[Jake]

Okay. First off, so I'm not misinterpreted:

I want a new Sam & Max game. You want a new Sam & Max game. We all want a new Sam & Max game.

Everybody clear on that? Good.


Now, I have to ask: Why the heck is Wolfgang Keirdorf and Bad Brain taking the adventure community for a complete ride with this Sam & Max 2 business? I mean, seriously.

My excitement for the return of our favorite canine shamus and hyperkinetic rabbity thing is in a constant battle to overtake my worries, but I really can't shake these feelings, the feelings that, even if it's not his intent, as an adventure fan I'm being severely manipulated by Wolfgang Kierdorf and Bad Brain.

I don't want to have these feelings towards Bad Brain. Nothing is more awesome to me than a publisher who is hugely supportive of adventure games, in regular communication with the community, and open (to a degree) in their business dealings. That part of Bad Brain is frickin great! I mean, they're publishing Bill Tiller's adventure game for cripes sake, a game I'm getting more and more excited about. That is awesome.

These huge positives make me feel very guilty writing this post, but I can't help it.

I felt uneasy during that developer chat at The Inventory, when the initial hints about "talking to LucasArts about a game that might involve animals" were spilled. I mean, as an adventure fan and a Sam & Max fan it was beyond exciting to hear that the Freelance Police might still live, but something wasn't quite right. Why was Wolfgang telling the fans this? That isn't at all what people usually do. My first response was "yeah rock on, Wolfgang, for keeping the fans in the know!" as I'm sure a lot of people felt, and still feel.

That changed, almost immediately though, to suspicion. I don't know (or care) how intentional it was, but to me, revealing to the hardest hardcore fans that your company is in talks with LucasArts to revive Sam & Max is a bit of a dirty move. I'm sure Wolfgang did it because he was excited (who wouldn't be!), but on the other hand, think about it from LucasArts point of view.

What, from their perspective, would Wolfgang effectively telling every fan alive about these negotiations do to LucasArts? What they saw, I think was an attempt to force their hand, twist their arm, put them on the spot. Would they appreciate that? I don't really think so. In fact, if I was LucasArts and I saw that kind of behavior, I would have probably cut off negotiations too.

When Wolfgang announces to the fans that he is talking with LucasArts about joining with him to save Sam & Max, and then announces that LucasArts doesn't want to listen, and cut off communication, he is manipulating us. Yes he is informing us, and yes we are bummed out, but we are also being severely manipulated. No matter what, in this situation, Wolfgang and Bad Brain come out looking completely gold, with tons of publicity in the fan community, while LucasArts always looks the loser. Think about it. Situation A: Sam & Max 2 gets published, Bad Brain is the savior of Sam & Max. Situation B: Sam & Max 2 doesn't get published, Bad Brain rules, LucasArts drools.

That sucks on all fronts, but at least in that situation, LucasArts was the bad guy to begin with. Most adventure fans (and many old school non-adventure fans!) were already right pissed with LEC about Sam & Max to begin with, for cancelling the title in the first place! So really, no harm done.

In my eyes, we're seeing the same thing happening again with the latest Bad Brain update, only far worse. The Bad Brain news page has been updated, as you probably know, revealing that LucasArts has abruptly ceased talks with Bad Brain, and now, Bad Brain is looking to appeal to the big man himself, Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell: The Bad Brain site has been updated, specifically asking the fans, emotions already run through the wringer twice about this game, to ask Steve Purcell to give Bad Brain a license to Sam & Max so Bad Brain can create an all new game starring the rabbit and dog.

Again, I must reiterate at this point that I want to see a new Sam & Max game, I like Bad Brain Entertainment, and I have respect for what Wolfgang is trying to do for the adventure community but what is about to go down is totally not cool.

Think about the situation A and B I outlined earlier in this post, with Bad Brain, and LucasArts. Now, replace LucasArts with Steve Purcell. Think about that. That's not very appealing to me, and not very fair, I don't think.

Again, I don't really think that that is genuinely Wolfgang or Bad Brain's real intention, but what they've done is effectively make the decision to rally the fans against Steve Purcell to give Bad Brain the rights.

I mean, what if Purcell says no? What if he has other plans in the works for Sam & Max that, unlike Wolfgang, he decides not to disclose for business reasons? Will fans unquestioningly say "okay, Steve" when he finally has to give a definitive answer, even if it's not one they want to hear? And will Wolfgang accept it politely on the Bad Brain site, or will he use it as yet another tool to rally the adventure community for his next cause? Bad Brain has completely put him on the spot with this announcement, and he didn't even do anything wrong to deserve to be there!

Again, in the eyes of fans who don't pay attention, Bad Brain will come out covered in gold: the smiling voice of the downtrodden adventure fan who stood up and gave it their best shot, but were once again stricken down by these people who "for some unknown reason don't want adventure fans to have their game."

I'm sure I've overanalysed this to death, but I can't help but feel] that my emotions as an adventure fan are being played, even inadvertantly, for the benefit of Bad Brain.




Just for the record, I have no clue what any of the people I've mentioned by name in this post (Wolfgang Kierdorf, Bill Tiller, Steve Purcell) think about any of this. It's simply a collection of thoughts that popped into my head after reading the most recent bad brain update, and how I feel after being on the fan side of the Bad Brain press machine time and time again for the past couple months.

I still support Bad Brain as a company and wish them well, but I want the manipulative-feeling behavior to stop, and I would very much like the company to behave more professionally. A balance can be acheived between professionalism and fan-openness, and Bad Brain has a lot to learn in that department, on both sides of the equasion.

[Ninth]

Wow. You're actually very right.
I'm scared.

[Bastich]

Originally Posted by Jake

I'm sure I've overanalysed this to death, but I can't help that my emotions as an adventure fan are being played, even inadvertantly, for the benefit of Bad Brain.

Nah. I think you can analyze it a bit more.

You may be right, though. They certainly have everything to gain and nothing to lose by dropping such hints as you have said.

What can we really do about it though?

[Jake]

Originally Posted by Bastich

What can we really do about it though?

Be Vigilant.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by Bastich

What can we really do about it though?

Commiserate?

[HieroHero]

spot on Jake ive had the same feelings about bad brain the last couple of months.. steve purcell should not give the rights of sam and max to bad brain! what have they done? **** all as far as making games.. if steve purcell gives the license to anyone it should be telltale games and that is all... i was very skeptical and wary of bad brains behaviour especially with these dodgy puzzles we're he used them to make people download some ridiculous game trailer just cause he could..they have shown complete disrespect towards all sam and max fans .. why after waiting for 12 years for this game did i know it would turn out exactly i as i thought..i think this bad brain stuff was bullshit from the get go..and they carefully used sam and max to promote their own company..bloody shameless!!!

[HieroHero]

how ridiculous is it that they want people to tell steve purcell to give them the rights to sam and max.. who at bad brain is capable of making a proper follow up to one of the greatest games of all time? i say dont e-mail steve..e-mail bad brain and tell em keep their hands off!!

[Jake]

You're going overboard, man. You've obviously not had "the same feelings" if you're thinking things like "i think this bad brain stuff was bullshit from the get go..and they carefully used sam and max to promote their own company."

That's not what I think. I think inadvertantly or otherwise, Bad Brain has dragged adventure fans on an unwelcome ride, emotionally and otherwise, and I don't like it. I don't think it was some calculated thing on their part at all.

Originally Posted by HieroHero

who at bad brain is capable of making a proper follow up to one of the greatest games of all time?

Considering Bad Brain is a publisher, who knows? Maybe they'd ask Telltale. I don't know and I don't particularly want to know right now.

[rio]

Well they're trying to be a developer and publisher since I-Jet is being developed internally.

[Captain_Tuttle]

This really just seems very unprofessional on bad-brain's parts, so does all of their inhouse developments, Vampyre story looks like it is being handled quite well, but their inhouse stuff looks just ludacrious, I mean the organstic 4 I laugh but the joke is just so awful, i'd be surprised if they even moved 100 copies of that, Kierdorf seems to be out of "The Magnificent Ambersons" and not a legitmate bussiness or moral climate, hopefully i'm wrong and things will turn out allright, i'm just thankfull they're only publishing and not developing " A Vampyre Story"

[HieroHero]

let me just explain the things they did with the puzzles.. the puzzles were supposed to provide the answers to how the negotiotions were going right.. in one of the puzzles they put a hint that it involved the i-jet trailer..and then it was later told that that hint was false..that was clear use of "sam and max fans" just so they'd download a trailer that had no game content at all.. then they started a "3rd puzzle" when they already knew negotiotions had failed... whatever bad brain has done..i dont like it.. and yes bad brain want to "make the sam and max 2 game from scratch" not publish it..if you check wolfgangs thread over at the inventory forums..

[Udvarnoky]

The thing that pisses me off is that they never played straight with us. We'd faced two major cancellations already, so I think we at least deserved to be treated with facts, no matter how few of them existed or how bleak the situation was. Instead, they gave us puzzles, and basically pulled a strip tease only to disappoint everyone all over again.

I think the company had good intentions, but they obviously had no idea what the hell they were doing in a business sense, failed to achieve success, and are now somehow major heroes with drooling fanboys. I don't get it. I also don't get why they want Purcell to license the characters to them.

I doubt they could ever manage to antagonize Steve Purcell in a way that could possibly convince fans, so I'm not worried about that. But I think it's downright silly that they're trying to gain Sam & Max fan support right now. Fans were manipulated to a certain degree, and I think that, despite, the good intentions, we have a right to be pissed right now. All they've done is taken a bad situation and made it worse. Right now all I want to see from them is the successful delivery of A Vampyre Story.

[simpson_yellow]

Originally Posted by Jake

I'm sure I've overanalysed this

I don't think so at all. I have to agree, more or less completely, with what you've said.

Having followed the news, I've felt hopeful, then disappointed, just like everyone else I suppose.

I hadn't given too much consideration to Bad Brain's behaviour, but thinking about it, it's certainly caused more harm than good. As you say, it's probably well intentioned but it's definitely inappropriate.

Particularly their latest announcement, which clearly levels blame at the LucasArts side of the table (which may be fair(?) but is less than professional). How they can make an announcement like that, and then expect someone else to happily enter negotiations with them is a bit beyond me.

In the long run, if things continue this way, I don't think anyone will come out of this looking golden. Bad Brain will suffer as well.

And I think suggesting that people petition Steve Purcell is just plain stupid.

I respect what Bad Brain are trying to do, just not how they are trying to do it.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by simpson_yellow

I respect what Bad Brain are trying to do, just not how they are trying to do it.

Exactly.

[jp-30]

You see it's stuff like this on GameSpot that really makes me dislike Bad-Brain's business practices.

German developer Bad Brain dances around rumors that it will take over development of the cult favorite; official news due next week.

Staffers at German startup developer Bad Brain entertainment Ltd. laughed their way through a brief phone conversation today, confirming they would be posting news of their first major game assignment on Monday.

And here by kelmer (of aventuraycia.com I assume), in the other AG thread;

I can assure you this [LucasArts withdraws from negotiations] wasnt what we were told. We were completely fooled. Otherwise we wouldn't have published any exclusive, we don't get cocky on that kind of thing, you know.

and

I spoke personally to mr. Kierdorf and what he told me was that they had an agreement with mr. Purcell already...

So at least they're as consistent with manipulating the press as they are with their fans. And I'd love to know just what aventuraycia.com were told...

[remixor]

I agree

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by Some moron from another thread

I would soooo like to see anything BUT hype come out of Bad Brain. At some point all the celebrating over nothing (tangible) gets a little irritating.

At this stage, even the benefit of the doubt is being given to Bad Brain, not earned.

The phrase "put up or shut up" leaps to mind.

[HieroHero]

i think its just really sad.. i mean there are so many sam and max fans out there..that dont need to be treated like this i mean we've had enough disappointments over the years...

[jp-30]

I've alluded to it before...

Spot the difference;

<->

[Legolas813]

Gamespot posted this today: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01...s_6117445.html