Bit by Bit: January 2015

With Silver Bit's Year in Review 2014 ending last week, it is time to look forward to everything coming out in the next 12 months.  Aside from a few games, most being re-releases, this January has been slow on the games front.  On the news front, there has been a steady flow of new information on upcoming games already known or recently revealed.  An onslaught of news came from Nintendo as their January Nintendo Direct revealed their entire winter line-up from the launch of the New 3DS to Mario Party 10.  Keep reading for more on the latest Direct.  Also keep reading as I have lots to cover in the first Bit by Bit of 2015.

Game of the Month

When I write The Games I Missed article of the Year in Review, it takes me a while to actually start playing any of them.  Thanks to the Steam Holiday Sale and a greater desire to play games on my computer, things were different this year as I jumped into playing a couple games on the list.  Playing one game, in particular, would go on to influence my decisions for the Game of the Month.  The Game of the Month was about to go to Pokemon Omega Ruby before I got into The Wolf Among Us.  While I spent a shorter amount of time with The Wolf Among Us compared to Omega Ruby, it left quite a impact on me.  

The Wolf Among Us is Telltale's Game first game after the incredible The Walking Dead Season One.  Coming after such a lauded game by both gamers and critics alike, Wolf Among Us had high expectations to live up to.  After beating the game, it is safe to say that Wolf Among Us demolishes those expectations.  Although it has some beautiful character moments that bring to light the intricacies of Bigby, Snow White and other fables, the game is a lot more plot-driven than The Walking Dead.  Speaking of the plot, The Wolf Among Us delivers some mind-blowing twists that had my mind racing in speculation for hours on end.  While story takes centre stage, the conversation-based gameplay and quick-time action sequences brings the entire experience together.  Despite needing to complete school readings, each episode had me eager to sit down and play more, the one thing all episodic games should do.  

Most Anticipated Game of the Month

Last week, Nintendo delivered their first Nintendo Direct of 2015.  The 45-minute presentation was great as the Big N announced their entire line-up for the first quarter of the year including release dates (something they usually withhold until the very last minute).  While the New Nintendo 3DS's reveal for North America headlined the show, I am not as enamored with the update as the vast majority.  Personally, I am not spending upwards of 200 dollars to get new features which can be added to my 3DS through peripherals.  It is a wise choice for those with the original 3DS, but not for those with an XL.  I can continue with this tangent, but it is time to get down to business.

My favourite piece of news from the Direct was the announcement of the new Fire Emblem for 3DS.  From the trailer, the new Fire Emblem looks to be very similar in gameplay and art style to Awakening, which isn't a bad thing considering Awakening is, in my opinion, the best 3DS game released to date.  Also the rumours about Fire Emblem's potential release in 2015 has spiked my anticipation for the game tenfold.  More Fire Emblem is always a good thing in my books.  Now, if we can only get an update on Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem from Nintendo.

Video of the Month

Usually when a Nintendo Direct is released, I am hard pressed to include a video of or from the event as the Video of the Month.  This time around that precedence isn't the case as there is a video even better.  Funny enough, my video of choice is Nintendo related as well.  It comes from a great Youtube show called Game Theory, a show which seeks to use video games as a tool for education.  The episode dives into the tragic hidden lore of the Super Smash Bros. series.  It is quite fascinating especially when MatPat looks at the lore's connections to creator Masahiro Sakurai and the possible inner dilemma the famed creator faces with Smash Bros.  If you enjoy this video, I highly encourage watching past episodes of Game Theory.  You might learn some interesting connections between academic theories and video games such as applying multiverse theory to Pokemon.

Year in Review 2014: Games I Missed

Compared to previous years, the video game industry seemed much more concerned with the future than the present in 2014.  There were a lot of games released over the course of the past twelve months, but not to the extent of being overwhelming like past years.  2014 was suppose to be the coming out party for the next generation of consoles.  With an onslaught of delays, re-releases, unfulfilled hype and buggy launches, 2014 felt more like a transitional year for developers to ramp up production for their true next gen titles.

Although there were less games released in 2014, no one person can play through them all.  There were quite a few games that I personally wanted to make time for, but never got around to with my constantly busy schedule.  Hopefully, a new year will bring plenty of chances to play these missed titles.

The Wolf Among Us
Some may debate the position of The Wolf Among Us on this list due to the first episode releasing late 2013.  Considering the majority of the game released during this past calendar year, I believe it is safe to say The Wolf Among Us is a 2014 release.  Ever since I saw the preview for it in an issue of Game Informer, The Wolf Among Us has ranked high among the games I want to play especially after experiencing Telltale's exceptional work on The Walking Dead.  I almost got the chance to put some time into Wolf Among Us when I purchased the game during the Steam Summer Sale and installed it on my Mac.  Funny enough, the fall semester of university came, I got a brand new laptop and completely forgot about The Wolf Among Us.  It has been in the back of my mind for months now, but I never made the time.  A lot of good things have been said about the game's take on the Fables universe and highly interactive action scenes that I look forward to making time for The Wolf Among Us in the near future.

Child of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great War
2014 hasn't been the best year for Ubisoft.  Most of their major titles, including Assassin's Creed Unity, The Crew and Watch Dogs, suffered from being over hyped, extremely buggy and rushed to market.  While these titles hurt the French publisher, there were two downloadable games that brought some much needed good faith Ubisoft's way.  I'm speaking of Child of Light and Valiant Hearts.  As the first two games to use the incredible UbiArt engine outside of the recent Rayman titles, they both show how flexible the engine is in crafting games of different genres.  While the presentation of each game is second-to-none, both feature compelling and creative gameplay to complement the beautiful art.  Due to their unique premises and gameplay, both games are deserving of being on anyone's must play lists.

Destiny
Everybody seems to have an opinion about Bungie's newest title, except me.  While I have seen tons of coverage for the game and watched my brothers play it multiple times, I never had the motivation to sit down and play Destiny since the beta.  Considering Destiny is such a massive game that one can lose hours in, it doesn't work well with my extremely hectic schedule during the school year.  It is no fault of the game; I just prefer playing in smaller chucks during the term.  Despite the polarizing opinions people have on Destiny, I really want to play the game for myself to form my own opinion instead of being swayed by the masses.  While I am a little afraid of being outclassed by those playing since launch, it will be exciting to see how Destiny has changed since the beta.

On the Download: 400 Days Review

Telltale Games has been around for years as one of the few developers that continue to work on traditional point-and-click adventure games.  Gaining a cult following for their Sam & Max, Monkey Island and Back to the Future adventure games, the first season of their Walking Dead adventure series was the game to finally garner Telltale some mainstream success.  The Walking Dead not only marked Telltale’s rise as a prominent developer when it comes to adventure games; it marked the revitalization of a genre which has not seen much love in the last decade.  The story of Lee Everett and Clementine was a touching and disturbing tale of how far people will go to protect what they cherish in the most dire of situations.  While the door closes on that story, it does not close on Telltale’s Walking Dead universe as there are still many more stories to tell.

400 Days is the start of a new story that will come to further fruition in the second season of the Walking Dead.  In 400 Days, the player follows five poor souls at various points during a four hundred day period.  Each of the five segments takes about twenty minutes and serves as an introduction of some of the key characters of the second season.  From escaping a prison bus to fleeing from enemies in a cornfield, 400 Days has a key focus on action due to how little time there is dedicated to each character’s story.  This action gives 400 Days a much different pace than the first season of the game, which is very refreshing and engaging.  Even with such a short time with these characters, Telltale does a phenomenal job of investing you in their stories and making you truly care about their well-being.  400 Days allows you to tackle the stories of these characters in any order.  Also some of the smaller choices you make in one segment will affect something in another.  While these changes are more on the cosmetic side, it is still neat to see how each segment interweaves with one another.

Much like the first season of Walking Dead, 400 Days suffers from the same technical problems.  These problems are the cursor becoming next to impossible to move at times, some lip syncing hiccups and the stuttering which happens a few times when changing between scenes and camera angles.  These technical problems are easy to work through, but they do break the immersion 400 Days tries to establish.  Clocking in between one and half to two hours in length, 400 Days is one of the shorter episodes in the Walking Dead series.  While length does not determine the quality of a game, it does determine how long one experiences said quality.  400 Days gives a great taste of what there is being set-up for the upcoming season, but you are left wanting more.  Do not get this writer wrong; wanting more is not a bad thing.  Just 400 Days seems a little incomplete considering the story of how these characters all come together is not included.  This omission will not be much of a problem if and only if Telltale allows gamers to play said omission in the second season of the Walking Dead.  Right now, it just feels like a missed opportunity. 

The Walking Dead: 400 Days is a very good yet short episode of Telltale’s acclaimed adventure series.  For those who have played through the whole first season and cannot wait for the second season, 400 Days is a worthwhile investment.  For those who have not given the Walking Dead a try, 400 Days is not the preferred episode to jump right into as the focus is more on rapidly introducing these new characters rather than sinking your teeth in a getting to know each character on a personal level like in the main game.  400 Days serves as a great bridge between season one and two of the Walking Dead, but not as a standalone entry in the series.

The Walking Dead Review

Adventure games have been seeing a big return in the last few years.  With the rise of the downloadable market, many developers have saw a great opportunity to fund these games on their own as most publishers in this day and age will not fork out the money needed to make these games.   One of the developers at the forefront of this big adventure game renaissance has been Telltale Games.  This California-based studio has built a reputation among the game critics and hardcore gamers for creating quality episodic adventure games such as the Tales of Monkey Island and Back to the Future games.  While successful, Telltale never had the breakout success they were looking for.  That was until The Walking Dead, which has been their biggest commercial and critical success to date.  With The Walking Dead, Telltale takes adventure games in new ways by adding more interactivity during cut scenes and making every choice you made matter.

The Walking Dead is set in yet another zombie apocalypse, something that has become a tired trope in many forms of media by now.  What sets The Walking Dead apart from most other games set in a zombie apocalypse is the focus on the survivors.  While the zombies or walkers as they are known in The Walking Dead are the main threat, they are not the only threat.  The Walking Dead makes a point of showing how living people can be as or more dangerous than the dead walking amongst them.  You play as Lee Everett, a convicted murderer before the apocalypse, as you work together with a young girl named Clementine and a group of survivors in order to survive.  From Macon to Savannah, Lee and the group travel across Georgia to find a safe haven.  The journey is never easy as the group faces some incredibly tough and sorrowful decisions; decisions that reverberate throughout all the episodes of The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead is an incredibly tense game.  From simple conversations to big gunfights, everything you do in the game feels important and effects the way people feel about you and interact with you.  It really makes you feel that Lee is an extension of yourself.  There are no black and white decisions in The Walking Dead, only shades of grey.  Each decision you make in conversations or at big set moments will always have some sort of consequence, sadly not all turn out for the best.  While the storytelling and decision-making are the stars of the show, Telltale also adds some great ways of immersing you into cut scenes and other set pieces.   From shooting down waves of walkers to mashing buttons to fight off enemies, you are always immersed in the game as it is the difference the life and death in The Walking Dead. 

While an incredible game, The Walking Dead is not perfect.  Like most Telltale adventure games, The Walking Dead suffers from the occasional lip syncing and slow down issue.  Nothing too serious, but it can get a little annoying after a while.  Another little nitpick with The Walking Dead is how simplistic the puzzles in the game are.  It does keep the game going at a great pace and keep gamers from getting frustrated with obtuse puzzles, but eliminates much of the challenge of The Walking Dead.  Much of the difficulty I personally had with The Walking Dead came when the cursor would stick and take forever to move.  This issue happened more times than I would have liked and really took me out of the game as I fought with the controls.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead is easily the benchmark for modern adventure games.  It can easily be enjoyed by fans of the series or people who could care less about the TV show and comic like yours truly.  The Walking Dead is an experience like no other in this medium.  You will laugh, cry, get scared, and be disgusted, shocked, surprised, intrigued and every emotion in between.  When everything is said and done, you will be amazed at how much you care about each and every character you meet and interact with in the game and contemplate on what could have been if you did things differently.  The Walking Dead is an excellent game that should be experienced by all gamers mature enough to play it.

Year in Review 2012: Games I Missed

2012 was a very busy year in the video game industry.  So busy in fact that it has been very hard to keep up with all the incredible games that were released this past year.  Many of the games I have personally been most looking forward to play, I have not gotten much time to play between school, work and having a life.  Instead of a more traditional list of my top games of 2012, I want to write a few articles on my look back at 2012.  Each article will look at a different set of games.  First up will be the games I missed out on during 2012, but hope to spend plenty of time with in 2013.  The second article will be about my favourite games that I actually got to play this year and the final article will be all about my Game of the Year.  So without any further ado, let us get on with this Year in Review.

Dishonored
Before Dishonored came out, I was cautiously optimistic.  While what I had seen and read about the game was very promising, you have to be careful with new IPs.  They do bring about innovation and change in the video game industry, but sometimes they can completely flop.  Personally, I did not want to get my hopes up only to be disappointed in the end.  So I was very happy to see all the positive reviews for the game and see that it is among one of the best games of the year as it is up for many Game of the Year awards.  Dishonored looks like a great blend of the stealth of a game like Thief and the open world choices of a game like BioShock or Deus Ex.  While I have heard that you can easily run through the game if you do not care for the side missions, the charm of a game like Dishonored is the freedom to experiment with your powers and abilities.  Can easily see myself putting a lot of time into this game trying different tactics and approaches to the missions in the game.

Pokemon White Version 2
I am a huge sucker for the Pokemon RPGs.  Pokemon Black and White 2 came out at the beginning of October and I was busy with school and saving my money for the Wii U, so there was no time or reason to pick up this game right at launch.  With more free time this semester, I have enough time to plug away at White 2 (the version I picked up a few weeks ago).  While not much has changed since Black and White released back in March of 2011, White 2 looks to offer enough new additions to keep this Pokemon fan playing for another 40 or 60 hours.

The Walking Dead
Never been a fan of The Walking Dead comic and TV show and when the game was first announced by Telltale Games, I was not that interested.  What really got me and I think many others to take notice of The Walking Dead was all the reviews praising each episode of the game.  Also playing the demo really helped win me over.  With The Walking Dead, Telltale Games has single-handedly revitalized the adventure genre in the eyes of many gamers who have not touched an adventure game in years.  Personally, I have been a fan of Telltale Games for a couple years now from playing their other great adventure games (Back to the Future and Tales of Monkey Island) and I am excited to play what has been their most successful game both commercially and critically.

X-Com:  Enemy Unknown
Another genre that has gotten little love on this generation of consoles has been the turn-based strategy genre.  Other than Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for the Wii (a great game that every Wii should own), there has not been anything to scratch that hardcore strategy itch on the consoles.  That was until 2K Games and Firaxis released X-Com: Enemy Unknown, a true sequel to the PC classic in October.  Enemy Unknown is not for the feint at heart and that is what gets me excited and terrified to play it at the same time.  You need to be very careful with each turn you take because one move can be the difference between life or death for one of your squad mates.  I cannot wait to spend countless hours becoming a great commander and protecting the Earth from all of it's alien threats.

On the Download: August 26-September 1

Well it is the last weekly edition of On the Download for a while.  It has been a lot of fun to put the spotlight on all these unique and incredibly interesting downloadable titles that release weekly and even daily for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, iDevices and PC.  Downloadable games have made their mark in the video game industry these past few years by standing toe-to-toe with even the biggest of triple A console or PC titles.  Some of the most innovative and inventive experiences in video games today come from these smaller downloadable titles.  I have really enjoyed writing On the Download on a regular basis and giving a spotlight to these games that many gamers overlook.  It has been one of my favourite weekly posts to write here on Silver Bit and I hope you all enjoyed reading it.

Now that I am done with the little farewell for now speech, let us get down to business.  Got a packed week of downloadable games to talk about.  Two games I want to talk about quickly here in the intro and the other two I will get into more detail below.  First, this week Telltale Games released the third episode in their Walking Dead adventure series called The Long Road Ahead.  Decisions from the earlier episodes affect the events of The Long Road Ahead and pave a way for new long-lasting decisions that will affect future episodes in the series.  The third episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead game is available on PSN, XBLA and PC for 5 dollars.  The second game I want to mention here is the iOS port of Bastion.  Coming completely out of right field, Supergiant Games announced the game earlier in the week only to release it for iOS this past Thursday.  Easily one of the best downloadable games of 2011 has been re-imagined to work on the iPad.  Bastion only works on iPad 2 or higher and costs 5 dollars.  If you missed out on this remarkable game last year and own one of the newer iPad models, Bastion is a no-brainer.  Download it right now!  It is that good.

For a while there it looked like Rock Band and much of the rhythm game genre was dead, thanks to an over saturation of Rock Band and Guitar Hero games from EA and Activision.  With games like Audiosurf and Symphony trying to revitalize this genre through the downloadable game space, Harmonix has decided to bring Rock Band to the downloadable space with Rock Band Blitz.  Unlike the core Rock Band games for console, Rock Band Blitz does not use special peripherals to play the game. In Rock Band Blitz, you will use the regular controller to switch between each instrument lane and match notes in one of the game's 25 songs, which is very similar to Harmonix's older rhythm games such as Frequency and Amplitude.  Rock Band Blitz offer the same Rock Band gameplay, now all just for single-player.  Without much of a campaign, the main drive to play Rock Band Blitz is due to the online leaderboards,which tracks your top scores on each song.  In addition to the 25 songs that come with Rock Band Blitz, gamers are able to import any song they have for Rock Band 3.  Rock Band Blitz is now available for PSN and XBLA for 15 dollars or 1200 Microsoft Points.

Mass Effect is a huge series with one of the most expansive universes in video game history.  To extend the life of their RPG epic and provide more insight into the rich mythology of this universe, BioWare has developed the Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3.  The Leviathan DLC takes place before the final mission on Earth and dives into the dark history of the Reapers.  Commander Shepard hears reports of something lurking in the dark corners of space.  That something being powerful enough to single-handedly slay a Reaper.  What is this powerful being, this leviathan of sorts and is it friend or foe?  It is up to Shepard and his crew of the Normandy to find that out.  Leviathan expands on the events of Mass Effect 3 and provides new characters to interact with, new pieces of information on the mythology to chew on and new weapons and upgrades to play with.  For those not ignorant enough to abandon Mass Effect 3 because of the polarizing ending and want to dive back into this incredible game, you can pick Leviathan for PC, PSN and XLBA for 10 dollars or 800 Microsoft Points.

On the Download: June 24-30 Part 2

On the Download continues with a look at the console and PC downloadable games released this week.  I will get to the meat and potatoes of this post, I would like to highlight two other downloadable games/DLC.

First, the second episode of Telltale Games Walking Dead adventure game was released this week for XBLA, PSN and Steam.  The second episode, called Starved for Help, continues the story from where the first episode, A New Day, left off.  You are able to find Starved for Help as an individual download for 5 dollars on XBLA or PSN or you can pick up the Season Pass and get the entire series when each subsequent episode is released.

Next piece of business is a piece of free DLC for Mass Effect 3.  When the game came out in March, there was a lot of backlash around the game's ending.  While I did personally enjoy the original open-ended ending, it did bring up a lot of questions that got most fans that could not connect the dots themselves angry.  This Tuesday, BioWare released the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC.  The Extended Cut DLC does not change the ending of the game, it adds more scenes to the final 30 minutes of the game in order to help gamers get a better understanding of the Mass Effect 3's ending.  By better understanding, I mean BioWare basically lays out every single little detail for those gamers who could not do it themselves.  Hopefully this DLC does satisfy some of the haters, but no matter what BioWare does there will always be a core group of gamers that will hate the ending of Mass Effect 3 no matter what.  If you have Mass Effect 3, download the Extended Cut DLC as it is absolutely free and gives a better understanding of the game's ending.

The next piece of DLC I am going to talk about is for the biggest RPG of 2011, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  The first big expansion to the world of Skyrim is called Dawnguard.  In Dawnguard, the vampire lord Harkon has returned.  Harkon seeks the power of the Elder Scrolls in order to accomplish his goal of blanketting Tamriel in eternal darkness by blocking out the sun.  As the hero of Skyrim, you must choose between joining Harkon in his dark goal or the collective of vampire hunters known as the Dawnguard in stopping Harkon and his vampires.  Which faction you choose to join will affect the perks you receive, your homebase (Castle Volkihar for the vampires and Fort Dawnguard for the vampire hunters) and some other bonuses exclusive to each faction such as being able to transform into a vampire lord or hiring Armoured Trolls.  Dawnguard also adds new combat options and weapons such as the crossbow and mounted combat, new shouts, new quests, new skill trees, new dragons and other enemies and the ability to alter your appearance at anytime for a price of 1000 septim.  At the moment, Dawnguard is only available on XBLA for 1600 Microsoft points because Microsoft paid Bethesda for timed exclusivity for the DLC.  Dawnguard should be coming to PSN and PC sometime in the near future.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On a Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness has been on a long hiatus.  The first two episodes in this episodic series were created by Hothead Games, but in 2010 the developer discontinued production on future episodes to focus on DeathSpank.  Back in late 2011, Zeboyd Games, the makers of indie RPG hits Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII, announced they would pick up where Hothead Games left off and make the third episode in this series.  The most striking difference between Episode 3 and the first two episodes of Penny Arcade Adventures is the 16-bit inspired graphics that are very similar to RPGs from the SNES.  Episode 3 is completely inspired by RPGs from the SNES era as the combat and presentation are very similar to past RPGs mixed with modern design sensibilities.  Episode 3 is suppose to last 8 to 12 hours with more content to be added with free updates.  Currently Penny Arcade's On a Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 is only available for PC through Steam, but it will will be released for XBLA, Mac, Android and iOS at later dates.  If you do have Steam, you can pick it up for 5 dollars and buy it before July 2 to get Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII for free.  Three indie RPGs for 5 dollars that is a great deal.

On the Download: April 22-28

A little later than usual.  It was a busy Thursday, so got to double up today.  Right now is your weekly dose of On the Download and much later today another edition of Off the Newsstand will be up.  Just been reading a lot of magazines between work, blogging and free time.  While this week's On the Download is not as packed as last week, there are things for console, handheld and smartphone/tablet gaming will enjoy this week.  In a trade-off for no new eShop release, Nintendo 3DS owners got a system update this past Wednesday.  With the update, you can now create folders to organize all the apps and games on your 3DS, download patches and updates for retail games and a nice little re-design of the Nintendo eShop, which makes it a little easier to navigate.  If you have not downloaded it already, make sure you download it after reading On the Download.

Well Capcom did not listen to me when Soul Calibur came to iOS and I said fighting games do not work on iOS as they have just re-released Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for iOS.  Considered one of the best, most popular and intricate fighting games in video game history, it is hard to think of playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2 with a touch screen, but no matter what we say Capcom has done it.  Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has been optimized for iOS tablets and mobile devices featuring everything you will find in any previous release in arcades and on consoles.  Exclusive for the iOS release, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 features local multi-player through Bluetooth and a new control feature called the Flick Button, which makes it easier to pull off complex moves with the touch controls.  If you are a Marvel vs. Capcom superfan or really want an inexpensive fighting game for your tablet or mobile device, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for iOS will be a perfect purchase especially at the current sale price of 3 dollars.  If you like playing fighting games will actual controllers, better stick to Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for XBLA and PSN.

Since resurrecting the Monkey Island series for Tales of Monkey Island, Telltale Games has become known for creating great adventure games for this generation of gamers.  Telltale's newest episodic adventure game project is a game adaptation of popular zombie comic and TV show, The Walking Dead. Unlike typical zombie games such as Left 4 Dead and Resident Evil, The Walking Dead is more focused on character development and emotion than action and extreme tension.  The Walking Dead: The Game puts players in control of a whole new character in The Walking Dead universe by the name of Lee Everett.  Lee is a convicted criminal who is given a second chance at life after the zombie outbreak.  In a world where the undead are walking the Earth and the remaining humans have gone insane trying to keep themselves alive, protecting a orphaned girl by the name of Clementine might be Lee's only chance a t redemption is this hell on Earth.  Telltale has tried out some new features with their Walking Dead adventure game.  These features include having the actions and choice you make in each episode affect how your story plays out throughout the entire series and a time limit for making decisions in order to further immerse the player into story.  Currently you can pick up the first episode, "A New Day" on XBLA, PSN, PC and Mac, but it will be later available for iOS as well.  New episodes will release each month up to the fifth and final episode.  If you enjoy Telltale Games other adventures or love The Walking Dead, Telltales new game will definitely be a great download.  You can find individual episodes on XBLA and PSN for 5 dollars with a Season Pass running you 19 dollars.  For PC and/or Mac users, you will only be able to pick up a Season Pass which will cost you 25 dollars.