The fourth and penultimate episode of Telltale's Back To The Future is totally now available. Yep, that's two games in one week for Telltale. Lucky that dinosaur one got pushed back otherwise there would've been three, and I don't think the world's ready for that much Telltale.
Source: Telltale
Hector: Badge of Carnage episode 1, subtitled “We Negotiate with Terrorists”, has finally been released for PC and Mac. There's also an iPad port coming, but the date's not yet been specified. You can grab it here.
Wonder what this is all about? Check out Telltale's Hector page and the trailer below.
Source: Telltale Games
Telltale's "good news" drawer is starting to be filled up here. The latest twist is that the company has (once again) signed on "to publish games for the Xbox 360."
"Adding console support to our acknowledged expertise in digital downloads is another positive step in our long-term growth strategy," said CEO Dan Connors while, we assume, grabbing on to a few new franchises at the same time.
But ho ho, seriously, this is pretty awesome as some of us have wanted to see Tales of Monkey Island and The Devil's Playhouse on the 360. No word if that will happen or if this is for new games only, but seriously, Telltale. Do me a solid and we'll be BFFs until I decide I want more from you.
Source: Shacknews (via Threepwood4life
File this one under "smart decision."
Telltale has just announced Jurassic Park: The Game will be held back until next fall to "ensure PC players get the best possible gaming experience." In other words, the game will be released for all platforms simultaneously this fall.
Apparently Telltale will also issue a 100% refund to those of us who pre-ordered, as well as bribing us with one free game to keep us quiet. Sounds like a fair deal. Though it's not stated if you'll get the refund and still get the game, I'm going to guess that would be one step too far. (Update: You do get your money back and the game. Good job, TTG. -- Never mind. ¬)
Hey, a delayed game is better than a game lacking polish.
LucasArts may be announcing nothing, but they're certainly committing something to that nothing. They've just announced via press release that they have signed the popular (some might say "ridiculously overused") Unreal Engine 3 from Epic Games, as used in such titles as Gears of War, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Bioshock and a fair few others, for use in the long term in whatever games they're not telling us about.
Zak Phelps, technology director at LucasArts, had this to say:
"Unreal Engine 3 is a forward-looking solution that shortens the path between inspiration and execution on a wide variety of gaming platforms. We are thrilled to add another exceptional tool to our technology mix."
"LucasArts is now primed to capitalize on Unreal Engine 3's ability to scale across platforms, from mobile, through PC and console all the way up to the next generation of games. We can't wait to see what happens when LucasArts combines their talented workforce and amazing intellectual properties with Unreal Engine 3."
Source: Residual website
Top hosted site Nightlight Productions have released part three of their internet radio-serial Beneath Monkey Island.
This week, Governor Phatt oversees the trial of the Zombie Pirate LeChuck! You can catch up on to all the previous parts here.
In other fan audio news, Bad Asp!'s parodic retelling of Telltale's Sam & Max series reached Episode Five earlier in the month.
Source: The Telltale Blog
Back in February, The Angry Video Game Nerd did an episode where he took on a batch of Star Wars games. You might ask why we didn't report this in February, to which I might respond, "Hey, shut up." Oh, but what might have been.
Anyway, the games he tackles begins with some Atari games from the days before LucasArts could be bothered to do anything with the Star Wars brand but license it out, but the rest are LEC-developed: Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back for the NES, the Super Star Wars trilogy for the Super NES, and Shadows of the Empire for the N64.
Since those latter two selections in this very narrow subset of the three trillion Star Wars games ever made are actually pretty good, this is a fairly toothless episode in the Nerd's caustic arsenal. I was surprised to find Rolfe so charitable toward those NES games - Star Wars in particular is pretty universally reviled. I guess, like the rest of us, he's unfortunate enough to have a good day every now and then.
Source: Cinemassacre
We're not the greatest around here to report on news regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic, but here's a couple of titbits:
Senior Environment Artist Robby Lamb has posted a new Studio Insider where he talks about polishing the game environment. Unlike a bad game critic, he goes into details on what polishing entails and what he does as a part of that process. Like a bad game critic, he really loves to use that word. A lot.
Continuing the tradition of peddling as much Star Wars merchandise as possible, two spin-off novels have already been released with a third in development. It's title has finally been revealed and it's Revan. There's a Q&A with the author and things on the official page.
Source: SWTOR.com News
It's been announced via Press Release and Twitter that two of Telltale's games will be with us shortly. Hector: Badge of Carnage, the rather fun-looking traditional 2D adventure, will be out Wednesday April 27th and Back To The Future Episode 4: Double Visions will be out just generally next week sometime.
But there's one missing. Where's the first episode of Jurassic Park? It's still down as coming out April. If it's been delayed to give it an extra layer of, um, quality, I'm all for that - but shouldn't there be an announcement or something? If it is still coming out though... three games in one week Telltale? Wow.
It is, as you may have noticed, 2011. Therefore we ask, possibly a few months too late, who you have the most faith in for 2011. Will LucasArts make a comeback? Or will Double Fine keep up its string of goodness? Maybe Telltale's 345 games is more to your liking, or is there a bigger chance that Charlie Sheen will keep on winning? Then there's Autumn Moon of course.
But don't read this, go over there! And vote!
... or something like that, if you read between the lines in this interview with TTG's Dan Connors. The article, amongst some vaguely odd-ish statements, says...
"Original content from a gaming perspective is pretty romantic, but it's pretty difficult," he says. "Franchises have always been a part of our strategy. We want to create great interactive stories and we think there's a wealth of great stories that exist in the (film and television) worlds that need interactive stories - and we can supply that. As far as being able to establish a brand, every time we connect to a franchise, we're associating ourselves with something that has a lot of fans – and we can reach out and introduce ourselves to them and let them know we do other things."
Some might argue that the franchise "part" of the strategy is closing in on 100%, but who am I to split hairs? Read the interview for more.
Source: Gamesutra
Something Craig Derrick, Monkey Island Special Edition producer and self-proclaimed adventure genre re-inventor, wrote on the wall of the official Monkey Island Facebook profile on April 7th has captured the attention of TalesOfMI.net and others. It went a little something like:
So...how's it going? =) Thanks to everyone here for keeping the love for Monkey Island going! Great things come to those that wait.
Source: Monkey Island Facebook profile
Welcome to the most contentious day in LucasArts+ history. Yes, today is Bicycle Day, the commemoration of the world's first LSD trip release of Psychonauts.
It's true. On this day in 1943 2005, Albert Hofmann ingested the first intentional dose of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, and changed the world forever Tim Schafer released the groundbreaking video game Psychonauts, which certainly isn't a euphamism for any kind of drug activity. Look, Tim said so himself - twice!
As Bill Hicks once said,
If you don't think drugs have done good things for us then do me a favor. Go home tonight and take all of your records,tapes and all your CD's and burn them. Because, you know all those musicians who made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years? Real high on drugs.
Psychonauts is a great game, man.
And I don't want to argue the case for The Beatles, The Doors, Black Sabbath or that Monkey Island song, because Tim Schafer did that already. So, happy April 19th everybody!
(By the way, I'm fired.)
If you're anything like me, you've probably felt that if there's something Telltale needs, it's more licenses.
Well thank god almighty, then, that Law & Order: Los Angeles has been acquired! Read all about it here. So how many licenses does TTG have in the oven right now? Seven including the ongoing Back to the Future, give or take? Plus three franchises currently at episode one stages for the iPad?
"Yikes" comes to mind.
Well, now you can! Amazon is currently selling the game for $1. Or $4 if you want to buy it used.
Source: Amazon.com
I am sure you, as me, have been camping outside your local cinema, excitedly waiting for the first part of the (I can only assume) epic Atlas Shrugged saga. Because if the teaser poster is anything to go by, it is all about how The Man keeps LucasArts down.
Just something to chew on while waiting for Behind Mojo to make its triumphant return.
Source: Good Old Games
Well, it's about damn time! Someone wants to go out and make a real life AT-AT.
This means only one thing: We need to create a donation button on Mojo so we can begin to save up for our Death Star. We have to stay one step ahead in the quickly growing field of building Star Wars technology!
Source: AT-AT for America
Bill Tiller has uncovered an old pre-production sketchbook of his work on the celebrated Curse of Monkey Island - and despite the concerns of some, he's uploaded some scans for us all to enjoy!
Each image comes with a tweet's worth of backstory, but it's interesting stuff. For example: at one time, the shipwreck occurred on Duck Skull Island instead of Blood Island, and the windmill was there as well. Don't believe me? Look!
There are several other treasures to be found, so don't delay.
Source: Jason "lost password" Harang
Source: IGN
Could this scandalously obscene neglect have been the impetus for some LEC vets jumping ship to form a new studio? Unlikely!
Gamasutra reports that four veterans from LucasArts and EA have founded November Software in the Bay Area. Apparently the folks in question were involved in the tech for both Force Unleashed titles. Jumping on the lucrative social gaming craze, the company "aims to bring streaming 3D content to web and mobile-based social games."
Their first project will be called Inemeri: A Familiar World, which will be "coming to the web as well as iOS devices," and will have a closed beta during the summer. And so concludes The International House of Mojo's coverage of this company. Best of luck, you guys!
Update: Sorry if any of you witnessed a code blow-up in this news post earlier. I ran into a "divide by number of new LEC Steam releases" error that had to be fixed.
Source: Gamasutra
One physician-approved substitute for routine cardio is keeping up with the latest on Telltale Games, whose bevy of high-profile licenses keeps the web a-buzzing and my heart a-murmuring.
You've got an interview with The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman at Collider. The artist behind Rick Grimes and his fellow survivors delves into everything from the comic to the show's second season and the Telltale project. Here's the game-related bit:
What is your level of involvement with The Walking Dead video game that is being developed?
I just had a meeting with them yesterday. I’m not writing the video game myself just because I don’t have time. I can say that I picked Frank Darabont for the show and I picked Telltale Games because they are very familiar with the comic book and they know what makes the comic book good and what makes the comic book “The Walking Dead” as opposed to just as, you know, zombies running around and cutting people’s heads off and stuff. If you want to buy a game where you run around and kill zombies with an uzi – that game exists and there are more of those games coming out. They are fun games and everybody likes them, but we are not going to try and compete with those games. We are going to try to do something a little different that is a little more true to The Walking Dead. Knowing that they are that invested in changing what you might expect from a zombie game and really bringing the emotion and drama of The Walking Dead to video games makes me trust them. But I’m overseeing everything.
What kind of genre is the game going to be?
I don’t know what the technical name is. I know what the game is, but I don’t know if I can talk about it yet. I don’t know what the technical name for it is and I don’t know if I can say if it is. I do know that the game will have shooting. It just won’t be the focus of the game.
Telltale also reports that Joe Pinney will be on Gamespot's "On the Spot" show tomorrow to promote Jurassic Park, where no expense is likely to be spared.
Source: Telltale
Adventure Gamers reports that the first DLC for Double Fine's Stacking is now out and about. The expansion is called The Lost Hobo King, and here's the synopsis:
In The Lost Hobo King, Charlie travels to the kingdom of Camelfoot to help his hobo friend Levi with an important family matter. Levi’s uncle Rufus, heir to the throne, may only take his rightful place if the lost crown can be found. To recover the fragmented crown, Charlie must use his unique talents to overcome several tests of valor left by the ancient hobo mystics. It is only then that the ancient crown can be re-forged, Rufus crowned, and the fractured hobo people united under one sardine can.
The Lost Hobo King of course features the same gameplay you're familiar with, and offers one new level (with a new, self-contained narrative) along with fifteen new dolls. The percentage of new content in relation to the original game seems pretty comparable to Grubbin's on Ice and Costume Quest, with a price that reflects. You can get it on XBLA and PSN right this moment for $4.99.
Source: Adventure Gamers
Udvarnoky, The Tingler, and SurplusGamer discuss all the things that have been happening since the last MojoCast recorded in November of last year.
This MojoCast is also the first you can stream directly from the site. Just look below the forum posts to the right to find the new flash player as well as a download link to a slightly higher quality version.
This week there's a sale on a few Xbox Live Arcade games, including a couple of favourites: Costume Quest and Monkey Island 2: Special Edition. Both are half-price for this week only - Costume Quest is 600 Microsoft Points and Monkey Island 2 is 400.
Costume Quest is excellent, but I presume everyone's already got Monkey Island 2 on PC. And if you haven't, well, I can't really recommend buying it as it'll mean giving money to LucasArts, and they really hate it when people do that.
Source: Xbox Live
Telltale promised it last year, and they've delivered: Back To The Future Episode 1: It's About Time is now totally and utterly free. If you've been unsure about the series so far, now at least you can properly try it out and see if it jives with your nostalgia.
We liked it, but it definitely has some problems. Our review of the third episode's coming soon, promise.
Source: Telltale
Whatever it is that LEC isn't working on right now, they're working on it hard. Gamasutra reports a new high profile hire by LucasArts - Tim Longo, best known as the "creative and franchise director" for the Tomb Raider series at Crystal Dynamics.
He is said to be serving LucasArts in the capacity of Creative Director on "an unannounced project." A certain fedora wearing tomb raider springs immediately to mind as the likeliest subject of this project (and it would certainly be nice for the Indiana Jones game series to be elevated from its painfully ironic perception as lower grade Tomb Raider games in the first place), but I guess we can't be surprised if he turns out to be making light-saber Kinect games either.
Incidentally, the other day some crippled orphan asked me where he could buy The Curse of Monkey Island. I told him to check eBay and to screw off. Just thought that was too good a story to keep to myself.
Source: Gamasutra
Source: RePlay (via XeroCool)
Source: The Telltale Tattler