Thanks to the DS and iPhone, touch-based gaming is all the rage these days, so if anyone should reap the benefits, it's Telltale Games. The California-based studio is known for its episodic, point-and-click adventure games, which are perfect for something like the iPad. With that in mind, we spoke with Telltale Games head honcho Dan Connors about developing for Apple's new device, the future of touch-based gaming and and if we'll ever see Day of the Tentacle again.
UGO: Sam & Max: The Penal Zone was released for the iPad. Can you talk about the development process for that title on the iPad?
Dan Connors: It was exciting. We had a reason to get introduced to the platform. Figuring out the iPad's strengths, what it had to offer and what it was as a device was exciting for us. Then turning our product into a touch-friendly product was a big deal. It's almost been a Holy Grail thing in its genre in a way. So being able to point to a place on a screen where you wanted to go with your finger -- to me, that's a huge breakthrough in games in general and in the touch games that we've been working on for years. But the stresses about getting it out for launch and working on a device that was as secretive as it was, that certainly adds to the challenge.
UGO: Have you thought about developing titles for the smaller, handheld platforms like DSi, PSP and iPhone? I guess the iPad is a somewhat of a step in that direction.
Connors: The iPad's a step that way, but it also has the hardware to support the game as we made it for the other platforms. It doesn't necessarily have the power of say, the PlayStation 3, but it can support the same experiences the way we built them. When you jump down to the smaller screen and smaller processer-type devices, we could bring the franchises over, but they'd feel a lot different from the games we're currently making.
As you can see, the power of those devices continues to grow and as more tablets come onto the market, moving our content over there is going to make a lot of sense. We're really excited about it. With the type of content that we do, we think it works really well for flights and buses and sitting on the couch. It’s almost like an interactive book in a way.
The franchises and some of the stories could probably hold up, but we would have to overhaul the way that the game was experienced, and that's tough. We would likely work with a partner to do that, if it made sense.
UGO: Have you thought about making games that exclusive to certain platforms, like the iPad?
Connors: I think there's a lot of opportunity there with different platform holders. We want to be in as many places as we can. Exclusivity is certainly of value to different platforms, and they all have their own strengths. Building a product that works exclusively with one of these devices is something we'd consider if a partner could support getting the word out about the types of games that we’re doing.
UGO: As you said before, the iPad seems perfect for Telltale's games. Do you see the iPad revolutionizing gaming in general, as people predicted the iPhone would?
Connors: There's definitely an opportunity there. I think it's going to diversify, almost like the Wii, where you don't need to have super-twitch thumbs to interact with it, and people are going to have it in their everyday lives. There's going to be a lot of different styles of products that come out on it that weren't previously imagined, but the device will support. I think in that vein, it will lead to diversification of content from an interactive standpoint. That's a great thing because the industry has really niche-ified itself toward a specific demographic for the last eight years or more. I think it would be good for games to be something that everyone considers part of their entertainment experience, because it should be. And I think the iPad is something that will introduce more people to games.
UGO: Would you go as far to say that touch-based gaming is the future of the industry?
Connors: I think there's a lot of room for growth into it. The way that people take advantage of it going forward is going to be what defines it. If it is all about touch gaming, it's going to be a part of everyone's device going forward. (Microsoft's Project) Natal and PlayStation's new system (Move) are all changing the way the consumer interacts with the gameplay experience, and that certainly is the next generation. There's still something to be said for the joystick, which makes you able to do cool things with just thumbs that may never go away.
UGO: Speaking of Move and Project Natal, is that something that Telltale is looking to develop for?
Connors: We're watching it really closely. If everyone says that the types of games we build would work really great with this product, I just can imagine interacting with characters in a different way and having them respond to you and that's always been our specialty. We're definitely very interested in it, and we're watching it to see who adopts it and what type of user decides to buy into it. If they don't make it work right now, it certainly is something that has all that potential and opportunity in the next generation.
UGO: I have to ask, which other classic adventure games would you most want to revive?
Connors: We have a lot of respect for all LucasArts stuff. You've also got to tip your hat to Infocom as well. There could be something real interesting done with those franchises because they were really cutting-edge and putting graphics around some of that text stuff, to execute it in a fuller, cinematic experience. The stories were great and some of the gameplay they tried was super interesting and innovative, not being held back by having to deal with the images.
Also, all the stuff Sierra used to do was interesting as well. We think there's definitely a marketplace for that. We obviously want to bring it into a new generation and make it something modern gamers can get into. When you played a PC game in 1991, the demographic was pretty straightforward to understand. You had to understand DOS and how to boot up a computer. And that already made you a super smart, analytical type. The product for those people -- if you knew how to build it, you were building it for people exactly like you, so that explained a lot of that early stage content and who it was pointed at and how creative it was. But nowadays, anyone can play, so it’s a different world. But it doesn't invalidate the ideas and the way those guys pushed the envelope. It just needs to be a little more accessible.
UGO: That makes sense... But how about Day of the Tentacle, then? Please?
Connors: (laughs) I always say I love that one, and that's the first game I ever worked on. And (Day of the Tentacle designer) Dave Grossman's here. That's a fun one to talk about... We'll see how our friends at LucasArts feel about that it before anything can happen. And I spent a whole four minutes trying to not say anything about that.
UGO: (laughs) Sorry, I just had to bring that up. Can you confirm if you're working on more iPad titles at the moment?
Connors: I can say we're thinking through what to do next on the iPad.
Sam & Max: The Penal Zone is now available for the iPad via the App Store and the PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network.
