The International House of Mojo

Gamespot has put up a hands-on preview of the first episode (now completely done) of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. Aside from the all the other great information you'll get out of reading it, the preview also provides the names of all four episodes:

Fright of the Bumblebees
The Last Resort
Muzzled!
The Bogey Man

Thanks to AlfredJ on the forums for the heads up!

Discuss this in our forums.

The hype machine is gearing up as the release of The Old Republic draws near. A part of that is a new online comic developed by LucasArts, Bioware and Dark Horse Comics called Star Wars: The Old Republic: Threat of Peace, or SWTORTOP.

The first three page issue, called Treaty of Coruscant was released today here and they've promised two new issues each month.

Not much of a surprise here, but now it's official - your favorite duo's two seasons will hit the Microsoft Xbox 360 on Live. There's no concrete release date yet, but there is a name-change: on Xbox, the games are called Sam and Max Save the World (that's Season One), and Sam and Max Beyond Time and Space (Season Two). Emily explains why, including other details.

In other news, Sam and Max: Season Two won several Aggies on the first annual Adventure Gamer awards. Awesome. Rock on, Telltale!

JediMudkip of the LucasArts forums promised a few more gameplay-related answers for us today, and delivered. You can find them all here. I had a couple in there, including most importantly for anyone who played and got fed up with Emperor's Tomb:

Is there a checkpoint system in the game?

Yes, there is a checkpoint save system in the game. Again we've tried to be very careful so that if the player fails a puzzle or combat section that the checkpoint places them back in a position that is fair.

And about damn time too!

There was also good news for UK Indy gamers today (like me), as NGamer magazine published the first decent preview for us Limeys. You can see hi-res scans of the two-page preview here and here, but I'd advise you to pick up the mag if you can, because we're all good people really.

Of particular interest is that it's the first preview to be honest and mention the awful state of the graphics and the dodgy resumé of A2M. This doesn't put off their enthusiasm for the game though.

Oh, and they also mention about the Staff of Moses being in Birmingham. Obviously. That's about as crazy a theory as the idea that you can find Atlantis on Google Earth.

UPDATE: MCV, a videogame trade site and so fairly reliable, has said that Activision has dated Staff of Kings for a May 22nd European Release. This is exactly one year after KOCS, so we need a good SOK this time.

The Dig article is only...a relatively short amount of time away from publication, and that's why it's imperative that you send in your Reader Opinion if you haven't already. I don't want to suggest that your contribution is as significant an event as an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, because in fact it's way more significant. Hurry up!

Starting today, Nintendo has added the Commodore 64 to its list of platforms with classic games available for download through its Virtual Console service. The "launch games" are International Karate, The Last Ninja, and Pitstop II.

Why is this relevant? Well, because the original versions of Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders were released for the Commodore, and they are undeniable classics of the system's library, so maybe we'll see them offered at some point? Of course, it's not like any LucasArts game for the NES, SNES, or N64 have been made available, but maybe that Fate of Atlantis bonus feature in the new Indy game bodes well for the future?

Or not. But let us also not forget that the entirety of LEC's pre-Maniac catalog was ported to the C64, including PHM Pegasus, Labyrinth, Koronis Rift, The Eidolon, Rescue on Fractalus!, and yes, even the immortal Ballblazer. The company's earliest development efforts were considered state of the art for their time, and it would be really cool if they found their way to the homes of Wii owners 25 years later. It's also kind of really weird to be reminded that there was actually a time when LEC did nothing but develop original games, and merely licensed the Star Wars and Indy brands to other publishers for quick, risk-free money. They at least seem to be coming full circle in the latter regard.

Mojo's favorite suit, Telltale CEO Dan Connors, was recently interviewed by Joystiq in the wake of Telltale's recent announcement of the Wallace & Gromit release specifics. The lengthy Q&A is highly recommended reading due to the new information learned (including an interesting tidbit about the Wallace & Gromit demo) and the wide range of topics covered.

Obviously Wallace & Gromit is an existing IP. Sam & Max is an existing IP. Bone is. Strong Bad is. Any plans for you guys to do original IPs in the future?

Well, in the future, we plan to be around for a long time and right now we are really starting on getting the channel set up, getting the engine moved to the different platforms, getting a real distribution channel that allows us to self publish, and once we have that kind of reach, and hopefully a type of brand recognition for Telltale that allows us to sell enough units to make it profitable, I think that's a huge goal for us and a real important step for us. All that being said, we have always claimed to be the storytelling game company and there are so many great stories out there and whenever we bring a franchise in, and bring all the talent that comes behind that franchise, like Aardman, or like Steve Purcell, or like the Chapman brothers, or like Jeff Smith, that really adds to our ability. We are bringing great storytellers into our world and hopefully that's showing in our product. So, going on and doing original property certainly has its value in a lot of different ways, but we still put a lot of value in working with great storytellers and telling great stories as well. And working with great characters that have stories already written.

Read it all while impatiently awaiting Telltale to be ready to take your credit card number in exchange for their latest season of episodic graphic adventure goodness.

No, it's not the title of a new game: Eurogamer writer John Walker is re-experiencing the original Knights of the Old Republic and is telling you about it (only first part is up). It's very spoilerish, and also very evil.

Source: Eurogamer

Some site that isn't in English has posted three screenshots from the Nintendo DS version of Staff of Kings. I know nothing about the DS version except that it's presumably going to be a good deal different from the console versions, but based on this incredibly limited first glimpse it actually looks pretty decent.

As pointed out by Brutal!, an interesting rumor by GoNintendo indicates that a Wii port of Brutal Legend may be in the words. Mmm, okay.

The blog also has some info on some LEC games from the same source. The claim is that we will get a LEGO Indiana Jones II by the end of the year. They also report that Battlefront III is in the works, though we of course already knew that, albeit with some confusion about who the current developer is. Hopefully such a lightning fast development of a new LEGO Indy game doesn't translate to a re-release of the first with a Crystal Skull themed bonus level.

Update: GoNintendo have been asked, presumably by one of the many parties involved, to take down the news reported. They've done so. Conspiracy!

Reader diduz, who like many of us has been wondering about the status of the super-delayed second episode of the PC version of Insecticide, decided to send an e-mail to Crackpot for some answers.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaad news, guys.
I've sent an e-mail to Crackpot Entertainment and Mike Levine told me Insecticide PC has been cancelled by Southpeak.
They're angry.
I am too.

I guess this isn't very surprising, but it's certainly depressing. (Southpeak, for those who don't remember, bought out Gamecock several months back.) This, of course, totally sucks, because even though the full game does exist in DS form, the proper PC version was clearly the one to have, since it included all the cutscenes, full voice acting, and for obvious reasons looked a good deal better than its handheld counterpart. Although the first half of the "Bisodic" game was released last summer, the promised second part never showed up. There was some hope that a retail version of the whole game would be coming out, but alas.

Keep your fingers crossed that Part 2 isn't dead for good. With a game that's presumably finished or close to it, maybe Mike and Larry can find somebody willing to put it out. I sure hope so, because Insecticide is a nice little story game with a great visual style, and more people really ought to play it.

Update: Mike Levine and Larry Ahern have commented on the situation below, saying "Never say never about finding a new publisher," but that in the meantime they intend to put the FMV cutscenes from the second episode (obviously spoiler-ridden) on Youtube in an attempt to complete the story as best they can in lieu of the actual game.

Mike also wants to direct your attention to Planet Cazmo, a Pileated Pictures web-based game project that involves some ex-LEC guys and apparently has some graphic adventure elements to it.

Double Fine and EA are showing-off a (possibly new) Brutal Legend trailer at GDC - if not at the event itself, then later at Double Fine's place, where hopefully we'll get cameras rolling to show us their latest love-child masterpiece. Not filmed: Activision slitting its wrists with jealousy.

Source: Kotaku Australia

Thanks to EvilDevo at TheRaider.net's forum, the official preview of Indy Sok is now scanned and available online in a readable resolution.

There's not that much new information barring how the controls are going to work, but it does strongly hint about the identity of the co-op character on the last page.

"... fans of the franchise can look forward to some senior moments."

Henry Jones Snr perhaps? If so, what LucasArts said about him never being playable before is wrong - Indy's dad was playable in both Last Crusade AND Lego Indy.

For ease of viewing, I've stuck the scans up at IndyJones.net's Previews page.

Now that Brütal Legend is safe in a new publisher's hands and set for release by the end of this year, we're in an emotional position to digest the details of how close it was to being obliterated without all of the nerve wracking. Indeed, as some new magazine scans posted by our most Brutal! of hosted sites reveal, the game's publishing agreement with EA came mere weeks before Double Fine would had to have shut production down.

The Activision/Vivendi merger saw numerous game casualties, among them Ghostbusters and Brütal Legend. With no publisher but an increasingly polished game already in hand, Double Fine opted to buckle down and continue building the game even as operating funds became increasingly scarce.

[...]

Regardless of the setbacks the game encountered throughout 2008, Double Fine avoided shutting down production, though Schafer admits the potential was looming in the final weeks before the deal was struck.

Yikes! Also included in the Game Informer preview is at least one new screenshot, so get yourself over there.

Fact about video game pirates: You are terrified every time you come in here. To you Mixnmojo must be like walking into Restaurant Cannibal. Do you know what Udvarnoky does to pirates? What Gabez and his "little friend" do? And man, wow, Tingler, just, don't get me started on The Tingler. He caught this pirate one time, and...wow. All I can say is blood. Lots and lots of blood, and screaming. Such terrible screaming.

So where am I going with this, and what does it mean to you? Can you still be saved?

Well, basically, it's that you can get either of the two Psychonauts soundtracks for less than $8.99. "No money" is no longer an excuse: $8.99's less than what you pay for most of that junk you call "fast food". Added bonus: no shipping costs, because of legal download services. So what I want you to do is to cut that torrent (before Gabez cuts your throat), pick a service, and buy yourself either (or both!) of the two Psychonauts soundtracks - that's one for gameplay, and one for cutscenes. Then kick back and enjoy, both masterworks by the always-brilliant Peter McConnell. Intensify the pleasure by knowing that your money is now part of Brutal Legend's budget, and feel sexy.

Source: Double Fine Action News

The latest issue of PCZone magazine (out in the UK next Thursday for non-subscribers) has a short preview of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. Mostly it's just a collection of new screenshots, including a rather neat one of Gromit clearly showing off the thumbprints on his arm.

However, the bad news is the PCZone have confirmed that Peter Sallis will not be playing Wallace. However, his voice will instead be played by Aardman's official back-up actor for Sallis, "you know, the bloke who did his voice on that rubbish novelty alarm clock you got for Christmas".

Guess who showed-up drunk and uninvited?

I guess Activision must have been browsing through their old photo-album of "dropped games of awesome" because they've been mumbling something about "threatening with lawsuits", and "money", and "Why am I so ugly?" to EA and Double Fine. And I will tell you why you are so ugly, Activision: it is because you are full of soggy, blistering pimples, as a result of your allergy to the awesome you let slip through your fingers - the awesome of Brutal Legend. Not to mention, you're also embarrassing to be seen with. Plus you smell funny too.

My advice? Don't go through with this. Jealousy never helped anybody. But hey, at least you have some more awesome to look forward to - just before you let it drop again, anyways. Haha. Man, Activision, you are so dumb.

Source: Variety

Pfft, the hacks at Double Fine wish they conceive imagery as artistically pleasing as that boasted by Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, some new screenshots of which are available in the form of some scans of a German magazine preview that a fan over at The Raven (TheRaider.net forums) graciously posted.

Actually though, these screenshots don't look nearly as bad to me. That blurry scans of some tiny magazine pictures do the game more justice than any kind of decently close look isn't exactly a good sign, but, we'll see I guess!

Tingler Updates: Scanner tocksic has very kindly translated the whole thing! Wow!

From this, we can gleam a couple of new points of interest:

The love interest will be journalist Maggie O'Malley, who apparently accompanies Indy throughout the game.

The game will contain new original music compositions. No idea whether it will be a full soundtrack like previous Indy games, or just a few new tunes like The Force Unleashed. We've also no idea who's doing it either.

There will be encounters with characters from previous Indy adventures. Yay!

The article also treats the Fate of Atlantis unlockable as a big, mysterious secret that LucasArts didn't happen to give up last week. It does say that it "won't be too hard to unlock" though. Phew.

9

Link copied!

Can you say, "Awesome"?

EA also released some trailer grabs a while ago, all in high-res. Check them out.

Source: Shacknews

Sick of trying to update the former Autumn Moon blog on the company's official site, Bill Tiller decided to just make a Wordpress blogspot Autumn Moon blog with the implication that it will be updated more frequently. Being brand new, it currently only has some scandalizing photos from the A Vampyre Story wrap party, but keep your eyes peeled.

In other Autumn Moon news, in-house artist Jean-Louis Sirois has once again updated his own blog with some more never-before-seen AVS concept art. One entry presents a rendering of Shrowdy von Kiefer while another offers a bunch of additional character sketches. He also unexpectedly posted a bizarre doodle of none other than Raz from Psychonauts, which is awesome.

There's a rather lovely retrospective review of Grim Fandango now up at GameStooge which manages to state all the reasons why I love the game... except the puzzles. Go read.

Source: Game Stooge

I have no idea what this even means;

The mid-20s growth rate… projected for our direct digital business… Really what it is, it is Pogo, it is Mobile, it is MMOs, it is a series of MSGs, it is ultimately a new MMO that we are going to be launching in joint partnership with LucasArts. And so it is a series of businesses that feel like they have gotten good tailwinds that are growing, Pogo and Mobile in particular.

It's from here.

Update: Ahh, neon_git in the comments has waded through all the gobbledygook and figured that the LucasArts thing being mentioned is just the PC version of The Old Republic.

However, in actual LucasArts news, they won a Writer's Guild Award for the writing in STFU.

Source: Seeking Alpha

According to USA today Strong Bad's Cool Game for Atractive People will be released on disc next month (that's March), and as far as I can tell it's only coming to Wii for the time being. No PC version on disc as of yet.

Hey, did you know that everytime someone says "no PC version", somewhere in the world, a PC pirate dies? True fact.

Update: "Wii-only disc version" is not a solid fact. It's just what I made-out to be implied in the linked article.

Update 2: Emily clears-up a bit. "I haven't read the story yet, but I can say with certainty he's talking about the collector's DVD from Telltale's website.

March is a possible timeframe, but as always, it's done when it's done. We'll put it up in the store when we're the DVD's completion is comfortably in sight." Awesome. Thanks Emily!

Source: USA Today

Reader "lagomorph" gave me a heads up that a handful of game sites have received a few more screenshots from Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. Check out the seven new gems over at WorthPlaying.

In what is to my knowledge its first public acknowledgment, LEC has offered to gaming site DarkZero the excuse explanation for why the in-house Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings received the business end of a splitting axe:

"We want to bring consumers an Indy experience in 2009 following the successful launch of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008,” comments a LucasArts spokesperson. “The next-gen skus would not be ready for the 2009 window so we made a strategic business decision to end development on PS3 and Xbox 360.

While I've no doubt that the development of Indy was extremely troubled (what else can you really conclude based on the fact that it was announced in 2005?), it's hard to imagine that the team being transferred to The Force Unleashed and the suits' apparent desire to fire everyone and stop internal development ASAP might not have possibly played a role in the game's fate.

Look out for an explanation about the next-gen versions (which could very well turn out to be identical to the one quoted) that is said to be included in the upcoming Nintendo Power preview. The issue of the magazine in question hits American newsstands on the 17th.

Which is why you should be appreciative of something that The Pumpkin Post reported on a few days ago, namely that Autumn Moon artist Jean-Louis Sirois (who also is the party responsible for those regular and splendid Autumn Moon holiday cards) has updated his blog with some concept art from A Vampyre Story. In addition to some character sketches are three pieces of background art that were only visible in-game during cutscenes in compressed FMV form.

See it all, and be amazed! And maybe even get a slight tidbit about a character or two that may appear in the sequel.

After a brief hiatus, Mixnmojo's thrilling article series, "LucasArts Secret History," is back! *Cue explosions, rock music and scantily clad dancing women*

What better game is there to mark our glorious return than Full Throttle?

If you haven't played this gem yet, it's time to find out what you've been missing out on -- and for the rest of us, join us for a drive down memory road. Let the throttle out and fly.

Thanks to everyone who contributed -- especially Peter Mc. and Colin Panetta.

Edit: Colin has updated his blog with an entry on how he made the header art. You can also see a making of entry for his Day of the Tentacle header.

Edit 2: Larry Ahern kindly got back to us with a brand new interview about his time working on the game.

PSW magazine had quite a nice spelling-mistake-filled preview of Brutal Legend in their current issue, but to spare us the moderately illegal act of scanning it in they've kindly stuck it on GamesRadar instead. Thanks guys, but seriously - it's spelled "Schafer".

Source: GamesRadar/PSW

Nintendo fans, rejoice. A game with guns for your console of choice, all in top-notch quality. If for some twisted reason you haven't picked it up yet, or for some awesome reason you want to buy it yet again, then prepare your wallets for Sam and Max: Season Two.

The game's being published by Atari by the way, who published Season One on retail. This hopefully means that the first Season did well on retail, which is all kinds of awesome.

Source: Joystiq

This is only marginally relevant, but I figured I'd point it out anyway. Starting in 2005, around the time Telltale announced that it would make graphic adventure adaptions of the comic book license, Scholastic announced that it would be releasing colorized editions of each of the nine Bone books (essentially chronological collections each of about six of the total 55 issues) in six month intervals. A few weeks ago, the ninth and final book, Crown of Horns, was released in color, bringing the ambitious project to a successful finish.

Around the time all this began, there were some mumblings about Telltale doing some sort of cross-promotion with Scholastic, and indeed the seven month gap between the Out from Boneville and The Great Cow Race games seem to fit well with this idea. Obviously that never happened as the Bone game series was abandoned, presumably due to unspectacular sales and the desire to shift focus onto Sam & Max and other licenses (maybe there's hope for something involving the movie someday), but in any event if you're a Bone fan you'll definitely want to check out the colorization of the epic work, as the efforts are decidedly reverent and high quality (unlike say, some of those early Sam & Max color jobs...yikes).

Dear LucasArts,

Every so often in life you see that special someone that you think is the one. Maybe you noticed that special girl or boy at your school and always wanted to ask them out, but thought you just were not cool enough. Symbiote Studios is taking the chance and asking you at LucasArts to give us a try. We made one great statue for Sam and Max and now we would like to make one for The Curse of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion.

I think if you guys and gals at LucasArts gave us a shot we could make magic. No other company will treat you like we would. Sure Hasbro might have money and Sideshow might have attractive sales reps, but none of them know more about you than us. We grew up playing your games. We spent hours trying to finish Maniac Mansion only to have our disk corrupt on the last part.

So if you are out there and you get this request please give us a shot!

Sincerely,

All of us at Symbiote Studios

They also ask if fans would email LucasArts about it. I'd tell you to go ahead, but apparently Symbiote Studios's crush is now old and ugly and lives in the dark ages, because after half an hour of searching I can't find their email address. If you're going to have to talk to them, you're going to have to send a regular letter.

Unless someone in the comments knows how to email them, that is.

At damn last, LucasArts have (SHOCK!) updated their website with stuff about Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings.

While the screenshots look a bit... well, you can probably form your own opinion, of most interest is the Fact Sheet for the game. And of most most interest is that (GASP!) Fate of Atlantis will be unlockable!

This is the first time since Maniac Mansion with DOTT that LucasArts have ever given away one of their adventures for free. And with the point-n-click joy of the Wii too!

Also of note is the (WONDER!) Co-operative mode, "with a familiar character never playable before in an Indy game". Dare we guess - Sophia?

Update by Jason: While it really contains nothing not already covered by LEC's long overdue announcement of this game, Nintendo Power has released a scan of the first page of their exclusive preview as a tease.

Update by JP: Joystiq have confirmed that Fate of Atlantis is unfortunately only unlockable in the Wii version of the game.

Source: LucasArts

A Maniac Mansion fan named Mark sent me an e-mail linking to a site called cubeecraft.com, which features a bunch of free, printable designs that can then be folded to make cube-shaped paper toys in the likeness of characters. What is one of the characters that they offer? Why, none other than Purple Tentacle, everyone's favorite mutated villain bent on world domination.

Update: As Giygas points out in the comments, this isn't the only Mojo-related character available. The site also has Sam & Max, Strong Bad, and Indiana Jone toys waiting for you to download!

Yessssss! So cool! On XBLA and PC!

Wallace and Gromit get the lovin' they deserve.

New screenshots here!

Also if you subscribe to the Telltale Newsletter like all the cool kids are you'll get a free episode of either Sam and Max or Strong Bad. But then again if you were cool you'd already have them.

Woohoo! Wallace and Gromit!

Update: The PC version of the game will be point-n-click, whereas the Xbox version will rely on a joypad scheme specifically designed for it - this is according to Eurogamer, who also mention "with XBLA titles set to be announced in the coming months." Interesting!

Source: Telltale

Here's some small snippets of info on DeathSpank you might have missed:

- DeathSpank is not a superhero. He's a hero...sort of. He thinks he is, anyways.
- There's both PC and console versions, but the important thing to point-out is what Ron said: "We're going to great lengths to build two completely different interface, one for PC players and one for console players. None of this crappy porting crap. With DeathSpank, it's top shelf all the way."
- There is going to be a Mac version at some point.
- As of last year, the first episode, Orphans of Justice, was slated for a 2009 release.
- Telefilm Canada is, at least, partially funding the game.
- This is one of the taglines the game carries: "The evil of devils cannot compare to the evil of men because men are jerks." - Some Jerk.
- If you look carefully beneath the aforementioned quote on the official site, you'll see a bunch of seemingly meaningless words. Although they look random, it seems that they all have the same length, all open with "AC" and end with "CA", and all are mirrors of each other halfway through, like this: "ACMOJOMCA".

This is also speculation on my part, but do you remember the very first DeathSpank image on the official site? Right click on that image and try to save it, and notice that it's called "DS-s1-e1", probably meaning that Deathspank will come in seasons. Of course this is not a solid fact, just, again, pure speculation on my part.

Update: Oh my. Neon_git, you truly are a genius. A handsome genius! You reek of handsomness and expensive cologne! Check out the comments for the solution to the riddle thing, it's pretty cool.

Runes eh? I wonder what that could mean...

In conjunction with LucasArts' announcement of the game, Amazon.com has put up new product listings for Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, complete with placeholder box art. The Wii version is listed as costing $49.99, and all other versions as $29.99, with a suggested simultaneous street date of June 2nd.

This being the product listings of an online retailer it should by no means be taken as gospel, but nothing about Amazon's info seems particularly fishy so that date is probably a decent estimate (even with the "Spring 2009" claim appended to the end of the new trailer).

After subjecting your eyes, which had never hurt anyone, to those absolutely god-awful Staff of Kings screenshots, you were probably thinking "Now wait, surely these aren't accurate. Maybe those screengrabs are from the DS version, or maybe photographed from a TV screen? After all these supposed screenshots don't merely look bad for the Wii (which is capable of this), or even the PS2/PSP. No, these look subpar for the Nintendo 64." (Proof: Infernal Machine N64 screens).

So, there's nothing to worry about. Mistakes happen. There's no way in hell that after a six year wait for a new Indiana Jones 3D action/adventure, that LEC would deliver something that looks, to put it charitably, half as good as Emperor's Tomb. Hmm, but wait, did I just see a moderator on the official LEC forums address this when a fan voiced his surely misplaced concerns?

While the Wii isn't the uber-powered system on the processor side of things, I actually thought the screens looked good. They are very indicative of the final game, however.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings: a $50 Wii port of Fate of Atlantis with an extra feature in the form of whatever shoddy mess we're looking at on LEC's product page.

Gamefocus managed to nab...err, someone, I think Emily, from Telltale Games and interview them about Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People and the possibility of more of it this year.

We’re not talking about a season 2 at this point. We generally come to new game seasons with a clean slate. There isn’t anything I can think of that we really wanted to get in but didn’t.

So I guess we'll just have to wait a little. I should add: for those of you who haven't played it, Strong Bad lives up to its name and is actually a lot of fun, slowly transitioning from being a for-fans game to a game anyone with a love of adventure games can enjoy. I highly suggest you pick it up, right after reading this one of many interviews.

Move over Hugh Jackass Jackman, we have a new host in town - and his name starts with a 'D' is Tim Schafer. Hide your food, lock up your drinks, make sure there is no potential mix between eating and laughing because you may unexpectedly choke to death, and tune in on March 25th.

If we're lucky we might get another awesome caveman speech, and Gamespot might cover it again. Tim also hosted the awards in 2007, which you can watch fully here.

OK, awesome. At least if the Oscars suck this year we'll have something else to fanboy over look forward to.

Didn't manage to nab one of those cool Maniac Mansion posters Star Wars Shop was selling recently? Would you instead like to pick and choose your poster from some of the best cover art to ever grace computer games (and the best games too)? Steve Purcell, William Eakin, Drew Struzan?

Well, intrepid community member extraordinaire Laserschwert has been busy creating a line of dreams downloadable posters to allow you to do just that.

Check it out right now, and weep openly. Is it too late for a calendar?

Purcell's Sam & Max New Years greetings for 2009! Does this look familiar to you? If not, our bad!

A few weeks back we reported that GamerGate would be selling Mata Hari as a digital download on January 31st. Turns out they were just messing with you, and the product page now lists the game as a pre-order, claiming the new release date to be March 3rd. We'll keep you posted.

Well I'll be a Cocytan's uncle, we're ready to start accepting reader opinions for our next Secret History article, which of course centers around The Dig. Send in your reader opinions for us to put in the article, and replay the game while you're at it to get in the mood while waiting for the big retrospective to get published!

Additionally, if you happen to be a huge fan of The Dig and would like to write some sort of editorial about an aspect of the game for us to put in the article, let us know! We're always open to that sort of thing.