The International House of Mojo

The arms race for undeserving re-releases continues to heat up! Having already received a bogglingly reverent N64 cartridge recreation from Limited Run Games a while back, the 1999 bestseller Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is now getting ported to Switch and PS4 as well. Be amazed as James Vicari of Aspyr attempts to frame the most obvious tie-in product ever conceived as some sort of crown jewel of the LucasArts catalog. But he didn't count on the pushback from those notorious skeptics at StarWars.com. I'm kidding, of course:

Get ready to re-live the emotional resonance of Star Wars Episode 1: Racer May 12th.

Source: StarWars.com

Well, color me surprised that Limited Run Games seems to have produced genuine, no-joke NES and Game Boy cartridges for their re-release of the very first Star Wars console game, along with a physical PS4 port of Bounty Hunter, on Friday.  (It is especially impressive since, didn't Capcom consider that for Mega Man 9 before deciding it was cost-prohibitive?)  Not that I am unequal to the challenge of finding fault, as I sense no effort to replicate the mail-order hint book. Check out the packaging for yourself on Limited Run Games' Instagram page.

This is a little frustrating for me personally, I must admit.  LucasArts made impressive contributions to a number of consoles, but the NES wasn't a platform they did very well on; some would argue that their debut for the system, the iconic (and in-house, unlike the title being awarded this treatment) port of Maniac Mansion, was the only project worth a damn, with all due respect to Defenders of Dynatron City.  It was the gateway drug for many to the LEC adventure catalogue, and it comes with a nice juicy censorship controversy to boot.

Alas, as always, Star Wars gets the slot.  But don't let me stink up the joint with my griping, because this is still really cool.  Be sure to head over to the nearest Limited Run Games web presence on Friday to place your order.

Our thanks to Scummbuddy for bringing this to our attention

Source: Instagram

For those of you who are into this kind of stuff, here are fourteen insufferable minutes of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Rumors of it being as adult as 1313 remains unconfirmed.

Because the world needs more Star Wars movies, and Disney apparently has burned through original content, it is now sinking its grubby white gloves into the seminal Knights of the Old Republic. I mean, I assume it’s seminal—had I played through it further than the first ten minutes, I might have more of an opinions.

The film is set to be written by Laeta Kalogridis, co-writer of Battle Angle: Alita, and Mojo will follow the development with the type of vigor usually reserved for Willow.

Source: BMD

With a full coup to turn Mixnmojo into an Indiana Jones fansite underway, we've not had time to post about an ongoing Star Wars sale on GOG. Once the mortal enemy of LucasArts adventure games everywhere, a number of these Star Wars games are now considered classics, including Knights of the Old Republic and LEGO: Star Wars. Hell, even I've been tempted.

Speaking of Star Wars....

It's worth noting that actor Peter Mayhew passed away earlier this week. I don't know much about Mayhew, except that he played Chewbecca in four of the six George Lucas Star Wars films and was a "Chewbecca consultant" in Solo, but his Reddit account paints the portrait of a very kind man, which is a worthy legacy. Our condolences to his loved ones.

Source: GOG

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, an FPS game released by pre-Phantom Menace LucasArts in 1997, has gotten some HD textures. The game can be procured on both Steam and GOG.

What makes the story interesting is that the new textures were created by an AI. I can see the Black Mirror episode already.

Apologies to Scummbuddy for the delay on this, as they let us know about the news in an earlier story. I can only assume most other Mojo staff has perished in an ongoing, secretive, Snatcher-like murder campaign by these AIs.

It feels like it is 2012 again. Disney has halted game production and will switch to a licensing model.

For those of you who have been waiting for more Lucasfilm figures for Disney Infinity, you're going to have to stop waiting as Disney Infinity will cease production as a result of this decision. Three characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass will release later this month, and a Finding Dory playset will be released in June. These will be the final figures released in the Disney Infinity line.

The primary developer of Disney Infinity, Avalanche Software, will also be closed. We at Mojo give our fondest well-wishes to the nearly 300 people who lost their jobs as a result of this decision.

Update: This Star Wars Day also brings another GOG.com LucasArts re-release. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is now available on GOG.com, with a launch discount of 20% off.

Today is Star Wars Day, and Lucasfilm is celebrating with a bunch of deals on Star Wars games. You can grab these deals on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, the Windows Store, Steam, Humble Bundle, GOG.com, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Marketplace.

Knights of the Old Republic II has just received a major update on Steam as it's now available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Steam OS. The update brings 37 Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud saves. Steam Workshop mods (the Restored Content Mod is now available straight through Steamworks), native widescreen resolution support, resolution support up to 4k and 5K, and gamepad support.

An employee of Aspyr, the company responsible for the ports of the game, stated on the Steam forums that they are working with GOG and Disney to try to get these changes on GOG.com as well, and that they should know more after Gamescom.

I always try to do a news post of Mojo related tidbits after our downtime. This one's going to be a long one. At least, with the new server, it'll likely be the last.

Christian Adam has found a solution to allow the people who have graphics hardware below the requirements of Grim Fandango Remastered to play the game in classic mode.

Double Fine is making games in conjunction with Adult Swim Games, as well as Zoink Games.

On the subject of Double Fine, Massive Chalice went out of early access and received it's full release, and Iron Brigade has had Game for Windows Live replaced with Steamworks, fixing matchmaking. The latter was possible thanks to the fact that Double Fine has regained the rights to Iron Brigade from Microsoft.

At E3, it was revealed that ex-Mojoer and former Telltale developer extraordinaire, Jake Rodkin's company Campo Santo will have the console debut of their first game Firewatch on PS4. It is also going to be released on PC, Mac, and Linux. No release date has been set, but Campo Santo is aiming for release by the end of 2015.

Telltale is making a three episode miniseries that will be DLC for The Walking Dead: Season Two called The Walking Dead: Michonne, set during the period of the comics when Michonne is absent from the group. They also finally showed a little bit of what their Minecraft: Story Mode will look like.

Lucasfilm is working on a fully interactive 3D virtual Star Wars world, via their ILM experience lab.

Humongous Entertainment games are starting to make their way to GOG.com. The Pajama Sam series made its way to the service earlier this month.

The co-creator of Maniac Mansion and Thimbleweed Park, Gary Winnick, had his best selling comic, Bad Dreams, released in trade paperback format on the 17th of June.

While we're on the subject of Thimbleweed Park, be sure to check out the Thimbleweed Park development blog, as lots of good inside information about the development process of that game is being posted regularly.

So, if you hadn't noticed, Star Wars is happening. And part of that happening is a new Star Wars: Battlefront game that might not get cancelled before the release date of 17 November 2015.

From the gameplay footage that looks like pre-rendered cut scenes, Star Wars fans will FINALLY get what they've been asking for since 1983 - the chance to play The Battle of Hoth!

The embedded youtube clip below only works for three people, so for the other four of you, here's a direct link to the trailer.

Source: EA

The Humble Star Wars Bundle is going on. Pay what you want for Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Academy, and Dark Forces. There are also 6 other Star Wars games if you pay $12 or more: Empire at War: Gold Pack, The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, The Force Unleashed II, Battlefront II, Knights of the Old Republic II, and Republic Commando. The site says that there's more yet to be announced.

If Star Wars isn't your thing, the Humble Weekly Bundle is an adventure bundle this week. Pay whatever you like for Detective Grimoire, Broken Sword 1 & 2, and The Whispered World Special Edition. If you pay more than the average, you'll also get The Detail: Episode 1, A Golden Wake, and Cognition: Game of the Year Edition. If you pay $10 or more, you'll also get Broken Sword 5.

Hold onto your hats, folks. "OzzieMonkey" in the comments reports that our sassy friends at Rock, Paper, Shotgun seem to know the next three LucasArts games that GOG will give a digital release. Behold what will arrive on the 27th:

- Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
- Star Wars: Starfighter
- Star Wars: Republic Commando

There was apparently a proper press release announcing GOG's latest LucasArts drops, by the way. This is supposed to continue "throughout 2015," so with any luck they'll accidentally include Outlaws or The Curse of Monkey Island at some point.

Source: Rock, Paper Shotgun

And they are:

- Star Wars: Empire at War (Gold Pack)
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
- Star Wars: Rebellion (aka Star Wars: Supremacy)

Sorry I'm an asshole, but I'm sure enough of you are genuinely excited by these to balance it out.

Source: GOG.com

The currently North American exclusive closed beta period for Area 52 Games and Disney Mobile's Star Wars space combat simulator Star Wars: Attack Squadrons has been going on from January 21st and will continue to January 28th. If you already signed up for the beta, you should be receiving a code soon, if you haven't already. I just received mine, but I can't comment on the game yet, as the beta currently runs from 11AM to 9PM PST, and I entered my code a little late.

If you didn't sign up for the beta (or didn't yet get a code), but are in North America and still would like to join, keep an eye on their Facebook page. They have posted first-come-first-serve beta codes on there in the past, so it's possible you could get lucky.

Note also that this is currently the second closed beta period (the first beta period started on January 14th). So if you missed this beta, if they do a third beta test, it's possible you'll receive a code then. If they do continue doing closed beta testing, hopefully they'll open it up to worldwide gamers the next go-around.

Disney / LucasArts has surprised everyone by announcing a new Space Combat game. While it doesn't have the much loved single-player campaigns that made the X-Wing series so popular, it's a welcome return to the cockpit for Star Wars fans. Here's what we know;


Signup for the Beta at the official website here.

So, lets hope this is a first, tentative step back into the Space Combat genre, and Larry Holland's number has been passed on to the Mouseketeers at Disney...

Source: Star Wars Attack Squadrons

Those who were waiting for Star Wars: Tiny Death Star to come out somewhere other than Australia don't have to wait any longer. As of November 8th, the game is available worldwide.

The freemium Star Wars themed Tiny Tower game is available now for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 8. It will also be coming to the Amazon App store soon.

Source: Gamespot

Update: Earlier I incorrectly stated that the game was released for iOS in New Zealand. It's only available in Australia for iOS for now, as pointed out by jp-30 in the comments.

After getting released on Android in Australia and New Zealand earlier this month, iOS gets a similar treatment, as Tiny Death Star was released exclusively on iTunes in Australia on the 15th of October.

This Star Wars themed Tiny Tower game will be released worldwide on Android and iOS soon.

Update: Thanks to Shmargin for pointing out that it's not available for Android everywhere yet. It's currently an exclusive release in Australia and New Zealand.

Tiny Death Star, the Star Wars themed Tiny Tower game (complete with the series' signature 8-bit graphical style), is available now on Google Play for Android phones and tablets. It was developed by Disney Mobile (as was expected with casual Star Wars games after the Disney merger) and Tiny Tower developer Nimblebit.

Interestingly, LucasArts is listed as the publisher, so it would appear that the remodeled LucasArts has retained it's function as a publisher as well as a licensor.

Source: Shmargin

Disney's LucasArts licensing house plods on, with their first release post-restructuring. Angry Birds Star Wars II was released yesterday for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.

This sequel actually is based on the Star Wars prequels, changing the titular birds into Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, and Jar Jar Binks. This time you can also turn to the dark side in the pork side mode and play as a Tie Fighter pilot, Zam Wesell, and Emporer Palpatine. The Hasbro Telepod toys can also be scanned in to unlock characters, but they're not required to play.