http://vimeo.com/10265290
http://gameletgame.blogspot.com/
Release date
8 April 2010

Can't say I saw anything especially shakesperean in that trailer.
I always thought the plays had potential but its not the way I'd have made them

Do we get to freak out in the same way that people did with Dante's Inferno?

Not overly convinced. The idea has potential but some things about that video seemed way wide of the mark.

In the best traditions of classic adventure games, without inventory and with boss battles?
Ooook.. I think that throughout my 24years of gaming, i was constantly lied to when it comes to adventure games.
Looks a bit like that Samorost/Machinarium thing..
[sidenote:]
Kinda reminds me of the day someone told me "Dungeon Siege is the best oldschool RPG game ever". [And the only thing that's oldschool RPG about DS is Lazarus.]
I've felt that disturbance in the world, as if a thousand elephants farted at the same time, and half of the universe disappeared in a cloud of brown vapor... Oh, and that bowl of petunias...

You can say that again. Maybe I just love the original too much, but I don't get any Shakespearean connection from that trailer either. I think more stuff based on literature could be cool though...if it's done well.

Shakespeare game? Wot?

Didn't someone from Visceral Games say something about making a Macbeth game?

I always thought a SCUMM style adventure game could work
Use POISONED RAPIER with KING CLAUDIUS
Take POISONED CHALICE
Use POISONED CHALICE with KING CLAUDIUS

They could have a dagger acting as a compass, pointing to the next objective. See? There's some potential already.

You know, as much as people hated Dante's Inferno, I think they would do well with a Macbeth game. They got the thematic elements and basic story an adaptation needed to be good, and the only real stumbling block was a few design choices (like those required challenge rooms that were really unfair). I feel like they would adapt the story and gameplay properly to a story like Macbeth.

They would also sell the play in paperback form with a fugly game-based cover featuring lots of titties and would downplay the whole ugly witch aspect.

Yes! Haha. That's exactly the right genre for it. Imagine it's based on Twelfth Night:
Take CLOTH from table
Use CLOTH on self to bind breasts
Use BOY'S ATTIRE on self
Hehe. I'm thinking Twelfth Night would need to switch character perspectives,because there are so many interesting people.

There's a text-adventure adaptation of The Tempest:
http://wurb.com/if/game/316
It's a serious adaptation. Not very successful, though.

I think they'd mostly have to be multi-character or you'd miss out on the essential parts of the story. Othello might work as a single character game with cutscenes, if I remember it correctly the majority of the play was centered on Iago and his delightfully malevolent cunning.
Then again there already is a game called Othello...