AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!! We've decided to push this year's arts & crafts contest by a month or two. It's still happening! Just not for Halloween. Stay tuned for future transmissions. 🫡

Dispatch launches October 22nd at 7AM PDT on Steam and PS5—for those outside of SDN Torrance's network, check out this release map.

Thank you to everyone who entered, to our GameTap pal Matthew Schwartz for donating the poster, and to Steve Purcell for offering to sign it. This was fun! And hey, look at the calendar, it’s almost Halloween… 👀

So that's a wrap on our "Yikes, has it really been 20 years?!" contest. Our Sam & Max remasters are still on sale on Switch (for a few more hours) and PlayStation (for another two days) if you want to get them cheap! https://t.co/MVd5sejxvn

For those who said Poker Night 1 only includes Max… not true! Sam has a very brief cameo in the opening cutscene, seen here at the 0:35 mark in NapalmX717’s playthrough. https://t.co/SuVj2vYaNg

Q: Counting each episode as one game, how many Telltale games did Sam & Max appear in? A: 18 – there are 16 Sam & Max episodes, plus both characters appear in the two Poker Night games.

Bonus fact: This episode was originally named Sympathy for the Devil, after the Rolling Stones song. The day before we announced the title, we checked with a lawyer who said using it was okay as long as the song itself wasn’t quoted in the episode. Oops…

Q: What was the last Sam & Max episode to appear on GameTap? A: What’s New, Beelzebub? Sam & Max’s first two seasons were on GameTap, making the Season Two finale the last episode. (Google’s AI incorrectly claims it was Bright side of the Moon, alas.) https://t.co/zeQ5tWr3BK

Also at E3 2006, GameTap announced they were resurrecting Myst Online: Uru Live, a multiplayer version of Myst that had been shelved a few years earlier. It launched in February 2007, but didn’t attract enough subscribers and was discontinued the following year.

Q: Besides Sam & Max, what other famous adventure game franchise did GameTap revive? A: Myst

This was sort of a trick question, because it never shipped. If you scoured MobyGames for the answer, our apologies. A few Telltalians worked on Hit the Road, but Freelance Police was the game Telltale’s core founding team worked on & that’s why Steve trusted them w/the license.

Q: What game did Telltale’s founding members work on with Steve Purcell at LucasArts? A: Sam & Max: Freelance Police https://t.co/d6Ko1QocJs

Bonus fact: An early version of the script ended with Sam asking Max (about his gun), “Where do you keep that thing, anyway?” When Steve reviewed it, he suggested “you shot me in the ass” paired with three possible insults: Buckethead, Pinhead, and Hammerhead. Buckethead won.

The trailer was made before any actors were cast. Telltale had worked w/ David Nowlin on the Bone games & he was able to record the lines quickly in his home studio. The team liked his Sam & also considered casting him as Max, but decided they’d rather have two separate actors.

Q: Who voiced Sam & Max in GameTap’s E3 trailer? A: David Nowlin and… David Nowlin! https://t.co/a4DyJHuPO2

Our trivia contest has ended, and the winner of the signed GameTap poster is DJ Snyder! Congrats! We’ll email you with details. 🎉 Wondering how many you got right? Here are the answers to the trivia questions. 🧵👇

Contest update: Steve Purcell is going to sign the poster for the winner! Get your entry in by 11:59pm PDT on Sunday!

And if you're curious about the GameTap poster art, Steve posted about his process of making it on Facebook a while back:

Oh, and don't forget that our Sam & Max remasters are on sale this week! https://t.co/MVd5sejxvn

Entries are due by 11:59pm PDT this Sunday, September 21. We'll announce the winner on Monday. The poster will be shipped from the US. International entries are fine, but Skunkape is not responsible for any taxes or import fees you might be charged.