The International House of Mojo

Desperate to somehow top the pulse-pounding interview we had with her last year, Gamasutra bent the ear of Mary Bihr, LucasArts VP of Global Publishing (and an exec who's been with the company since Zak McKracken, for God's sake), and the things she shares about the company's future, while vague, suggest a continued willingness from the studio to go beyond Star Wars and sure-fire sequels:



Perhaps LEC's new, intriguing direction didn't depart with Rodriguez. Read the whole thing.

Source: Gamasutra

Today is evidently the day that the review embargo for Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent is lifted, as a number of reviews have been popping up all over the 'net (a popular shorthand for "internet"). Here's a few write-ups; the consensus, as you might expect for a Telltale title, is predominantly positive:

• Cultural Zest

• Extra Guy

• Buttonbasher

• Nukezilla

• Joystiq

• WingDamage.com

As usual, we'll try to do a half-hearted job at updating this list as the day goes on. Stay tuned for the all-important Mojo review, or you can just skip reading reviews altogether and get your own damned opinion. It's not like you didn't buy the game already.

fter a warm reception to The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, it was a no-brainer for LucasArts to give the second (and best) game in the series the special edition treatment. This time though, they had plenty of fan feedback to use when reworking the game. Lucky for all fans of the series, LucasArts has taken that fan feedback to heart and added several new features to the game this time around. Combined with what appears to be a more faithful and polished representation of the original game in hand painted, high definition backgrounds, should mean a great experience for fans of the series both old and new.

I was shown the Xbox 360 version of the game at this year's E3, while producer Craig Derrick (who loves Mixnmojo) talked me through it. While the game noticeably had the smallest area in LucasArts's room, it was no less impressive-looking on its high definition screen.

The first feature that was new to me was the ability to directly control Guybrush. For newcomers to adventure games, this should be a much more natural control scheme, especially on consoles, where the cursor-based movement in the first Special Edition was a little clunky. Luckily for old time players, this is purely optional and the traditional point and click method is still available in both the original and Special Edition versions of the game.

Another new feature the game is sporting is a streamlined verb system for the Special Edition version. Rather than showing players all possible options for interacting with an object or person in the environment, it will only show those that will give a useful response. This is another feature that makes the game easier to control on the console versions. Once again, the original edition remains unaffected.

Going with the theme of making the game more accessible to as wide an audience as possible, LucasArts has made the game's hint system even more extensive. While it is hard to believe, apparently the giant arrows pointing towards objectives in the first Special Edition were not enough for some players new to adventure games. So to help out these players, separate from the hint system, a button can be pressed to highlight all objects on the screen that players are able to be interact with.

“You can consider me excited.”

LucasArts certainly hasn't catered the game completely towards new players to the series: the game features developer commentary, Mystery Science Theater 3000 style. Mojo readers will recognize the voices and silhouettes of none other than Dave Grossman, Tim Schafer, and Ron Gilbert when this feature is enabled, which is done seamlessly during gameplay with the press of a button. Not only is it exciting to hear what they have to say about the game 20 years later, but it is great that they are on good enough terms with LucasArts these days to collaborate on something like this.

Perhaps the most demanded feature from the first Special Edition was the ability to play the original version of the game, but with the new voiceovers. Well LucasArts has heeded this request, and now the original game can be played with or without voiceover. While it is a very simple feature to add to the game, it is great to see LucasArts give their longtime fans what they want.

The last bit of the game that must be commented on is the updated visuals. It can be debated to the end of time how faithful they are to the original artwork, but there is no question that LucasArts has seen some of the complaints about the first Special Edition's artwork and made sure that those problems do not exist in this one. While I have not seen this game from start to finish, and so cannot say with absolute certainty whether there will be complaints made of it or not, the look I was given appeared to be very polished. If you're still not convinced, just check out some of the screenshots dotted through this article.

Even if none of the new features interest you, the game can of course be played in its completely original state. It really has something for all types of fans. While it seemed to have the least interest from other media out of the games LucasArts was showing, I was still very impressed by what I was shown, and you can consider me excited to get my hands on it.

The game is being released on July 7 for Mac, PC, Xbox Live Arcade, and PSN, as well as "other platforms" hinted at by Craig Derrick, likely meaning an iPhone and iPad release shortly after the game's initial release.

Yesterday, Universal Home Video issued a press release announcing the 25th anniversary release of the Back to the Future trilogy on Blu-ray and DVD. The content of this new set is, as you might expect, absurdly voluminous, and looks to include everything from the 2002 DVDs plus brand new bonus material, such as glimpses of the infamous Eric Stoltz footage from the first movie. The release date for this bad boy is October 26th. This is certainly an occasion for Back to the Future fans (which last I checked includes: everyone) to be stoked. See the full specs here, at BTTF.com.

So that's awesome and all, but what does it have to do with Mojo? Well, if Universal is preparing to launch a gigantic Back to the Future re-release on October 26th, it isn't the biggest leap to assume that somewhere around that time is when Telltale's games will start rolling out. Or maybe my speculation makes about as much sense as a screen door on a battleship.

Source: BTTF.com

RemiO and Jason resurrect the Mojo podcast with this E3 special where they discuss things happening since the last podcast and of course E3.

Clicky!

Yet another trailer for Ron Gilbert's/Hothead's upcoming Deathspank has emerged, brandishing hints of the story. There's more trailers coming out out of Hothead than there are dead turtles coming out of the ocean after the BP oil spill. See it again here.

Source: YouTube

If you still have a number of Telltale Games to play, and you don't mind them being linked to your Steam Account rather than your Telltale Games one, Steam have a sale on right now with the 'Telltale Everything*' bundle at just $49.99.

It usually costs $99.99. If you bought all the games individually, they would cost you $236.83.

Click here for full details.

Update: Thanks to tipoffs in the discussion thread below, other deals of interest to Mojoers include Mata Hari ($4.99), Insecticide Part 1 ($4.99), and CSI: Hard Evidence ($6.69).

• Everything except the CSI games and the soon to be released Nelson Tethers Puzzle Agent, that is.

Source: Telltale Forums

Yes, apparently Telltale has launched a new viral marketing campaign for its upcoming horror/puzzle-solving adventure Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, due out later this month.

Check out www.whoarethehiddenpeople.com to see it in action. Spoooooky!

Also, an article on Fidgit claims that, according to Telltale, more information about Puzzle Agent will be released this coming Friday.

You may officially begin speculating on the release date now.

Source: Telltale's Twitter

Dedicated Monkey Island fan and amateur shark wrangler* Threepwood4life, one of the colorful denizens of the Mojo forums, has provided us with some information which we've shamelessly stolen another timely news item.

With the impending release of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Special Edition scheduled for July 7, Steam is now allowing its users to pre-order (or, in Valve-speak, "pre-purchase") the game. For US residents the price is $9.99, the same amount as the Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition costs, while in the United Kingdom MI2:SE is selling for £6.99.

Plus, if you pre-order now, you'll get MI1:SE thrown in for the low, low price of free. Yes, free. Although, I imagine few of our readers really need the added incentive.

EDIT: In the comments, AlfredJ has written in to remind me of something. Unlike the Steam version of the Monkey Island 1 Special Edition, the Monkey Island 2 SE Steam release will feature achievements, the same as those available on the game's console ports.

*Note: he really is an amateur shark wrangler**

**Note: The preceding footnote is not actually true***

***Note: This is surely one too many footnote jokes

Deathspank, the upcoming Ron Gilbert/Hothead game video game will be released on PSN this July the 13th, and XBLA this July the 14th, according to Joystiq. The article mentions that the game will feature a co-op mode starring Deathspank and his sidekick, Sparkles the Wizard.

The game will cost you $14.99 on PSN and 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) on XBLA.

"PC Forever" loudmouth crowd arriving in 3...2...1...

Source: Joystiq

This is kind of late, but here it is: Mixnmojo's review of the third episode of the third season of Sam and Max: "They Stole Max's Brain!"

Is it as good as episodes one and two? Better? Worse?

There was a lot to say about this episode, but to cut a long story short I thought it was really good, somewhat flawed, and worth the long review I gave it. If you're willing to read that review - keeping in mind it has spoilers so major they do things a rotten apple could never dream of, as it was written for people who've already finished the game - click on the "Read More" link below.

Keep Reading

With the special edition of Monkey Island 2 only two weeks away (Woo!), some of us have already begun to ponder the possibility of LEC taking on The Curse of Monkey Island next. The question seems to be on the mind of the game's original lead background artist as well. Earlier today, Bill Tiller tweeted:

Although any enhanced edition of the third Monkey Island game wouldn't require an entirely new re-imagining of the original backgrounds since they were pencil-drawn on paper, Bill's follow-up tweet suggests that converting it to high definition wouldn't be a snap either, as the actual painting was done in Photoshop at a resolution of 640x480 and would therefore have to be re-done. Clearly, if such a project was ever planned by LEC, they'd be fools not to take up Tiller on his offer. I wonder how busy Ahern and Eaken are?

Source: Bill Tiller's twitter feed

Internet personality James Rolfe, best known as the foul-mouthed Angry Video Nerd, the host of the long-running web series of the same name (check out an episode where he takes on some old Indiana Jones games), went to E3 and had a less than gainful interview with Telltale Design Director and graphic adventure legend Dave Grossman about the Universal licenses. Even though Rolfe is clearly in on the joke, it's still pretty amusing.

Source: ScrewAttack

When I heard the astonishing news that Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse episode 3, They Stole Max's Brain!, was available to play on Mac and PC, I couldn't believe my ears. I had to make certain.

"Well? Is it out yet? Talk, or I'll pump you so full of lead that you could serve as an X-ray apron in a dentist's office!" I yelled at a specimen of the local human refuse, punctuating my point with a few well-timed open-hand slaps.

The poor sap was so afraid of me he spontaneously developed a stutter. He also sang better than a trained canary. "I-i-it's out! R-r-r-right n-now, in fact! J-just visit T-t-t-Telltale's website, w-w-w-where you can get it! F-f-for Mac and PC! J-just p-p-please don't hurt me!"

I let him be after that. I had more important cases to solve, after all. Like finding a missing lagomorph brain.

And if that weren't true and I was just hanging noodles over your ears, you'd hardly be able to click this.

Source: Adventure Gamers

Facebook is a place where people can join groups and have David Fox, project leader of classic LucasArts game Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, respond to their comments.

"We want Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders: Special Edition" is once such group. It currently has 106 members, and contains freindly support from the Fox, who revealed more about the famous "I'm selling these fine leather jackets" joke:

Source: Our forums

Twitter is a place where you can stalk people you don't know and sometimes ask them questions. Take, for example, the following interview with Sean Vanaman, writer, designer, and bearded wonder at Telltale Games:

jaybyron: can you hook us up with any cool art or info from the

Back to the Future or Jurassic Park Telltale games? Can't wait for

them!

seanovanaman: not a whole lot to share yet - i'm actually just doing

design/story support on them right now.

jaybyron: you know I'm a huge fan if I got one of these!

http://twitpic.com/1y7jgw

seanovanaman: hahaha, awesome! we have some crazy fans at ttg. cinematic

artist dennis built a hoverboard for a marty costume

jaybyron: awesome! I'm begging you to go and play Day of the

Tentacle for an example of a great time travel adventure game!

jaybyron: and also, Telltale MUST GET the Maniac Mansion license

from Lucasarts! That would be so cool to revisit that story again.

seanovanaman: i'm a BIG DOTT fan. i would do a game with bernard and

hoagie in a heartbeat.

IGN may not have paid attention when talking to Telltale about their future titles, but it seems that may be because its reporters were too busy staring at the demo of Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent. The editors at IGN have revealed their picks for the site's annual Best of E3 awards, and it looks like Puzzle Agent got the nod for Best iPhone Game. Take that, Sonic the Hedgehog!

Forget the news from earlier: the Jurassic Park and Back to the Future games aren't pilots, but fully-fledged episodic video games. This case of Frank Abagnale-level hilarity and confusion was brought to you from the special people at IGN - thanks for the amazing journalism! - and that schmuck who reported the news on the beloved Mixnmojo.

Update by ATMachine: For those of you who crave a source to back up Kroms' sublimely hyperbolic news post, Telltale designer Sean Vanaman has declared on Twitter:

"dear folks in the game press: back to the future and JP will not be pilot episodes. we're going full f-ing hog. boss hogg."

Well. There it is.

Only just listened to it now, but last week's PC Gamer US Podcast had an interview with Dave Grossman regarding Back To The Future, Jurassic Park, Puzzle Agent, Sam & Max: They Stole Max's Brain, and Monkey Island 2: Special Edition. Phew! That's all kinds of aceness right there.

Also, we get the answer to the question on everyone's mind: will we get to see dinosaurs on hoverboards?

Edit by ATMachine: Unfortunately, the site that the podcast is hosted on contains some rather nasty malware. I've removed the link so that unwary Mojo readers won't fall victim.

So if you want to listen to Dave Grossman talking about Telltale's future games, while simultaneously having your PC infected and crippled by a virus, you'll have to do it without any help from us.

Update: Oops, sorry about that. They've now changed sites, so you can find the podcast Malware-free at the new PCGamer.com.

Yesterday, IGN posted a quick skim-through of an interview they did with Telltale Games CTO and co-founder Kevin Bruner, in which he clarified something about the upcoming Back to the Future and Jurassic Park games: they are pilot episodes. This means that the possibility of more episodes being made is directly proportional to how much money you give Telltale interested you are in either series.

(BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Proving the wisdom of Kroms' aspersions cast on Levi Buchanan's journalistic skills, Telltale designer Sean Vanaman has informed us (and the world) via Twitter that Jurassic Park and Back to the Future will NOT be part of Telltale's Pilot Program, but instead full-length Sam and Max-style episodic seasons.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled news post...)

Interestingly, the preview mentions that "[Telltale] recognize that shoehorning [the games] into an established point-and-clicker was the wrong way to go – but that's also one reason they wanted at them." This sentence could mean one of three things: that Telltale tried and failed at making the games traditional point-n-clickers, and are thus switching genres (possible); that Telltale tried working Jurassic Park or Back to the Future into something already "established" like Sam and Max (wishful); or that IGN scribe Levi Buchanan's grammar is worse than a Babelfish translation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms (probable), and what he means to say is that Telltale decided to pick-up the franchises because they were likely to not work as point-n-clickers/draggers, and would thus open-up new gameplay channels for Telltale.

Read more grammatical nuggets, or about Levi's hope to be called a "butthead" by the Biff Tannen, by clicking here.

Source: IGN

We promised it to you earlier, Mojo readers, and here it is. As brought to our attention by professional Mojo forum member/zombie hunter* Threepwood4life, IGN has finally uploaded the video from yesterday's Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Special Edition stage demo.

Cool Special Edition features include dynamic lighting on the character sprites, the ability to highlight all usable objects on the screen, and the presence of a three-tiered hint system. We can also see some all-new idle animations that Guybrush now has, and there's a demonstration of how the developer commentary works.

Plus, we finally get a good look at the new Verb Coin-style radial interface, which tailors itself to fit the object you've selected. I'd say it's sort of like the icon interface used in Gabriel Knight 3.

Also there's a glimpse of the art gallery, of which the recent 1UP video has a much more detailed look.

The video is embedded below for the benefit of slackers who can't be bothered to click a link. But we both know you're better than that. You DO read Mojo, after all.



*(Note: he may or may not actually be a zombie hunter)

LucasArts is currently showing off Monkey Island 2, LeChuck's Revenge, Special Edition at their E3 booth, and 1UP has posted a video of their visit. Or maybe at a bigger size for you people who need to fill up more space on your monitors. It covers basically the same ground as the IGN live video demo streamed earlier today, which we'll also provide for you just as soon as it gets archived online.

This video contains further evidence that the Concept Art gallery is going to be really neat. I'd say more, but I daren't spoil the surprise.

Source: Telltale Forums

Source: YouTube

Long day of news today. The evening brings a GameSpot interview with Dave Grossman about Telltale's upcoming Jurassic Park and Back to the Future titles.

I'll quote the juiciest bit for you:

"What can we expect of the Jurassic Park and Back to the Future games in terms of genre?

Both of them are going to be episodic. You can expect Back to the Future to be the next step in the evolution that we have been doing for the adventure game, probably a little more accessible and directed, we've been moving things in that direction for a long time.

Jurassic Park will be a little bit more of a departure for us. The reasons will probably be obvious to people who are trying to figure out how we will do this game. What we always try and do is whatever's best for the licence. Jurassic Park is going to require a lot of tension and time pressure and stuff like that - you need to run away from dinosaurs. Your standard graphic adventure mechanics are not very good for that.

We don't want this to be something where you hang around and solve things at your own pace, spend a lot of thinking time, trying to figure out "what do I do with this tool" or whatever. It's going to be a much more closed-in, claustrophobic, directed kind of an experience. It's going to be you racing to do some small task really quickly before a dinosaur comes around the corner and eat you - or even if he's not about to, you're going to think that he is."

Also of note is that he suggests "it's safe to assume" both games will be available on the PC.

And, in the spirit of Mystery Science Theater 3000, here is the news-post-ending stinger:

"Back to the Future is one of those things that makes obvious sense for us. Jurassic Park is something we've been looking for, which is a good opportunity to get into something with a serious tone to it, which has been a specific goal for us for a while. We want it to be accessible but we want it to feel serious."

Not to be outdone by Graham Annable's violent 2D puzzler, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse made its own bid for the palpitating hearts of everyone on the E3 floor with this great trailer for They Stole Max's Brain!

Source: Youtube

Telltale unveiled a kooky new trailer for Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent at E3. Still no date, but with June already facing its mid-life crisis, it'll be soon enough.

Source: Youtube

So much news, all in one day?! And you thought we were a bunch of slackers.

It aired live on GameSpot and IGN earlier in the day, but in case you missed it, here is an E3 stage demo video demonstrating the first level of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 (2 Force 2 Unleashed).

Go forth and.... watch the darn video, already. (This is the GameSpot version, which has a bit more footage than the IGN feed.)

Today Telltale has also released five new screenshots from They Stole Max's Brain! There's some additional glimpses of noir Sam, and Max's dodges a space ape's ray gun:

The episode hits PC, Mac and the PSN on June 22nd. And a reminder: today is the day that Tales of Monkey Island is available on the PSN.

Source: Telltale

It's E3, and that means here are some brand spanking new Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Special Edition screenshots, sure to get you whining about how the whole game is being spoiled or whatever.

Of especial note is this particular screenshot, which gives us our first glimpse of the concept art gallery included within the game. Visible in the image-selection menu are not one but two unused Peter Chan backgrounds from the original game, which happen to be eerie close-ups of the skeletal throne in LeChuck's office.

(Wow, now I finally know what those extra background-image filenames in the MI2 rolling demo meant...)

So. If you're interested in Star Wars: The Old Republic (and why wouldn't you be, it's going to be one of the most expensive games ever made), then check out this stage demo for the game, as shown at the recent EA press conference at E3. Or see it here in HD.

Or check out the trailer from that stage demo, which was really the whole point of the thing. Also, here's a GameSpot hands-on preview of the game, and another from IGN.

Also check out some screenshot galleries: Star Wars: The Old Republic (at Gamespot and IGN; Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 (Force Unleasheder (GameSpot Xbox 360, GameSpot PS3); LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (at GameSpot); and the new LucasArts/Sony Online MMO Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures (again, see Gamespot).

Telltale have just put up some screenshots from the Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent pilot. You should look at them here, but only because we haven't resurrected our galleries from the dead quite yet.

Source: Telltale Site

Develop Online recently interviewed some guy called Tim Schafer about some video game-related things. It's a short interview, but an interesting one. Read this quote:

Rumors that the title will be "Double Fone" are yet to be initiated. Read more here.

Source: Develop Online

Just in case you hadn't surmised as much from the (rather numerous) previous news reports, LucasArts has finally confirmed that the release date for Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Special Edition will be July 7.

The news comes in the form of a short but funny new trailer released by LucasArts on Facebook. Also it's viewable (in somewhat smaller form) on the MI2:SE official LucasArts website.

There's no new gameplay footage, I'm afraid, but then again, many of our readers were recently complaining that too much had been revealed already. So no harm done.

Also apparently it's rated E-10+ by the ESRB? And EMI got rated Teen, of all things.

Source: Mojo Forums

So now that we know LucasArts is making a Star Wars game for the Xbox 360's Kinect body-sensing apparatus, Microsoft's E3 press conference has helpfully provided us with some clearer footage of the game in question.

It's buried in this GameSpot video beginning at the 1 hour, 19:30 mark. Basically it's the same footage as leaked from the now-infamous Cirque du Soleil E3 pre-show, but now in higher quality and with the beginning of the trailer included. (Which would confirm that, yes, the Kinect demo at the pre-show was in fact faked.)

According to the video, this Star Wars mystery-title game is scheduled to ship in 2011. It appears it will be an Xbox 360 and Kinect exclusive.

Update: Here's the same SW game trailer, now watchable separately from the massive Microsoft press conference. (And here's an HD version for those of you who are interested.)

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Special Edition will be shown on E3 Live feeds on Wednesday, 16th of June, at 11:20 PM (GMT), aka when it's still Wednesday for part of the world. You can see it here or here in this much time.

Thanks to Threepwood4Life from the forums for the tip-off.

Source: Mojo Forums

The IFC have interviewed someone or another at Hothead Games, developers of the upcoming Deathspank (which will be at E3, by the way). It is an interview worth reading, touching on subjects like Hothead's origins, Deathspank and the interesting-but-not-Mojo-related video game Swarm (which might make a small peep view appearance at E3).

A while back Hothead released a Deathspank gameplay video involving a sword, a spicy taco and a man formerly known as Sally. It'll spoil early parts of the game for you, but if you're cool with that then here you go.

A little more interesting is this Tweet, which hints that Deathspank may arrive in "early summer". This may explain why Hothead launched a teaser site dedicated to unicorn poop.

Finally, if you have a Facebook account, feel free to become a fan of Hothead's page. Give 'em moral support! And all that.

Source: IFC

All over the web gaming sites like Kotaku are reporting that LucasArts has been developing a motion controlled Star Wars game to use the Xbox360's newfangled Wiimote Project Natal Kinect capture hardware.

If you thought you looked like a knob waving the wiimote around like a lightsaber, this is gonna take it Over 9000!

I guess you could always grab a cucumber from the fridge and wave that around as a substitute.

UPDATE: Whoa boy. There's footage. Although it's as much video of someone playing the game as it would be if you taped yourself watching Star Wars and miming every scene in front of your television.

Fail indeed.

Source: Kotaku

Two days ago as part of some pre-E3 coverage, Gamespot shared their experience at getting some lengthy and exclusive hands-on time with The Old Republic, having played through six of the eight "professions" of the Star Wars MMO and learning a bunch of brand new gameplay details.

Being four pages long and including a nice video overview hosted by the project's lead writer Daniel Erickson straight from the show floor at EA Showcase London, the preview is a must read for anyone excited by The Old Republic, currently scheduled to release Spring 2011. Latest budget estimate: a lot.

Update: Here's another Gamespot video interview with Erickson from the same event.

Source: Gamespot

The new cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is now available at GameTrailers, which looks impressive, but obviously the game itself won't look as good as it's on PC as well this time - and we all know PCs aren't as powerful as the mighty consoles.

UPDATE: IGN have a very brief gameplay trailer up too.

Source: GameTrailers

Being that they're ramping up on a "big project," the Asian division of Lucasfilm, Lucasfilm Singapore, is hiring up a storm, and in order to get the good word out a site called Animation Xpress has interviewed LEC recruiter Heather Brown, who talks about the various things going down at the studio. You might know that Lucasfilm Singapore has done the Clone Wars TV series, its spinoff games, and some handheld LEC ports like the iPhone release of the Monkey Island special editions. Now check out this bit from Brown:

Since one would assume that LEC would have a mind to make the iPhone release simultaneous to the others, and since we've already heard the July 7 date bandied about before, it's not the biggest stretch of the imagination to deduce that Monkey Island 2: Special Edition will be pretty assuredly dropping anchor on July 7th. Anyhow, we'll have final confirmation come LEC's E3 event in a few days; in the meantime, you can check out the game's pre-purchase page on Steam.

Oh, and if you are interested in all the exciting developments going on at LEC Singapore, send them a copy of your CV and cover letter, I guess.

Source: Animation Xpress

LucasArts has received their donations for the fourth and final voodoo doll ingredient: Something of the Dead, and now they've revealed the outcome:

It sounds like LEC has manufactured a few hundred of these cuddly Guybrush voodoo dolls and will be selling or giving them away at E3 and other "community events." I guess we'll just have to wait and see exactly what that means!

Source: Monkey Island Facebook page

Just prior to announcing that they're bringing Tales of Monkey Island to the PS3, Telltale issued an earlier press release stating that they would be porting Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures to the iPad - specifically, the second episode, The Last Resort. The episode will cost $4.99, £2.99 or €3.99 depending on what currency corresponds to your territory.

It is unclear if the remaining games in the four episode season will follow, although judging by the fact that The Last Resort is leading the way on both the iPad platform and the German retail market, it must have been the most successful of the pack.

Source: Telltale

Why should Wii owners get all the pirate fun? Telltale has just announced that Tales of Monkey Island will at last become available for the PlayStation 3. It'll be selling in Sony's American online store starting on June 15, priced at $19.99. The European PlayStation Store will receive the game at a later, as-yet-undetermined date.

On another note, Telltale is currently having a sale on all 5 episodes of Tales, which are available in a bundle for PC and Macintosh at the low price of $19.95 through the rest of June. Taking advantage of this sale also nets you a free copy of Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 1, The Penal Zone.

Yeah, we at Mojo may be shills, but these games are things I for one am happy to be shilling.

Source: Telltale's blog

LucasArts has announced that if you buy the Force Unleashed 2 (Electric Boogaloo) special Collector's Edition for Xbox 360 or PS3, you will receive a special Starkiller skin for your player character.

Specifically, it transforms you from Galen Marek, the Sith Apprentice known as Starkiller, into Deak Starkiller, elder brother of Luke Starkiller, from a very early draft of the A New Hope script. As part of the deal, you get an option to use Deak's signature yellow lightsaber.

The character design is based on a mildly famous production painting by Ralph McQuarrie, the grand old man of Star Wars concept art, which depicts Deak dueling Darth Vader aboard the Rebel Blockade Runner. Yes, Deak was the person Luke had to rescue in this draft, not Leia--a good thing it was changed, I'd say.

Preordering the STFU2 Collector's Edition can be done through that infamous spawn of Satan, GameStop. No, I won't link to them. But if you want this edition, you probably should visit them and preorder, due to its limited numbers. Again, this special version is available only for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Source: Twitter

Although it was stated as fact when the project was first announced, it's been a year since we've had even the vaguest mention of Geoffrey Rush reprising his role as Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. And that's what makes this confirmation, reported by Variety, all the more welcome.

The original rumors held that the film, which has otherwise shed its numerous supporting characters from the original trilogy, will see Jack Sparrow and Barbossa on a quest for the Fountain of Youth together. The villain will be Blackbeard (Ian McShane), as in the novel, who will have a daughter (Penelope Cruz) who may serve as Sparrow's love interest. Shooting on the picture begins next week in Hawaii, if I'm correctly informed.

Source: Variety

Sometimes Mojo comes off looking more like a volunteer advertising arm for some company's sales and discounts than I'd prefer, so here's a bit of hypocrisy on my part: A Vampyre Story, usually sold for the already cheap $14.99 from The Adventure Shop, is currently part of a temporary 50% off sale, which means that if you haven't played Autumn Moon's first title, you can start downloading right now for the cost of $7.49.

And if you're still in the market for Autumn Moon's second game, Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, you might benefit from the reminder that it has recently been added to The Adventure Shop's number at $29.99.

Source: The Adventure Shop

Next up in LEC's request for voodoo doll ingredients on Facebook is number three: Something of the Body. The results might not be as entirely gross as you might expect, but then, I'd imagine we all had some lofty expectations.

Source: Monkey Island Facebook page

In their latest blog post, Telltale have announced that the third episode of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, They Stole Max's Brain! will be available on June 22nd, two Tuesdays from now. They've coupled the announcement with three new screenshots showing Sam in various states of rage. Players of the season via the PSN (the North American ones, anyhow) will be happy to know that the PS3 version will release simultaneous to the PC/Mac version, while the international PS3 and iPad versions will hit at an unspecified date soon after.

Source: Telltale

I like lists almost as much as the English like the World Cup; and, like the English in the World Cup, I'm invariably disappointed at the end result.

Empire have compiled a list of the top 50 game characters. You'll find Guybrush Threepwood on number 7. In a display of scientific research unparalled since the last time Jenny McCarthy said vaccines caused autism, Empire have listed the character as debuting 1996's The Secret of Monkey Island, a year which you may know as being a year where The Secret of Monkey Island neither debuted nor got a sequel.

Guybrush was beaten by brilliantly-written multidimensional characters like Gordon Freeman and Mario.

Sam and Max appear at a respectable 42, Dr. Fred Edison at 40, and Manny Calavera at 30.

Source: Empire

The latest Indiana Jones 5 rumor has emerged, claiming the film will be the final outing for Harrison Ford, sending the character off with an adventure that will be "emotional and exciting."

This link to Musicrooms.net might be valuable if I hadn't pasted the entire article above.

Update by Jason: This rumor has been denied, point-blank, by Paramount, a Steven Spielberg rep, Lucasfilm, and producer Frank Marshall. So yeah, so much for Indiana Jones 5 happening anytime soon.

Source: Musicrooms.net

LEC's open call for candidates of the second voodoo doll ingredient has led to offerings both bizarre and numerous.

Source: Monkey Island Facebook Page

Telltale has offered their own response to the wacko-crazy news that they've managed to get their grubby hands on amber-fossilized mosquitoes along with Doc's flux capacitor schematic in their latest blog post as well as by launching a small splash page containing their press release for the Universal deal, which reveals that the Back to the Future season, scheduled for winter release, will come first, with Jurassic Park stampeding soon after.

They've also opened respective forums for the two mega-licenses where you can discuss them with fellow Telltalers, while the non-traitors will support their local Mojo by sticking to the LFN forums.

Also, check out this stellar E3 promo!

Source: Telltale blog

In the latest Spudvision blog entry, Steve Purcell shares a photograph of a superb piece of painted artwork he did for the back of the box of the enhanced releases of Maniac Mansion - a portrait of the Edison family, based loosely on an in-game sprite that can be found in the mansion's fourth floor den. One of Purcell's earliest assignments at LucasFilm Games, this is actually an image he's shared with the internet before, but since all our galleries are in hibernation you could very well find the reasonably large photograph of the framed painting, which is presently hung in Purcell's home, to be of value.

Source: Spudvision

A clip from a Tim Schafer documentary has been unearthed on Youtube:

The short clip features Schafer talking about Grim Fandango in front of a board of concept art, and, later, cruising in his flashy red sports car.

There is apparently a longer documentary that was created by Desmond Crisis, but attempts to contact Crisis and persuade him to release the full video have so far proved unfruitful.

Many thanks to Miguel Villasuso for finding this clip and directing me to it.

Hot on the heels of a Jurassic Park announcement, Telltale have just announced yet another game: Back to the Future, based off the popular movie franchise starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.

In other words, Telltale is releasing the Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent pilot sometime this month, are making a Jurassic Park game, and are making a Back to the Future game. And here I was thinking you were dead, McFly.

You might want to scroll down the page and read all of today's news, by the way, if you haven't already done so. It's been rather eventful.

Source: Associated Press

IGN are reporting that the position left when D-Rod unexpectedly left LucasArts has been filled by Paul Meegan.
Here's his Mobygames Profile if you'd like to check his pedigree.

Source: IGN

Fans have noticed that a single but nonetheless promising screenshot from the third episode of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, "They Stole Max's Brain!" has appeared on Telltale's press site. The peek depicts a coat-free and unshaven Sam whose bite is at least as bad as his bark when he loses his cool and goes rogue, presumably in the pursuit of his little buddy's gooey upper story. The screenshot is likely a precursor to an upcoming blog post and/or update to the series' official page, so stay tuned for more on Sam & Max 303, which if you can believe it is already due sometime this month. And if you've yet to check in to The Devil's Playhouse and are a PS3 owner, samandmax.uk.co reports that the season's PSN price is temporarily discounted to $24.99.

Between Sam & Max and the dino-themed announcements that are sure to come at E3, you might be experiencing some sort of Telltale overload of awesome right about now, but don't forget that you're also scheduled to received Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent by the month's end as well, given your good taste in pre-orders.

Source: samandmax.co.uk

Well, here's a rumour of a fantastic license that nobody would have picked.
God help us, we're in the hands of engineers.

Bring on E3!

Update by Jason: There's a write-up over at GameInformer that includes this:

Source: GamrFeed

Last week, LucasArts released more Monkey Island 2: Special Edition character concept art, with the theme being "random NPCs." Check out the design process for the Phatt Island roulette dealer, the otologically-impaired Mad Marty, the Booty Island antique dealer, and Ralphie, longstanding member of the Gambler's Club.

In their latest bid to enthuse the fanbase, the Facebook page is currently calling for users to post images of the four ingredients of a voodoo doll, the first being Something of the Thread, and fans have certainly been productive. You can check out the various brassieres that have been shared thus far; apparently, the contributions will in some for be put to use during LEC's E3 presentation.

Source: Monkey Island Facebook page

German fans of Wallace & Gromit and/or good adventure games have something to celebrate today, as it has been announced that a partnership between Telltale and Daedalic Entertainment will bring Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures to retail in German-speaking territories. Apparently, the guy who does the German dub for Wallace in the films has been wrangled to reprise his role. Despite the releases being packaged products, they will oddly be released as individual episodes on a monthly basis, the first (which is actually the second episode of the season, "The Last Resort") already being ip for pre-order at Amazon for the rather excessive €15.99.

Given Dan Connors' quote in the press release that "This partnership with Daedalic will be an excellent avenue for getting Telltale titles to one of the largest, most enthusiastic audiences for gaming adventures," it seems possible that the publisher could be tapped for other Telltale localizations somewhere down the line.

Source: Daedalic Entertainment

Thought you had a summer vacation? Think again. There will be no time to catch rays or ride waves while you're redesigning The Pumpkin Post as part of the site's new contest. Submit a Wordpress theme to the webmaster Haggis by August 31st, and here's what you can win:

The full details can be found here.

Source: The Pumpkin Post

If you enjoy things that are awesome, then I feel pretty safe in assuming that you dug the interactive menu for Brutal Legend, which was comprised of live action footage of Jack Black's quest for a 70s-style heavy metal vinyl in a record store. But did you ever wonder how that cool intro was actually put together? Joe Kowalski, UI Artist at Double Fine and the man responsible for this task, has satisfied your undeniable thirst for behind the scenes knowledge in the form of a rather informative Youtube video. The first minute or so discusses various decisions made in coming up with the in-game interface aesthetic, while the rest covers the superb menu. See it!

Requests aimed at Jake to upload a similar video diary about his UI work at Telltale were met with the following verbal response: ¬¬

Source: Youtube

The Pumpkin Post, everyone's favorite blog about Autumn Moon Entertainment, reports that Pedro Macedo Camacho's score for Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island is so good, South American daytime television just can't help but steal it.



Perhaps the most noteworthy part of The Pumpkin Post's latest blog entry, however, is its final sentence:



We'll be there.

Source: The Pumpkin Post

Chuck Jordan has left Telltale Games. In his own words, "[It is n]ot my last day ever working with those guys, I'm hoping, just my last day as a regular full-timer."

The reason he gives is this: "I need to start trying out ideas and attempting to make something more experimental than even a smaller studio like Telltale could practically take on. Maybe nothing will come of it (it's entirely possible that I'm ridiculously over-estimating my own abilities), but with all the tools and support for independent games right now, there's no better time to try it and see."

For those of you who don't know who he is, Chuck Jordan's Mojo-related career started with being a programmer, co-writer and additional designer on The Curse of Monkey Island, and later a script programmer on Grim Fandango. He later wrote "Abe Lincoln Must Die!", "Reality 2.0" and "Bright Side of the Moon" from Sam and Max: Season One (aka Sam and Max Save the World), was the lead writer and co-designer on Sam and Max: Season Two (aka Sam and Max Beyond Time and Space), was designer and co-writer on the Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People episodes "Strong Badia the Free" (episode two) and "8-Bit is Enough" (episode five), and, recently, wrote, designed and co-directed "The Penal Zone", the first episode of the new Sam and Max game The Devil's Playhouse, of which he is also Season Lead Designer. He has one more episode coming-out: "The City That Dares Not Sleep", which he wrote, designed, and has completed his work on. The episode will be finished by Telltale.

Needless to say, Mixnmojo wishes Chuck Jordan the best of luck in his future endeavors. But man, did this come out of nowhere.

Source: Spectre Collie

Since we've never heard official word more specific than "Summer 2010" for the release of the anticipated special edition of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, it'll probably interest you to know that the game's official Playstation Network UK page alleges a release date of July 7th. Whether or not they actually know something we don't, or if they're just sharing their best guess is unclear, but what are we supposed to do? Not report it?

Source: PSN Games

Not sure how else you can really describe the fact that the next iteration of the Guitar Hero franchise will come equipped with a story mode which depicts an epic quest across a mythological world of rock. Kotaku, whose source is the latest issue of Nintendo Power, has the whole story, and I'll let you decide if any of the following seems...borrowed.

The inclusion of this "otherworldly tale, narrated by KISS frontman Gene Simmons," certainly sounds like Activision is taking a few cues from a game they once had on their publishing slate before expunging it in favor of Spyro the Dragon 650. This is also an interesting development given those old rumors that Activision attempted to re-imagine Double Fine's latest project into a Guitar Hero installment before shelving it altogether.

Update by Kroms: In case anyone's actually interested in this - and I can't see why you would be - Activision have just released a trailer and a tentative list of artists and songs. Note how the trailer opens with Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave", which you may know as the song played during Brutal Legend's first gameplay segment. Note, too, that the artists featured in the game include legends such as AFI, Slipknot and My Chemical Romance, which you may know as bands not appearing in Brutal Legend, because Brutal Legend's song list wasn't made of stupid. Rumors of Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit or Kabbage Boy a hint of irony about this whole deal appearing in the game remain unconfirmed.

You could of course buy this. Alternatively, you could just buy a brand new copy of Brutal Legend for $20 off of Amazon. It's not the greatest game Schafer's ever made (the RTS elements are controversial, you can progress in the game without picking up some helpful solos, some other stuff), but it's fun and can, at times, be pretty cool. Seriously and for reals.

Source: Kotaku

A few weeks back, a blog called Dork Shelf published an interview with Scott Campbell, the cartoonist, LucasArts vet, and Double Fine art director who you probably best know for his Action Comics or for being pretty much the guy responsible for the visual style of Psychonauts. There's a a lot great stuff about Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, and Campbell's comics, as well as acknowledgment that the studio is currently hard at work on something "Top Secret," so give it your best read.

In another, decidedly more green, interview with a LucasArts artist alumnus who also dabbles in web comics, Alternate Magazine Online probes the bespectacled Graham Annable about all things Grickle, Puzzle Agent, and awesome.

Source: Dork Shelf

The English version of Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island has been released on another digital distribution channel, this time The Adventure Shop US at a price of $29.99. Technically speaking, this is the first time the game has been officially published in the US, although it has been available worldwide for some time now. Avast!

Source: Adventure Shop

Last week, LucasArts continued its Facebook tour of character concept art for Monkey Island 2: Special Edition with the Zombie Pirate LeChuck. You can see the evolution of his updated look, from the reference material to the initial sketches, sample grimaces, final concept and finished sprite.

This week's theme is apparently random characters, starting with the roulette dealer. Should we prove too lazy to be on top of each piece of art as it's dispersed (and given our track record, it's a safe bet), we'll definitely round 'em up at the end of the week.

Source: Monkey Island Facebook page

News has broken today that Sony Online and LucasArts are to launch a browser based MMO based on The Clone Wars, which is free to play, but additional content can be accessed if a subscription is purchased.

G4TV reports:

Read the full G4 article here.

Visit the official site here: www.clonewarsadventures.com

I guess kids who have outgrown Club Penguin need somewhere to play with their school friends online.

Source: G4TV