The International House of Mojo

Metro Pulse managed to get their hands on Tim Schafer and they've interviewed him about life, love, Brütal Legend and a guy called T. (Been talking to a mirror lately, Tim? This is The Shining all over again.)

Anyways, check it out. It's got some good new info, and it's wet whet* my appetite. Man, I can't wait for this game.

*(Someday, I won't have a typo.)

Source: Metro Pulse

LucasArts LEGO Indiana Jones site has been given the full overhaul, check it out here;

lucasarts.com/games/legoindianajones

Some gaming site/show previews have been captured and made it to YouTube (featuring lots of hilarious cut-scenes and game spoilers, so watch at your own risk);

Clip 1 | Clip 2 | Clip 3

Source: LucasArts

Speaking of our friends at Bang Bang, they just announced a competition where you can win 100 pounds for designing a Monkey Island t-shirt. See, it's a win-win situation: you make money, and we get a Monkey Island t-shirt which probably won't suck.

Stop reading this! Enter!!!

You shouted, you screamed, and you were heard. That awesome Grim Fandango t-shirt is now available in black. Actually it has been for a while, but whatever. Go buy!

Also, Albert Hofmann, the man behind certain Mojoers' Favorite Past Time™, LSD, passed away today. Rumors that he was killed by a cash machine are still unconfirmed.

Hofmann was 102, so he must have done something right.

Here at the International House of Leaked Indy4 Footage, we pride ourselves in linking you to the latest and greatest of shoddy Youtube renditions of upcoming Crystal Skull video marketing.

Up now (temporarily, I'm sure) is the full theatrical trailer for the movie which will be attached to Iron Man and will likely be available for download on the official web site in a few days. It's probably recommend that you just wait until then when you can see the trailer in more than seven lines of resolution, but if you insist.

UPDATE (yes, by Tingler again, the Bringer of Doom): It's gone! It's ALL gone! Guess we're waiting until it comes up properly now!

Wait, wait. Stop yelling. It's taken-out of context. Wow. All I did was make a joke about Dave Grossman being in a war and you had to jump-off the top of the Empire State Building?

Okay, okay, time to start making sense: So 1UP have written-up an interesting article on death in video games, and they've interviewed Dave Grossman about it. Worth reading? You bet your life on it. (Ba dum bum psh.)

Source: 1UP

If you're lucky enough to live in LA, that is. Scott C, designer of all things Brutal Legend and Psychonauts, will appear at Secret Headquarters, and he's giving you the address. This all happens on Saturday, May 3rd, from 8 to 11 PM (USC time, obviously - obviously). Go over there and express your love to Scott C. by dressing-up as the Milkman.

Source: Scott C.'s blog

Many a wannabe designer has tried, but few have done it. That is, completing a fangame. Zak McKracken 2, after 7 years in development, has been completed and is now available here.

Unfortunately, it's only in German right now. They are apparently looking for English speaking people to do the lines for the English version, so if you think you can do it, get in touch with them!

Source: Zak 2 homepage

Another new Indy-related pixel has appeared on the interwebs and, as you know, it's our duty to report on it!

Here you go: Indy IV TV spot.

UPDATE by la Tingler: Fortunately for us who value quality, IndianaJones.com has finally put up the latest TV Spot in HD Quicktime!

You can also download it directly like this:
Good, better, best!

GameTrailers' riveting Star Wars Retrospective now turns to the X-Wing/TIE Fighter series that defined the series on PC, and which we'll never see again in these days of dumbed-down console gaming. It also starts with a nice look at the birth of LucasArts with some adventure gaming thrown in (with what seems to be Maniac Mansion Enhanced instead of the original).

Watch it here, and weep for a lost age.

Next episode: strategy and battles! It's War!

Now this is total Surfer Girl rumour, but a hopeful one. This was on her latest rumour list:

The release for A2M's Indy game is currently scheduled to coincide with the Crystal Skull home video release.

A2M's Indy game, which has not been officially announced and has only ever been mentioned from Surfer Girl's blog, is the supposed Indy equivalent of Krome Studios' version of The Force Unleashed. In other words, the Wii/PS2 non-LucasArts developed version.

She has been wrong before about the new Indy game's release date (for example saying that it definitely will be out before Lego Indiana Jones), but where there's hope for a 2008 release I'll back it all the way! Even on the Wii (which looks like the best version of The Force Unleashed at the moment. Imagine using the Wii Remote to flick the whip! Or fight like in Wii Sports Boxing!)!

Gamasutra have written an interesting article called "Why More Games Need More Subtext," which includes a section on Full Throttle.

The fact that both this article and that one share the same title is completely and utterly coincidental, but should Mojo be down later it will be because they sued us for copyright infringement. If you click on the site in a few hours and we're not here, simply lynch Gamasutra.

Source: Gamasutra

I'm not sure whatever happened to that Stemmle interview Adventure Gamers promised a few months ago, but in the meantime Rock, Paper, Shotgun has us covered with a Q&A with the Sam & Max designer/writer of lore who's yet again back together with the madcap duo - where he belongs.

RPS: Is it strange to be back so close to Sam & Max after all these years?

Mike: Strange, vertiginous, and somewhat disturbingly erotic. I keep expecting someone to tap me on the shoulder, yell "psyche!", and hit me with a two-by-four. I'm sure this'll pass.

Read the whole interview for important facts such as what Stemmle's been up to between Freelance Police and employment at Telltale, some rather perturbing revelations about Sean Clark's hair, and his secret ambition to take on a Maniac Mansion sequel someday. Could Sam & Max: Season 3 be any more anticipated?

Some new footage from Lego Indiana Jones is now up at Entertainment Weekly showing cutscenes and gameplay from Temple of Doom. Included is the lovely human sacrifice (really edited I hope) and the Mine Cart Chase! Infernal Machine ain't got nothin' on this!

Check it out!

This is the guy playing Darth Vader in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. I am not joking.

So someone somewhere decided to be funny and compiled a "triviagasm" of The Wacky Science-Fiction Titles of LucasArts and stuck it over at io9.com. This includes that LucasArts stopped making adventure games in 2002. And not a single mention of the awesome Telltale Games, even though Sam and Max Hit the Road is mentioned.

Two words: The shame. The shame.

(We're kidding io9. We love you.)

Source: io9

I've known about these for a while but I haven't posted about them before because they were still works in progress. Anyways, Trev-Solo over at Deviantart created a bunch of really good art Indiana Jones sketchcards. He loves (loves loves loves) Indiana Jones and he's very talented, so check them out.

He's also done some cool sculptures, including Indy and Anakin Skywalker: check them out over at his gallery.

Source: Deviantart

Sam and Max: The Effigy Mound, a sketchbook by Steve Purcell, is running out and apparently Telltale are not reprinting it. I'm ordering mine later today: people will think I'm artsy and rich when they see it on my bookshelf. Oh yes. Oh yes indeed.

Update: They're gone!

Source: Telltale Games

Roll up, roll up, and see the amazing Last Crusade adventure game from the distant land on "1989."

Look within to find trivia, reviews, gamer reflections, a narrative walkthrough, and Ron Gilbert.

Thanks a lot to everyone who sent in their memories and thoughts of the game, to Ronzo for supplying a few burps of information, and for the wonderful Paco Vink for supplying us with a header image.

Update: Interviews with David Fox and Noah Falstein have been added to page five, thanks to ThunderPeel2001.

When I suggested earlier that A Vampyre Story wouldn't be released until Halloween, I was half-joking, but if Adventure Gamers' claim that the game is slated for a September release is any indication, I sadly might have been more right than I thought, and Mona will be taking a longer beauty nap in her coffin than we had been led to believe. Granted, I have no idea where Adventure Gamers got that date, which is attributed to Focus/Ascaron's UK release, from, but I'm too cynical to think it's wrong.

By the way, now might be as good a time as any to recap the rather numerous publishing partners for AVS, since I get the impression that the sheer number of the various companies we've associated with the game over the past year has confused some people. As reader LGH helpfully lists in a recent Pumpkin Post comment:

BOX VERSION:

• Russia (Akella)
  
• Greece, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, FYROM, Turkey (hell-tech)
  
• Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden (Paradox Interactive)
  
• France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, United Kingdom (Focus Home Interactive)
  
• Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg (Crimson Cow)
  

DOWNLOAD VERSION:

• GamersGate (worldwide?)
  
• And perhaps, according to Marek from Adventuregamers, the AdventureShop
  (http://adventureshop.gamesplanet.com/EU/?affilie=AG)

You'll note that there's still no announced publisher for a retail North American release just yet, but hopefully that could still change.

With our most recent "Secret History" article published, it's now once again time for you guys to send in your reader opinions for the next one. The game we'll be giving the treatment to next month is of course the beloved Brian Moriarty fantasy Loom, and we need you to send in your thoughts on the game for inclusion in the appropriate section of the article.

What, you've never heard of Loom? What, are you an idiot? Go download the game e-mail LucasArts, who surely wouldn't discontinue the printing of such a significant title, about ordering a copy. They don't have it listed in their online store, but that's just because they want you to ask about it.

The Loom article will be published online in May, and I hope in the meantime you guys play or replay Loom in celebration. Anybody manage to get past the part with the tent?

One of the gears in our machinery went missing today and all that was left was a hankie with the word Petite Pettitt Pettit written on it. Quite mysterious!

Fortunately we were able to use a combination of Gabez's fingers and Spaff's long dead eyes to create a new gear.

Mojo, the only site that uses body parts of current and former staff to bring you the latest news!

Paramount have released a fair number of new, cool pictures from Indiana Jones and the Several Nouns probably with 'of' in the Middle. TheRaider.net has done a good job of collecting them.

Mostly of interest is an absolutely stunning shot of the Crystal Skull itself, which looks like concept art:

If that doesn't sate your Indy hunger, how about the news that in exactly one month from today the new Indy film will be released after 19 years of waiting?

To celebrate, Mojo is pleased to announce Indy Month 2, which may or may not last longer than an actual month. We've got plenty of reviews and features lined up to celebrate, and it'll all kick off soon with the next part of our LucasArts' Secret History series on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

And if you're not an Indy fan, don't worry, we'll still have regular News, our wacky Forums, and the rest of the Secret History series. Mojo: the place to be!

Sam and Max have been interviewed over at Telltale by the guys at Jeux Video. There's also a French version if you happen to be a foreigner/foreign snob (but then how are you reading this?).

Update: They've also got an interview with N-Europe, asking about the WiiWare games and what it's like to work for a Nintendo fansite.

No, I'm not talking about the lame "video game" (those things will rot your brain, nerds), but rather the actual building block playsets. In other words, LEGOs. Following the excellent sets celebrating the original trilogy that were released this past December, the sets based on Crystal Skull (accidental premature descriptions of which provided some of the biggest officially-sanctioned spoilers for the film, oops) are now here.

Well, sorta. See, I don't think the sets are actually released until sometime in May, but while browsing Amazon for...weights...I found that three of the four Crystal Skull sets are listed as being in-stock. They are:

• Jungle Duel - See, it's like a duel, but in the jungle.
  
• River Chase - Indy and his friends chase down an unscrupulous river that attempts to evade capture.
  
• Jungle Cutter - Insert pseudo-witty comment here.
  

Apparently unavailable is the crème de la crème of the new sets, the Temple of the Crystal Skull, so I guess we have to wait for the actual release date to nab that one like the underprivileged saps we are.

Also, I don't know for confirmed fact those things are shipping, because my Mom won't let me buy them yet, but in the event that they are I figured JP resident LEGO fans would appreciate the heads up, probably.

There's a nice Q&A with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas at Entertainment Weekly about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In it Lucas continues to express his amusing "Everybody is gonna hate this movie" attitude, but there's also some good info in there.

A second article, this one from the LA Times, discusses the financial situation for the movie's participants, including the fact that it has to gross more than $400 million before it can start earning a profit. That's a lot of adventure game marketing budgets.

Hothead Games are busy working on Penny Arcade Adventures, busy whipping-up the awesomness that is DeathSpank. Hothead are busy creating Swarm, too, and are lumping layers upon layers of awesome on their games. Hothead are also busy painting. Fun to watch if you have nothing else to do. And there's a Canadian goose as well. Bless you, Canadian goose.

Source: Hothead Games

For those two of you still denying that Star Wars: The F***est Uppest wasn't slipped a whole year in order to ride off the back of the next big event in the SW universe - The Clone Wars movie and series - then prepare to have your beliefs mocked as Empire reveals that the film will be out August 15th, within a month of TFU.

Also, this interview at IGN reveals that characters from the game will appear in the series. Hmmmmm!

ARS have an interview with Mike Krahulik and Vlad Ceraldi on the upcoming game, Penny Arcade Adventures. Considering this is the umpteenth person to interview the lot at Penny Arcade, it's no surprise I'm out of jokes. I've used them all. Got nothing. Zero. Null. Love. Whatever they call it these days. Stop reading, you're not going to die laughing this time. Seriously, I'm serious. Head over to ARS and read that out loud as you say it.

Source: ARS

...just kidding! This news post is actually about a Youtube video I recently found of the Monkey Island theme reconstructed using "Mario Paint Composer"

The main theme from the first Pirates of the Caribbean, and the "Up is Down" music from the third film, are also available, thanks to the talented work of Uhiwi.

"Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here!" -- Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

As you may or may not know, today is Bicycle Day, the anniversary of Albert Hofmann's first intentional LSD trip 65 years ago.

"So what!" You cry.

You have almost got a point. But then I remind you that if it weren't for LSD then Steve Jobs would never have invented the computer, and there would be no such thing as Monkey Island. Apart from that song 'Monkey Island' by the 13th Floor Elevators - which, of course, wouldn't exist without LSD either.

Bonus LucasArts-related fact: Tim Schafer actually forced the Double Fine staff to work overtime to finish his drug-em-up action/adventure game Psychonauts a day early so that it could be released on Bicycle Day instead of his original release date, the marijuana-based April 20th.

So we have learned that LSD is marvellous, and the future will know it to be so thanks to people like you.

IGN have a very good interview with Master Peter McConnell, composer, on the music of Insecticide. His opinion on the game:

"The story and art were both a joy to work with – really inspiring. What's more, these elements had the support of incredible voice acting. The character voices brought the world to life in way that's rare in a game. A unique world and story, great characters and acting – what more can you ask?"

For more people to buy it, Peter. For more people to buy it and consequently get laid.

Source: IGN

According to this video report on Forbes, Sam & Max have so far sold over 500,000 episodes across the 2 seasons, and there will be many more seasons to come (a dozen, perhaps). Also see Dan, Kevin and Emily talking about the episodic games model.

Source: Forbes

Guys: Shocker. Belloq is still alive. The dude who played him is not dead yet. How do I know? He's in LEGO Indiana Jones, but he's also in London - at the same time (coincidence?! I always knew there was something fishy about that place). Eurogamer caught-up with him and jammed a mike mic in his face in an interview for your eyes to feast on.

Source: Eurogamer

You all know Telltale Texas Hold'em as the unexpected casual poker game which was also Telltale's first product. Though the game still represents a huge anomaly in the Telltale company catalog (presumably there was an intention at some point to make casual games in between the episodic adventures series, such as a project that never ended up happening that Dave Grossman alluded to here), most who've played it consider it to be reasonably fun and addictive.

Well, Telltale has bestowed upon the game a major re-release, which mainly translates to Vista compatibility, bug fixes, and integration into their current Account History system. Furthermore, the price of the game has been dropped down to $8.95. In the blog post in which this is all pointed out, Emily also gives a pretty interesting history of Texas Hold'em as the company's test project turned first release, which you'll probably like reading.

What with Sam and Max being the arguable mascots of Telltale Games for some time now, it's only reasonable to wonder how the characters are reacting to the upcoming Strong Bad games, which threaten to swipe the duo's fire.

That question has been answered, courtesy of the brains behind the online comic 2P START!

Source: 2P START!

"Andygeers" from Geero.net published an article last month that explores the possibility of using LucasArts style adventure games to promote Divine Truth. A quote:

"LucasArts has a long tradition of rather weedy protagonists, like Guybrush Threepwood, Bernard Bernoulli, and (if your memory stretches that far back) the somewhat second-rate reporter Zak McKracken. Such down-to-earth characters allow you to easily convey the fact that there's nothing remotely worthy about them, and to keep the spotlight firmly on God."

Also from last month is Grim Fandango fan music from OC Remix.org. It's called "The Enlightened Alaskan," and was new (at least) to me.

And finally, results from Destructoid.com's Sam & Max Photoshop contest can already be see on the web-site's comments section. Some of them are very persuasive.

But you can view them too! Telltale has just released a batch of six new screenshots for Strong Bad which you can see here.

Be sure to also check out Telltale's round-up of recent Strong Bad coverage. Two or so of the ones they listed may be new to people who exclusively read this site. And who could blame you?

Update: Gamasutra have an article up on the riskiness of WiiWare, including games like Strong Bad, and Sify's singing their praises for the coolest serialised games (Telltale included even though the competetion must have been grating). And lastly, if you've ever wanted to make a box shaped like Sam, Max, Strong Bad or a stormtrooper, you can now.

In interview with Telltale, 1up was able to get some interesting quotes from Dan the Man Connors, CEO of the company. Most notably with regard to the company developing original properties:

Asked how soon we might see an original project, Connors replied, "I'd say the earliest would be 10 months, and the longest would probably be 18 months. We can do so many games in a year, so an original is reasonable to squeeze in there somewhere."

You can check out the whole piece here.

I'm pretty sure we never covered this Brütal Legend preview by Hooked Gamers last March, so here you go.

Schafer has said that he wants the game to feature a proper streaming open world with wildlife and cool places to explore -things that he attempted in Psychonauts- but wants to do justice to in this game. With the kind of imagination gone into the lore of this world, it's hard to imagine it failing.

...

A multiplayer mode has also been confirmed, but concrete details have yet to emerge. The only thing we know is that it will most likely focus on large scale battles. Interestingly the core battle mechanic of the main game was devised during the early stages of development, as the multiplayer was the first aspect of the game to be designed.

There's lots of great info in the preview, so do read it. Also included are a batch of screenshots, several of which look unfamiliar to me (but could also be in that IGN preview from a few months back that I don't feel like checking). The point is, this link leads to a preview for Brütal Legend.

GameTrailers have added the next instalment of their Star Wars Retrospective, and it's the one we've all been waiting for: the Prequel games!

See the spiritual sequel to Jedi Knight turned into a shite Xbox launch game that embarrassed LucasArts so much they didn't even spend money on decent cover art! See the lowest point Star Wars has ever sunk to in Super Bombad Racing! See LucasArts' reputation as a quality games developer go entirely down the crap-hole!

Still, it's not all bad. The next episode's entirely focused on the X-Wing/TIE Fighter games!

You are Jack's confused mind. "The Chapman Brothers. Who ARE they?" you are saying to yourself.

"They're the creators of Homestar Runner," says Tyler. "Strong Bad. All that. Great stuff."

You are Jack's astonished expression in Jack's astonished eyes. "The guys who are collaborating with Telltale Games, the Kings of Gaming?"

Tyler smiles. "I love you so much I could knock your teeth out. Yes, yes they are."

You are Jack's beating heart. "And...were they interviewed by IGN on their game?"

Tyler lights a cigarette, scratches his head. "Yes. Yes they were, and you should head over there and read-up about it or you'll be Jack's bleeding aorta. And stop talking to yourself about Jack and using cheesy expressions all ready."

You are Jack's stomach bookworm, reading the interview. Tyler punches your face for giving another cheesy expression.

Source: IGN

The Tingler has type-scripted his views and judgements of the latest instalment of "Sam and Max."

Look within to see advice for customers, high moral criticism, and many passages that are pleasant to be read or sung, according to the reader's taste and custom.

Telltale showed off demos of Strong Bad to various sites upon its announcement, and there are a couple of write-ups as a result that you may want to check out. This behind-the-scenes video held by 1up is not a write-up, but it is awesome. And in case you haven't stumbled upon these already, here's what Kotaku and IGN have to say. Telltale stresses that the demo showcased is an early build of the game, but nonetheless it should give you an idea of what Strong Bad is going to look like - very much like the Flash toons, and great.

In other Telltale news, here's some possible box art for the upcoming Wii release of Sam & Max Season 1 which Amazon even has up for pre-order, along with the claim that it'll be out August 1st. And finally, remember that Sam & Max sculpture that was being made by Symbiote Studios, of which we only got to see tantalizing concept art? Well, here's what the sucker looks like for realz! (Minus the coloring job and pending approval by Purcell.)

In this Youtube video, John Williams discusses that he recently finished mixing the seventh and final reel for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, going onto say that the film will be shipped for distribution on "Tuesday" (tomorrow), aka totally finished.

To add to your excitement for Indiana Jones 4 being in the can, why not check out some new production photos at the always classy TheRaider.net? I don't expect an answer to that question.

According to Active Anime, the May 2008 issue of PIQ magazine - the issue that comes out in the month that I was born in and hence is more awesome than Italy winning the World Cup - has noneother than Sam, Max, and Praise the Lord, Lord Satan on its cover. They all happen to be smiling, too. This all includes exclusive cover artwork by Telltale as well as an exclusive interview by Steve Purcell himself. Man, I wonder how they crammed all that on the cover?

But the question is: Who's crazier? Sam, Max, or the Half-Horse-Half-RedBull-Gives-You-Hoofs Prince of Darkness and Our Saviour Beelzebub Himself? The answer: might not be here.

Source: Active Anime

MAD Magazine has a letter supposedly from George Lucas to Steven Spielberg about the new Indiana Jones film that addresses quite a lot of the fears many fans are having about the project and putting them to rest. Honest.

Have a read.

Any of our Egyptian readers will be aware of Amr Khalid's "Hemaya" campaign against drugs, as shown on on his web-site. Do I spy the LucasArts logo on that apple? I see a lawyer coming: hello!

In other news, a reader sent in a video link to Sam & Max Hit The Road's introduction, reconstructed in "3D." The e-mail didn't say who the sender was (probably due to our mailing system running on steam and cogs), but to whoever it was: thank you. And if you haven't seen this video before then it's definitely worth watching.

Lastly, as staff member Ron Gilbert reports, an Australian man has recorded a "bass" line to the Maniac Mansion theme, which I'm told is quite "kicking."

Beneath Monkey Island is a free online radio play by hosted site Nightlight Productions (Tierra De Los Muertos, Lost Cause) that has been in production for a long time due to voicing delays.

Well... now all that's left to add is the voice of Guybrush Threepwood. This is where you help out!

If you have a microphone and think you can match the role, head over to Nightlight Productions and send in your addition! You will get paid!*

* Prize money in monkey bucks.

The latest episode of GameTrailers TV focuses almost completely on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed with a load of interesting new stuff.

Highlights include being able to actually play Darth Vader and, a personal delight for me, discovering that LucasArts are actually going to be composing a load of new music for the game and not just re-using the films' scores. All Star Wars games with original music have been great (Dark Forces, KOTOR 1 & 2, Republic Commando), so here's hoping!

There's also a nice bit around 12.10 where the presenter embarrasses the LucasArts rep by showing him just how much of the plot is spoiled by the toys already released. They don't mention however that the reason all that stuff is already out waaaay before the game is that TFU was supposed to have been out last year. Oh, and they mention Spaceballs, which is always good. Here you go.

Switching on a Time Machine much like Fred Edison's, Nintendic briefly cover the history of Sam and Max from 1987 until their arrival to the Nintendo Wii, in an article made twenty times more awesome for mentioning the words "Sam and Max". In case you're some kind of loser who still hasn't gotten around to mentioning the awesomness of those words, I'd get to work before you are drowned in a sea of their awesome.

Source: Nintendic

The Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive has announced that they have negotiated a deal with Crimson Cow to publish A Vampyre Story in Scandinavia.

The Spanish adventure game The Abbey is also a part of that deal.

The Abbey will be released in May while Nordic gamers will have to wait till August for A Vampyre Story.

Source: Paradox Interactive

Hothead Games's website has been re-designed to become that much more user-friendly and better to look at it, like ice cream on top of a rich, chocolate brownie. It also might or might not include a picture of Ronzo in a cheerleader costume. And you might ask: "Does it? Does it really?" The answer: found by clicking. There's a forum now too.

The hyperactive Telltale is becoming a difficult company to keep up with, but we cannot forget that today is the worldwide release of What's New, Beelzebub? from Telltale's site, drawing to a close the best season yet.

While waiting for the epic conclusion of Season 2 to download, you can check out some very positive (though spoilerish, screenshots included) reviews from Gamespy, Strategy Informer, IGN, Gamervision, Frictionless Insight, and undoubtedly others.

205 - What's New, Beelzebub? is now also available over at Telltale's site.

Let the long wait for season 3 begin...

I don't know what a lot of people think of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, but my general opinion is that they were pretty good with some excellent stories, but they didn't really capture the feel of the movies.

The show was cancelled after just two seasons, although there were always plans for a third series that would make the show feel more Indy-like. A few of these stories got made into TV movies, including 'Treasure of the Peacock's Eye' and 'Phantom Train of Doom', two of the best and most filmic stories (the latter even had Paul 'Belloq' Freeman in it).

The rest of the episodes had only vague plots outlined... that is, until now!

Young Indy meeting Abner Ravenwood and searching for the Ark together? Indy becoming friends with Belloq and discovering a Crystal Skull and a Lost City? Indy having a fantasy where he's five inches high and rides a goose? Damn, I want these made!

Check it out!

As promised, Telltale has put up their mini-site for Strong Bad featuring an overview, videos, the first screenshots, and an extensive FAQ. A few key points:

• Gameplay-wise, it will be a point 'n click adventure much like Sam & Max, only with the Homestar characters, who will all make appearances at some point.
  
• Team includes Telltale designers Mark Darin, Chuck Jordan, Brendan Q. Ferguson, Mike Stemmle, and Dave Grossman.
  
• The WiiWare version of the game will take advantage of Wii Connect24 with some special features that will tie the episodes together and let you communicate with friends.
  
• Although schedule/price specifics haven't been announced, it will run very similar to Sam & Max - five episodes, monthly releases, optional season bundle. The first episode arrives in June for WiiWare, unknown for PC.
  
• The Chapman brothers are heavily involved with the writing, visuals, etc. and will be lending the voices for the characters just like in the flash toons.
  
• Sam & Max Season 3 will release in early 2009, and Telltale has one more unannounced series in the works. Three of their series will run more or less back to back, meaning we'll be getting monthly episodes from Telltale for a long stretch of time.

Check it all out on Telltale's newly made over web site.

Update: Maybe JP updated my previous news post with some of this, but that doesn't make your face any less ugly.

Today Telltale has revealed its first of two previously unannounced licenses. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, based on the popular characters and flash toons that make up the universe of Homestar Runner, will be released on WiiWare this June in addition to the PC. This five episode series will be released on a monthly schedule similar to Sam & Max. So far no details (such as the actual schedule or price point) or media have been released, but at least a few of these things should be rectified on Telltale's site later today at their Strongbad page.

So, how awesome is that? Check out the press release. And if you haven't heard of Homestar Runner (and that's seriously a crying shame), you could do worse than heading over there right now and checking out Peasant's Quest, and everything else.

Edit: There's an hilarious trailer up here.

Hard to believe, but today's the day the fifth and final episode of the season, What's New, Beelzebub? is now up on the Gametap client. That of course means that tomorrow you'll be able to find the episode for download on Telltale's site, and so ends what few will argue was a superb season of Sam & Max games.

See you all in hell!

Dan Connors has had a good talk with Gamespot on the nature of episodic games and how tricky they can be. The interview has this beautiful piece of info:

"However, Telltale has seen its share of struggles, most notably in the aborted precursor to the Sam & Max series, Bone. After releasing two episodes of Bone in seven months, Telltale suspended development on the series because it simply wasn't getting traction."

Interesting.

Source: Gamespot

That's right. The game you will be able to play on PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, DS & Xbox360 is also going to be available on N-Gage mobile phones. Looks fairly decent too:



So now PC owners can look forward to announcements that the game is also coming to Casio FX-82 calculators, the Commodore 64, Colecovision, certain digital watches, iPods, microwave ovens and speak'n'spells. Probably.

Source: YouTube

This time it's from MacWorld. Read on.

If any publishers out there think that there's so much hype for this game because it's licensed: you're wrong. There's so much hype because its creators have proved themselves to be awesome. Don't go saying we want games based on webcomics, in other words. Because you're wrong.

Source: Macworld

If you were to go to Amazon's pre-order page for the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull soundtrack disc, you would find a complete track listing. I won't post them here, since they do contain spoilers (though I'm pretty sure nothing along the lines of a certain Star Wars prequel track title), but it's there.

Also, pre-order the soundtrack! Because you know no matter what happens, that part of the movie is going to be fantastic.

Wanna play Season Two but ain't got enough cash for it? Even if that makes you a cheap scumbag? Well then rejoice, scum: all you need to do is to answer the three questions Adventure Gamers has correctly and you could be eligible for winning Sam and Max: Season Two for free. That's right. And even that's too expensive for you, I think. You scum.

Update: And as Maratanos helpfully pointed-out: You can do the same over at Joystiq. Chud is doing the same thing. So are those chaps over at Adventure Treff, and, of course, the ever-lovable 4 Color Rebellion.

Source: Adventure Gamers

The soundtracks for Telltale's Sam & Max episodes are uniformly excellent, so I'm always grateful whenever they decide to offer some free MP3s from them. (Some, and not all, because they'll surely be releasing a full-fledged CD release at some point as they did with Season 1.) Today we're treated to a new track from Night of the Raving Dead, three from Chariots of the Dogs and one from the upcoming What's New, Beelzebub? Music!

The no doubt excellent season finale to the decidedly excellent Sam & Max: Season 2 will premiere on Gametap this Thursday and will be available to download from Telltale on Friday. I'm ripe with anticipation.

The third instalment of Mojo's riveting LucasArts' Secret History series will soon be upon you.

This time we'll be looking into Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure. In case you haven't done so already (and so doing risk having your face melted by the almighty), send your opinions for our aptly named Opinions page to this address. See your name in lights and get an amusing avatar all to yourself!

The Force Unleashed site is up. Go take a look if you want.

If you haven't already, you'll need to watch the trailer and then check out this Penny-Arcade strip.

UPDATE: Of course the main draw in the new site is 'The TFU Experience' (they really haven't seen Spaced, have they?) video, which shows off the game on the other non-LucasArts developed platforms. Prepare to seeth with rage when Haden Blackman says "we wanted the game on as many platforms as possible" and then forgets to mention the PC in any way.

Anyway though, there seem to be cool exclusive features on every platform, as Glo_kidd suggests is probably to get people to buy more than one copy of the game.

PSP version - historical fights from the movies.
PS2 version - Jedi Trials mission.
Wii version - incredibly cool control system that seems to work just as we'd hoped.
DS Version - A handheld console you actually want to own.
360/PS3 version - Full LucasArts-developed Euphoria-powered version.
PC version - The chance to play through Jedi Knight, TIE Fighter, KOTOR or Empire At War again.

Source: Lucasarts

Still undecided about whether or not to get the DS version of Insecticide, the new original game from the ex-LucasArts team at Crackpot Entertainment that we've been going about for a long time? Well I hope we can make your mind up for you at last with our definitive review!

UPDATE: Also, Crackpot have told us that they're hopeful to have the PC version finished within the next couple of weeks.

Highlights from the official press release:

Sam & Max's journey to the Wii system has been fueled by fan excitement.

Sam & Max Season One for Wii will be published by Dreamcatcher/The Adventure Company in North America, and by JoWooD in Europe. In addition to English language, the game will be fully localized in French and German, and subtitled in Italian and Spanish. All versions are expected to ship during the fall 2008 season.

Isn't it strange that there's a company out there with great adventure game IP who are enthusiastic about it?

Source: Telltale Games

In case you missed it, here's the totally awesome, cool and not at all fake trailer for Sam & Max: Freelance Police - The Movie.



Caution: may contain footage of a cancelled game that still brings Mojo to tears.

A reader named Nik wrote me to share a fan-made version of Dave's theme music from the NES version of Maniac Mansion, produced by a fellow named "shaunphase." Nik says the following about the person responsible for the track:

This guy on this online community I visit is pretty into turning NES tunes into proper songs. I don't think he's done any other MM tunes though, he says they're pretty difficult.

Give the tune a listen!

You've been waiting for this since the first time you heard that Telltale's reviving the Sam & Max franchise as an episodic game series, and here it is!

Gamespot reports that Telltale's confirmed that the first season of Sam & Max is heading for Nintendo's Wii this fall in both North-America and Europe.

Update: Gamespot posted a video interview with Dan Connors as part of the news story, but their link to it on the main page appears broken so if anyone didn't notice the video see it here. Dan reveals some significant news such as that their Wiiware series will be announced next week and will indeed be a launch product for the service. (May 12th.)

IGN has posted a post-mortem type interview with Mike Levine addressing some of the recurring complains from the reviewers.

It's an easy target for reviews to go, "Well, they tried to do two types of gameplay, and they should have just done one." You sort of see this snowball effect where people just fall in line with that. In the same breath, those same people are always screaming for innovation in this industry and different types of games.

Read the rest here.

Source: IGN

Okay, so we're all aware of the behind-the-scenes soap opera concerning the various screenplays that attempted to rejuvenate the Indiana Jones film series before a script was finally written that was actually produced into the film we're all going to be seeing on May 22. By far the most well-known of the rejected drafts was the one by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, some Young Indy episodes), a treatment reportedly loved by Spielberg but not-so-loved by big George. Despite the attempts of the internet media to make it look like Frank Darabont is incredibly pissed off and wants to shoot George Lucas repeatedly in the face, it's evident that he's pretty chill on the whole thing:



Something you'll notice in that interview, though, is that Darabont mentions the possibility of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull containing more than a few similarities to his own work. The above interview was conducted a few months ago when Darabont was promoting his latest film, The Mist, and he had not yet read the script to see just how much of his ideas were used.

Well, it would seem, according to this annoyingly written article that not enough of Darabont's work survived the finished film to get his name in the credits, at least in the opinion of the WGA or whoever's responsibility it is to decide such matters. Interestingly, though, Jeff Nathanson shares a "story" credit with George Lucas in the final credits list - Nathanson is the guy who penned a draft between Darabont's dismissal and the final screenplay by David Koepp. Is there in fact a good deal of Darabont's work in the final product? Who knows, but I thought this was worth sharing.

I'm guessing you've been wondering how to get your hands on Penny Arcade Adventures. Well, let me announce the creation of Greenhouse, "an online hub for digitally distributed PC games" (the first to be sold will, in fact be, Penny Arcade Adventures). It's a merge of Hothead and Penny Arcade. This is all good news.

You can read-up on Greenhouse over at Wired, who also have an interview about it with Gabe and Tycho - or Mike and Jerry, creators of the lovable duo.

Anyone else think that gaming's finally heading in the right direction? Pop-out the celebratory firecrackers lads, this is an event to watch.

Update: And the beta is up.

Source: Wired

And it will be out on September 16th. You could read the press release if you want a much longer version of that statement with no additional information.

Yippee.

Telltale has updated their What's New, Beelzebub? page with a gameplay video and some new screenshots. Well, what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?

Only a couple of months now until a new Indy film and a new Indy game! The game being Lego Indiana Jones, of course. There's a new mini-Q&A with associate producer Kellam Eanes at GameInformer that informs us that yes, you can beat up Marcus. He also skilfully skirts around the "is there any Indy IV content in this game, yes or no?" question.

Of more interest however is the Video interview with senior producer Shawn Storc at GameSpot, showing loads of new footage. There's plenty of moments from the opening level that we playtested recently, as they obviously still haven't fixed the glitchy ropes.

Of particular interest to me was a short bit from the cutscene where Indy and Marcus talk to the intelligence guys about the Ark of the Covenant. The picture in the Bible is incredibly cool!

...Darrell Rodriguez.

He has been named president of LucasArts. Full press release here.

"I couldn't be more excited to join such a dynamic and innovative company as LucasArts," states Rodriguez. "The people are world class and the IP is the best in the business. To be able to work with such cultural icons as Star Wars and Indiana Jones and develop new franchises is like a dream come true."

As pointed out in forums by Haggis, no mention of the historical original IP. Nor any specific mention of Indiana Jones 2015 though Force Unleashed, Fracture and LEGO Indy Jones are discussed.

Rodriguez is currently Electronic Arts LA's chief operating officer and has worked at Disney Imagineering. Hopefully him being a creative type bodes well for the future of the company.

Source: LucasArts

In what can only be described as awesome on Wired's part, they have put-up a hands-on preview of Penny Arcade Adventures up for your reading pleasure, which all comes without April Fool's jokes or jokes involving hands. This has been Tim Schafer, Mojo News, Moscow.

Source: Wired

ScummVM is taking part in the Google Summer of Code again and they require students who are willing to work on the program and want to earn $4500 to apply. The deadline is the 31st. of March (yep, today) and they would really like to get some more applications.

So if you think you know C++ and want to contribute, why not head over to their site and send in your application?

Update: The deadline's been extended to April 7th!

This is a weird one. I was about to go to bed when I went through my spam folder and lo-and-behold if there wasn't an email from my old @mixnmojo address. God knows why it was being forwarded to my spam, or how many important e-mails I may have missed (grrr) but anyway, check this out:



It is what appears to be box artwork for a SEGA copy of The Secret of Monkey Island. What's weird about it is that Monkey Island was released on the SEGA CD, but not the SEGA Megadrive (or Genesis, if that's what you prefer.)

I can't tell you the source of the image, but apparantly it's on a rolling slideshow on a big plasma screen somewhere in the LucasArts complex. This photo was taken on a mobile phone as it rolled past, as the photographer experienced what I can only assume to be blind disbelief.

It all sounds crazy, and apparantly 'the woman' at LucasArts didn't know anything about it. Perhaps LucasArts were working on a Megadrive port of The Secret of Monkey Island and then canned it when the SEGA CD was announced? It's possible I guess.

For completists the original photo can be found here, albeit in a cropped form.

(PS. I don't know how to work the image system, but I figured this news was worth sharing as soon as I found it. Sorry if I've messed up our galleries!)

Update: Yes of course, it was an april fool. View the real (and very clearly fake) image below.

Let's face it, everyone thought The Unofficial Sam & Max Web Site looked pretty bland, and just never quited achieved that "Web 2.0" feel we all really wanted from it.

Thankfully, they've finally thrown out their ugly placeholder page and revealed the new site, which finally delivers the goods. Hopefully our other hosted sites follow suit.

It is! If you don't believe Ronzo is posting here, take a look at his site! All real, I tell ya!

To complete our round of exclusive News stories at Mojo (three in one day? Extraordinary!), we can present to you a special exclusive photo from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, showing Indy actually with the Crystal Skull! Wow!

Check it out!

It seems that Dan Pettit, who you will all know for his excellent work as lead tester on The Curse of Monkey Island, has now moved up to become president of the entire company!

No doubt Pettit's skill of noticing faults and correcting them will be useful in his new role, and though no changes to the development of Force Unleashed or Indiana Whatsit have been announced, you can be sure that they will at least both be released bug-free.

Update: Jack Rodford, our source at LucasArts, has told us that Pettit has had difficulty filling the shoes of Jim Ward. This is apparently meant to be taken literally: back when Randy Breen was president, a rule was established that the president has to walk around in large metal boots, and kick anyone who works too slowly. Since then every LucasArts president has been required to have big feet, and Pettit is the first in that line to have, in fact, small feet ("Pettit" is actually a nick-name: his real name is Smith).

More on this story as it develops...

We all remember when Jim Ward left his position as President of LucasArts. Some people asked: what's the next step? What is Ward going to do next?

Today we recieved our answer: our source at Telltale games, who I shall refer to simply as "Jake," gave us the news that the company has a new president.

Already big changes have occured, such as the cancellation of Sam & Max (no last episode, then) and the purchase of the Star Trek lisence.

Still no word on who will replace Jim Ward at LucasArts, but I have a feeling we may hear about that later on today...

Hi guys! It's Ron Gilbert here. I wasn't happy with how little Mix'n'mojo was covering Hothead, so I decided to do something about it... by joining the staff! I'm a news updater now, as well as being Creative Director at Hothead games.

I'll be keeping you all inbformed about DEATHSPANK, Penny Arcade, Spore and maybe something more... :-) I may also be updating the news about Double Fine from time to time seeing as I'm a HUGE Tim Schafer fanboy.