Telltale Games have announced that the first episode of Minecraft: Story Mode will be released on October 13th for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC/Mac. iOS and Android versions will be on the stores on October 15th and PlayStation Vita and Wii U versions have also been confirmed and will be released at a later date.
Now on to the slightly more contentious news;Â Â There will a boxed retail version of Minecraft: Story Mode is launching a few weeks after the first episode for PS4, PS3, XB1,and 360 in both North America and Europe, with Europe also get a PC version. The boxed version will contain episode one, and download codes for the rest of the game.
Source: Press release
stefhutch20
“The boxed version will contain episode one, and download codes for the rest of the game.” Ridiculous.
Split
Why is that ridiculous?
stefhutch20
Because – and maybe this is just me – surely the whole point of buying a physical product is that you don’t have to download it?
Youles
I thought it was silly at first, but then realised it might be so that the younger generation (that is a huge part of the Minecraft community) and their parents will see it on shop shelves, as they may not see it on the PS Store or via websites etc.
So it could actually be a shrude move.
stefhutch20
Excellent point, Youles. I must admit, that thought hadn’t occurred to me. :)
Split
Well yeah, that would be nice but if they want to target retail as well with the launch of the first episode it’s the only way around it. Although saying that, I’d hope when all the episodes have been released a physical copy does come around with everything on the disc.
I guess they see this as the same as other games with Season pass/Future Single-player DLC cotent, which is all downloaded anyway.
It’s a shame these days most games you buy generally have some sort of download required or a big “day one patch”
spacedelete
what if theres people without internet or poor people thinking this is a full product and when tbey realise they essensially bought one episode disappointment is bound to happen.
Split
If I had poor/no internet I wouldn’t blindly buy something without at least reading the back of the game box to know about additional downloads.
These days though it’s safe to say the Industry doesn’t care if your internet is poor, games will have additional content or download requirements regardless.
The Lone Steven
So, you release a physical complete or soon to be complete collection of your episodic series and only include one episode on the disc. What’s the damn point then? I mean, download codes? I thought that crap died out when Gearbox released Borderland:GOTY and ended up just putting in codes for the content. For people like me, who can’t really download much or use PSN due to data limits, this is crap.
Also, Season Pass Disc? What the hell does that mean!? Is the disc the season pass? Is the Season pass on the disc?
And Minecraft has a story focused episodic game? Er….
Telltale, take a break as you may burn out soon doing all these Telltales. Also, Minecraft?
Just….
what?
It’s Minecraft. I am so very confused by this choice.
Youles
Good point. I hope because it’s called a Season Pass Disc you don’t still require the disc in when playing the other episodes – having the disc inserted just as an access key – as you may as well just get the digital version for convenience. Would be rather annoying having to put the disc in when the content never even came on that disc!
lilisdad
Surely all episodes will be on disc. Then you just get an unlock code off the store when the next one is available. Or is that not feasible?
Youles
I think that’s unlikely, sadly, usually just because the remaining episodes aren’t often finished at the time of the first episodes’ release – if other episodic games are anything to go by! That’s usually why later episodes are often delayed.
Amphlett
My 10 year old son loves Minecraft and I’m interested in getting him this game. I’ve never played any of the Telltale Games releases but have watched a few clips on YouTube. Can someone please confirm whether or not these games tend to be one long story interspersed with QTEs?
Tuffcub
Yes, but you make choices through the story, answer questions etc. There are usually sections where you get to move the character round a limited play area and investigate things and pick up objects.
spacedelete
is this literally anything like the original Minecraft at all like does it still have crafting and the same stuff or is it completly different?
TSBonyman
Until now i had only seen what looked like cutscene gameplay and even reports from TGS are showing very little – just showing the booth and some quick off-screen glances at the game (showing either cut-scenes or character moving in a fixed-camera setting).
So i was surprised when a youtube search turned up the following video, now it seems more like Minecraft with upgraded visuals and physics/destruction and a story – rather than a Tell Tale game based on the Minecraft universe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPDlXQFw6Is
Youles
Not sure it’s real sadly, a lot of the comments suggest it’s fake, and in fact a PC mod?
TSBonyman
Ah ok, that’s a shame. I watched it in the /tv version of youtube so i was unable to view the comments. Not to worry, Dragon Quest Builders looks like it’s going in the right direction.