[guybrushgurl]

I've seen it referenced in a couple of adventure games, namely Sam and Max Season 1, and I'm sure it's some type of joke...

Does anyone know what it means?

[XerxesLetifer]

March 3, 2004 was the expected release date for "Sam and Max Freelance Police" the sequel to "Sam and Max Hit the Road".

The game never saw release, and instead we got Sam and Max Season One from Telltale Games.

[Lucien21]

I don't think it was the release date.

I think it was the date Sam&Max 2 was officially cancelled by Lucasarts.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

I don't think it was the release date.

I think it was the date Sam&Max 2 was officially cancelled by Lucasarts.

This.

I really wish we could have experienced another full Sam and Max game without the drawbacks of episodic content.

[Udvarnoky]

Since Freelance Police was by all accounts being developed with an episodic structure you probably wouldn't have been happy anyway.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

Originally Posted by Udvarnoky

Since Freelance Police was by all accounts being developed with an episodic structure you probably wouldn't have been happy anyway.

Oh, I definitely didn't know that. Too bad, I really don't like that style. The wackiness is intact, but the gameplay is close to nonexistant.

[XerxesLetifer]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

I don't think it was the release date.

I think it was the date Sam&Max 2 was officially cancelled by Lucasarts.

I knew the date had to do with Sam & Max 2, but I guess I should have done more than 1 minute of research verifying it.

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by youfightlikeadairyfarmer

Oh, I definitely didn't know that. Too bad, I really don't like that style. The wackiness is intact, but the gameplay is close to nonexistant.

Have you played any of the Sam & Max episodes?

[Udvarnoky]

I think the decision to make the games more character and joke oriented (or however you want to put the thing that results in the game being more of an "interactive sitcom" than puzzle-based) has less to do with the games being episodic than with Telltale just wanting to make the games that way. I mean, I'm sure they could have made episodes with kah-razy puzzles and less hand holding if they'd wanted to. The length of the games doesn't really have anything to do with that.

[guybrushgurl]

Thanks for the info! It's been driving me crazy!!

[Terramax]

Originally Posted by youfightlikeadairyfarmer

This.

I really wish we could have experienced another full Sam and Max game without the drawbacks of episodic content.

Agreed. The first episode was fun, but I just can't take the same running gags. Haven't even bothered with most of series one.

I would have prefered a singular story that just went more and more OTT as you persued further.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

Have you played any of the Sam & Max episodes?

The first three. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them for their goofiness. But they were really short and easy.

Originally Posted by Udvarnoky

I think the decision to make the games more character and joke oriented (or however you want to put the thing that results in the game being more of an "interactive sitcom" than puzzle-based) has less to do with the games being episodic than with Telltale just wanting to make the games that way. I mean, I'm sure they could have made episodes with kah-razy puzzles and less hand holding if they'd wanted to. The length of the games doesn't really have anything to do with that.

I agree that they do it that way because they want to. But having two locations in a game really makes it a lot easier to know what to do in every situation. I don't really mind easy adventure games, but like you said, it's basically an interactive cartoon and is barely a game at all. Compared to Hit the Road, which was a good game as well as being funny, the episodes are barely games at all.

Sorry for the derail.

[Sik]

Even if you hated the episodic style of the games, jumping off after the first 3 episodes of season 1 would have left the worst possible impression. The 4th episode of season 1 was where they finally started getting things right, so you should give it a go since it's free. The difficulty of the episodes has also been cranked up quite a bit, and episodes in season 2 have more clever puzzles in them than most full length games.

I didn't like the Bone games much, and the first 3 episodes of sam and max were kinda fun, but way too easy, and it felt like most of the play time was spent running/driving back and forth while knowing exacty what to do. If stuck, all puzzles could be solved by trying everything on everything for 3 minutes since there were few locations/hotspots.

It got better. A lot better.

I'd love a full length Sam and Max, but I'm hooked on the episodes now. ;p

[fajerkaos]

I just finished episode 202 for the first time, and while maybe not the funniest of the bunch, I think it' a very good exemple of how devilishly hard you can make an episode if you just want to.
The puzzles reminded me of HtR more than a few times.