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This has been a long time coming. Little girl me would have gone crazy for this in 1992.

A hacker named Ryan Souders, aka HonkeyKong, has released a patch for Maniac Mansion for the Nintendo Entertainment System that allows it to have real mouse support through the SNES Mouse via a Super Nintendo Entertainment System to Nintendo Entertainment System controller adapter.

The project's Romhacking page mentions this patch is for the North American NTSC release of Maniac Mansion. So, hamsters in the microwaves are in, but classical statues are out. The project's forum thread states this patch also works with the prototype version.

No word on whether the hamster cruelty-free European PAL version or the censorship-free prototype version is, or will be, supported, but I'll keep you posted (or most likely Jason will since I'm as common as the Nintendo PlayStation around here nowadays).

Oh, FYI, HonkeyKong made a Shadowgate mouse hack too.
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How does four hours with Bill sound to you, other than that it’s about fifteen fewer than you’d like? Daniel Albu is here with his latest developer interview, and with it the remainder of your day is sorted out. And yes, A Vampyre Story 2 gets a status report.

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Source: A Conversation with...

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We have the uncomfortable duty to remind you that Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, which was inevitably invited to the Limited Run dance, is available for pre-order through Sunday and no longer. Owning Zak McKracken boxed has until now been the exclusive privilege of billionaires. Thanks to Limited Run, you now merely have to be fabulously wealthy:

Embrace your inner German and pre-order now.

Source: Limited Run Games

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Back in the day, LucasArts included a trade-in form inside the box of The Secret of Monkey Island that allowed you to mail in your purchased version of the game (plus a nominal fee) to exchange it for another. So for example, if you had the VGA version on 3.5” diskettes but decided what your heart really desired was the EGA version on 5.25” diskettes, you could fill out the card and send it off along with a check and your diskettes. Within two business weeks, you’d find yourself with the replacement disks and, presumably, happiness ever after.

In June 2002, our own telarium wrote up a personal odyssey of redeeming that Monkey Island coupon a decade after the fact, to test the extent of the company's honor. When we undertook a mission to restore all our old features, we were never able to find the two photographs that telarium included in this particular one, which is kind of lethal given the premise of it.

In the end, the retired staffer said “eff it” and reproduced the photos, and now the classic feature rides again without compromise. While we were at it, we submitted a copy to the Library of Congress for reasons of redundancy. Weirdly, they only accepted it on the condition that we send them a $10 money order.

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Because he likes breaking my heart, Steve Purcell’s official Sam & Max presence these days remains…a Facebook page. Though he often uses it to re-run vintage Sam & Max art, he’ll occasionally slip in a new piece.

Trouble is, you pretty much have to be as diligent as samandmax.co.uk to notice such things in a timely manner, and who could be expected to be their equal? So if you keep up with them (as you should), you already know that Purcell rang in the new year with this gem:

Hey, why not? With the as-of-yet-undated release of The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered due out sometime this year, it will indeed be a noteworthy year for Max. It’s also the 30th anniversary of Sam & Max Hit the Road, so maybe someone out there should get cracking on the retrospective? We did ours 15 years in, so now it’s your turn. We’ll even host it for you.

Update: It's been brought to my attention that the Twitter account https://twitter.com/samandmax does a reliable job of posting any new art that Purcell puts out, so you may want to be keeping tabs on that as well.

Source: Sam & Max Funhouse

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The world has been awaiting a worthy follow-up to telarium’s twenty-two year old interview with Gary Winnick, the first artist hired by Lucasfilm Games as well as Ron’s creative accomplice on Maniac Mansion and Thimbleweed Park, and pundits are finally ready to say that a contender has emerged.

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A highlight comes at 43:30 when Gary holds up his original character designs for Maniac Mansion. I’m sure if they had been left for Lucasfilm to vault they’d be landfill by now. Protect that binder, Gary.

At the close of the interview, Daniel Albu teases that his next interview will be with Bill Tiller. May the roster of LucasArts veterans at his disposal never tap out.

Source: Conversations with Curtis

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Twenty-four hours remain for you to decide whether you want to have electricity this month or own any/all of these from your rapacious friends at Limited Run Games:

Meanwhile, folks on the forums are reminiscing that it was a year ago today that Ron announced a new Monkey Island game as a vicious April Fools joke. Still can’t believe some of you fell for that. There’s a sucker born every minute, I suppose.

Source: Limited Run Games

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The latest DREAMM build from Aaron Giles is meant to be the final beta before the release of DREAMM 2.0 and the start of world peace. Download away and replay your favorite LucasArts classics all over again for the good of mankind.

Aaron’s apparently made of sterner-than-average stuff, as he hasn’t yet been scared away from the Mojo Forums (we’ll get there), so share your findings with the mad scientist himself in the DREAMM thread if Bernard starts talking like Dr. Fred or The Dig starts acting like a good game or something. And remember, DREAMM is beginning to expand to support a broader LucasArts catalog, so you can give titles like Afterlife, X-Wing, and Dark Forces a whirl on it these days. Don’t bother getting your beloved copy of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: The Action Game out of hock just yet, though.

Source: DREAMM

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It was only a matter of time.

LRG has announced its next money sucker: Zak McKracken. What will $75 get you? Seemingly quite a bit:

Physical Copy of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders for PC
Original Soundtrack
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders Collector's Edition Box
Zap'em II Exit Visa Security System Handbook
The National Inquisitor Newspaper
Novelty Nose Glasses
18" x 24" Poster
USB Stick - includes game
Logo Patch
Manual
Hint Book

Get ready to mortgage your house, sell a kidney, and/or get a second job, as sales start this Friday, March 10th. You got 'til April 23rd to cough up the dough. More information here.

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The book tie-in to Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings has been on quite the journey. LucasArts commissioned established Indy novelist Rob MacGregor to write the literary adaptation, which was, naturally, supposed to come out alongside the game.

Somewhere along the way of the game slipping its schedule, getting quasi-cancelled, and finally being published in the form(s) that it was in 2009, the completed companion book fell between the cracks, while legal constraints prevented the author from releasing the work himself in the absence of interest from Lucasfilm and a publisher. There was some plain old weirdness surrounding the whole thing.

The book was quasi-liberated a year or so ago when MacGregor gave a chapter-by-chapter reading in podcast form. Now, finally, the thing can be read in its intended medium. The details come courtesy of “ThrowMeTheWhip” on TheRaider.net forums:

You mean to tell me your copy of Staff of Kings isn’t as beat up as mine? Maybe that’s because this is the first time in 15 years that everyone is able to read this long-lost book! Now available in ePub! (Link Below)

This book was forgotten by the publisher and left to languish for over a decade, until last year when @robmacgregor16 read the book as part of his podcast. Now I’m proud to present it in its original book form for the first time ever, featuring an all new Afterword by the author himself, and brand new back cover artwork by the talented @cg_illus!

The book has been formatted by me to match the classic 90s Indy novels in style.

This is a fan-made preservation. It is FREE for all to read and is NOT FOR SALE now or ever.

I hope you all enjoy!

SUGGESTED READERS:
For iOS: iBooks, Nook
Android: Kindle, Nook

NOTE— proper display cannot be guaranteed for apps other than those I’ve recommended. Kindle on iOS does not support SVG and will not display images correctly.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GcS5OqccS9P2ngsSmNHJb1X8IR1z4XQx/view?usp=drivesdk[/

Good grief. But nice that the whole thing had a happy ending, eventually.

Source: The Raven forums

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How about a making-of book for Day of the Tentacle? Well, you’re getting one from video game historian Bob Mackey, via publisher Boss Fight Books. Here’s the spiel:

Six years after helping the Edison family defeat the designs of a malevolent meteor in Maniac Mansion, college student and classic nerd Bernard Bernoulli once again finds himself at the front door of the infamous mansion. With two weird friends, Hoagie and Laverne, Bernard must stop the evil Purple Tentacle from conquering the world—by freezing hamsters, pushing old ladies down the stairs, abusing Swiss bank accounts, and ever so slightly changing some of the most significant moments in American history.

Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer’s 1993 time-trotting point-and-click adventure game Day of the Tentacle brought LucasArts' game design to a new standard of excellence with smart puzzles, hilarious characters, and an animation style that harkened back to classic Warner Bros. cartoons. And somehow, they fit it all on a fat stack of floppy disks!

In this definitive oral history as told by the game’s designers, musicians, and artists, writer Bob Mackey tells the inside story of Day of the Tentacle’s lightning-in-a-bottle production, and reveals how two first-time directors boiled down the lessons of past adventure games into a tight and satisfying experience, how their team grappled with evolving technology to achieve the coveted status of "multimedia" at the dawn of the CD-ROM age, and how a remastered edition brought Tentacle to a new generation of fans.

So there you have it. The book is being Kickstarted now, and it looks like the goal has been comfortably exceeded, so get that space on the bookshelf ready.

Source: Boss Fight Books

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These reminders feel a bit tawdry and perhaps even irresponsible, but the time is upon us. The pre-order window for Limited Run’s multitudinous Return to Monkey Island offerings closes this weekend.

Good luck?

Source: Limited Run Games

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Next up in Daniel Albu’s mission to interview all SCUMM luminaries one at a time is his installment with David Fox. Noting that Ron and Gary didn’t seem to get one about the Maniac Mansion re-release, Fox mentions that he’d appreciate a holler from Limited Run Games if they should happen to like input on a hypothetical Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders box.

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Of course, much more than that is discussed over the nearly two-hour conversation, so set aside the time, as challenging as that might be in a world where twenty-two hour Psychonauts 2 documentaries are a thing, and hear all the stories.

It’s worth noting that David Fox previously sat for an hour with this “Conversations with Curtis” YouTube channel just last year, chatting with the series’ other host, Paul Morgan Stetler, shortly before Return to Monkey Island came out. So if you didn’t get enough with this new one, rest assured that there’s more:

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The following tweet from Lucasfilm Magazine (also known as the French Star Wars Fan Club) appeared last week:

The text, translated to English:

Last year, an Indiana Jones video game was proposed... and here are some of the many concepts that were explored by American artist Steve Chorney in collaboration with a Hollywood advertising agency. But alas the project did not see the light of day.

So, was this something that was being considered independently of the MachineGames/Bethesda project? Who knows, but anyway now you have some cool sketches to look at.

Source: Lucasfilm Magazine

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Maniac Mansion getting a big stupid collector’s box set is pretty much the type of event that Mixnmojo stays alive to witness, but it’s a little more of a novelty when the official Lucasfilm web site starts throwing conspicuous love bombs at the first SCUMM game.

With Josh Fairhurst of Limited Run Games on hand, Lucasfilm.com has taken the opportunity to publish a suitably reverent article about Maniac Mansion and the broader collaboration between the two companies that has resulted in all of these hugely expensive exciting box sets.

Though Fairhurst grew up loving titles like Monkey Island, he first encountered Maniac Mansion later in his gaming life. “I love the humor. Maniac Mansion is genuinely funny,” he says. “I didn’t see that in a lot of games in the 2000s. Most were trying to be edgy and cool, but the older Lucasfilm Games titles had genuinely funny characters and situations.”

In a process that feels like digital archaeology, the Limited Run team mines the original data straight from the period game discs and cartridges, making necessary adjustments to create the refined, authentic version playable on modern computers and consoles (or in the case of the NES, a brand-new cartridge that plays on the original console).

Maniac Mansion was available on the Commodore 64, Amiga, and DOS computers, among others” Fairhurst explains. “If you put the screenshots next to each other, they may not seem that wildly different, but there are nuances between each version, and players have emotions tied to specific versions depending on which one they played as a kid. We include back-ups of every possible version so there’s a way to experience each one. These boxes became sort of archive for each game, with every version on a USB drive.”

In addition to the game itself, these limited-edition box sets feature a number of enticing items, including both recreations of original materials and brand-new surprises. In addition to a lenticular pin that portrays a Maniac Mansion hidden moment, the different boxed sets also include their respective soundtracks. “We record them straight from the actual hardware itself,” Fairhurst notes, “so the NES soundtrack comes right from the cartridge. It’s the same with the PC version, though we can also use an emulator. It’s all about accuracy.”

Another included piece is a double-sided poster featuring in-game artwork and a portrait of the Edison family seen originally on the game’s packaging (and painted by iconic artist Steve Purcell). Limited Run was able to offer up this artwork with the help of superfan Jan Hofmesiter who dedicates his time to digitally restoring pieces of Lucasfilm game art. “It speaks to how meaningful these games are to fans,” says Fairhurst. “They’re willing to put in the time to help preserve these materials and celebrate them.”

Every possible version on the USB drive? Jan thanked by his full name, as something other than a footnote, and only slightly mispelled? Maybe they're onto something over there.

Source: Lucasfilm.com

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I can’t decide whether this is a PSA or an act of malice, but I’ll point out that the pre-order period for Limited Run’s big boxed Collector’s Edition of Sam & Max Hit the Road closes out with the weekend. A reminder of what that obscenity looks like:

For the record, Mojo does not encourage anyone to go into debt over boutique computer game re-releases. We’re just doing our jobs here. If you or someone you know has a compulsive collecting problem, help is available and should be pursued.

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Yep, here we go again. Another LRG release: Maniac Mansion. Listen carefully, and you can hear Jason weep with joy.

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Grab a PC collector’s edition ($75) or an NES premium edition ($100). Or both ($175). You’re not using that kidney anyway.

Update: Ron weighs in:

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No need to get fancy with this one; I’ll just reprint what Aaron posted over on the forums:

It's been a long time coming, but I'm finally ready to open up broader testing of DREAMM 2.0.

Grab the latest beta here: https://aarongiles.com/dreamm/beta/

This release supports both Windows and MacOS (Catalina+), and both x86 and ARM64 architectures.

Compared to 1.0, this release adds:

  • Support for GRiME games (Grim Fandango, Escape from Monkey Island)
  • Support for Afterlife and several mid-90s Star Wars games: Dark Forces, Rebel Assault I/II, X-Wing, and TIE Fighter
  • Support for Windows releases of SCUMM games (including my own ports plus DIG95)
  • A new frontend and in-game UI (accessible via Alt+M)
  • Better support for GOG releases and special installers
  • Faster x86 emulation core
  • Improved VGA emulation, including SVGA
  • Basic joystick support

Feel free to report issues in this thread, or directly to me at dreamm@aarongiles.com

I mean, you heard him. Get to work, and do your part to ensure that Hugo the perfume salesman will forever spritz his way across the computer monitors of future generations.

Source: The forums

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In his coverage for Limited Run’s upcoming Return to Monkey Island physical release(s), Remi noted the unusual offering of an “upgrade kit,” in which you get an expanded and corrected version of the Anthology box (with the game logos in the correct order, in addition to appending ReMI’s position) along with a smattering of additional trinkets.

Well, Limited Run is workshopping an altogether new comedy sketch with the so-called “Gold Key Bundle.” See, the other quirk of these releases that you may remember was that each of the four individual editions (one per platform), plus the upgrade kit, would respectively include replicas of each of the five keys Guybrush collects in the game’s second half, in a predatory play for the OCD fan who's gotta catch 'em all. A visual reminder of how all that shakes out (note the bottom left of each picture):

For those who have lost their goddamned minds and would actually pursue that, the distributor is helpfully offering a comprehensive bundle of all the above for an even $419.99.

What kind of diseased mind even conceives of this stuff? Anyhoodle: buy away. Bankruptcy ain’t nothing but a number.

Source: Limited Run Games

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As if you don’t have enough things to spend money on, Côté Games are taking pre-orders for The LucasArts Chronicles.

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There are seemingly some oddities with the book—e.g., I recognize the screenshots as promo material—but who knows? Judge for yourself. The “simple” version of the book will run you €45; the complicated “deluxe” edition €62.

Source: The forums

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