Nov 22, 2010 With Roger Jackson, Matt Chapman, Gary Schwartz, Andrew Chaikin. Join Max (Sam and Max Series), Strong Bad (Homestar Runner), Heavy Weapons Guy (Team Fortress Series), and Tycho Brahe (Penny Arcade) for a night of high stakes poker. Poker Night 2 is the sequel to the original Poker Night game starring Sam, Brock Samson, Ash Williams and Claptrap as the opponents with GLaDOS as the dealer. The game was released on Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade on April 24, 2013, then later released on April 26, 2013 for Windows and OSX through Steam and on April 30, 2013 on PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network.
Poker Night At The Inventory Download
| Poker Night 2 | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Telltale Games |
| Publisher(s) | Telltale Games |
| Composer(s) | Jared Emerson-Johnson |
| Engine | Telltale Tool |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,[1]iOS |
| Release | Xbox Live Arcade Steam (Windows & OS X)
iOS
|
| Genre(s) | Card video game |
Poker Night 2 is a pokervideo game developed by Telltale Games.[1] It is the sequel to Poker Night at the Inventory and, like its predecessor, features crossover characters from different franchises. The game was released for Steam, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in April 2013, with an iOS version released the following month.[2][3][4] Due to expiring licenses, the game was pulled from sale in September 2018.[5]
- 2Development
Gameplay[edit]
Like the original game, Poker Night 2 is a computer-based poker simulation between an unseen participant (the player) and four characters. Each player starts with the same amount of virtual money, and competes in standard poker rules to try to eliminate all the other players by exhausting their money. In addition to Texas hold 'em style of play, Poker Night 2 includes Omaha hold 'em as well.
The four additional characters in addition to the player are Sam from the Sam & Max franchise (voiced by David Nowlin), who is assisted by Max (voiced by David Boat), Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. (voiced by Patrick Warburton), Ash Williams from The Evil Dead franchise (voiced by Danny Webber), and Claptrap from the Borderlands series (voiced by David Eddings). GLaDOS (voiced by Ellen McLain) from the Portal series takes a supporting role as the dealer. During the hands, these characters provide humorous chatter between each other and towards the player. Reginald Van Winslow (voiced by Roger L. Jackson) from Tales of Monkey Island reprises his role as the host.[1][6][7] Additional brief cameos include Steve the Bandit and Mad Moxxi from Borderlands, Doug and a Save-Lot Bandit from The Walking Dead, and a waiter from Gravity Bone.
The game features unlockable in-game card, chip and table designs, as well as 'Bounty Unlocks' for completing certain goals, which unlock Borderlands 2 content and, depending on the platform played, Team Fortress 2 items on Steam, Xbox Avatar items, or PlayStation 3 themes.[6][8] Simultaneously using chips, cards, and tables sharing the same theme alters the design of the Inventory, opening up new conversation possibilities. Players can also buy the other characters drinks in order to more easily expose their tells.
Development[edit]
The first Poker Night game was developed by Telltale during a lull in their release schedule, and proved to be successful; Steve Allison, vice president of publishing at Telltale, believed it was the relationship between Telltale and the Valve that contributed to the success of the game, luring players with Team Fortress 2 items for performing well in the game.[9] As completion of The Walking Dead neared, Telltale found themselves in another lull, and returned to the Poker Night concept as a way to fill the gap.[9]
Character selection was more direct than the first game, with Telltale wanting to bring in characters from movies and television. Allison had a good relationship with MGM Studios who were eager to offer characters, and was able to secure the character of Ash from Evil Dead, which also was timed well against the release of the 2013 remake.[9] Similarly, Allison stated that Cartoon Network readily agreed to the inclusion of Brock from Venture Bros., one of the Telltale team's first selections.[9]Gearbox Software, the creators of Borderlands, appreciated the first game, and allowed the Claptrap character to be used.[9] The final spot at the table was to be left open for a character from a Telltale game, eventually resulting in Sam. They had considered using either Marty or Doc Brown from the Back to the Future game but realized that they would not be appropriate in a game with mature spoken content. Similarly, characters from The Walking Dead series would not be a thematic fit for the poker title, as it would make people emotional about the game.[9] To help make the play more personable, they needed to have a dealer for the table, and GLaDOS was considered an obvious fit.[9]
Marketing[edit]
Telltale started a website called The Key Party in 2013 in order to promote the game, with a new keychain related to the game characters revealed every working day from March 25 until April 1, when the game was officially revealed.[1]
Reception[edit]
Poker Night At The Inventory
Anthony Gallegos from IGN gave the game a 7.5 out of 10.[10]
References[edit]
- ^ abcd'Telltale Teasing The Key Party'. The International House of Mojo. 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
- ^'Ash, Claptrap, Sam and Brock Samson Ante Up For Poker Night 2'. Kotaku. 2013-04-01. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
- ^Usher, Anthony. 'Take Evil Dead protagonist Ash Williams to the cleaners in Telltale Games's Poker Night 2 for iOS'. www.pocketgamer.com.
- ^'Out Now: 'Combo Crew', 'Poker Night 2', 'Epic', 'Stickman Tennis', 'Zombie Fish Tank' and Much More'. Touch Arcade. 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ^'Why is Poker Night 2 no longer available?'. Telltale Games. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ^ abMiller, Greg (2013-04-01). 'Telltale Games' Poker Night 2 Announced'. IGN. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
- ^'Poker Night 2 – YouTube'. YouTube.
- ^'Poker Night at the Inventory 2 Leaked Through TF2 Promo Items List'. Softpedia. 2013-03-14. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
- ^ abcdefgMcElroy, Griffin (2013-05-07). 'How Evil Dead, Venture Bros. and Borderlands Ended Up at the Poker Table'. Polygon. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
- ^Gallegos, Anthony (2013-04-30). 'Poker Night at the Inventory 2 Review – IGN'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
External links[edit]
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ShoutOut/PokerNight2
Poker Night At The Inventory Steam
Go To
Inventory Night Poker
- In the teaser trailer, where the characters are huddled over Brock playing Season One of The Walking Dead, Claptrap recommends that he should have Lee buy a Conference Call, the Infinity+1 Gun of his game.
- Claptrap: 'I'm making the international sign for LOSER on my forehead! ...Or maybe it's for Glee. Either way, it's pretty humiliating.'
- Claptrap also describes the Inventory as looking like 'very Boardwalk EmpiremeetsSilence of the Lambs.'
- When Claptrap asks what happened to Sam's voice, Sam mentions that his old voice sounded 'Goofy'. His original voice actor from Sam & Max Hit the Road was Bill Farmer, the long time voice actor for Goofy.
- Brock mentions that he was included as a unlockable character in a (fictional) Mortal Kombat knock-off without his permission. Claptrap says that that he had a 'death smooch' fatality in that game (Sonya, Kitana and Tanya all had kissing fatalities at one point) and, parodying the eventual transformation of Midway Games Chicago into Netherrealm Studios, Brock adds that 'the company went bankrupt... with extreme prejudice.'
- Ash asked Claptrap about life on Pandora, which led to a discussion about a different Pandora, much to Claptrap's chagrin.
- If you listen closely during the introduction, you can hear the sounds of someone playing Johann Sebastian Joust from Sportsfriends right before Brock knocks the bandit out of the room. Evidently, the way to achieve surefire victory at Joust is by stabbing your opponent.
- Change to the Sam & Max inventory for the first time, and Sam will exclaim: 'Great gallifrey, Max! It looks like our past is spilling all over the Inventory!'
- Claptrap's bounty item is his Spike TV VGA 2012 Character of the Year trophy. The first time it's pulled out, GLaDOS claims that it looks familiar, which is perhaps because she also won a Spike TV award for Ellen McLain's portrayal of her in 2011.
- Brock mentions that when he heard he would be playing poker with 'Ash Williams', he was expecting a girl. Ash says he's been getting a lot of that lately for some reason.
- This singing taunt from Claptrap'Here's my bet now, so call me maybe.'
- There are smooth jazz versions of the Venture Bros. theme song, 'No Vacancy' (it's a little difficult to recognize but it's there), 'Short Change Hero' by The Heavy (the opening song for Borderlands 2), and even the title theme to Army of Darkness.
- When losing a showdown, Sam will sometimes shout 'Shazbot!', 'Belgium!' or, for a double Shout-Out, 'FrakkingFrell!'
- While pondering if he should play or fold, Ash may say 'What would Chuck Finley do?'
- He also mentions wearing a cowboy hat for a while during the 90's.
- In another conversation, Brock asks Sam if he ever considered fighting with a blade. Sam mentions he did, with an axe, but that lead to confusion when people kept calling him 'Sam Axe'. Ash thinks that name is dumb.
- Ash's hand being possessed by ad execs and spelling out 'DRINK MORE BANANG' in Morse Code may be a modified reference to A Christmas Story.
- It's also not only a Call-Back to Sam & Max, but also to the previous installment of Poker Night in which Strong Bad claims to like banangs.
- Banang makes appearances in almost all of Telltale's games, including the Sam and Max games and the Walking Dead
- If he wins a few times in a row, Claptrap asks if there's a glitch in the The Matrix, because he's getting deja vu.
- When commenting that his chainsaw is leaking, Sam sarcastically asks if Ash is preparing for an Attack of the Triffids. (Attack of the Triffids is a notoriously bad horror movie featuring what is widely considered the least threatening movie monsters in film history)
- A win may cause Claptrap to offer 'Cool hand,Skywalker!'
- Sam occasionally adds 'Don't get cocky, kid.' right after this.
- Not to mention everyone uses the line, 'I've got a bad feeling about this.'
- Sam occasionally sings King of the Creatures, from Sam & Max Hit the Road when contemplating his move.
- Likewise, in the Sam & Max 25th Anniversary room EVERYONE (even GLaDOS) will serenade the duo with a song about their adventure in Hit the Road.
- When Claptrap comments that Sam and Max's first official appearance was 26 years ago, Max shouts 'NERRRRRRD!' while Sam explains that they always skip over 2004 when counting. A running gag in the Telltale Sam and Max game is that everyone tries to forget that year and the 'particularly gruesome' case that took place that year (i.e. the same year the sequel to Hit the Road was unexpectedly cancelled by Lucasarts).
- If a game is going relatively quickly, Brock might say he might be able to get back in time for Downton.
- During a showdown Claptrap might say 'No Whammies, No Whammies'
- Sometimes, when Claptrap is thinking, he'll hum the first part of the chorus for 'Ain't No Rest For the Wicked', which was the opening song for Borderlands.
- After losing all his chips, Sam will mention spending all on his time looking at 'funny Internet lists.' The sample list Max mentions seems to describe the lists and articles on Cracked.
- The title card that appears when you win on the Venture Brothers Inventory is a reference to Romans 6:23.For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Brock also references Hosea 8:7 in one of his all-in call lines: 'For they sow the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind.'
- Brock mentions how Trans-dimensional phone coverage is the least of GLaDOS' secrets, prompting this.Claptrap:We're not talking'Crying Game' secrets, are we?
- A Shout Out, of all things, to Oscar Wilde. Or maybe Willy Wonka..Max: I hope it lasts!
- When Brock goes 'in the tank' about whether to make or call a big bet, he recites the 'litany against fear' from Dune.Brock: I must not fear, fear is the mind-killer, fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration...
- During the hilariously over-dramatic elimination scene of Claptrap in the Borderlands-themed table. Listen to the music, it's Death of DADgeresque. from Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Looks like there is a Homestar Runner reference in the game after all.
- Ash having a nasty run-in with a mariachi band might be a Call-Back to Sam and Max: Freelance Police: Season 2, which featured a similarly evil mariachi band.
- Additionally, when talking about a hispanic AI singing a song, Sam is asked if there were mariachis. Sam says it would be ridiculous if there were.
- Claptrap mentions to Ash that he fought the Nightmare King and The Immortal Hockey-Mask killer.
- Brock claiming that repeated checks make him 'twitchy' may be a reference to the squirrel sidekick of another Patrick Warburton character, the wolf from Hoodwinked!.
- Similarly, when Sam mentions that Brock reminds him of someone, Brock says he gets that a lot. Apparently a lot of people think he sounds like some guy they saw on TV, which is probably a reference to Warburton's most well-known role as David Puddy on Seinfeld.
- Claptrap mentions that 'one of these things is not like the others', a mention of a bit on Sesame Street.
- A malfunctioning Claptrap comments on how in the unlikely event of a firestorm, the salad bar can be used as a floatation device. This is a variation on a line spoken by similarly dopey AIs in Sam and Max: Season 3 and Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People.
- During one conversation about a computer made out of nachos Max quotes HAL 9000's famous line... in Spanish. GLaDOS comments that it 'takes her back.
- While conversing about hats with Brock, Sam laments that he can't get Max to wear his beret anymore (a reference to a dress-up activity page found in the Sam and Max comic 'On the Road,' later adapted into an optional minigame in Sam & Max Hit the Road), when Max walks by wearing said beret and saying 'ceci n'est pas un chapeau.'Translation This phrase is likely a reference to the post-modern work 'The Treachery of Images' by René Magritte.