All I Want For Christmas: Sam & Max Figures

From the makers of the popular Sam & Max figurines come these stylized figures of your favorite dog-and-rabbit crime-fighting due. Made of sturdy plastic and standing about four inches tall (well, Sam is – Max is about 3 inches), the Sam & Max Symbiotes lets you accessorize with different hand grips and guns (remember: Max gets the luger). Available on the Telltale Games site for $24.95 plus shipping.

Complete DVD for Tales of Monkey Island Now Available for Pre-Order

Those loyal fans who have been playing Tales of Monkey Island for several months can now opt to upgrade their series to the ultimate DVD collector's package in standard or deluxe edition. Telltale Games has put together two DVD packages which include the complete Tales of Monkey Island series on a DVD PC-ROM which can be upgrade to by current series owners or purchased by those late to the party.

The first option is the standard edition which comes with a DVD which includes the following:
* The complete five episode season of Tales of Monkey Island
* Highlight reel with commentary from Telltale design team
* Production art gallery
* Five fan-created "I Wonder What Happens" video collection
* Two Tales of Monkey Island official trailers
* Preview of Telltale's next game, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
* Desktop wallpapers and fun forum avatars

If you already own all the episodes from Tales of Monkey Island, then this DVD is free plus shipping and handling. It's $34.95 for first time buyers.


The second option is the deluxe edition which includes all the stuff listed above and the following:
* DVD slip case designed by Monkey Island art legend Steve Purcell
* A previously un-discovered new card from the Voodoo Lady's deck
* Gulf of Melange Map
* Commemorative button from Guybrush's Trial of the Century
* Drink coaster from Club 41
* Piratey piece of eight coin


If you already own all the episodes from Tales of Monkey Island, then you can upgrade to the Deluxe Edition for only $14.95 plus shipping and handling. It's $49.95 for first time buyers. Head to the Telltale Games site to pre-order yours now.

Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Trailer

Telltale Games is back with new adventures from our favorite talking dog and lagomorph! Sam & Max are back in Sam & Max: The Devil's Playground which is due out on April 15 2010.
You can pre-order this game series from Telltale Game now and receive a free episode from any of Telltale Games line-up as well as an exclusive membership in the Freelance Police Elite Force - all for $34.95. The Elite Force is a private forum group which will gain special access to exclusive information and deals throughout the year.

Review: January 2010 Downloadable Games

Fat Princess
SCE, Titan Studios
Available on the Playstation Network

Fat Princess is a 2 team, 16 player online game that is pure cartoon chaos. Two teams must work together to kidnap the other team’s Princess from inside a defended castle, while trying to defend their own Princess. To make things interesting each Princess can be fatten up by each team member with random pieces of cake found on the battle field. The more cake you feed your Princess, the bigger the she gets and the harder she is to kidnap which can help or hinder your team depending on the situation.

Each team member can choose one of 6 character classes like a mage or a warrior which each has their own abilities and weapons. Classes can be changed by grabbing hats from stations inside your castle. In addition to the main “Capture the Princess” mode, Fat Princess has a multiplayer death match mode and two single player modes: a story mode and a survival mode.

While I found this game to be clever and whimsical, overall the game has just too chaotic for me. I never saved the Princess once because I always died before I got to her and I tend to hate games that don’t give me even a fighting chance. I know some people love hard games like Mega Man but to me, this was like trying to ice skate up a hill. It just wasn’t possible.

Pass on it!

Final Fantasy VII
Sony, Square Enix
Available on the Playstation Network

Retro games are all the rage and most game companies are cashing in by placing old titles online for players to purchase and download. Now I personally would rather own the old systems and the games themselves, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to get these games instantly rather than having to hunt for them in flea markets and garage sales.

Square Enix is one of those companies that have taken up the task to re-release old titles from their vault onto services like the Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console and the Playstation 3’s Playstation Network. While I’m still praying for Final Fantasy VI to show up, I have been thankful for the release of Final Fantasy VII which any fan will tell you is the most loved game in the series.

This online version of FFVI is probably as close as you can get to the actually game without actually buying yourself a hard copy – every side quest, chocobo ride and boss battle is here. So I suggest that if you want to relive the greatest heart breaking moment in gaming history, then download this game now. As for the newcomers to the game, please don’t delay – buy today, so you can finally understand what we FF fans are finally babbling about. Aerith who?

Buy it!

Sam and Max: Beyond Space and Time
Telltale Games
Available on the Xbox Live Marketplace

Sam and Max: Beyond Space and Time aka Sam and Max: Season 2 has finally made its way to the Xbox Live Marketplace. Based on the comic books series by Steve Purcell, this point and click adventure game follows up Season one aka Sam and Max Save the World which is also available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

The crazy crime fighting duo of Sam and Max bring you five of the weirdest stories for your adventure solving pleasure. Sam and Max will encounter everyone from Abe Lincoln to Santa Claus during these coo-coo adventures and you will need to think outside of the box in order to keep up with them.

Each episode is better than the last and the hilarious dialog will have you rolling on the floor laughing. While I am a fan of the old 2D graphics from Sam and Max: Hit the Road, I do like the updated 3D graphics used by Telltales. Overall, this is a great series and I suggest my readers check out both Season 1 and 2.

Buy it!

Borderloads DLC: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned
2k Games, Gearbox Software
Available on the Xbox Live Marketplace, Playstation Network and Steam

Considering how huge a game Borderlands is on its itty bitty own, it’s hard to believe anyone would want to purchase additional quests for the game but honestly offer up anything with zombies in it and I will buy. The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned is the first downloadable content for the holiday hit, Borderlands, which brings your team to the creepy island of Jakob’s Cove. There you discover zombies are eating the locals and you need to find away to stop them, starting with seeking helping from Dr. Ned – no relation with Dr. Zed, your health provider in the Arid Badlands.

There are quite a few new quests, items and enemies here for your skag killing enjoyment. The humour in the main story is far more off the wall than anything you’ll find in the main Borderlands game and the new enemies will have you on your toes every minute you traverse these new swamp lands.

Zombie related content is usually better released at Halloween but I’ll take my zombies any way I can get them. Zombie lover or not, I highly suggest Borderland fans check this download out whether you have finished the main game or not. The quests are tailored to your character’s current level, so you can jump in any time.

Buy it!

Presents from The Girl Gamer: Day Two

Congratulations to yesterday's winner: Genny
Contact me at thegirlgamer.net@gmail.com to win your prize.

Time for another prize giveaway. Today I'm giving away a copy of Telltale Games Sam & Max - Episode "Ice Station Santa"

Just answer the following trivia question and you can win.

"Name the president that appears in the Telltale Sam & Max games."

Look for another prize giveaway tomorrow.

ToMI - Episode 5: Rise of the Pirate God Available December 5th for PC

If you've been playing the Tales of Monkey Island games like I've been, you know Episode 4 finishing on a cliffhanger and the outcome was not good for our hero, Guybrush.

On December 8th, Telltale Games will release the 5th and final episode in the Tales of the Monkey Island series, Rise of the Pirate God. Fans will finally get to find out the fate of our favorite mighty pirate.

I really hope that Telltale decides to create another block of episodes for the Monkey Island franchise like they did with the Sam & Max franchise. I have been massively impressed with their reboot of the series and don't want them to stop.

If you haven't checked out any of the Monkey Island games yet, please do. You can now purchase single episodes of the game for $8.95 or the full package for $34.95. There's also a demo available for the first episode. You can find everything here.

Epic 8-Bit Art: Super Monkey Island Bros.

Telltale Games still hasn't announced the winners of the Halloween contest but there are still so great entries showing up on the blog and in the forums from the contest.

This gem I found in the forums from a user named Yoshiwam. It's the Monkey Island gang dressed up as members of the Super Mario Bros. crew. LeChuck as Mario, Guybrush as Luigi, Elaine as Peach, Stan as Toad, Murray as Yoshi and even a rubber chicken with a pully is seen in the background as a power-up. Classic!

Telltale Halloween Contest: Trick or Treat or Dog or Rabbit or Pirates ....

Telltale Games is slowly posting all the entries from their Halloween Art Contest and though mine is up yet, there are some pretty cool entries so far like the one above: Evil Max playing pumpkin ball.

Check out all the entries from Day One, Two and Three that they have posted so far and maybe soon they'll post mine.

Sam & Max Art: My Entry into the Telltale Games Halloween Contest

I'm a big fan of all things Lucasarts, but I'm even more of a fan of all the things being created at Telltale Games these days. They are bringing the best of the Lucasarts franchises back to life and I love them for it.

They are running a contest right now where contestants can enter any type of art based on their game franchises. This was my entry in the contest.

Today is the last day to enter. Check out the details here.

New Artwork Revealed for Tales of Monkey Island: Stan is Back!

Telltale Games has posted 4 new pictures for the upcoming episode 4 of Tales of Monkey Island. Stan the Boat Salesman is back and Elan has been infected by the pox. Also its ladies night at Club 41. I can't wait to play the new episode.

 

 

Tales of Monkey Island Ep.3: Lair of the Leviathan is Available Today!

Today Episode 3 of Tale of Monkey Island is available, so hurry up plunder bunnies and download the newest episode to find out what happened to Guybrush Threepwood after the last episode.

Watch the video for a special appearance of our favorite evil skull, Murray.

Two Good Reasons to Download Tales of Monkey Island Now

Episode 1 is still free and there's Murray in the 3rd episode. See, I have photographic proof, so why want any longer. GO AND DOWNLOAD THESE GAMES!

Few people know that you can still get your free demo copy of Tales of Monkey Island - Episode 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, if you just follow this link - FREE DEMO HERE

Episode 3: Lair of the Leviathan will be available for download on September 29th, so I suggest you hurry up and download the 1st and 2nd episodes if you haven't already. Both 1&2 are also available as Wiiware titles if you prefer.

For those of us, you have played the first two games, we'll have to be tied over with these new screenshots until Tuesday.

Review: Tales of Monkey Island - Ep.2 - Siege of Spinner Cay

Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 2 – Siege of Spinner Cay
Telltales Games
Available as a PC Download and as Nintendo Wiiware.

Avast ye scurvy dogs, tis time for the next episode in the Tales of Monkey Island story. In July, Telltales games released the first episode in the Tales of Monkey Island series which received excellent reviews from the fans and the game media. On August 20th, Episode 2: Siege of Spinner Cay was released and I’m here to tell you if it’s worth following Mr. Threepwood’s adventures past the first cannon shot and witty remark.

If you managed to pick up the first episode, you’ll remember that we left our hero at the end of a pirate’s blade which we soon find out belongs to a famous pirate hunter hired by the Marquis who is still trying to catch Guybrush. After a few witty remarks and some quick reactions, Guybrush manages to escape the hunter with only a minor problem and decides to head off to find Elaine.

Arriving in Spinner Cay, he finds his sweet Elaine in good health but also trying to track down La Esponja Grande in order to remove the voodoo pox which is now affecting numerous pirates throughout the area. Elaine has teamed up with the now human LeChuck in order to convince the Merfolk inhabitants of Spinner Cay to give them the sponge. This does not make Guybrush happy and he does everything he can to save the day on his own in order to impress Elaine.


From here out, you must use Guybrush’s usual problem solving skills to search the island for the clues to finding the La Esponja Grande. You must collect items, talk to the natives and use your noggin to help Guybrush navigate all the problems he encounters on the islands. The puzzles were a lot harder this time around compared to the first episode and I’m ashamed to admit even I had to cheat on a puzzle or two.

Fans will be happy to know that even more Monkey Island references from previous games popped up in this new episode like insult sword fighting and the inclusion of the original Monkey Island theme. The humour in the game ring true again whether in it be in the dialog or the puzzles. You honestly can’t help but chuckle playing these games.

The controls are still the same in game with the option of using either the mouse or the keyboard. I still found the keyboard controls were much easier to move Guybrush around on screen. Though I found a few glitches in the first episode, I found no problems this time around but keep in mind that PC versions are different from computer to computer.

The graphics were still the same beautiful 3D models used in the first episode which are created on the same engine that Telltale games using in their other series like Sam & Max. I really can’t get over how spectacular the characters look in this game, especially after the disaster that was the 3D Playstation 2 version of Monkey Island, Escape from Monkey Island. That game is the reason no one originally liked the idea of another 3D Monkey Island game because it fought like cow. How appropriate you fight like a dairy farmer! Wait, what?! Never mind.


Still happy to see original Monkey Island veterans, Dominic Armato and Alexandra Boyd voicing Guybrush and Elaine as the game wouldn’t be the same without them, but I also would like to point out the grand job that Adam Harrington and Kevin Blackton are doing for LeChuck’s voices. I know a lot of fans are mad that veteran actor, Earl Boen didn’t return but he’s retired apparently.

Now most fans would have been smart and probably purchased the whole series when Telltale games offered it up for a discounted price but for those who haven’t purchase any episode yet or just bought the first, I can’t stress how great these games are. Telltale Games has not only breathe new life into an amazing series for new & old fans to enjoy but they have also inspired the dinosaurs over at Lucasarts to finally start re-releasing all the old titles from their catalogue starting with a Special Edition of Secret of Monkey Island. I personally can’t wait for titles like Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max: Hit the Road.

If I could kiss each and every one of the employees at Telltale game for what they’ve done for old school Lucasart fans, I would but hopefully they will consider this review like one big smooch instead. Definitely buy this and share it with a future gamer.

Rating: 10 out of 10
Buy it!

Review: Tales of Monkey Island: Ep.1 - Launch of the Screaming Narwhal

Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 1 – Launch of the Screaming Narwhal
Telltales Games
Available via PC download at the Official Telltale Games Website

Good news, all my plunder bunnies! The newest adventure in the life of Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate has finally arrived from the wonderful people at Telltale Games, the developers who brought us the new episodic adventures of Sam & Max, freelance police. Tales of Monkey Island, another episodic game series launched its first of 5 episodes on July 7th to the joyful tears of millions of old school LucasArts adventure game fans and this reviewer got the chance to check out an early press copy 5 days before actual release date. To think it wasn’t even my birthday.

In the first episode, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, we are introduced to our favourite hero again, Guybrush Threepwood as she attempts to save his beloved wife, Elaine from LeChuck, the Zombie Pirate for 5th time I think. At this point, I’ve lose count how many times that woman has been kidnapped by LeChuck. Anyway, Guybrush uses a magical recipe on a sword to kill LeChuck but something goes wrong, and LeChuck is turned human, the boat blows up and Guybrush wakes up on an island only to find his hand has a mind of its mind. A nasty mind at that.
From here out, you must help Guybrush find a way off the island and back to his sweet Elaine. Much like previous adventure games, you must help Guybrush through his journey by talking to people, collecting items and solving his problems. Talking to people is done though dialog trees which give you a series of responses or questions to ask each person you talk to. Most responses are quite humorous which is what these games are famous for, that and three-headed monkeys.

Problem solving is usually complete with the aid of your item inventory, but you must remember not to use your item logically because that’s not how the game works. For example, in the beginning Guybrush drops his bottle of root beer, so you must replace the ingredient. Instead of finding for root bear, you instead find a plant with large roots and a barrel of grog which when combined together becomes root beer. See you have to think outside the box. Fans will love to hear that the plant is Chuck the Plant.

Fans of the previous MI series will be happy to know that former LucasArts employees worked on this game like Dave Grossman and Michael Stemmle and even MI series creator, Ron Gilbert helped brainstorm the initial project. Honestly you can tell these guys had a hand in the process because the game feels like series picked up right after Curse of Monkey Island and everyone forgot that horrible 3D version on the PS2 never even existed.

Graphically, Telltale Games decided to stay away from the original 2D graphics found in the first 3 Monkey Island games, despite cries from the fans and went with their successful 3D engine used on games like Sam & Max. The 3D cartoon graphics look spectacular and make each character really pop on screen. The control scheme is pretty decent with the use of either keyboard or mouse to move Guybrush around.

The music in the game is classic Monkey Island calypso with a hint of a jaunty pirate tune. The voice of Guybrush is provided by veteran voice actor, Dominic Armato, who provided his voice in Curse of Monkey Island and we also see the return of Alexandra Boyd, who voiced Elaine. Kudos to the developers for an excellent job on the voice sync, though I found it odd that text dialog picks didn’t come out the same vocally. The idea was the same but not the wording. They were still funny either way.

Now I did find a couple of glitches in the game but I had an early press copy that hadn’t been completely debugged yet. I found that the maps I found in the game when examined would be blank sometimes and I would have to re-examine them to fix the glitch. Also I had one spot where my inventory refused to open and I had to restart the game, but only happened once. Again though, I was playing an early build of the game and they always have a bug or two. The main game I’m sure with not have these issues, so honestly I can’t factor these in on final opinion of this game.

Now that I’m done reviewing the first episode of Tale of Monkey Island, the only thing I regret is that I have to wait another month to play the next episode. Obviously the purchase of this game should be a no-brainer for fans of the Monkey Island series, especially since there are so many long lost friends showing up to help Guybrush along the way and so many tributes to the franchise hidden in the game, but for the newbies uncertain about this game, I can only say this: Play this game and not only will you finally understand all the strange inside jokes your older PC gaming friends are making finally but you will open your mind to one of the greatest franchises that LucasArts has ever made. Well, besides Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Note: This game will be available in the future on Nintendo Wii via Wii Ware download.

Rating: 10 out of 10
Buy it!

New Tales of Monkey Island Game Play Footage

Tales of Monkey Island will launch its first episode, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal on July 7th and I am so excited. The game will be available for PC via the official site.

If you want a really good deal on this episodic game, I suggest fans grab the $34.95 pre-order deal now while its still available. It includes:

- All 5 episodes delivered to you monthly
- A collector's DVD available at the end of season (you must pay shipping)
- Access to exclusive Monkey Island content on the site
- An exclusive DVD case slip painted by Steve Purcell
- A free Telltale episode of your choice

Until then here's some game play footage to tide us all over.

E3 2009: Tales of Monkey Island

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY! Well, this and that The Secret of Monkey Island is coming to XBLA.

Telltale Games, the glorious people who brought back the old Lucas Arts, Sam & Max franchise, have managed to bring life back to the Monkey Island franchise and even include the voice of the original Guybrush Threepwood in the new game.

Tales of Monkey Island will be available as episodic content for Wii Ware and the PC starting July 7th. Once all the episodes are released, Telltales will release them as a collector's edition disc. There is PC bundle pre-order available for $34.95 which all 5 episodes and more.

For more information, check out the official website.

Sam & Max Go To Hell!

Dog and rabbity-thing to descend into fiery depths and duel with the devil himself in the epic Season Finale this April

SAN RAFAEL, CA, March 26, 2008 – After months of building anticipation, the groundbreaking episodic game series Sam & Max Season Two has reached its climax. Now Telltale can at last reveal details about the exciting Sam & Max Season Two finale. With souls on the line and the fate of mankind hanging by a thread, Sam & Max will come face to face with their biggest, baddest adversary ever. The episode, entitled What's New, Beelzebub?, will debut Thursday, April 10 for subscribers of Turner Broadcasting's GameTap service (www.gametap.com). Its worldwide release will follow one day later, on Friday, April 11, from Telltale's website (www.telltalegames.com).

What's New, Beelzebub? caps a five-game season that has been gaining momentum since November. During this time, Sam & Max have faced off against a demonically-possessed Santa in the North Pole, visited the tropics to stop a cataclysmic volcano eruption, stormed a trendy Eurotrash nightclub overrun with dancing zombies to vanquish their vampire leader, and launched across space and time to track down their missing friend Bosco. Now, judgment day is at hand, and it's time for a showdown with the guy downstairs to bargain for Bosco's soul. But, in the corporate wasteland known as Hell, not even Sam & Max are safe from eternal damnation. Can they wiggle free from Satan's grasp, or have they finally reached the end of the line?


The Sam & Max series has been widely heralded as one of the best examples of successful episodic gaming. In Season Two, the model has been used to piece out a clever and humorous story month by month, gradually growing suspense and winning the praise of critics and fans as seemingly unrelated threads and increasingly varied scenarios have woven into a surprising and compelling plot. As the most epic and off-the-wall Sam & Max episode yet, What's New, Beelzebub? promises to close the season with a bang.

Anticipation is already high for those following the series, but it's not too late for new players to dive in. All Sam & Max Season Two episodes can be purchased from Telltale's online store through a full season set or as individual episodes and are also available as part of a GameTap subscription. Additionally, customers who purchase the Season Two bundle from Telltale will be eligible to get a DVD that includes all five episodes along with bonus content for just the cost of shipping and handling. Emails will be sent to qualifying customers when the DVD is available for ordering.

The success of the Sam & Max game series has fueled a renaissance for the franchise. Telltale recently released a special 20th Anniversary Edition of Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell's Surfin' the Highway comic collection after a decade out of print, and a DVD box set of the 1997 animated series has just been published by Shout Factory. Both are available in Telltale's online store, along with other Sam & Max merchandise.

Check out the trailer here.

Review: Sam and Max Ep. 203: Night of the Raving Zombies

Telltale Games, GameTap
Available now for PC download

Welcome back the dog and hyperkinetic rabbity thing!

Sam and Max, once a cult PC game that seemed destined to collect dust in bargain bin shelves, has finally been resurrected with several sequels, to once again take over the world one PC at a time. The LucasArts point and click adventure game has been renewed and redone for a new generation by game company, Telltale Games and fans, old and new are loving the new incarnation of the 1993 game.

Over 11 episodes have created for the Sam and Max series and Telltale games plans to keep them coming as long as the fans continue download them. The newest episode in the series is Night of the Raving Dead and that’s raving as in rave dance as oppose to raving mad. In this episode, Sam and Max find their neighbour over run by zombies and must defeat the emo vampire master, Jurgen who behind their resurrection. Jurgen owns a dark castle turned trendy night club for zombies, which is where the raving part in the title comes from.



The humour from the original game is alive and well in this sequel and will have everyone laughing at the clever banter between characters and all the inside jokes. The original theme song is still in use, but the graphics have been updated with a new 3D cartoon look. The characters sound pretty close to the original 1993 game’s voice actors, but I was disappointed to see that the voices sometimes didn’t match the lip movements on the characters.

Load times between different scenes are a little slow and the general pausing is confusing at first, because it looks like your computer freezes. A loading icon or something would have been nice to avoid unnecessary reboots. The game controls are easy to pick up since it’s just “point and click” to move, pick up and interact with objects and people. Some puzzles come easy while others may have you running between screens for hours. You can adjust the amount of hints Max throws at you during the game though, which can help out the slow people.

With such a cheap price, and easy “purchase and download” delivery system, there is no reason why you shouldn’t download all of Season 1 & 2 of Sam and Max. You can download directly from the Telltale website or Gametap.com, or you can even pick up Season 1 in stores. Join Sam and Max, the Freelance Police today or we’ll sick Max on you. He bites … a lot.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Buy it!