You love Steve Purcell, you love Sam & Max, so what's not to love about a Sam & Max blog from Steve Purcell?
There's not a whole lot to see there yet, but we can only assume that will change soon.
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Here is a round-up of some of the news that has been sent in to us:
Alternative Magazine Online have interviewed Dominic Armato, voice of Guybrush Threepwood: he tells them how often he plays Monkey Island, and what thoughts at reviving the character (thanks Martin Mulrooney).
Steve Purcell has posted another nice pirate piacture on his blog, though this one seems unrelated to any old film projects (thanks Hayden censored).
Today is Talk like a Pirate Day (yarrrrr), and this year you can fight viruses at the same time as shivering yer timbers (thanks Rubber John).
Lastly, Snakes of Avalon has been released: a free amateur adventure game made by people in the community and with lots of LucasArts references thrown in. Avast!
Meteor Mess 3D aims to recreate the whole of Maniac Mansion in 3D, along with new graphical details and gameplay improvements. The project began in 2008 and already has a playable demo available at vampyregames.de.
The team describe it as “a fan project for fans and for those who have probably never played Maniac Mansion at all," as well as it being "a hommage to LucasArts for making this pearl."
Maniac Mansion was released by Lucasfilm Games in 1987, and is widely considered a pioneering classic in the adventure game genre.
The team describe it as “a fan project for fans and for those who have probably never played Maniac Mansion at all," as well as it being "a hommage to LucasArts for making this pearl."
Maniac Mansion was released by Lucasfilm Games in 1987, and is widely considered a pioneering classic in the adventure game genre.
squidkidd, who previously entered a talent competition by playing the Star Wars theme on bagpipes on a unicylce, has recently thanked Mixnmojo readers for voting for him (even though he came second place).
How does squidkidd thank people? By using mere words? Certainly not: unicyle bagpiping is the only language he speaks -- and this time he speaks it with the Monkey Island theme and bonus trumpet!
How does squidkidd thank people? By using mere words? Certainly not: unicyle bagpiping is the only language he speaks -- and this time he speaks it with the Monkey Island theme and bonus trumpet!
The most amazing display of human art lies just a click away:
That's right: the Star Wars theme played on bagpipes. Whilst wearing a kilt. On a unicycle!
squidkidd has implored us to help him win a competition inwhich he video is being judged.
He is currently on 18%, behind a woman who can (apparently) rotate her arms. Cast your vote here.
If squidkidd wins, he has promised us that his next video will use the Monkey Island theme tune. Pressumably he will sing it backwards, whilst hopping on one leg, juggling a baby, and impregnating a horse, surrounded by a ring of fire. In space!
Source: Our forums
Never been on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, Temple of the Forbidden Eye? If you own Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 I've got good news for you - someone's just recreated it. You can either tour the ride normally... or go inside it and fight zombies. It's even got John Rhys-Davies in there.
Also from the same author is a recreation of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Both include accurate sound effects and are near-perfect recreations. Anyone want to kill some zombies tonight?
Source: L4DMaps
So you want a Lost adventure game made by LucasArts alumni eh? Sadly this isn't an actual game, but marvel at some enterprising young soul's gallery of pictures that imagines 'If LucasArts makes a Lost game in 1987'.
My favourite's Locke trying to open the hatch and commenting 'that doesn't seem to open'. After that point I don't get any of them.
Source: Kotaku
That's right. If you happen to be a seasoned adventurer (or a novice one, either will do) seeking to test your swashbuckling mettle against a new and perilous challenge, ask yourself: Do you have the stomach to enter the legendary long-lost Tomb of Sammun-Mak? Do you dare risk the curse of the ancient Pharaohs? Do you possess the sheer courage and nerves of steel required to plumb its deadly horrors and reach the fabled treasure within?
Well wonder no more! Now you can find out what you're made of, as Telltale have just released Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse episode 2, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak, now available for PC and Mac! Grab it here.
Here's the obligatory second link. Don't let the ancient mummy's curse befall you in your mad dash to the download page.
There's big news in Star Wars fandom: it seems the first-draft script of The Empire Strikes Back has been circulating online for over a month now. (Another timely Mojo news item!)
A history lesson is in order: Shortly after the colossal success of the original Star Wars, George Lucas hired noted pulp SF novel author and Hollywood screenwriter Leigh Brackett to write the script for Empire. She duly turned in a first draft, but sadly died of cancer before she could make any revisions.
Without a co-author, Lucas wrote the next couple of drafts himself, before handing his drafts over to Lawrence Kasdan (the man who also wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark and would go on to script Return of the Jedi) for a polish. But it seems that during the period after Brackett's death, Lucas made some major changes to the story of Empire.
Brackett's script would have created an entirely different series from the Star Wars saga we know today. Most notably, the draft envisions a world where Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker are two separate people: Luke meets his father's Force ghost while training as a Jedi knight, and then goes on to duel Vader in Cloud City.
Also, Luke has a twin sister who is referred to--but it's not Leia. Instead a girl named "Nellith" is said to have been separated from Luke at birth. Although spoken of, she is never actually seen in the film, setting up a plot thread for future sequels.
(I guess old George really was making it up as he went along.)
The script is available here. Do note that the site is experiencing heavy traffic at the moment, and is periodically shutting itself down to recuperate. So it may be a while before you can access the download page. Nonetheless, you'll likely want to download it before the Lucas Legal lawyers pounce.
EDIT: Mojo now has its own mirror of the script, just in case.
Source: Cinematical
Some sad news: Heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio, who as you may remember was the first choice to play arch-villain Doviculus in Brütal Legend, has died of stomach cancer at age 67.
Dio is most famous for replacing Ozzy Osbourne as lead singer of the band Black Sabbath after the latter left rather acrimoniously.
Ultimately Dio was dropped, somewhat suddenly and unceremoniously, from Brütal Legend, and his character was recast with Tim Curry. Speculation that this was done to get Ozzy to agree to appear in the game remains unsubstantiated.
Our most heartfelt Mojo condolences go out to Mr. Dio's widow and other family members. He will be forever remembered as "that guy who was almost in a really awesome Tim Schafer game." (You're fired. -Ed)
Dio is most famous for replacing Ozzy Osbourne as lead singer of the band Black Sabbath after the latter left rather acrimoniously.
Ultimately Dio was dropped, somewhat suddenly and unceremoniously, from Brütal Legend, and his character was recast with Tim Curry. Speculation that this was done to get Ozzy to agree to appear in the game remains unsubstantiated.
Our most heartfelt Mojo condolences go out to Mr. Dio's widow and other family members. He will be forever remembered as "that guy who was almost in a really awesome Tim Schafer game." (You're fired. -Ed)
Source: CNN
Bad Asp (whose blog was moved to Wordpress) has been busy creating "Youtube Poop" videos, a genre that involves remixing clips to create a new form intended to amaze and confuse.
Bad Asp's videos are the first of their kind to use clips from the classic LucasArts adventure Sam & Max: Hit the Road and the TV series cartoon based on the original comics. They can be viewed on his Youtube channel. Only four exist so far, but the Asp has plans to remix the remaining twenty four episodes as well. Find out more on our forums.
In other community news, an Adventure Gaming community has been established, premiering with this most amazing trailer (thanks Christopher Arthur).
You may have already noticed this if you're a regular of our forums (as you should be) or astutely follow The SCUMM Bar's twitter feed (they have a twitter feed?), but a few days ago a reader named joepinion posted a thread where he shares a flowchart he made for all of the puzzles in The Secret of Monkey Island, encapsulating the entire game in diagram tree form - just like the real game designers do! Lookit.
Source: Mojo Forums
Two of the winners of our podcast jingle competition have been busy working on new LucasArts related things: Billjoe86 (who created this) recently put together a complete sound design of a scene from Monkey Island 2. The result is a 2 minute video, with new music, voices, and sound effects. Observe:
Secondly, g0blin (who also has an excellent hosted site) created a Facebook game with a few friends. In the game, called "Stairs," you take it in turns with other people to push a dummy down the stairs, the aim being to inflict as much damage as possible. Play it here, and look out for the purple tentacle which emerges if you can push your dummy into the lift.
