The International House of Mojo

As we stare down the not so unwelcoming maw of Psychonauts 2, I’m feeling a little wistful about that magical period right before the original Psychonauts came out. Who could forget the (very) short-lived Psychonauts web comic by Scott Campbell hosted on the goofy, Flash-powered Majesco site, or the unspeakable dilemma of whether to go in for the EB Games versus the Gamestop pre-order bonus, or Tim pimping Thrik’s fan site (14:00) on camera, or those voyeuristic glimpses of the boozy wrap party, or the MTV Sharts?

Perhaps the highlight of the victory lap was the launch of the Double Fine Company Store, which sold more than the standard issue cheap schwag – it sold floaty pens.

Alas, the world was simpler then. It was before Double Fine hired on Spaff, who since used his Machiavellian influence to convince Tim to retire the company store and sell out to The Man. In short, you’ll be getting your Psychonauts 2 wares from the Xbox Gear Shop:

Still, there’s some neat merchandise there. And while your credit card is being processed, you’ll want to check out this launch video and Episode 6 of Basic Braining, “Pins and Upgrades”:

There's no time to celebrate the ambush return of jp-30, because Spaff keeps cranking these marketing videos out to ensure that Psychonauts 2 supercedes your own family as a presence in your life. The subject this time: Enemies.

The Censors are back in more variations than before, but Psychonauts 2 will also pit Raz against new mental foes known as Regrets, Doubts, The Judge, Enablers, Bad Moods, Bad Ideas and Panic Attacks. And just what are these hostiles all about? That's where watching this video comes in.

If you're looking at all the Psychonauts related deals and wishing for a bit more merchandise, you could go the route of Titolian and just build your own out of LEGO bricks.

Raz by Titolian, on Flickr

Source: flickr

Figments, Emotional Baggage, Memory Vaults and PSI Challenge Markers make their court-mandated return in Psychonauts 2 (occasionally with enhancement), but what of the sequel's all-new collectible items that you've been hearing so much about in the hippest political clubs and Parisian coffee houses? The answers to that question and more can be streamed with prejudice below.

With Psychonauts 2 just days away, the original game and its VR sequel, In the Rhombus of Ruin, are a whopping 90% off on Steam. We don't highlight sales often anymore, but In the Rhombus of Ruin has never dropped this low. Psychiatric action adventures hooo!

Source: Steam

Did you know that in Psychonauts 2 Raz will be getting some nifty gizmos courtesy of Otto Mentallis, a lead engineer and founding member of the Psychonauts? Well, you will after watching this video.

The next Psychonauts 2 preview video is out, and this one concerns Raz's repertoire of psychic powers. After recapping the arsenal that Raz will be carrying over from the first game, we are introduced to three new ones: Mental Connection (which looks very hookshot-esque), Time Bubble (which appears to stun enemies and moving objects), and Mental Projection -- an ability by Raz to produce a paper "archetype" of himself voiced by Rikki Simons (GIR from Invader Zim) who can aid in battles and be dispatched through thin openings. He also may tend to fray Raz's nerves.

Double Fine seeks to keep you restless these remaining weeks before the release of Psychonauts 2 by drip-feeding you a series of preview videos dubbed Basic Braining. The first installment below introduces the interns of the Motherlobe, who include Dogen Boole’s pancake-eating sister.

Meanwhile, if you’re a backer of the original Psychonauts 2 Fig campaign, you’ll have received an email cowritten by some poor dope named Spaff which details the various ways you can redeem your copy of the game, depending on what level you pledged at and which…opts…you opted for.

Congratulations are in order for Double Fine, as Psychonauts 2 has gone gold (that is, development is finished and the game is under glass), and you can go ahead and treat that August 25th release date as scripture.

You might as well keep that Psychonauts 2 high going by checking out VentureBeat’s recent interview with senior systems designer Lauren Scott and lead environment artist Geoff Soulis. And when you’re through with that…well, you’re probably on your own at that point. Nevertheless: Psychonauts 2!

Though Peter McConnell failed to honor the sacred tradition of giving Mojo sneak peek MP3s for a Psychonauts game, we don’t hold grudges around here, which is why we remain deliriously excited about his score for Psychonauts 2, a game which comes out later this month, for goodness sake.

And being above pettiness is really primed to pay off for us, because this score promises to be amazing, with sky-high production values. You can hear that for yourself by listening to a preview of six minutes from the soundtrack, embedded below, which Double Fine and McConnell have presented via Spin instead of us.* It's unreasonably awesome.

*And we have no problem with that.

Source: Spin

Polygon also has a not-too-overwhelming preview of the game.

(And that is all -- short but sweet.)

We made it.

Source: Double Fine

Double Fine has delivered another seasonal update for Psychonauts 2, a game that began pre-production sometime during the Coolidge Administration. Enjoy below the studio's unflinching Spring 2021 progress report, complete with voyeuristic peeks at the team's Zoom meetings, tantalizing new gameplay footage, and an exciting glimpse at the music recording sessions featuring not only Peter McConnell, but his brothers-in-arms Michael Land and Clint Bajakian.

Oh, and Tim draws parallels between the sequel and Monkey Island 2, showing that he still knows how to push Mojo's buttons.

Beyond that, Psychonauts 2 has also landed the cover story of the latest issue of Game Informer. Digital and...linear?...versions of the magazine can be purchased right here. And do check out this accompanying video showing off one of Raz's new Psi-powers:

The Game Informer preview is apparently the vanguard of an outright assault of incoming Psychonauts 2 coverage, so keep an eye out for that. Amdist it all will be a developer playthrough of the original Psychonauts - now available on Xbox Game Pass - streaming via the Double Fine Twitch channel over the next several Fridays.

And is there even time to mention the open pre-orders for Double Fine's 20th anniversary art book, or the Amnesia Fortnight movie, the trailer for which is below?

Probably not. I mean, I have to stop somewhere.

Update from Thrik: No, it doesn’t stop there! Double Fine has released a video about the game’s accessibility features, which seem to be very extensive — for my part, more so than I’ve ever seen in a game.

You might think the fact that the founder of Mixnmojo works for Double Fine would mean we spend our days backstroking across a comprehensive ocean of exclusives, or can at least be relied upon for up-to-the-second Psychonauts 2 coverage, but such expectations would make you: an idiot, apparently.

Instead, we’re left to scratch around for others' leftovers like a bunch of grubby parasites while our absent father figure returns the affections of other people’s children. But if I could return to my point: Double Fine released some new Psychonauts 2 screen this week, which you can check out below.

While we were at it, we took the liberty of righting our woefully out of date screenshot gallery, so do give that a browse, too.

Need more? Well, how about this new interview with Tim which touts the sequel’s empathetic approach toward mental illness, including consulting with a doctor of clinical psychology? These efforts sure sound like something that sounds good, though I’m equally concerned that the franchise lives up to its orphanage-pancaking heritage.

Speaking of: Should any Xbox owners be itching to give the original Psychonauts a fresh spin as its long-gestating follow-up looms ever closer, they'll note that the game is coming to Xbox Game Pass. A nifty new trailer was created to mark the occasion:

It must be a slow news day: Psychonauts 2 is still releasing in 2021, according to a series of Tweets from the Double Fine Twitter account. It's also "playable."

Not that I understand the follow-up Tweets. Twitter is a surreal place.

It is unclear just when in 2021 the long-awaited followup to the 2005 longgg-and-slowww-burning hit releases.

Source: Twitter

Right here. There isn’t a whole lot more to be said, other than that their friends apparently have changed over the last fifteen years.

We had a good run!

Well, we’d like to let you all enjoy your Christmas in peace, but people refuse to stop putting out these unspeakably awesome Double Fine videos to report on. Looking to put Santa to shame, the documentarians at NoClip have gifted us with a real doozy – a comprehensive history of Double Fine in Tim’s own words, larded with rare home video footage of the larval days of studio.

There’s too much good stuff here to try and single one moment out in an attempt to sell you on the fifty minute investment; you’re just going to have to place your faith in me and watch the whole thing. The stretch about the LucasArts remasters does have one horrifying moment where Tim points out that the fragile SCSI drives they recovered the original Grim Fandango assets from were gotten to just in time (what the heck does that mean for the older stuff?), but otherwise this tour of Double Fine’s first twenty years will leave you smiling.

Source: NoClip

Double Fine has stuffed the stocking with the following holiday greeting slash Psychonauts 2 update. It offers all kinds of nuggets about the sequel while revealing that development has hit an exciting milestone: the game will be undergoing content lock as the year draws to a close and is firmly entering the polish phase. We made it!

Want more? How about IGN’s lengthy new interview with Tim?

We were all sixteen years younger the last time a Psychonauts game was this close to shipping. This occasion is not only awesome, but rare, so enjoy it! And in case we don't see ya, Happy Holidays from all of here at House of Mojo!

Source: Youtube

Double Fine's 70s futurism Metroidvania-style game Headlander is at a head-spinning 90% off over on Steam. It's never gone this low before, so if you're interested, head over to Steam and land yourself a critical darling for $2 before the Autumn Sale wraps up this Tuesday at 10 am Pacific Time (or $2.49 if you want the soundtrack).

Obligatory second link here.

Source: Steam

Double Fine has announced that the previously PlayStation 4 exclusive* titles, Day of the Tentacle Remastered, Full Throttle Remastered, and Grim Fandango Remastered, are coming to XBox Game Pass on October 26.

In other news, their website is still a holding page.

*Ignoring the other platforms they were also available on.

Source: Double Fine