The International House of Mojo

So, that's was 2011 then. The year Telltale went joyriding in a Jurassic Park-Jeep, and submitted glowing anonymous reviews of one of their own games.

Yes, 2011 might not go down as one of the finer years for our little Mojo-verse, but it could have been worse. No. Really. It was the year when Double Fine decided to actually make games. Note the "s" there, we're talking games, plural. No less than three new titles were released, on top of re-issues and PC conversions of older titles, like the excellent Costume Quest. The one company that we safely can say had a great 2011 was indeed Double Fine, and good for them.

LucasArts... Well, not so much.

It was too good to last, and the company ended their short re-run of being pretty awesome by releasing a boxed version of the Monkey Island special editions, one where this very site finally was quoted. I mean, really, what the hell took them so long?

Getting his prose of a quote out there did, incidentally, send elTee on a bender, and he has yet to be heard from since.

:~(

LucasArts has gone out with a bang (or a whimper or whatever) quoting Mojo, and, at least for now, it seems like they're content with being out of the game of actually making games. The roster of upcoming titles developed by the once proud company is sadly lacking, and we fear LucasArts might be dead to us for good this time.

Speaking of sad, how about those Telltale Games... games? After releasing stellar titles like Tales of Monkey Island, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, and Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, 2011 was a roller-coaster of a year for Telltale, one where we had to endure gems like the over-buggy and under-designed Back to the Future. Jurassic Park saw some positive reviews I suppose, though mostly from their own employees.

Not that it was all bad. They did release a great and under-appreciated sequel to Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent as well as a few iOS conversions. And hell, the first chapter of Law & Order: Legacies is pretty entertaining.

Shaky as the year was for Telltale, I can't help but be optimistic for them in 2012. I realize that is like saying "they beat us because they love us, but we can change them!" but there you go.

Really, who are we to complain, anyway? We've kinda been slacking here at the old Mojo, haven't we? Slow at reviewing games, untimely updates... Hey, we can promise you plans are afoot to reinvigorate Mojo during the next year. Do we say that every year? Probably! But this time we really mean it. For reals.

And what better way to celebrate everything positive in the world than by taking a look at what you thought were the highs (and, OK, lows too) of 2011?

Here's to the next year, one that will hopefully make us forget about the last one. Let us never speak of it again.