… nauts. Psychonauts 2 to be specific. Or, to be even more specific, Peter McConnell’s “Lady Luctopus” theme from Psychonauts 2, performed during “The Sound of Gaming” concert. November 23rd, 4 pm at MediaCityUK, Salford. Give me a break; it’s been a long day – just read Tim’s Bluesky post about it:
Run over to BBC to get yourself a basically free £6.50 ticket.
Double Fine published their appropriately loving tribute to their sophomore release last week, so why shouldn’t Mojo get in on the action on this most prestigious anniversary?
For us, the fun was revisiting what it was like to follow the game’s development all those years back, and it was quite the odyssey. In fact, we think it all played out a bit spicier than you may have mellowed it down to in your headcanon, though we should probably speak for ourselves given our well-established signs of mental deterioration. Anyway, join us as we travel back to the Age of Metal and relive the ecstasy and pain of Brütal Legend’s storied forging. Embrace your inner Doviculus, and you may recognize there is no distinction.
As they do (mostly) every October, Skunkape has invited fans to submit Sam & Max fan art for the chance to win Big Prizes, which this year includes plushies and soundtrack keys for The Devil’s Playhouse (which I take as a hopeful sign that the soundtrack will in fact exist). You’ve still got a week to enter, so review the details and do us proud. We’ll only feel entitled to the usual 40% of your winnings.
If you think that’s the extent of Sam & Max Halloween news, then you must be one of those poor dears who didn’t even know that Steve Purcell auctioned off some new Sam & Max art as part of the Hero Initiative. Even if you hold the embarrassing position of not being the winning bidder who plunked down $5,500 to own the physical art, you can still enjoy it in cyberspace:
By the way, if you weren’t around for the piece Purcell contributed to the annual benefit last year, it was no slouch itself:
There’s no reason to ostracize Double Fine from the Halloween fun. Their claim on the occasion would be their trick ‘r treat RPG masterwork, Costume Quest, which is celebrating its fourteenth birthday. I think you know what to do.
All things considered, I’d say the only thing holding back October 2024 from perfection is that there sadly seem to have been no new developments on the A Vampyre Story front. But you’ll certainly want to find the time to play the still-unsequeled 2008 graphic adventure, what with its recent re-introduction to Steam in more stable form.
It feels like only yesterday that Brütal Legend released—Rocktober 13th, if you remember.
The face-melting solo, guitar-axe-wielding open world action game (with a surprise RTS mode in the middle) featured Eddie Riggs (played by Jack Black), a roadie whose yearning for authenticity in metal music ("Like, the 70s?" "No, earlier. Like, the early 70s") has him gleefully murdering metal music-inspired demons in a metal music-inspired fantasy world when he's transported to it.
As you do.
It was a game Mojo enjoyed, more or less.
Double Fine has a little write-up on the game's legacy fifteen years on. I look back on the game fondly, personally, so this was a fun read.
Source: Double Fine Action News
That Double Fine’s PsychOdyssey was a goddamn classic goes without saying—a raw 30+ episode journey through Psychonauts 2’s development, free of charge. And now the latter can be rectified, as LRG has launched a Blu-ray SteelBook set for a cool $75.
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The 2,000-copy limited run includes:
Not bad. And what’s this? A new hour-and-a-half-long episode up on the 'tube?
I haven’t watched it yet, but by all accounts, it’s another great view.
The future marches on, and so does Grim Fandango. Old Lost Soul Alliance webmaster, Bone Man (aka Dean), sent us word of a remaster of the remaster called Grim Fandango Remaster HD. It’s exactly what you'd imagine: An AI-scaled version of Grim Fandango Remaster OG. Think higher resolution and 32-bit color, wisely set in the old 4:3 ratio. Downside: It only works with the Steam version of the game.
The result is undoubtedly impressive, and you should run, not walk, over to the project’s website for more information.
Source: Reddit Announcement
If you’re the type who loves Psychonauts 2 and physics with equal passion, then Double Fine has just the article for you: “Behind the Code: Designing Raz' Jump.”
What’s it all about? Math and science, basically. But, fun math and science! Math and science that made the game fun! And, in that sense, you probably should read it. If nothing else, I’m fairly sure you can use it for your dissertation.
Heads up: Retrofuturist Metroidvania Headlander, developed by Double Fine and released by Adult Swim games in 2016 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Mac, is heading off of platforms...well, soon. Certainly before May. This is all part of the C-suite conniving happening behind-the-scenes at Warner Bros. that's seeing movies, shows, and now video games axed off for debt reasons that make sense to the money people.
If you want Headlander before it lands itself at the chopping block, head to GOG or Steam.
Source: The Verge
If you’re anything like me, you glance past most backer emails, because… well, there’s really no “good” reason to do so, but here we are. Long story short—yesterday's Psychonauts 2 email was one I actually did read, and it was worth the thirty-second effort. In it comes word that the Art of Psychonauts 2 has gone digital and is available in your Humble Bundle account right now. And the 402-page monster is pretty damn impressive.
And the motherlode hardback is "in the mail"—the same excuse we use for the Christmas-bonus cheques around these parts.
As part of Grim Fandango's 25th Anniversary, DoubleFine put on a wonderful live concert of Peter McConnell's amazing soundtrack, and now you can watch it in the comfort of your own home. Just turn down the lights, get yourself a cocktail, and pretend you were there:
And if you want to feel extra film noir vibes, there's a "Black & Bone" edition, too.
Thanks to TimeGentleman and Sopabuena for alerting us to this wonderful thing in the forums!
Source: The Forums
Our fantastic friend, Double Fine (their words!), has thrown together a nice little look-back at Grim Fandango. Specifically, it dives into the fans’ memories of the game (which probably are foggy, seeing we’re basically past expiration at this point). Go read!
Heads up for those of us who missed the first pressing: The Grim Fandango OST is once again available on vinyl from iam8bit.
Source: GFN’s Bluesky
Everyone's* favourite LucasArts adventure, Grim Fandango, turns 25 later this month (yes, you are officially THAT old) and DoubleFine are asking fans to share their "thoughts, art, cosplay, and more..."
Link: Share your Manny memories
Why are they asking for this? Good question! They say "so we can see where Manny's fandom stands in 2023". What does that mean?! An upcoming celebration? Market research on the viability of a sequel? Share your theories below...
Source: DoubleFine's Twitter/"X"
Microsoft is up to its tired schtick again, or so Eurogamer reports. Following this Tweet...
... some concluded that “PSYCHOXXX” clearly means Psychonauts 3 or Psychonauts III. Setting aside that “PSYCHO” could mean any number of things—will we finally see a game adaptation of the famous Robert Bloch novel?!—“XXX” also has many meanings. Adult content, for example. Or a reference to the classic Vin Diesel film? Perhaps they’re talking about the Pussy Riot EP?
What XXX does not mean is “3,” but rather “30.” So, maybe an upcoming game named Psychonauts 30 is on the horizon? Or an entirely unrelated PSYCHO 30?
Stay tuned for more schtick.
Thanks to Lagomorph01 on the forums for the heads up!
Well, here’s something: Broken Age’s Kickstarter campaign launched ten years ago. To either mourn time passing us by or to celebrate the occasion (depending on your point of view), Game Informer has put together a roundtable interview with the development leads behind the game.
Tim Schafer, Greg Rice, Lee Petty, and Anna Kipnis are all there, and there’s even a “special thanks” to one James Spafford. I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, but the odds of it being good seem good.
And what was Mojo up to ten years ago today? “LEC old timers submit to creepy Youtube interviews”—strangely related-ish. (Update! Other than the fact that the news post was from 2012—look, I can’t be expected to know that it’s 2023. In 2013 we were doing zilch on this day.)
A few hours before Tim had his chest pinned with that aforementioned award over in Las Vegas, IGN took advantage of his vulnerable state by talking with him extensively about all things Double Fine.
One of the other biggest changes for Schafer personally was Double Fine’s acquisition by Xbox, a move that opened a number of new doors for the studio. As Schafer puts it, Double Fine historically tends to make “weird” games that tend to be difficult to find funding for. But with Xbox’s support, he’s not only had the funding, but he’s also had the boon of Xbox Game Pass to put those weird games in front of people who might not have ever tried them at full price.
“Game Pass lets us reach people who maybe would've been too nervous to drop 70 bucks for a physical copy of a thing,” he says. “But they see it and it looks really compelling and they're like, ‘Oh, I'll just download it and play it.’ That's a great place for us to be, so that changes us, and I think it'll lead to us being more like ourselves and more creative…It's allowed me to move forward projects that I had on the back burner, thinking, ‘I would never be able to pitch this to a publisher. It's just too strange-sounding.’ And now we can make those games, so they're going to get weirder, that's all.”
A lot more ground than that is covered, so hear all of what Tim had to say in the final moments of his pre-Hall of Fame life. And savor it, because from now on you’ll only be hearing from him through an elaborate network of limo drivers and bodyguards, what with him being, formally speaking, a Big Shot.
Source: IGN
Assuming you’re unemployed, you’ve survived the great voyeuristic chronicle that is Double Fine PsychOdyssey, be it on YouTube or by hauling down hundreds of gigabytes from Archive.org, where it’s been sportingly commended for your offlining needs.
Now we come to the time for post-mortems, victory laps and retrospective quarterbacking. Leading the vanguard is YouTube channel MinnMax, which has logged hours of virtual discussion on the documentary with no end in sight. Their panelists have included members of the 2 Player crew, members of the industry, and Maniac Mansion NES object tagger Tim Schafer.
I mean, there’s no bottom here.
Do you think there has been a sufficiency of documentary miniseries about Double Fine Productions? Follow up question: How does it feel to be wrong all the time?
2 Player Productions, which probably ought to be considered tenants of the Double Fine offices at this point, are at it again. This time the exalted documentarians bring you a series on the development of Psychonauts 2:
From the initial Fig pitch through a large acquisition by Microsoft and through a global pandemic, Double Fine PsychOdyssey traces our process in intimate detail. This was a huge project that took over five thousand hours of footage filmed over six years including interviews, meetings both in-person and online, and playtests. Then they weaved it into a bizarre basket of thirty-two episodes (22 hours!) for your viewing pleasure.
The first of those THIRTY-TWO episodes (all available now) can be found below, much of it covering the founding of Double Fine and the production of the original Psychonauts, complete with rare home movie footage. It’s pretty unflinching, too, regaling such harrowing tales as the infamous layoff of the original design team and the cancellation by Microsoft.
This is obviously a comprehensive must-see, but you all knew that going in, having previously seen, possibly even on a $5 Blu-ray, that twelve-hour calling card known as Double Fine Adventure.
Source: YouTube
That young upstart Tim Schafer is starting to make waves in the industry. How else do you account for the fact that the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences will be inducting him into their Hall of Fame at the upcoming DICE Awards? The details are right here, should you find yourself in Vegas two weeks from now.
As a matter of trivia, Tim was very nearly inducted into the Mojo Hall of Fame™, but in the end the votes just weren't there. I'm usually against calling people out by name, but let's just say Thrik's spite over the cat track puzzle has a shocking half-life.
Congratulations, Tim!
Source: AIAS
Last year we brought some attention to the work of one @ScrungusCrungus, who has apparently devoted their time on Earth to reverse-engineering the Psychonauts source code, and more broadly to the discovery and collation of every fragment of esoterica related to the classic game. Certainly, Mixnmojo should be the very last to judge such an obsession.
The ongoing quest has included the search-and-seizure of rare pre-release media, which means the disreputable archives of certain fan sites and communities active in Double Fine’s earliest days are being plumbed, to the justifiable horror of us all. Mixnmojo, the Idle Thumb forums, and Thrik’s dedicated yet sadly unmaintained (Footnote: Not to get political, but I find this delinquency fairly reprehensible in light of the fact that CEOs are currently posting record profits.) fan site Razputin.net (which today redirects you to an Archive.org snapshot) are but a few of the resources that have fallen into the crosshairs of this Robert Caro-esque level of research:
ScrungusCrungus even politely noticed that The Grim Fandango Network (another milestone from Thrik’s executive training days) underwent a rather yawn-inducing theme change, leading to a bonding moment that international relations could stand to benefit from looking to as inspiration.
You can find some of ScrungusCrungus’ most notable findings collected on this blog dedicated to the purpose, but you’ll want to work up some loyalty toward the Twitter account if you want the minute-by-minute updates. And let’s not kid each other: you do.