"Tales" of Monkey Island

Sorry if this has been answered before, but if it has it must have been some time ago since I couldn't find a thread on this:

Why exactly was TOMI called Tales of Monkey Island? It's weird that I only start thinking about the title now that I completed the game, but I'm really wondering.

To me it looks like it maybe used to be a working title and then was taken over in order to a) not to give away too much about the storyline or b) because they thought it was neat to have part of the company's name in the title of their first Monkey Island game.

On second thought, I'd have a hard time thinking about a more descriptive title myself, yet all of its predecessors had more significant ones (only that in "Secret", the secret isn't really part of the plot).

Comments

  • edited June 2010
    The Pox of Monkey Island?

    I think I read that at first they wanted to actually have different tales or something, each episode being its own story, then the idea changed but the name stuck.
    No clue how true that is tough. Otherwise I guess it's because the company's called Telltale?
  • edited June 2010
    Avistew wrote: »
    The Pox of Monkey Island?

    That would somehow clash with "The Pox of LeChuck", wouldn't it? :D
  • edited June 2010
    Mermaid wrote: »
    That would somehow clash with "The Pox of LeChuck", wouldn't it? :D

    ...So? The Curse had nothing to do with Monkey Island either.
  • edited June 2010
    Avistew wrote: »
    ...So? The Curse had nothing to do with Monkey Island either.

    True, but it was never referred to "The Curse of something else" during the game either, just "curse".

    If the title had been "The Pox of Monkey Island" it would feel weird to hear the Voodoo Lady revealing to Guybrush that he's suffering from the "Pox of LeChuck."
  • edited June 2010
    I presumed it was because it's an episodic series. I know the series is made of to-be-continued "chapters" rather than the same kind of "episodes" as many other Telltale games, but there is a separate storyline within each chapter (in addition to the series' overall storyline).

    Though I do recall wondering if it had anything to do with incorporating the company's name into it too.
  • edited June 2010
    ... "Monkey Island: The Pox of LeChuck"?
  • edited June 2010
    Avistew wrote: »
    ... "Monkey Island: The Pox of LeChuck"?

    Okay, I like that. :D
  • edited June 2010
    I never thought of the idea of tellTALE.
    When i first heard of the game back at e3 09 i thought it would be tales as in sam and max season 1 different tales the main characters had to go through that somehow tied the plot together not really chapters of a story that each chapter was just one issue you face for your overall goal.
  • edited June 2010
    Winslow and Friends, Season 1
  • edited June 2010
    When the body ain't a problem go for the soul.
  • edited June 2010
    "The absence of Monkey Island" :p
    Note, this is just a joke. I'm not at all complaining about not visiting MI.
  • edited June 2010
    Winslow and Friends, Season 1

    We need a redesign of the DVD art for this now.
  • edited June 2010
    We need a redesign of the DVD art for this now.

    Paging Irishmile...
  • edited June 2010
    Because it is the start of a new series of Monkey Island games (like how Pirates of the Caribbean 4 will be start of a new POTC series). Season 1 is the first tale and Season 2 (whenever it gets made) will be the second tale.
  • edited June 2010
    MrFerder wrote: »
    Because it is the start of a new series of Monkey Island games (like how Pirates of the Caribbean 4 will be start of a new POTC series). Season 1 is the first tale and Season 2 (whenever it gets made) will be the second tale.

    Yes, this is basically what I was about to say.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2010
    It's 5 shorter stories which are interconnected, it's a story which takes place in the Monkey Island universe but doesn't actually involve Monkey Island itself, and it's a story which is very much about the inter-connectedness of a bunch of people's smaller stories. I wasn't into the title at first, but "tales of" fits pretty well thematically with what the game is.
  • edited June 2010
    Jake wrote: »
    It's 5 shorter stories which are interconnected, it's a story which takes place in the Monkey Island universe but doesn't actually involve Monkey Island itself, and it's a story which is very much about the inter-connectedness of a bunch of people's smaller stories. I wasn't into the title at first, but "tales of" fits pretty well thematically with what the game is.

    How does "Shorter Interconnected Stories of Monkey Island" sound to you? :p
  • edited June 2010
    Jake wrote: »
    It's 5 shorter stories which are interconnected, it's a story which takes place in the Monkey Island universe but doesn't actually involve Monkey Island itself, and it's a story which is very much about the inter-connectedness of a bunch of people's smaller stories. I wasn't into the title at first, but "tales of" fits pretty well thematically with what the game is.

    Can you share some other titles that were an option?
  • edited June 2010
    Jake wrote: »
    It's 5 shorter stories which are interconnected, it's a story which takes place in the Monkey Island universe but doesn't actually involve Monkey Island itself, and it's a story which is very much about the inter-connectedness of a bunch of people's smaller stories. I wasn't into the title at first, but "tales of" fits pretty well thematically with what the game is.
    I don't really see the "5 shorter stories" thing... Not unless you mean that every chapter of every story out there could be considered a short story on its own.
  • edited June 2010
    I don't really see the "5 shorter stories" thing... Not unless you mean that every chapter of every story out there could be considered a short story on its own.

    Funny, I was just thinking that I don't see the "a story which is very much about the inter-connectedness of a bunch of people's smaller stories", unless you mean every single story ever written is that as well. I mean, it's very much focused on Guybrush, saying that other characters exist and have a past and future isn't really saying much.
  • edited June 2010
    Reminds me of the "Tales of" JRPG series by Namco Bandai, so I'm not a big fan of "ToMI" as a title.

    But still, I like it more than, say, "The pox of Monkey Island", because Tales of feels more fresh and something newcomers like me can play.
  • edited June 2010
    It makes sense. After all you never see some of the characters in certain chapters again in the rest of the season. Cpt. Mcgillicuty (or however you spell it), De Cava, even Marquis de Singe isn't in the last chapter. Tales is loaded with smaller stories that are interconnected. There are a lot of reoccurring characters of course but there are just as many that don't and are self contained in their own episodes.
  • edited June 2010
    I was glad they didn't go to Monkey Island... that would have been boring.
  • edited June 2010
    Irishmile wrote: »
    I was glad they didn't go to Monkey Island... that would have been boring.

    The Monkey Island section of the Monkey Island games are usually my least favourite, they're too isolated or something
  • edited June 2010
    It was the best area in SMI.
  • edited June 2010
    too much going back and forth for my taste.
  • edited June 2010
    And visiting Monkey Island in Tales wouldn't have made much sense either.
  • edited June 2010
    It makes sense. After all you never see some of the characters in certain chapters again in the rest of the season. Cpt. Mcgillicuty (or however you spell it), De Cava, even Marquis de Singe isn't in the last chapter. Tales is loaded with smaller stories that are interconnected. There are a lot of reoccurring characters of course but there are just as many that don't and are self contained in their own episodes.

    What I mean is that it sounds too much like rationalisation after the fact to me. With that definition, Tales of Sam & Max, Tales of Wallace and Gromit or Tales of Strong Bad would all work better than Tales of Monkey Island.
    And for that matter, other Monkey Island games could be called Tales of Monkey Island just the same.
    The name is fine. It just says absolutely nothing about the game, has little to do with it, and saying it does because of these reasons (there are several characters! the story is divided into episodes!) just sounds like you're trying too hard to make the title seem fitting.
  • edited June 2010
    Yes, but if there does end up being more than one season then they could all be called "Tales of Monkey Island" which I thought was the point. Although that explanation would fit more if they had a subtitle for the season. Maybe they'll add one later if they get to do another season like they did with Sam & Max instead of just saying Season One, Season Two etc.

    Also, "Tales of..." sounds more fantasy-ish. And fits better with Monkey Island than Sam & Max, Wallace & Grommit, etc.
  • edited June 2010
    I do think Tales works great as a series title, but as far as I know they shipped the DVDs without a subtitle or anything, so... I dunno.
  • edited June 2010
    My Sam & Max DVDs don't have the subtitle on the cover either, just 'Season One' and 'Season Two'.
  • edited June 2010
    Didero wrote: »
    My Sam & Max DVDs don't have the subtitle on the cover either, just 'Season One' and 'Season Two'.

    Now that you point it out, neither do mine. Still, Tales doesn't even have a "Season One", does it? So we're led to believe it's the whole title. Although I guess a future game, if any, could be called Tales as well + subtitle. Might get confusing but it wouldn't be a unique occurrence.
  • edited June 2010
    I just assumed it was an attempt to garner interest in future seasons by consumers and LucasArts itself. At any rate, Tales of Monkey Island suits an ongoing series title more than a single game, that's for sure.
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