The International House of Mojo

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.

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:

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.

It's time to put that kidney up for auction.

Limited Run is throwing together yet another boom of a collector’s edition, this time for Grim Fandango. We’re talking USB drives, posters, prints, Bone Wagon replicas, and postcards. All for a mere $99.99.

The sale goes live on November 4th and runs through December 18th. Platforms:

• PC
• Xbox
• PS

Oh! There’s also a triangle box for those who order Grim, DOTT, and Throttle. This is literally getting ridiculous.

Double Fine can’t stop, won’t stop with their Limited Run editions. This time: Full Throttle .

For a cool $85, you get . . . well, a bunch of stuff. Game, soundtrack, posters, bandana, a USB drive that hopefully isn’t corrupted, and more. Orders start October 7th and run through November 20th.

Like so many stories lately, this one comes from Twitter:

A very long thread of LUA voyeurism unfurls from there, including screenshots of amusingly candid comments in the code, hidden debug levels that were accidentally shipped, and some dialog lines that never get triggered due to bugs (Grim Fandango sympathizes). Even Psychonauts team members like Erik Robson (Lead Designer) and Kee Chi (Programmer) end up weighing in, so passionate fans of the game (and isn’t all of us?) might enjoy diging through.

It’s worth pointing out that @ScrungusCrungus seems to have been part of an effort to reverse-engineer Psychonauts for some time now, and past discoveries made along the way have also been documented for those who crave more.

Source: Twitter

Not content with you taking out a second mortgage for the a Psychonauts 2 collector’s edition, Double Fine has joined up with Limited Run to produce a boxed Day of the Tentacle. For a somewhat reasonable $85, the loot includes an OST CD, a poster, a tentacle flag, a hamster hand warmer, and fake barf.

And if you’re a cheapskate, there’s a standard box with just the game for $35, too. Hell, get both!

Orders open on the 22nd at 10 am Eastern. Once again, here is the link for the Double Fine completionist.

iam8bit has announced a bunch of Psychonauts 2 merchandise, all of which looks awesome. (And none of which is cheap.) Leading the pack is the “Psychonauts 2 Collector’s Edition,” which includes… well, everything, really. Sticker packs, art cards, discs, pin sets, and so on and so forth. The price? A cool $129.99.

Don’t put away that credit card yet, though: A super tempting six-LP set is waiting for you for (also) a mere $129.99. Or you can go for two discs for $49.99. A 250-page art book? Also $49.99.

And it all looks pretty sweet.

Of course, if you were a backer, some of these will be available gratis (for some). But you already read that email.

For the rest, go broke getting the aforementioned good.

Source: iam8bit

If you are a Mac and/or Linux user—and why wouldn’t you be?!—you can finally enjoy the glory that is Psychonauts 2. Go through your Humble link, use your existing game key, and kiss your next few weeks goodbye. Psychonauts 2 was named Mojo Game of the Year 2021 for a reason after all. (Also the only new Mojo-related game from what I can remember, remasters aside.)

Bonus news: If you have any interest in becoming a game composer, learn from the best: IGN has a video interview with Peter McConnell and some other guy about how to get into the industry. (All respect to the other guy who I’m not familiar with.)

We've come along way from this, now haven't we? Psychonauts 2 is well established to have been a critical darling, but it was no slouch in the sales department either -- at least if we're to believe this article from The Gamer. And we probably can, seeing as they're really just quoting a tweet from art director Lisette Titre-Montgomery, who refers to the sequel as the studio's "best-selling game to date."

Seeing as both the original Psychonauts and Brütal Legend sold over a million units over their lifespans, that would mean that Raz's latest adventure is in the seven figure range less than a year out. Now granted that's how many copies of Zak McKracken Germany sells in a day, but it's still pretty impressive if you ask me.

Source: The Gamer

Congratulations to Kimberly Brooks for winning a BAFTA for her role as Hollis Forsythe in Psychonauts 2. Double Fine had an incredible 6 nominations this year, including Artistic Achievement, Narrative, Game Beyond Entertainment, Technical Achievement, Music and Animation, but were cruelly pipped to the post in every category.

The original Psychonauts won the Best Screenplay BAFTA back in 2006, and its sequel recently won Best Narrative at the GDCA, so I bet Tim and company were hoping to take home another shiny face this year, but sadly it was not to be. Psychonauts 2 is still a modern day masterpiece though, and six nominations is nothing to feel bad about.

Now back to your regularly scheduled Return to Monkey Island news...

Source: Teh News

Behold, your Golden Train Ticket has arrived. No more wandering around for years as you pass through the land of the dead. Harkening back to the instant "Win Game" button of yesteryear comes this ticket, by way of iam8bit's Nintendo Switch version of Grim Fandango Remastered. But not just any release, but one that comes with feelies in the box, like the good old days. Now you can secure your very own Golden Train Ticket by bribing spending real money, just like characters in the game! And also, you can look as suave as Manny with your new Calavera Cafe matchbook -- but that is actually a notebook. Take down all of your game notes within it and soon you'll be remembering to dig through kitty litter with a magnet in no time.

Head on over to iam8bit's website to see what Manny has in store for you. I sure hope you've been a good person in your life. Otherwise... enjoy this walking stick.

Source: iam8bit

We didn’t do a “game of the year” for 2021, but I’m fairly certain Psychonauts 2 would have won had our laziness not prevented us from doing so. And what better way to celebrate that win-ish than by reading Alternative Magazine Online’s In Conversation With Peter McConnell? Questions are asked and promptly answered by the Psychonauts 2 composer, who amongst other things can share...

I can only agree. Now, read the whole thing!

We’re a day or two or three or so late on this one, but to quote Scummbuddy:

Well, hell! Resident Evil: Village looks to have won “Ultimate Game of the Year,” which… is what it is.

The real question is: Will Psychonauts 2 win Mojo’s coveted GOTY award? Stay tuned and see if we actually remember to hand it out.

Source: Scummbuddy

You love Double Fine and you love Psychonauts 2. Multiply that with your infatuation with new merch and you pretty much have no other option than to buy a bunch of new stuff from Fangamer. That “psychedelic cast” t-shirt isn’t going to wear itself after all. Run and shop!

Source: Jason ¬

On Tuesday, the passing of prolific voice actor Jack Angel was reported by multiple outlets. Among his many roles across film, television and video games, Angel contributed voice work to a number of LucasArts titles, including Star Wars: Dark Forces, Full Throttle, Outlaws, and most notably Grim Fandango, where he played the roles of Bruno Martinez, Seaman Naranja, and ol' Chepito, whose substandard sense of direction and undying love for the "Lil' Chipper" were legendary.

Happily, Angel's talent is eternalized via these classics. Now lift those knees, stay close to his light, and try to sing in key:

Source: Legacy

Psychonauts 2 – already a bona fide classic – is not about to go gentle into that good night. Springing into your Humble Bundle account right npw is a 29-track volume one of the soundtrack. Want even more? Greed is good, and you can stay tuned for future volumes.

Log into your Humble Bundle to get going.