The International House of Mojo

Fresh Sam & Max impressions and interviews from the game's display at the Penny Arcade Expo have been unleashed. The thing is there's tons of new coverage to track down and honestly you're not worth the trouble, but the kind souls at Telltale have gone ahead and neatly listed it all in their blog.

I'll let you go ahead and read up for the great details (and there are many), but know that the OCModShop preview has some blurry photographed screens from a recent playable build, and Dan Connors has confirmed that individual episodes will be a maximum of $10 (the latest pricing update since "less than Bone") which sounds pretty damn awesome. Anyway indulge yourself, though if you're worried about precious details of a small game being spoiled you may want to proceed cautiously.

One is by Gamespy and the other by the Game|Life blog. Oh, and did I mention that they both contain brand new screenshots? As in actual screenshots and not just environment renders (as arousing as those are)? They also go into a bit more detail on the first episode's plot than past have. There's more assurance of the game's challenge as well:

Anyway, Grossman says that the first episode will be a little smaller than Telltale's last product Bone: The Great Cow Race, but more difficult. Whereas Bone had an extensive hint system that would outright tell players what to do, Sam and Max's gameplay hints are more subtle. Talking to your little rabbit pal might nudge you along, but it'll be more "opaque," says Grossman.

In addition to the promise of gun-toting revelry:

In fact, at any time in the game, you can get out the pistol, which turns the cursor into crosshairs. Sam won't shoot things indiscriminately (well, not everything), but there are plenty of objects that you can bounce a bullet off of just for fun. And, of course, filling things with holes plays a part in the game's puzzles right off the bat.

Give them a look, and be sure to look out for any other previews that may pop up in the near future.

Update: Let me just throw this in here: There's a five minute audio interview with Dan Connors available here that's worth checking out.
Update update: I refuse to make a new news post. Adventure Gamers has got some new Sam & Max screens. Some of it seem to be promotional images and all of it seems awesome.

That wasn't so long a wait, now was it?

You check out Jeff Smith's blog, don't you? Jeff's a nice guy, his blog is always fascinating, and you should read it every day. But something particularly fascinating is this little piece from his August 13th entry which I'm just getting a chance to read:

I?ve also been busy working on something akin to a Director?s Cut for the Telltale BONE games, (which I am very excited about. I hope to tell you about that soon)

Huh?

The embittered LucasArts fan might claim that we never have any real updates, and well... The embittered LucasArts fan might be right, but once in a while we do surprise. Like today!

Our very own Gabez has conducted interviews with both Telltale and Bay Area Sound, and you get to reap the benefits. Sweet stuff. Go read!

This time at everyone's favorite web site that is named GamingTrend. Grossman, Connors, and Bruner all get a chance to answer some questions, and you should read them. Oh, and can I take this to mean that the sketchbook and/or that awesome Max skull T-shirt will be mine in the near future?

Q: Any chance we can throw you some money in the form of more varieties of Sam & Max T-Shirts and other merch? You hear me?! I?m asking how I can send you more money?

Dan Connors: We are selling pieces of what used to be the wall in our office for $10 bucks a piece, probably asbestos free. Also we will have some new merchandise really soon: t-shirts, books, etc.

Those cool and sexy guys over at Autumn Moon has sent over a new image from their upcoming game, A Vampyre Story. This one might very well be a good desktop image. Go look.

Great news. Still a month out from the release of the new LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy videogame, and already a PC demo has been released.

The demo takes place on the sprawling Tatooine Mos Eisley level and allows you to take control of Luke, Ben, Han, Chewie, R2 and 3PO (plus anybody else if you get to the end and unlock freeplay mode).

There's nothing quite like spinning donuts in your landspeeder and knocking pedestrians flying. GTA Star Wars anyone? Without the hookers of course.

Anyway, it's a 460MB download, available at all the usual places. If you don't know any usual places, try here.

In a blitz of Press Releases reprinting, LucasArts has announced a parnership with Day1 Studios, creators of MechAssault.

There is an interview with LucasArts' Peter Hirschmann at Gamespot detailing the new project;

...Indeed, Day 1 president Denny Thorley told GameSpot that the deal with LucasArts was partially inspired by Mercenaries, LucasArts' non-Star Wars-related collaboration with Pandemic Studios. That game won widespread critical acclaim for its innovative gameplay...

Apparently this is not a Star Wars game, so don't expect some AT-AT / AT-ST simulator just yet.

Source: Google News

Check out this new Sam & Max interview from FiringSquad. There's a few new details there, including a handful of puzzle descriptions from Grossman. Also Mark Rein gets ridiculed which is always fun. Head on over there.

The September issue of Edge magazine has an article about LucasArts, and the cover sports some really cool drawings of various LucasArts game characters throughout the ages. Try to spot them all when you see it in this Adventure Gamers forum thread. Apparently though the article itself has nothing to do with the old LucasArts games.

Source: AG Forums

Ever wanted to paint your wall with motifs from Day of the Tentacle? Sure you haven't, but now you can learn how to do it. The whole story is in some strange language, but I'm sure the pictures should help you along.