It's Double Fine's tenth birthday, which we totally reported so shut up, and to celebrate their art director and really talented dude Scott Campbell has posted a lovely commemorative piece.
Which Kotaku spotted before we did.
It's a pretty cool showing of all the almost-made-it-in-the-game characters Double Fine created along with their main studio leads (2HB, Raz, Eddie) and a cameo from Dogen. But you don't need me to tell you since you've already seen it by now. Right? Right.
Source: Kotaku
Gamasutra has posted an analysis of DeathSpank's chuckle-inducing characteristics, using the game's "integrated design for comedy" to explore the success and prevalence of humor in games in general.
How telling is it that Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer, who arrived on the scene together over 20 years ago, remain the only two designers most gamers can think of when it comes to comedic games? It's a worn-out cliche, but it remains true: comedy is hard - hard work; hard to produce; and hard to perform.
Source: Gamasutra
"While the decision to leave LucasArts did not happen overnight or come easily, I really feel that now is the best time for me to move on and explore new creative challenges and I look forward to the next phase of my career."
Source: IGN
You whined and LEC listened. According to our forums the Steam version of LeChuck's Revenge has been patched, fixing many of the audio issues people were complaining about. In other words, the bone song should now be synced.
No word if the other versions of the game have been updated yet.
Update: Full list of Alterations
Direct from LucasArts, here's everything you need to know about the patch, in full:
Adjusted timing delays for certain puzzles
Fixed missing music in Dinky Jungle
Fixed music synching issue with the Bone Dance sequence
Fixed various music cross-fading issues
Added intro and outro credits sequences to the Classic version
Added acceleration curve to cursor speed
Increased volume level of “Classic” Chester
Who says LucasArts don't listen to you moaning gits? ;)
Although already available worldwide from a number of different digital distribution services, Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island has not yet received the boxed treatment in North America. It seems like that's soon to change though, as online retailers all over the place have posted product listings for the game - Amazon and Gamestop among them - and they all seem to point to a release by ValuSoft (a division of THQ) on August 30th with an attached price point of $19.99. Although the release looks to be a quiet one at best, you can file this one under "very likely."
Update: For whatever reason, Amazon has just slashed the price to $10.86, so anyone who was planning on buying this release may want to to preorder, as Amazon will honor that price even if it proves to be temporary.
An unabashedly pink website is the home of the first, voyeuristic glimpses of the production of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, currently filming on location in Hawaii. The thirty-three photographs mostly depict stars Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz walking down a beach (presumably just outside the Big Whoop amusement park), but I'm all about the peeks of Geoffrey Rush in royal navy garb.
Source: RadarOnline.com
He still can't reveal the title, but that's not stopping Bill from revealing this photograph of his monitor with an in-progress piece of background art for Autumn Moon's third game on it. He calls what you're seeing a "color rough," but surely it's enough for at least one of you to be able to explain to me in the comments where this game takes place, what it's about, and whether or not it's Game Genie compatible. Discuss!
Source: Bill Tiller's twitter feed
Today is the tenth anniversary of Double Fine's founding, and also Tim Schafer's birthday. Yes, ten years and two games ago the cancellation-prone San Francisco based game studio was formed in an empty clog shop, and all of us were salivating over rumors that Tim and the Grim Fandango team were working on some console game for Microsoft. Those anti-adventure traitors.
Thankfully, recent news indicates that we're getting not one but none four new games from the developer, and possibly fairly soon. Which is awesome.
Happy first decade, double-headed baby! You don't look a day over 120 months.
Something I've never really thought about before, and suddenly have a deep appreciation for, is Mark Ferrari's colour cycling work on Loom and The Secret of Monkey Island. But what's colour cycling, you ask?
It's the clever technique used to make water look like it's rippling, or fire dancing, or clouds racing, without having to use sprites. It's accomplished by changing the colour palette, which basically means it's very, very hard. Here is a bad example to show you what I mean.
Joseph Huckaby, though, understands this well. And he's actually managed to replicate Mark's advanced understand of how to use colour cycling properly using HTML5 - and the results are very pretty indeed.
So, thanks Mark Ferrari - your work continues to be appreciated by us all. And thanks to you, Joe, for reminding us :)
Source: Effect Games (via Kotaku)
Well, it's sort of a lazy Saturday morning for me right now, so let's see what Bill's got for us on his Twitter.
Hmm, yes, he seems to have another zoomed-in peek at an in-progress background painting for his new game for us to obsess over. And also, he rightfully scolds us for failing to notice the Cross of Coronado from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade being snuck into A Vampyre Story.
Source: Bill Tiller's twitter feed
Yet another thing on the 'Will Never Happen' list has happened: Entertainment Weekly is pimping out Monkey Island 2. Possibly one of the most mainstream recommendations of the game yet, to a crowd that might be called the opposite of 'hardcore adventure game fans'. What the hell next?
Will Never Happen List
1. LucasArts re-release classic adventure games
2. Monkey Island 5
3. Tim Schafer to go on late night talk show
4. Monkey Island appearing in Entertainment Weekly
5. Ron Gilbert to release game
6. Jake to make Sam & Max game
7. Jake to make Monkey Island game
8. Trapezoid youtube video to hit 83 million views
Remi to post the cheques
Monkey Island movie
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Steam's being going crazy with the Telltale love recently, and now the excellent Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People (optimistically subtitled "Season One") is a whopping 82% down in price. That makes it a meagre £3.99/$4.99, which is an absolutely superb price for the amount of entertainment you get out of it. One dollar/80p an episode! Go buy! If you haven't done already, or hate Steam.
Update by Kroms: Right now, Sam and Max Seasons One and Two are going for $9.95, Season Three for $24.95, Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent for $8.95 and Strong Bad + DVD for the aforementioned Steam price. Lots of merch is on sale as well. I'd be buying all this stuff if I didn't own it already. This hilariously-late update brought to you with the help of Mixnmojo's readers. Thanks, guys!
Source: Steam
The most amazing display of human art lies just a click away:
That's right: the Star Wars theme played on bagpipes. Whilst wearing a kilt. On a unicycle!
squidkidd has implored us to help him win a competition inwhich he video is being judged.
He is currently on 18%, behind a woman who can (apparently) rotate her arms. Cast your vote here.
If squidkidd wins, he has promised us that his next video will use the Monkey Island theme tune. Pressumably he will sing it backwards, whilst hopping on one leg, juggling a baby, and impregnating a horse, surrounded by a ring of fire. In space!
Source: Our forums
Kat "A WOMAN!" Bailey has interviewed Hamish Millar and Darren Evenson from Hothead about Ron Gilbert's new game, Deathspank.
"We've got Ron who worked on... Monkey Island... he was the pioneer of adventures in the 80's... he started teaching us what adventure games were, and what they meant."
Seriously, what did we ever do before Bill Tiller's Twitter page?
Working on the first screen shots, the logo and web page for our new episodic game.
That'd be the latest tweet from Bill, and it's an exciting one. The notion of Autumn Moon's next game being episodic has been bandied about, but it would seem to be confirmed now. The title and premise of the game remains a mystery, and all we know is that it's probably an original series (the space robot assassin vehicle, perhaps?) as opposed to an AVS or Ghost Pirates installment. Also, it will apparently have a web site complete with screenshots launched soon, although hopefully the game doesn't share the fate of other Autumn Moon projects that have a web site and screenshots.
Source: Bill Tiller's twitter feed
Chris Remo may have hit the double-digits of interviews with Ron Gilbert with this excellent Gamasutra feature discussing all things DeathSpank with its grumpy creator. The interview is lengthy and covers some interesting ground, so don't just stand there.
Source: Gamasutra
Bill Tiller's latest tweet:
No CMI SE for me. Not sure there will even be one. Bummed.
Not sure what Bill knows that we don't about the likelihood of The Curse of Monkey Island special edition, but I guess he got his response from LEC. It's fair enough and probably just as well if the project isn't being planned - as awesome as an enhanced version of CMI would be, the original game holds up far too well for Bill or LEC to sacrifice precious time on a remake that they can devote to new projects.
Hopefully, if it is indeed the intention for the Special Edition treatment of the Monkey Island saga to end with the second game, LucasArts can work on some re-releases. I think we can all agree that there's really no excuse for things like this having reason to exist.
Source: Bill Tiller's twitter feed
Source: GameTrailers.com
The Sixth Axis have listened to and then duly summarized Tim Schafer's keynote at Develop 2010. It is a good read, with a very interesting section on the benefits of making smaller games. Warning, though: "Tim Shafer" shows-up again. Who is this Tim Shafer? And why does he keep on popping-up in news stories about Tim Schafer? Find out nothing about this mystery man by clicking here.
Source: TheSixthAxis
Coming hot on the heels of the recently-released first screenshots, Telltale has announced that Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 4, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls, will be released on Tuesday, July 20.
July 20, that is, for PC, Mac, and US PlayStation Network users. If all goes as planned, European PSN users should be able to play it on Wednesday, July 21.
I hope you don't have anything scheduled for that date, because otherwise the zombie-Sam-dolls apocalypse is going to put a real crimp in your plans. And possibly a hole in your skull, as the zombies suck out your sweet, sweet brains.
Source: Telltale's blog
And that man is Tim Schafer.
Not much was revealed at the Develop conference today, but apparently Double Fine nixed development of a Brütal Legend 2 in favor of making smaller games. Four of them.
According to IGN, Lee Petty, the man behind much of the Brütally awesome art of their previous game, will work on a retro title "with a twist." Programmer Nathan Marts, meanwhile, is doing something more technologically "cutting edge." Brad Muir and Tasha Harris are also heading up projects. The games all have publishers.
So. This is kind of cool. While Psychonauts and Brütal Legend were awesome, I can't help but think that this new approach will benefit both Double Fine and us. Four games? Come on!
More to come soon, I'm sure.
Source: IGN
Did you know it's Double Fine's tenth anniversary this year? And that Tim Schafer is speaking in Brighton UK tomorrow for the Develop conference which I couldn't be at because I'm in China? Well Eurogamer noticed, and grabbed Tim for an interview. It's really interesting, and contains plenty of hints about Double Fine's new games, plural.
Apparently they've got a publisher for them, and they will be announcing them "soon" - possibly even tomorrow at the conference if Tim's subtle hints are to be interpreted correctly. While a sequel or more DLC for Brutal Legend seems unlikely, Psychonauts 2 is definitively not ruled out. It also might be a downloadable title using the BL engine.
Oh, and he calls Bobby Kotick "a total prick". And spot the mistake Eurogamer made with the Full Throttle screenshot.
UPDATE: After Tim called Activision head Bobby Kotick a dick, a man who doesn't like videogames, and a total prick, Activision have fired back a response: "He does too like videogames!"
UPDATE 2: Tim responds to Activision's response. He wishes he kept his mouth shut and calls his comments about Kotick "an accident", then infers that the Activision head is Darth Vader. So close, Tim, so close.
Source: Eurogamer
Well, with Ron Gilbert's latest game finally Justice Ready and released onto the world, let's see how the world's liking it:
IGN (8.5/10)
GamesRadar (8/10)
MTV Multiplayer (No score - Positive)
GamePro (4/5)
Jeugo Xbox 360 (8.6/10)
Official Xbox Magazine - 85/100
Eurogamer (6/10)
Game Revolution (A-)
Kotaku (No score - Positive)
1up (B)
VideoGamer.com (7/10)
Just fine, by the looks of things. But why not judge for yourself? DeathSpank is currently available for the PSN and XBLA for $14.99.
Down at the official Monkey Island Facebook page, LucasArts has this to say:
We're hearing all your feedback and will have news on much of it shortly. To clarify: MISE2 isn't planned for an OSX release at this time, will let you know if and when that changes!
Monkey Island 2: Special Edition managed to rock the socks off of even the most cynical of fans, with only some small gripes regarding how immaculately preserved the classic version of game was. What, then, does LEC mean by that first sentence in the quoted statement? I don't know, that's why I'm asking you.
Source: Monkey Island Facebook page
Telltale has released the first three screenshots from the fourth episode of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls, and by the looks of things it's sure to titillate gun enthusiasts and George A. Romero alike:
The episode drops sometime this month.
Because Monkey Island is known for its puzzles as well as its humor, I was expecting more puzzle-centric quests. However a vast majority of the "Unimportant Things" followed the same formula as the main missions -- fetching ingredients and items or happily slaying monsters on behalf of other people. Granted, this is what most RPG's deliver, but I was expecting a bit more given the developer's background
If you read Mojo, you've probably already bought the Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Special Edition by now. But hear me out.
For the first couple of days of its release, MI2:SE was only available on PC through Steam, and thus the game required a working Internet connection every time it booted up, instead of only once when it first ran.
Now, however, LucasArts has also made the MI2 Special Edition available (sadly for Americans only, I believe) through Direct2Drive.
If you live in the US, you may want to seize this chance to own the MI2:SE, ever so slightly more concretely than you can via Steam. Or not.
UPDATE by Tingler: D2D UK now have it too, so there's really no excuses.
Also, you can use Steam offline. Everyone knows that.
Tales of MI.net grilled her several months back, and now it's Sam & Max.co.uk's turn. Yep, the internet's got a new interview with Nikki Rapp, voice of Lili Zanotto, Morgan LeFlay, and, most recently, the spoiled and revered Sammun-Mak himself.
What’s next in the pipeline for you?
I’ve been really blessed to play the characters I have. I still remember the feeling of booking my first job, walking into the session and feeling like all the hard work, patience and perseverance was worth it. The memories of working on Psychonauts, not knowing at the time what a huge deal it was – to the present, working with Telltale – who no doubt will continue to make quality, well told stories, making you laugh and cry. I don’t know what is next for me, but I’ve really been lucky so far! I have a feeling it’s just going to get better and better.
Are there future Telltale endeavors in the cards? Nikki Raptor, perhaps? (Sorry.)
Source: http://samandmax.co.uk/
Source: Telltale blog
It pays to be a Monkey Island fan: seems that someone, somewhere, was disappointed about the lack of intro in the Special Edition of Monkey Island 2, and so created their own version. In their own words:
However, the developers refrained from recreating the original game's intro, which left many fans slightly upset. That is why I wanted to step into the breach - I used trailer and in-game video material as well as the music that is played while browsing the menu (which is a remake of the original theme). Using Adobe After Effects 7, I put together a trailer, I hope many fans will enjoy.
Said fan then goes to apologize about his lack of mad skillz, and says the thing could be done better. To which I say, hey, at least you made it. Watch it here, Monkey Maniacs.
Source: YouTube
Episode Two of Telltale's Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures, "The Last Resort", is now available on iPad. Anyone who's had an itching for cracking puzzles or contraptions can now do so for $4.99. I'd link you to our review, but our features and archives are dead; and unlike the Easter bunny, they have not yet been resurrected.
Source: Telltale Blog
Telltale Games have put up a survey so you can give them feedback on the sorts of things you would want in to see in their Back To The Future games, including four potential plot summaries.
You can read the guff and find the survey link on Telltale's latest blog "What Do You Want to See in a Back to the Future Game? Tell Us!".
Source: Telltale Games
Heard of Lisa Foiles? Me neither, but while a teenage actress she worked for Nickelodean, and while there she had the opportunity all of us dream of - to be able to pitch a Monkey Island movie to a big Hollywood film executive who could make it happen. More than that, it was at the exact time pirates had just become popular again thanks to a certain Jack Sparrow, so the timing was never better.
This quote stood out for me:
"I have no idea why, but people actually listened to me."
I don't want to be mean Lisa, but, well, you look like this. There's a reason people listened to you. I would listen to you too (admittedly now that I know you're a big Monkey Island fangirl as well I really want to listen to you).
The end result: no Monkey Island movie. Again. Nevermind Lisa, the guy sounded like a dick anyway. (And the art Kotaku used was utterly kickass incidentally)
Source: Kotaku
Bill Tiller has shared, via Twitter, an ultra zoomed-in bit of character art for his "possible" next game. "Can anyone make a guess what it is?" he asks. Well, can you? I say it's the bodice of a red and green bumblebee.
And if all of you weren't too busy finishing up playthrough number eight, I might make an obligatory remark about Monkey Island 2 Special Edition being out today. Now go compete with Mojo staffers for your rightful, stratospheric slot on the leaderboards!
Source: Bill Tiller's twitter feed
Source: IGN
Here we go then:
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge out now in New Zealand for iPhone and iPad.
It's out in the UK at midnight, and it's likely to cost £5.99 / $9.99 on iPad and £4.99 / $7.99 on iPhone.
Thanks, Pocket Gamer.
Update: The game should be available from 9am GMT - that's in about 11 hours from now - but LucasArts tell us 'things go live when they go live' - so no promises!
And again: Live on the US PSN store, as well as a free demo. Download now! More to come in the morning....
Source: Pocket Gamer
With only a day to go before Monkey Island 2 is re-unleashed on the world and DeathSpank is but a week away, Eurogamer spoke to Ron Gilbert and asked the pressing questions that we would've done if we actually had anything but news up right now (they're coming, they're coming!).
And of course the most important question was asked:
Eurogamer: What's the latest on the PC version of DeathSpank? Will it actually be released?
Ron Gilbert: We're not really talking about the PC version right now. We're focusing on the Xbox and the PSN versions.
So at least there IS a PC version.
Source: Eurogamer
Click here to see a rather nice Photoshop painting of LeChuck with a voodoo doll. I bet you wish you could draw something like that, to pass the time whilst you wait for MI2:SE to appear on PSN (released later today!) and other formats (released tomorrow!)
Luckily, you can! A full tutorial is available on the same page. But, as the man himself says:
Ye be warned: This tutorial is NOT FOR BEGINNERS, it’s for people who know their way around Photoshop and are looking to further their design knowledge/skills
Good luck, suckers.
Source: PSDfan
Never been on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, Temple of the Forbidden Eye? If you own Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 I've got good news for you - someone's just recreated it. You can either tour the ride normally... or go inside it and fight zombies. It's even got John Rhys-Davies in there.
Also from the same author is a recreation of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Both include accurate sound effects and are near-perfect recreations. Anyone want to kill some zombies tonight?
Source: L4DMaps
There might be a fair amount of DeathSpank coverage from the last week that we didn't pick up on, like these impressions of the game's co-op mode by the fine people at GamesRadar.
Source: GamesRadar
Ever wanted to own something cool and exclusive to Monkey Island? A Guybrush Threepwood Voodoo Doll perhaps? Well, now you can - but you can't buy it in the shops (WHAT?!). A limited edition number of these dolls (there's only 500 made) have been sent out to various places as prizes, so that's the only way to win one.
I only know of two places to get one right now:
From the latest episode of that podcast, there will be two competitions each week ('Guess That Sound Effect' and 'Stick It To The Dandy') to win. They've got about 22 still left, so it'll be going for a few weeks. Get going!
Source: OXM Podcast
Ron Gilbert got interviewed by VideoGamer.com about all things DeathSpank, but since I'm writing this news post and you aren't I'm just going to quote the part that pertains to Maniac Mansion.
Q: You mentioned on your blog that you recently had lunch with Gary Winnick, your co-creator on Maniac Mansion. Is that something you'd like to revisit?
RG: I don't have the same desire to revisit that as I would, say, Monkey Island. I'm not really sure why. It'd be fun to do, but it's not a burning thing inside me.
Q: How about the idea of working with Gary again? Is that something you'd like to do?
RG: Yeah, I love collaborating with people a lot. Gary's a great guy, he's a wonderful artist and he's very, very funny. We kinda bounce stuff around every time we meet, but there's nothing firmed up at the moment.
DeathSpank will be clumsily vanquishing evil on the PSN July 13th, and the XBLA on July 14th. That puts the launch a week after LeChuck's Revenge Special Edition, cementing July 2010 as the month Ron Gilbert takes over the friggin' world.
Source: VideoGamer.com
Hothead Games have launched the Deathspank page on Facebook. View it, like it, fill it here. Tell 'em Mojo sent you.
What Hothead didn't launch was this Deathspank-themed Wiki, which I would suggest you help write once the game itself is out for your justice-loving enjoyment.
Source: Twitter
For awhile, Steve Purcell's been sharing all sorts of great artwork of his to the world through his blog, Spudvision, many of it starring everyone's favorite dog-and-rabbity thing. In his latest post, Purcell reveals his intention to separate future Sam & Max related material into its own blog, while Spudvision will continue to be used to share "any other kinds of art, especially Toybox which is the home of your very own host Starchie Spudnoggen."
Source: Spudvision
At the same time they filmed those brief clips of Graham Annable seen in the Puzzle Agent developer featurette, Telltale apparently conducted a full-blown interview with the accomplished cartoonist/animator, covering his whole career and the inception of Grickle. Part One is available here:
Look out for Part Two (of two) to arrive on Telltale's blog eventually.
Source: Telltale blog
The latest LucasArts tweet reads as follows:
Playing with the new LucasArts forums. Love the new features, can't wait to get it live soon for all of you!
LucasArts has had an online presence for a long time - I know I can recall placing many an order from the company store in the 90s - but few would debate the assessment that the "online community" aspect of their web site has been sort of pathetic at best. The launch of new and improved forums, combined with their recent embrace of things like Steam, Twitter, Facebook, and maybe even social gaming, might be evidence of LEC seeing the value of what can happen when you properly lay the foundation for an active relationship with the fan base. Just don't leave us behind. :~
Source: LucasArts Twitter
Telltale has lived up to their promise of a June release for their first "pilot" game, Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, which is now available for PC and Mac. Folks who pre-ordered should have their email by now, and while waiting for your download to complete you can check out the corresponding blog entry where Telltale has rounded up some additional reviews so we don't have to.
The WiiWare, iPad and iPhone versions of the game will be released in the near future.
Source: Telltale
