The International House of Mojo

So it turns out that the main thing responsible for some of our most-loved LucasArts adventures is - uh, geography. As Dave Grossman explains:

It's an intriguing glimpse into a different world. There's also mention of a PS2-era Indiana Jones Trilogy game which was held-up in the development process, but which would potentially have been great.

Weird stuff.

Source: 1up

Earlier this year we brought you the astonishing news that a company had made it possible to play Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition in a web browser. That company was Instant Action, who sadly are now shutting down.

In a comment to Kotaku, a spokesman said that the developer was closed because "it was operating in a highly competitive industry, and the business didn't scale profitably in the manner we had expected."

The engine Instant Action used to power Monkey Island, Torque, is now being sold off, along with the dream of playing MI2 in a browser as well. Sad news indeed.

Source: Torque Powered (via Kotaku)

We've always been suspicious that LEC's actual involvement with the bigger-than-something-big MMORPG Stars Wars: The Old Republic was minor, but it turns out it's actually less:

So what exactly is LEC doing right now besides publishing LEGO Star Wars III? Well, it seems that they're working on a Star Wars Kinect title that will be available for the 360 Christmas 2011. "I've seen a bunch of the game and it's super compelling," declares a source.

Source: Gamasutra

Hello world!

Before starting my official duties as Mojo Vice President of Humongous Entertainment Games, here's a video showing off some of Anson Jew's animation work at LucasArts. The more interesting parts should be of Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix and an early version of The Dig. I don't recall this being on Mojo before, but none of you can double check as the old news archives aren't online! Muhaha!

You should also check out Anson's blog.

Source: A Goy Named Jew

On the official Sam & Max blog, Steve Purcell has shared some unseen concept art of Gytgo, an imported organic Gameboy-type thing that would have found its way into Sam's inventory in Freelance Police and been used to replay unlocked minigames. (You can see his in-game representation here.)

As an added bonus, Purcell has pasted some dialog from the game which includes a song that Gytgo would have sang, and revealing Sam and Max's differing opinions regarding the device's need to be summarily destroyed.

Source: Spudvsion

Guybrush Sheepgood Creepwood Fancypants...someone who is an early prototype of Guybrush Threepwood has graced the pencil sketch of a once-potential cover for The Secret of Monkey Island, drawn by the always-brilliant Steve Purcell.

Obligatory second link may or may have nothing to do with the Secret of Monkey Island. The only way to find out is by clicking it.

Source: Spudvision

Well, The Force Unleashed II is now out, which means that The Critics are Unleashed Too. Here's a few:

Eurogamer: 5/10

KotakuGameTrailers

GamesRadar: 8/10

Hmm, GamesRadar's really contradicts some of the other reviews, especially regarding the quality of the story.

European fans have been clamoring for a full year for localized versions of Tales of Monkey Island, and at least one sector of that populace can now color themselves appeased. According to our friends (or at the very least good acquaintances) at Adventure-Treff, today the game has made its way to German stores by the hands of Daedalic Entertainment, the same folks behind this year's popular cult adventure The Whispered World which, like A Vampyre Story, only made it outside the womb after a brutal first trimester with Bad Brain Entertainment.

German fans, as if they haven't already beaten the game eighteen times already, will be happy to know that Norman Matt reprises his role from CMI and EMI as the German Guybrush. Furthermore, the release is available in a full-sized, limited edition box, just to make the rest of us envious.

Source: Adventure-Treff

I kid, of course, but when it comes to Star Wars and CSI, one has to be an ass to validate their Mojoness to the public. After much ballyhooing over the last year and a half, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II ships today for, well, pretty much everything except that NES you converted your toaster oven into (Well, and PSP, but that hardly counts now - Tingler). Percentage of the considerable revenue which will be used by LEC to fund re-releases of legacy titles: 0.0%. Oh, and if you're planning on buying the game and you frequent this place, chances are one of the main selling points is the Guybursh Threepwood skin, so you'll no doubt appreciate Kotaku's cheat sheet for unlocking it.

Also in stores today is Ubisoft's CSI: Fatal Conspiracy, the fourth game in the series developed by Telltale. You can find it for PC, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. Mojo's review copy came in the mail today, so you won't have to wait too long with breath of the bated variety for our ever-valuable thoughts.

It was reported everywhere today that Benoit Mandelbrot, the so-called Father of Fractals, passed away at the age of 85. The French-American mathematician is famous for identifying the geometric shapes known as fractals, and technology for creating them was the foundation for the early Lucasfilm game Rescue on Fractalus!, where it was used to draw the craggy landscapes of the alien planet that the player explores.

Of course, people who played the extensively pirated version of Rescue on Fractalus! and therefore knew it under its development title Behind Jaggi Lines! have no idea why the rest of us are grieving.

Source: Montreal Gazette

Eurogamer have put-up one of their weekly retrospectives, penned by one Johnnie John Walker (I bet he's never heard that one before). This week, it is about all the glories, misfires, "horrible line art" and stickin'-the-tooth-in-the-balloon-ness you could stuff in a game called The Curse of Monkey Island. Read it here.

Source: Eurogamer

A while ago Tim Schafer posted some photos on Facebook of the LucasArts team celebrating Ron Gilbert Day, and helping to ship The Secret of Monkey Island by assembling the boxes in the warehouse.

Some people have seen these already, but in case you haven't, Gamecola have published them on their site.

Why is this news now? Because Tim Schafer has given permission for them to be released, meaning we can share them without feeling like horrific e-stalkers.

Now everyone can observe the protoplasmic Schafer (played here by a 12 year old boy), together with Ron 'stripy shirt' Gilbert, Dave Grossman, and what appears (in one photo) to be Mr T.

Guybrush Threepwood has been added as an unlockable bonus in Star Wars The Force Unleashed II.

Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Jedi

Source: Facebook

Avast! The adventures of Guybrush Threepwood continue to spread like scurvy onto every platform under the sun. And who are we to argue?

Source: The Apple Store

You might recall us mentioning something about that Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures MMORPG that the Lucas house and Sony Online (but really only Sony Online) jointly produced. Now Gamasutra informs us that the "family-friendly virtual world" has hit an impressive milestone - its first million registered users. And what's more,

Surely with this sort of success, LucasArts can, maybe, spare a few farthings of the licensing fee to up the amount of classic adventures they have on Steam to greater than four? I know I'm asking a lot here.

Source: Gamasutra

Committed to spreading the Good News, GameFAQs drew up a list of top video game religions, and The First Church of LeChuck, Orthodox from Escape from Monkey Island is revered at #6. It would be no venial sin to neglect reading the piece, so do so for the sake of your soul. And if for some reason you're oblivious to the teachings of the Church of LeChuck, receive the sacrament of reconciliation that you don't deserve and read more about the faith on the Monkey Island Wiki.

Source: GameFAQs

The patch for Monkey Island 2: Special Edition that returned the classic intro and eliminated several bugs for PC users is now available for iPhone and PS3 players of the game. Those of you who fall under either of those groups should go download the update!

Also, Tim Schafer has played through the special edition of the game, and shared his thoughts as he did so via twitter updates for the past two weeks. Some choice tweets:

Just watch, and be amazed.

Well, there you have it: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and its Holocaust-inspired symphony of darkness of a sequel, LeChuck's Revenge: Special Edition are now on a Steam-sale. Grab Secret or Revenge for $4.99 each, or get a pack with both for $7.49. Spit on your monocle and remove the seaweed shoved up your barnacle, it's time to monkey. So much for Star Wars Week.

Source: Steam

The SOE / LucasArts casual MMO 'Star Wars: Clone Wars' for PC has launched.

From the Press release:

I guess I'll be "jp-30", Jaepes Dawnglimmer (?) look me up before my kids take over...

Source: Lucasarts