return to the inventory: a poker night 2 documentary

A classic now lost to the world of abandonware, Poker Night 2 was once a straight-forward fun title, subtly showcasing the latest achievements of an up-and-coming studio held in very high regard. Initially retailing at $5 and famously bundled with lots of digital goodies, the story of PN2 expands across many surprising places. Telltale's ability to score huge licensing deals, produce consistently brilliant writing, and their keen dedication to very tight schedules - somehow led to their downfall. The Poker Night at the Inventory series gives a great insight into the changes that Telltale was undergoing, both before and after their breakthrough success with The Walking Dead...perhaps the beginning of the end? Join me as I return to the Inventory (for a second time!) to discuss the second and unfortunately final instalment in everyone's favourite poker franchise. This is the story of Poker Night 2.

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CHAPTERS:
BEFORE POKER NIGHT 2 - 0:00
THE KEY PARTY - 2:48
PRE-ORDERS / PROMOTIONALS - 4:15
THE RELEASE(S) - 5:30
WHY ANOTHER POKER NIGHT? - 7:20
BROCK - 12:18
CLAPTRAP - 21:58
GLaDOS - 31:40
ASH - 36:05
SAM - 42:18
IN CONVERSATION WITH MIKE STEMMLE - 52:08
AND, BRIEFLY, MAX - 55:50
OTHER CAMEOS - 58:41
PN2'S UPDATED AI - 1:00:35
MUSIC @ THE INVENTORY - 1:06:10
THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR - 1:13:00
THE RECEPTION - 1:18:40
THE CONSOLE RELEASE - 1:20:31
THE APPLE VERSION - 1:22:12
THE DEATH OF POKER NIGHT 2 - 1:25:08
...THE END? - 1:26:38
OR NOT, + FOOTNOTES - 1:27:50

FOOTNOTES:

(all quotes and snippets used in these videos have gone uncorrected. any in-text spelling or grammar errors in all of these videos are, generally speaking, errors I left in, rather than errors on my part. I should have used [sic] rather than explaining this in parentheses, though...)

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CREDITS:

voice actors and their works (in no particular order!):

Ben (various reviewer voiceovers)

Joshua / digitalupsight (voice of Mike Stemmle)

some further recommended viewing:

music - there's so much of it that it needs it's own google doc! see below

special thanks:
Mike Stemmle
Nick Herman
Jake Rodkin
Grayfruit
DavidM

thanks also to wyn and macy for their thumbnail feedback
thanks again to Lasse Karhu for their cover of "Prologue". genuine lifesaver with that one!

extra special thanks to Ben and Kane

meikkon, 2023. some rights reserved.

[Platitudinous]

The most anticipated sequel since... well, y'know.

[Boney]

William Kasten is like a genie but instead of rubbing a lamp and making 3 wishes you find him morphing into your buisness offices and dissipating leaving behind fully voice acted max dialogue and a half-eaten bag of pistachios. Now that I think about it that’s not very genie-like.

[joshhurst]

Fun fact about Brock and ash’s connection, Ash says that Brock is an old family name

in the 2015 Evil Dead show, it’s revealed that Ash’s dad is named Brock.

I have no idea if this a coincidence, or if they thought of that connection while writing the show

[gb]

Fun fact, the TWD character Doug is based on Doug Tabacco, an employee at TellTale, making his cameo in PN2 doubly relevant to the company

[mercury]

I find it incredibly funny that bruce campbell does not give a SHIT about videogames yet evil dead has been so influential to them.

[Inkguy]

Poker night 2 is one of the best crossovers over and i wish that we can get a spiritual successor (maybe with indie characters).

[Cybershell]

Great video, I love the Poker Night series so much. Such strange and special little games.

[grayfruit]

I played this game an unreasonable amount and I never ever saw that sam and max song scene. is it exclusive to the sam and max themed background or something?

[caramelldansen]

There was something really cool about the jarring art styles of the four bombastic characters in the first game that the sequel simply doesn't get, in my opinion.

[MarcsVideoDumpster]

I swear Poker Night is a mood, I remember playing it late at night just to chill. Thank you so much for making me remember such a special, quirky game.

[PlebNC]

The only disappointing part of this video is the clip used for Steve's party bazooka wasn't the Brock Samson version purely because of Brock's reaction.

[TotallyTubularJonathan]

Very happy to be a part of this. Stellar video on one of my favorites from the studio.

[Gelatinocyte]

I love how most people's immediate assumption when hearing Warner Bros. is the old Hanna Barbera and Looney Tunes characters.

[animiostudios]

Sam and Max is one of my favorite Telltale games, I just love the surreal and cartoonish atmosphere it has.

[spectralid]

Hey, nice timing. I just finished my rewatch of Grayfruit's Poker Night streams, so I'm glad to see this so soon. Well done on both videos.

[NerdsofaFeatherOfficial]

Okay, but when are we gonna hold an actual poker tournament? You, me, and any other Poker Night content creator who aren't cowards. I'll take on all of you, any time, any place!

Great video, worth the wait in every regard. And I am honored to have offered my voice to such a project, I would love to come back on the next video on Poker Night 3- oh... right

[kierrific]

To be honest


I entirely forgot of the existence of Gotham City Impostors, a game i havent played since the 360 was the most recent game console. I miss it so much, and remember how bad i was at it.

[Mattress-Firm]

Cool to see Grayfruit mentioned as a thank you. His PN content is one of my constant rewatches. To be fair I probably never know of this game if it weren't for him, and it's one of the first things I watched of his channel.

[vimbert]

The day has come! Thanks for letting me be a part of this.

[spiderslash]

Another banger from Meikkon.
Thank you for letting me be a part of this!