Macworld 2010: Appletell returns to Monkey Island with Telltale Games

As the good folks over at Gamertell reported today, it’s now official; Telltale Games has begun releasing their entire game catalog on the Macintosh. Tales of Monkey Island is available now, with with Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People soon to follow. Mac gamers can actually vote on which game comes out next by visiting Telltale’s website. Polls are open until Feb. 21, with the winning game being announced the following week and launched in March.

We had the chance to speak with Dan Connors (CEO, director, founder) and Mark Darin (designer/programmer) about their games. Why the Mac? Why now?

“For us, our audience is always a unique group of people, anyway,” Dan explained, “and we just want to find them wherever they are. A big part of what Telltale is about is creating interactive experiences that are about storytelling—about great cinematic presentation and art—so, in a way, we want to be the next generation of interactive content in general, and we think Mac is where a lot of that innovation is going, so we want to be part of that.”

Each game they’re bringing to the Mac is the type that can appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers; they’re easy enough for new gamers to instantly start playing, but offer the deep gaming experience that appeals to those who’ve been playing for quite some time. In fact, their focus on adventure games harkens back to the birth of computer gaming, which Dan called “… one of the most creative eras of games, from a storytelling standpoint.”

“We want to make high quality engaging content,” Dan told me. “A lot of the what the current casual space is about is kind of lower production values and really addictive experiences versus immersive experiences. So, we’re in this place now where the gamers expect immersive experiences, so we’re delivering to them. But at the same time, we’re trying to figure out ways to make those immersive experiences accessible to people that aren’t necessarily gamers, but who love comedy; love a good story.”

When we were done speaking with Dan, designer/programmer Mark Darin answered a few questions about the games and what went into them, and we got his comments on film. The audio’s a bit annoying with all the noise going on around us, but you can see some of the games in action by watching the video below:

We’ll have our review of Tales of Monkey Island up soon, and will continue to follow Telltale releases as they come. In the meantime, be sure to visit Telltale’s website to cast your vote for their next release.