts actually said anything, or leaked anything, about the reasons for the cancellation, or did someone just lose his shit?
the old star wars game “dark forces” included a small sam and max comic/lucas arts product that had them on some imperial base. it was great! going from memory they were walking around trying to find the death star blueprints so they could draw in an extra vent so “when they built the damn thing all the air would get sucked out of it.”
then some storm troopers appeared. one pleasently asked, “hi guys! are you new here?” sam and max then blasted the hell out of them.
max said, “that’s one hundred-thirty-three, one hundred-thirty-four, one hundred-thirty-five imperials we’ve blasted.”
sam: “it’s a shame these guys don’t under stand our peace-loving ways.”
some more, less friendly, storm troopers show up and sam and max dive into the garbage disposal chute. sam starts coughing and in the methane gas filled room. max wants to “lemme have a lookie at the gabage monster,” and lights a match.
BOOOM!
sam winds up in a full body cast while max describes how ironic it was he was blasted clear without injury while sam is drinking his food through a straw. sam said something else but i forgot.
Somebody was saying that Lucas Arts had allready spent 2 million on this game. 2 frekin million and they cancel the game.
Anyway, can’t the developers shop the game to another company? Or does Lucas own the rights to Sam and Max? I would think that they could easily find a company that would embrace the game and would continue development until it’s completed.
