Articles

Site announcement from Jake and Spaff 11 May, 2004 / Comments: 43

By Jake


As everyone knows, we aren't exactly rolling in things to cover on Mojo these days. There is the odd announcement or proclaimation of some sort from LucasArts once a week or so, and there's Psychonauts, but on the whole, not a whole lot going on. Which is why we've decided to massively expand our horizons, and take on anything we deem interesting. Definitely not limited to LucasArts. No, I'm no longer talking about Mojo.

Since around last year's E3, Spaff, Marek Bronstring (of Adventure Gamers) and I have been planning a new site, called Idle Thumbs, and its launched today. Our goal with the Thumb, much like the Mojo, is to write about the games we love from the past, and the interesting games on the horizon in a way that isn't so boring that you just stop visiting. Please do check out Idle Thumbs, stay a while, and let us know what you think. Its not much yet, but we've got big plans.

So, what does this mean for Mojo? Not a lot, really. Mojo isn't closing. We'll still have the occasional daily news posts. The hosted sites aren't going anywhere (unless they want to). And of course, we'll have coverage of LucasArts' presence at this year's E3 (though there won't be a lot to write about). So don't fret about anything (except LucasArts' lack of unique games), and instead rejoice, and visit Idle Thumbs every day!
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43 Comments

  • tabacco on 14 May, 2004, 16:32…
    We have a comment option. Look on the left sidebar and click on "Idle Forums"
  • yO-LeSs on 14 May, 2004, 05:00…
    Folks! It is such a relief to see there are still people with a vision out there! As much as I've come to getting addicted to all those nice Lucas games (and your brilliant site!) over the years, I simply don't understand where they're heading right now (I guess, it must be a three-headed monkey who's leading the LucasArts games department at the moment). Computer magazines have adapted to boring and mass-produced games without any value other than that they're selling fine. Mindless pieces of unimaginative work are tossed out onto the games market and instead of saying, "yeah, hell, we know it's stupid, but what we've come to love has changed over time and so we have to change, too, and simply demand for less" you guys turn to what this should be all about: Capturing the spirit of those games that are more than just goods that sell. What the heck took you so long =)?
  • Bobo Donkey? on 13 May, 2004, 12:07…
    Oh thats just great. Now the LIBRARY wont even let me on it due to the swearing. You need to cut the foul language PRONTO if you expect people to visit the new site.
  • spaff on 13 May, 2004, 15:32…
    shut the fuck up
  • spaff on 13 May, 2004, 15:41…
    in a nice way!
  • Bobo Donkey? on 14 May, 2004, 05:32…
    Sorry but I had a tough time yesterday.

    By the way where did you think up the giant goose. I have a feeling that I've seen something like that before.
  • spaff on 14 May, 2004, 15:36…
    it's not a rip off of a previous work of mine ? ?
  • Bobo Donkey? on 17 May, 2004, 05:11…
    Are you sure??? I looks a lot like... something... nope I must be wrong, but it DOES look inspired by one of my pieces of work (from the comic strip on my website). Could that have influenced the big goose in some way?
  • ThunderPeel2001 on 13 May, 2004, 09:13…
    1) If you're going to do a retro vg/news site (great idea btw) you better do your research before harping on about how great/crap something is because everyone will have an opinion about it.

    The "Eric Chahi is a God" (which I haven't got around to reading yet) looks a little too sycophantic from the title. Another World was beautiful but unfortunately it WAS flawed. The Genesis CD only sequel was even more flawed but equally beautiful. I shall read the article, but you see I already have an opinion on it! :)

    2) Comment option must be added!

    3) Language on the frontpage = me in trouble in work :(

    4) Idle Thumbs = New Mojo!

    The King is dead, long live the King!!!
  • yO-LeSs on 14 May, 2004, 05:17…
    Man! Another World is one great game and that's my opinion! What you're asking for is not taking a stance at all which is what too many game sites out there are already doing. Take a look around, and you'll see smoothed out, boring, uncreative articles that touch noone and are nothing else but completely irrelevant. And hey, why would you need a comment option for such a site ;-).
  • ThunderPeel2001 on 14 May, 2004, 13:28…
    It's that over-the-top "wahey, it was the greatest game EVER!!!" attitude that I'm talking about. Another World/Out of this World deserves to be honoured, but claiming it's a flawless game is just plain, bad journalism :)

    Oh BTW: Go download an emulator and play it. It's a fiddly, unforgiving, annoying little f*@?er at times! But it's also incredibly cool, too. I love tha atmospheric music at the beginning (although I hated the sound effects on the Sega CD version... why change them??). Heart of the Beast was even more unforgiving, but it was still very cool. You got to see the whole game from the alien's point of view! But damn, it was HARD!
  • ThunderPeel2001 on 14 May, 2004, 13:29…
    BTW - I must have played through Another World at least 20 times. I love the game, but I see its flaws!
  • ThunderPeel2001 on 14 May, 2004, 13:38…
    Sod it! I just read the article (finally after moaning about it for so long!) and it rocked!

    ME LOVE IDLE THUMBS!

    (Although Flashback WAS better! :)
  • yO-LeSs on 14 May, 2004, 14:50…
    Yeah, Flashback was better, that's for sure... . And I have to say I spotted some gameplay problems in AW, too. Still, it was really something special when it came out, and it's great to see this isn't forgotten. Does anyone know what happened to Delphine Software? As I recall they produced another game like AW and FB called "Heart of Darkness" but by then they had changed their name to "Amazing Studios". I think =).
  • ThunderPeel2001 on 17 May, 2004, 09:30…
    Yeah! Delphine rocked! I know they were a music studio that went into games, that's why their game always had excellent music (Cruise for a Corpse was another good one). Not sure what happened to them. Now people are paying orchestras (Medal of Honor) to record their game music, I bet they may not sound so amazing.
  • guybrushthedwarf on 13 May, 2004, 03:38…
    Very good site, indeed. However, the comments option misses for article i'd like to flame or greet.
  • dcroeser on 12 May, 2004, 17:37…
    Well done guys! Looks like fun.
  • Moosferatu on 12 May, 2004, 16:44…
    Is it being hosted on the Mojo server, AG server, or someplace else entirely?
  • tabacco on 14 May, 2004, 16:31…
    Idle Thumbs and Adventure Gamers share a server at the moment. We're hosted on a dedicated server by The Planet in Dallas, TX.
  • Moosferatu on 14 May, 2004, 16:59…
    Excellent!
  • Lord Savage on 12 May, 2004, 15:05…
    Best wishes for your new site but based on all the cussing Idle Thumbs won't be a site I visit during my lunch at work. You really might want to tone down the language.
  • Bobo Donkey? on 13 May, 2004, 06:59…
    I have to agree with you there because yesterday when I went on it at school I read some articles before logging off then a few minutes later when I tried to go on it again I was greeted with the ever so friendly "ACCESS DENIED" message.
  • spaff on 13 May, 2004, 15:38…
    are you saying you will lose your appetite if you read a swear word? or that you will get the sack for dangerous reading?

    The swearing is not going, it's not being used just because its cool, it's being used because its the way we wish to covney things sometimes, people swear in real life...

    I really don't think smething like that sould turn you off. But then again half of america went ape-shit over Janet Jackson's nipple.. jesus christ, get over yourselves...

    That doesnt necessarily mean you guys ?
    it's not going to say mother Fu**er on the main page much longer ok?
  • Bobo Donkey? on 14 May, 2004, 05:27…
    I dont have any sort of problem whatsoever with swearing.
    Its just the filtering system that these computers have.
  • Bobo Donkey? on 14 May, 2004, 05:48…
    The funny thing is, the school filter has banned Google image search because it breaches copyright.
    But they havent yet gotten around to banning the advanced image search for some reason. Yet they ban a site that I go on to for a few minutes because of a Huge Mother F###ing Goose.
  • QueZTone on 12 May, 2004, 07:49…
    of course, mojo musnt slip and fall at the cost of idlethumbs
  • Guyfrench Threepwood on 12 May, 2004, 06:17…
    Congrats, it looks nice.
    I'll add it to my favorites.
    But "I have a bad feeling about this" : as i said before, "MMIV annus horribilis est" for the community, so let's hope it is not the end of our beloved mixnmojo sites.
    Still, if they sink, then we now know the name of our lifeboat : idlethumbs.net
    This site will answer a question I didn't dare to ask before : What other games do Lucasarts fans play ?
  • Bobo Donkey? on 12 May, 2004, 09:28…
    Commander Keen.
  • Guyfrench Threepwood on 12 May, 2004, 15:20…
    I didn't know that ! Thanks !
  • Paco on 12 May, 2004, 03:20…
    Wow :)
    Awesome site and some great artwork by Dan Lee in the Idle Thumbs forums. I love it.
  • Moosferatu on 12 May, 2004, 00:25…
    Wow. That site rocks. Congrats!
  • Entity on 12 May, 2004, 00:05…
    Any chance mojo features will be carried over like Spaff's cooking or whatever its called. Nah, you might accidently bring the mojo curse over to that site if you do.
  • Jake on 12 May, 2004, 13:56…
    I can't deny that we have plans for a slightly more broad Cooking with Spaff on the thumb.
  • QueZTone on 11 May, 2004, 21:19…
    "After careful evaluation of current market place realities and underlying economic considerations, we've decided that this was not the appropriate time to keep a graphic adventure based website on the internet" says Jake Rodkin, Acting General Manager and VP of Finance and Operations. There is currently no plan to reduce staff."

    ;)
  • Entity on 11 May, 2004, 21:26…
    I give it a week or so and then the staff will be out on their asses. :)
  • Jake on 11 May, 2004, 21:45…
    Fortunately we're not ever expecting any money from the Thumb, so when I do fulfill my duties as acting general manager and get rid of all "the dead weight," nobody will grumble all that much.
  • Entity on 11 May, 2004, 19:06…
    Can we expect new staff at mojo?
  • Jake on 11 May, 2004, 19:41…
    We've already got jp-30 on news staff, and just today we've added the notorious JBRAA as our games database manager.
  • Entity on 11 May, 2004, 19:53…
    Ah, alright then. Hopefully mixnmojo will continue but if it eventually doesn't, atleast there will be a site with a similar style and sense of humour.
  • jp-30 on 11 May, 2004, 20:29…
    I demand that my salary is doubled!
  • manny_c44 on 11 May, 2004, 18:58…
    Reminds me of the failed site me and my brother wanted to launch some years ago called "thumb-war games".

    I like the site, nice design.
  • jp-30 on 11 May, 2004, 18:37…
    Splendid!
  • Dalixam on 11 May, 2004, 16:22…
    Congratulations and good luck with Idle Thumbs. It looks great and the name is very unique and creative :) I'll be visiting daily!