LucasArts have updated their site this week with a web site dedicated to their upcoming real time strategy game Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds. The site includes some interesting features such as a designer diary and a transcript of an online chat with the director of the game - Garry M. Gaber.
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LucasArts have updated their site this week with a web site dedicated to their upcoming real time strategy game Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds. The site includes some interesting features such as a designer diary and a transcript of an online chat with the director of the game - Garry M. Gaber.
LucasArts now have the transcript of Wednesdays chat with Garry Gaber - director of the upcoming Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds game. Here's a snippet...
RYan: Are you all still in the making of Battlegrounds? If not why not release it earlier.
Garry Gaber: Of course - we're in the final stages of tuning and balancing, dropping in final art, compatibility, etc. We're on track for our ship date.
Other past chat transcripts can be found by clicking here.
The Legend of Monkey Island has had a nice going over, and has been redesigned. While the layout is still familiar, the page has been neatened up lots. You should go over there and take a look, because it looks niiiiiiice
A few days ago EuroGamer put up an article titled The Death of the Celebrity Studio talking about whats happening to the large numbers of game companies from the mid 90's started and operated by 'celebrity game designers.' The article mostly focuses on ION Storm, founded by former id Software employee John Romero, but it spends a decent amount of time on Ron Gilbert's company, Cavedog. Go read.
Source: Shacknews
Recently The Clearly Unoffical EFMI Site ran a competition where you could win a copy of EMI for the PS2. The winners have been announced, so take a look to see if you're one of the five lucky winners. If you're not and want to have the chance of winning your very own copy of EMI for the PS2 (plus some other goodies, just for good measure) then there's still time to enter our Make us a banner competition.
In an article hosted on The World of Monkey Island Phillip Hooks and Paul Creasy compare EMI to Grim Fandango, a contrast lovingly refered to as Big Monkey Head vs. Land of the Dead.
Here's a snippet:
"The first point I would like to make is about the control system. Some say that EMI was a big evolution from GF, but I disagree on some accounts. I think that the fact that item names did not appear at the bottom of the screen in GF is not necessarily a devolution from EMI because this control system means that you look around more and do not take any innocent-looking areas of the screen for granted."
Check the whole thing out here
Source: The World Of Monkey Island
So, excited by the Episode I DVD?
I know I was... although I did felt kind of mislead when I read the official announcement on the official website announcing "The Wait is Over".
But it's almost 4-5 months wait? I'd say the wait is far from over!
Whether it been announced as a counter attack on the "Phantom Edit" press recently or just because Lucas is sick of hearing people wanting it desperately, we're all going to have to wait for it to come out.
But don't be bitter, at least its finally come out when only a few months ago the ETA was probably late next year if not more!
So in the mean time, the answer to make the purchase seem that little bit closer it to PRE-ORDER!
Best deals found so far on the net for the UK is Bensons World which are offering it at ?19.99 with free postage. Also don't forget that the DVD comes 24 hours then the rest of the world.
If you live in that other country that speaks English, what's it called? Oh yeah America :-D you can find the cheapest deal at DVDempire.com which offer it at $20.99 excluding shipping.
Although the British will be treated to the DVD a day before the rest of the world, pound for dollar, the UK price a lot more expensive at around $29. While vice-versea the USA price is around ?14.50.
Just proves you can't have it all!
For anywhere else checkout TheForce.Net's Episode I Section for worldwide release dates and cheapest pre-order sites.
PS I recently got engaged... damn phone lines...
Drumroll please; it's the redesign we've all been waiting for! No, not Unofficial Sam & Max. It's the fourth incarnation of Grim Fandango Central, and it's now up and running. If you've never seen GFC before, you might also be interested in checking out the history of the site. Go now, because we all know you love Grim Fandango.
As of yesterday, LEC's fan-site poll topic is officialy finished. Both Mixnmojo.com and Thescummbar.com finished with good scores. Statistically speaking, Mojo owns one-tenth of the Lucasarts online community! Mwahaha ha ha ha *cough*. LEC's new poll poses the question: what's your favourite chat username for Guybrush Threepwood. Vote! Now!
P.S. I am recently engaged
Yes, you heard me correct, its is set for a simultanious worldwide release on 16th October 2001.
The discs (yes, there are two of them!) will feature over 6 hours of extras and all 12 parts of Lynne's diaries that were featured on the Star Wars Website.
For more info please visit the official Star Wars site where the info was released today.
P.S. Amazon are now taking pre-orders and the UK price is ?19.99
Source: Official Star Wars website
To vote for Mixnmojo in the LucasArts.com "which fan site do you visit most" poll! We're currently losing to the 3 Star Wars sites listed which makes sense, but we can at least bump Mojo up to third! Whoop!
Also I've been told that people want to keep copies of the campaign banners we've been running :) If that is actually true you can get them all in one file here.
Hey there! I'm Emma (as you might have already noticed). Mojo's latest addition to it's news team. In the not too distant future I'll be updating you with the latest happenings in the LucasArts community.
Are you an incredibly good 3D artist or programmer? Fancy working for the gaming indusrty in San Francisco with Tim Schafer and his merry men (and women)?
Tim has just informed me that Double Fine Productions is looking to hire 3D Artists and Senior Programmers. If you think you have what it takes, then email jobs@doublefine.com.
Mindflight Entertainment have posted a Flash toon of Sam and Max, but this one is far from a fan creation. It is the work of the legendary creator of the 2 most loved freelance police in the world - Steve Purcell.
Steve directed the toon along with Gary Winnick and Frank Cinocco. Both Gary and Steve are ex LEC employees. Steve not only invented Sam and Max, but drew the cover art to the first 2 Monkey Island games (among countless other classic LEC game box covers), as well as the characters in the game itself. As for Gary Winnick, he worked on Maniac mansion, Loom, and Zak McKracken.
Mindflight Entertainment describe themselves as "a creative development environment for character driven animated content for the web" and I will certainly look forward to more content after this toon.
The Sam and Max toon features the loveable duo performing an autopsy Roswell style! Now go watch it.
IGN have posted a review of the Playstation version of EMI. I would post my own review, but not having a playstation2 makes it harder. From what i've seen of it, it was the same as the PC version with less intuitive controls. Anyway:
Escape from Monkey Island is a very funny game. More than that, it represents a breed of humor that you have to actively seek out these days: good clean wit, without any reliance on bad taste as a crutch to make up for lack of creativity. Now that comedy has gotten so relentlessly blue on TV and in the movies, it's marvelously refreshing to find something you can laugh at without feeling ashamed afterwards. Monkey Island does head below the belt on the odd occasion, but always in a light, chuckling sort of way, as an accent to what's fundamentally an all-ages affair.There are some new addittions to the game for the console port, including a new sub game featuring Murray! whoop!
Wow! There are some really good banners coming in for the contest! You guys keep them coming in. At this rate I'll have to think up more prizes!
Those who own the Mac EMI should get version 1.1.2. The bug fixes a stability error with one of the rooms on Monkey Island as well as some low level stuff that basically translates to "it works better". Before you patch to 1.1.2 you need the 1.1.1 patch as well.
Source: MacNN
After about a year of being offline, Mojo Full Throttle based hosted site The Kickstand is back with "Twice the size... Twice the power... Twice as many bugs in yer face!" The site is expected to be in full swing by the weekend time. So be sure to check out The Kickstand over the next couple of days. Now with Tomb Raider/Full Throttle crossover fan fiction.
LucasLearning put out a press release today containing the following:
Lucas Learning Ltd. today announced they will cease production of Star Wars Super Bombad Racing for Windows and Macintosh. This decision reflects the new direction that will shift the company's focus away from consumer entertainment products to direct-to-school educational products. Lucas Learning will create, produce and market a suite of curriculum-based products targeted directly to schools, grades K-12.I guess that pretty much says it all. I was looking forward to playing Bombad on my Mac, as the PS2 version was really fun, but I guess thats how it goes. Full press release on Theforce.net. Look for less entertaining more educating games from LucasLearning in the near future.
We were slow to get it up, but our report on the trip to LucasArts and the Ranch from a week or so ago has been uploaded. There are 2 glorious pages of report accompanied by over 50 photographs for your viewing pleasure. (side note: there wasn't a great deal of room for comments on each photo, so ALT tags will provide you with descriptions of photos.) I hope you enjoy the read.
Coming soon we have: The EMI PS2 Release party, a PS2 contest and a report on our trip to meet with Tim Schafer at Double Fine Productions.
... Wednesday! LEC has updated their site announcing that Monkey Island 4 will hit the shelves tomorrow, Wednesday, in US stores. Those of you with PS2's will be treated to (theoretically) more detailed models, slightly-less-impossible Monkey Kombat, and some more functional mini-games (Murray Ball and Monkey Invaders). You can order it here from LucasArts.
NintendoWeb recently conducted an interview with the game's co-director, Brett Tosti. There are 2 parts; part one and part two.
BT: Well, even from Rogue Squadron to Battle for Naboo you probably saw a greater sense of realism; we did it from the music side and tweaked the game engine. Further now on the GameCube, the engine that we are using for Rogue Leader is allowing us to get a new sense of immersion so you feel like, ?Hey, this looks like the movie, but I?m playing it!? It?s sometimes almost hyper-real.
CGW's print edition has run an article about LucasArts-related fan games, mostly centered around Narrative's MI fan games which were shut down a little over a year ago, and the 2 larger projects, IndyProject and Zak 2. You can read the story here.
Hopefully some time in the (near?) future, we'll hear more about LEC's stance on fan games. With their parent company LucasFilm's highly open stance on fan films, let us hope that the news will be good.
Source: IndyProject
Today is the birthday of our absent-minded, double-named news-posting web-monkey: El Pollo Diablo, sometimes known by his real name of Graeme Chicken.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Go easy on the eggs, folks. After all, how would you like it if your own children were used against you?
LucasArts are holding a poll, 'Which of the following fan sites do you visit most often?' I am sad to say that Mixnmojo has only 14%.
I demand you make this site higher in the rankings. Alas, I'm sort of split between two sites as I have my own site at escapemi.com. Nevertheless, I have voted for MOJO and you should too.
Sorry, I can't dilly dally all day, as I have hands to kiss and babies to shake! YAAAARRGGGHHHH!!!!
P.S. It's my birthday today.
Oops... Looks like Spaff beat me to it.
Source: LucasArts
Jake and myself are currently updating from the Metreon in San Francisco. Why are we here? Because last night we attended the launch party for EMI on the Playstation 2.
The party was held on an old clipper ship in San Francisco Maritime museum, and we managed to snag loads of goodies for prizes and chat with Mike, Sean, and Dom (not to mention a few other EMI team members).
A full scale report will be available accompanied by photos, as soon as we get home.
Spaff came out of retirement to make one more acquisition in his mission to take over all LEC coverage on the internet. The award winning site The World of Monkey Island created by Ken Christensen has joined the Mojo Network. Stay tuned for Mojo's newest plans to acquire CNET, and be sure to check out The World of Monkey Island for all your Monkey Island needs.
According to the new LucasArts Insider, there will be a chat on the official site with Garry Gaber, Director for Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. The chat will take place at 6pm (PST) on Wednesday, June 27th. This is the perfect chance for you to go and ask questions about... the game... and stuff.
Now you can relive the fun of the Guybrush v. I Cheese insult armwrestling battle without having to load up your copy of EMI! Oh boy! LucasArts has released a simplified Flash version of EMI Insult Armwrestling, available at the EMI Product Spotlight. Have fun!
E3Coverage.com has some new footage from the upcoming Q3-Engine based Jedi Knight 2. The video is in ASF (Windows Media Player) format, and is available in both large and small, for modem users.
Source: Shacknews
In case you didnt know, its just under a year until Episode II hits the cinema stateside (and hopefully in my side of the pond too!).The expected date is May 22nd 2002. Can you wait?
If not, visit the offical Star Wars website.
In likely the second highest point of the evening, the first being the Weezer performance, George Lucas presented the 'Best New Director' award at this year's seminal MTV Movie Awards. The reciever of the award was whoever the person was that directed The Virgin Suicides. First person to find her name and send it to me wins a prize.
Update: The contest is over! Fuurgh wins!
Jake and myself have just returned from our visit to Skywalker Ranch and the LucasArts building. We saw some great stuff going on inside the lec building and ate lunch at the Ranch (mmmm nice food) We will write a bigger update as soon as we have time.. most of our time is now being taken up by some of the games that we were given...
w00t.
This is probably a complete rehashing of previous news for those who have been paying attention, but for those that haven't you've missed some really good stuff from Bill Tiller, lead background artist on Curse of Monkey Island which has appeared recently on Mojo Network sites:
- Most recently Bill participated in a chat in the Scumm Bar's irc channel #monkey-island. He answered questions about his work on CMI, his plans for the future, and his current job at arena.net. Read the chat transcript here.
- Also on the Scumm Bar is a really lengthy interview with Bill, talking about his work on Monkey 3 and featuring some never before seen concept art from the games.
- And finally you should take a look at Bill's first of a series of columns at Adventure Developer, titled "Tiller Techniques." In these columns Bill Tiller takes a look at art submitted by those working on amateur adventure games and gives them feedback from his experience at LEC and other projects.
Gamespy has posted their E3 Awards, and Star Wars Galaxies has won the Best Online Game Award. However, the more interesting award presented to LucasArts was the Comeback Player of the Year Award. Here's a quote:
All of these games were shown at E3, and generated a great deal of buzz as individual titles, especially Galaxies and JK II. As a group, it's hard to think of a publisher with a better stable of games in the pipeline, and much credit goes to LucasArts for entrusting the revered Star Wars license to the best developers in the industry. It looks like all PC gamers are going to benefit as a result -- we can only wish they'd done this sooner.
It will be interesting to see what people say at next year's E3 when there are more original titles present, eh?
Okay, so most of you probably missed the Bill Tiller chat since the server that Mixnmojo is located on was down for most of the day yesterday and the word didn't get out... but not to fear! The SCUMM Bar has posted a transcript of the chat which has lots of interesting tidbits. Any Monkey Island fan worth his grog-induced rock-hard liver should check this one out.
The Unofficial Escape From Monkey Island site, in association with LucasArts, has five copies of the Play Station 2 version of Escape From Monkey island for you to win! And all you have to do is match four images to their location in the game. Any monkey with (at most) one eyepatch should be able to solve this puzzle. Good luck and give it a shot.
The official LucasArts website has posted some screenshots for their upcoming game, Jedi Outcast. Otherwise known as Star Wars: Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II: Dark Forces III. (phew) Check them out!
The SCUMM Bar is reporting that there will be moderated chat this evening at 7pm PST (10pm EST or 3am UK time) with former LucasArts artist, Bill Tiller. In case you've been marooned on an island full of monkeys for the past four years, you should know that Bill Tiller was the lead background artist on The Curse of Monkey Island, so he should have some interesting answers to your questions. The chat will take place on the IRC #monkey-island channel on DALNet. Keep in mind that this chat has a tentative schedule, but we hope to see you all there. Bring grog.
TheForce.net is reporting that Lucas Learning has now decided to shift its focus away from consumer products and put it into school curriculum products. Does this mean that we'll be seeing no more games like Super Bombad Racing coming from Lucas Learning? It looks that way.
Source: TheForce.net