The International House of Mojo

It was an impressive trick on the part of the upcoming Indy game, getting itself announced prior to the fifth movie going before cameras and managing to stay a committed no-show all the way up to the present, on the other side of Dial of Destiny’s home video release.

But that is scheduled to change later this month, as Eurogamer reports:

It’s all part of the Xbox Developer Direct showcase, which “will be broadcast on 18th January at 8pm UK time - that's 3pm Eastern or midday Pacific.” We’ll be here to point you to that stream when the time comes. I mean, probably.

Source: Eurogamer

Telltale announced on their website that, due to the "fundamental changes" (likely referring to the restructuring after a round of layoffs that happened due to a toxic environment that cultivated in the studio after the surprise success of the first season of The Walking Dead), The Wolf Among Us Season Two has been delayed until 2019.

They've stated that the reason for the delay is because they are "committed to exploring new ways to tell our stories. Taking this extra time will allow [them] not only to focus on quality but also to experiment and iterate in order to craft something truly special".

If this means that the gameplay will be significantly different than the cut-and-paste style gameplay that's been in Telltale's games since The Walking Dead, then the delay is certainly most welcome.

This email thing -- write us at webmonkey@mixnmojo.com with news, etc. -- seems to be working out. No longer do we have to spend time finding news; instead people like Mojo-perenial Jones Jr. can email us instead of posting comments in unrelated news-items about what’s going on.

Like "GLide N64" trying to get support to emulate the forgotten classic-is Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. I mean, god, I haven’t tried to get the game working since about 2002, but here’s your chance -- boot up an N64 emulator and play the game, if you’re willing to pony up the bucks. I think. Something like that. Jones Jr. can correct me, I didn’t read his email that closely.

Back it at Indie Go Go -- Indie/Indy, get it?! -- and Battle for Naboo will be thrown in, too, but we won’t hold supporting that against you or them.

Update by Jennifer: Tales from the Borderlands is also free (and DRM-free), for Windows and macOS if you purchase $15 or more worth of games during the GOG.com Halloween Sale.

As long as you have an Xbox One. And wait until November. And have a Gold membership.

Caveats aside, Tales from the Borderlands is underrated and you should play it.

And that's all I got. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

ScummVM, the project that aims to re-create engines for point-and-click adventure and role-playing games, using the original scripts and data files, so that the games run on modern (and some not-so-modern) systems, has received a new release.

This release brings support for six new games: Myst, Myst: Masterpiece Edition, U.F.O.s (also known as Gnap), and Sierra's Hi-Res adventure games #0: Mission Asteroid, #1: Mystery House, and #2: The Wizard and the Princess.

There's also been a lot of bugfixes for Sierra's SCI games, the addition of Hercules rendering and font for the AGI games, an enhanced Sherlock games experience, and the addition of AmiUpdate on the Amiga port.

ScummVM is the project that aims to re-create the engines used in adventure games (and, since this year's Google Summer of Code, role-playing games) so they can be played on systems ranging from Windows, Mac, and Linux to iOS, Android, and even consoles such as Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Wii.

Right before a major release they do a public testing phase for new and improved games, which helps them iron out any remaining bugs. This testing cycle includes two new games: Myst (and Myst: Masterpiece Edition) and U.F.O.s (also known as Gnap). There also have been a lot of improvements in the SCI engine as of late, so they are also testing Conquests of the Longbow, Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist, King's Quest V, King's Quest VI, Quest for Glory 1 VGA, Quest for Glory 3, Space Quest 1 VGA, and Space Quest 4. Other games that have seen recent improvements and are undergoing testing include Beneath a Steel Sky, the Commodore-64 version of Maniac Mansion, Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo, and Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel.

So, if you have any of those games, play them through in a daily build of ScummVM on your platform of choice, and report any bugs you find at the new and improved ScummVM bug tracker. Then tell the team about your experience, and any bugs you filed (or if you didn't spot any bugs at all) in this thread on the ScummVM forum.

It feels like it is 2012 again. Disney has halted game production and will switch to a licensing model.

For those of you who have been waiting for more Lucasfilm figures for Disney Infinity, you're going to have to stop waiting as Disney Infinity will cease production as a result of this decision. Three characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass will release later this month, and a Finding Dory playset will be released in June. These will be the final figures released in the Disney Infinity line.

The primary developer of Disney Infinity, Avalanche Software, will also be closed. We at Mojo give our fondest well-wishes to the nearly 300 people who lost their jobs as a result of this decision.

Update: This Star Wars Day also brings another GOG.com LucasArts re-release. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is now available on GOG.com, with a launch discount of 20% off.

Today is Star Wars Day, and Lucasfilm is celebrating with a bunch of deals on Star Wars games. You can grab these deals on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, the Windows Store, Steam, Humble Bundle, GOG.com, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Marketplace.

I'm back from PAX East. I'll post about my experience at the show in a bit, but for now, I'll catch up on some of the releases that have happened lately.

The Walking Dead: Michonne, the miniseries by Telltale Games that reveals what happened to the character of Michonne during the period when she left the group in the comics after the events of All Out War, is now complete, with yesterday's release of episode 3.

Also receiving its third episode yesterday was King's Quest, the official ninth game in the series, by The Odd Gentlemen. This episode, Once Upon A Climb, tells the story of how Graham saved his future wife Valanice, who is also Gwyndolyn's grandmother.

Double Fine is coming to PAX East in Boston this weekend. They'll be at booth #6123 showing off Day of the Tentacle Remastered and Headlander. They'll also have three Double Fine Presents titles, Gnog, Gang Beasts, and Everything. A new title will be shown at the show as well.

They'll also be selling merchandise at the show, including the Raz and Two Headed Baby Pinny Arcade pins, and a new special edition game bundle box. The bundle contains 10 games, with 10 game cards drawn Jon Magram and Melissa King. The game cards can be seen below (click to see them in a larger size).

I'll also be volunteering at the Double Fine booth at PAX East this weekend, so if you're at the show, come by and say hello. :)

The Kickstarted open world zombie survival sandbox game is expanding its platform availability from Windows and Mac to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, by way of Telltale Publishing.

Like Jackbox Party Pack before it, Telltale is serving solely as a publisher on this title, bringing simply bringing the previously released game, which has been available on Steam Early Access since December 2013 to consoles. It will be available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at retail, as well as on the digital marketplace, and is scheduled for release in June.

In another unusual move, they released a live action trailer to advertise the new ports of the game. You can see that trailer embedded above, or directly here if the embedding doesn't work for you.

Telltale managed to meet its projected dates for two of its series, as today sees a double release from the studio. Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 5 sets up the scenario for the upcoming three downloadable content episodes, while The Walking Dead: Michonne is the penultimate chapter of the three episode mini-series, furthering the danger and setting up the finale.

Both episodes are available to download today across all all available platforms, except for the Wii U version of Minecraft: Story Mode. Also, due to an unexpected delay, the PlayStation versions of The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 2 will be delayed until the 31st of March.

Also, Telltale now has a dedicated page available for the Adventure Pass, which will be available as downloadable content and will encompass episodes 6, 7, and 8 of Minecraft: Story Mode, continuing the story from the cliffhanger at the end of episode 5. Episode 6 will be available Summer 2016, and the other two episodes will follow shortly afterward.

Telltale's South by Southwest Batman panel is now online for all to see.

Some interesting things have emerged from that panel. Players will play as Bruce Wayne more than usual in a Batman game. In many situations, there will also be a choice between confronting a situation as Bruce Wayne, or going all in as Batman. As Batman, you'll also be given a choice to physically harm a suspect or take a more diplomatic approach through interrogation to get the information you're seeking. You won't be able to play the whole game without becoming Batman, but the developer's have stated you should be able to play a large portion of it as Bruce if that's the way you wish to play.

It is going to be similar in approach to their The Wolf Among Us series in terms of artistic presentation. It will be set in its own universe. Although it will draw from the 77 years of comic lore that already exists, the team will be able to make their own mark on the iconic characters.

It will have an art style inspired by DC artists such as Jim Lee, Greg Capullo and Neal Adams. It will have an M for mature rating, will consist of five episodes, and will begin releasing this summer.

ScummVM, the project that allows multiple point and click adventure games to be played on modern (and some not so modern) architectures, has been updated to 1.8.0. New in this release is support for ten new games:

• Amazon: Guardians of Eden
• Beavis and Butthead in Virtual Stupidity
• Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars
• Labyrinth of Time
• Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender
• Sfinx
• The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo
• The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel
• Zork: Grand Inquisitor
• Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands

Additionally, there are new ports for GCW-Zero and Raspberry Pi. The graphics subsystem for the Sierra AGI engine has been overhauled, and the SCUMM engine has also received some love. The original Maniac Mansion walking code for the V0 and V1 version of the game has been implemented, Maniac Mansion can now be played from within Day of the Tentacle, and lip sync animation has been improved in later Humongous Entertainment games.

There's a whole lot more new with this release, as it's been a long time coming, so head over to the ScummVM site and give it a spin.

It turns out that the quick release schedule of Minecraft: Story Mode isn't a fluke after all. Their three episode Walking Dead: Michonne miniseries will be released on a monthly schedule.

The first episode is coming out for computer platforms (no Linux yet though, but hopefully their Linux testing period yields results soon) and consoles (except for Wii U) on the 23rd of February, and the iOS and Android versions will be following, two days later, on the 25th.

Beyond that, they've already announced the release months for episodes two and three. Episode two will be releasing in March, followed by episode three in April. Hopefully this is a sign that their future releases, from Batman and beyond, will be released on a similar schedule.

Firewatch is now out for Windows, Mac, and Linux on Steam and PlayStation 4 on PSN.

I've played through the first day, and it's lovely so far. We'll have a review up on it soon (so within the next year or so in Mojo Time™).

Campo Santo updated their blog with news that their debut game, Firewatch, is now available to pre-order on Steam. It's currently available for a pre-order discount of 10% off it's usual price of $20. It can also be purchased at Steam in a bundle with the soundtrack, also for 10% off.

It will be released for Windows, Mac, Linux, and PlayStation 4 on February 9. PlayStation Plus members will be able to purchase it on PlayStation 4 on launch day for 10% off as well!

Like the Basic Braining punching mini-game, the Psychonauts 2 Crowdfunding goal of 3.3 million dollars has been well hit. There's still 4 days left in the campaign, so there's still time to back if you haven't yet had the chance, or if you've been waiting it to hit the goal before pledging.

The Psychonauts 2 Fig Crowd Funding Campaign has just crossed the three million dollar mark. There's only $300,000 left to go until it reaches it's target.

If you've missed it, Double Fine has been releasing some cool stuff during this campaign. Earlier, they released an awesome two part retrospective on Psychonauts called The Color of the Sky in Your World, as well as previously unseen concept art from the original Psychonauts.

They've also been releasing season two of their Devs Play series, where developers play classic video games, usually with guests that helped create them. This season, since they've been produced to help promote the Psychonauts 2 campaign, they've been focusing on the games that influenced Psychonauts, and those that will influence the sequel.

You can go straight to the Devs Play Season Two playlist here, or view this season's episodes individually: Spiro the Dragon with Ted Price, Ratchet and Clank with Ted Price, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time with Patrice Désilets and Assassin's Creed II with Patrice Désilets.

If you missed season one, be sure to check it out as well. The first season plays around with the format more than the second, with episodes some episodes focused on speed running and emulation, but even those are worth watching. There's some really interesting tidbits in each of these episodes.

Most of you are enjoying the latest resurgence of the LucasArts adventures, courtesy of Double Fine. However, for those of you who are interested in their biggest competitor during their adventure heyday, Sierra has been having a bit of a resurgence of its own.

Today, it finally continues with the release of the second chapter of The Odd Gentlemen's King's Quest, Rubble Without A Cause. The first chapter was inspired by the original King's Quest. This chapter is said to be inspired by King's Quest III.

Although, the gameplay in King's Quest itself is heavily inspired by Telltale Games. However, it bests their current games as it manages to blend choices and consequences together with traditional inventory based puzzles in a way that we all wish Telltale would manage.