The International House of Mojo

... like about November time. Yes, Mojo: up-to-date as usual.

Seriously though, it's still an interesting read with a lot of insight. This was just before Psychonauts came out on Steam so hear Tim's opinions on that, little hints at Double Fine's next project, as well as him admitting *gasp* that LucasArts may actually be getting better. Find the scans right here.

And just as a bonus for being late, here's a nice little article on Monkey Island 2 from the same issue. Enjoy!

Source: gamesTM

At least, it should be really soon. It wasn't up when I checked, but their updates usually occur near the middle of the day.

Those who are getting the game through the Telltale route have two more weeks until Reality 2.0, but there's tons of stuff you can do until then, such as reading this glowing review by 4 color rebellion which gives the game a 9 out of 10. You might even consider checking out this preview by 1up. You could also read Gabez's Dave Grossman interview again. Or host a weenie roast.

Gabez was beginning to get very tired of sitting by his sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice he had peeped into the book his sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Gabez, "without pictures or conversations?"

So he was considering, in his own mind (as well as he could, for the hot day made him feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly Dave Grossman with pink eyes ran close by him.

Read all about it here!

Telltale put one up for your enjoyment. So the least you could do is enjoy it.

Also if you want to be amused you could check this out if you haven't already. You really shouldn't go to bed tonight until you've reached the goal for Saphire-Encrusted Bullets.

It's pretty distressing to think how useless Mojo would be if everyone just checked Telltale's main page.

As previously mentioned publisher Xider will be releasing boxed versions of the two BONE games.



You can read more at the Xider website, and on the Official press release.

Bone: Out from Boneville and Bone: The Great Cow Race will be distributed in the UK by Pinnacle Software and will be available from all good retail outlets priced ?19.99 each from 23rd March '07.

Source: Xider Games

"The Tingler" split Mojo readers in half (all six of them!) with his radical review of The Mole, the Mob and the Meatball. Some of you were enraged to the point of constipation; others were in full agreement. Now prepare for another onslaught of opinion, as the highly controversial Tingler tingles you with his review of Abe Lincoln Must Die!

Except I think he actually likes this one.

A month or so ago gaming sites reported that Zombies Ate My Neighbors received a rating on the ESRB web site, which is usually a dead giveaway that a game will be appearing on Nintendo's Virtual Console service in the near (or not so near) future. (Mojo of course knew about this news at the time but consciously chose to break it now because we prefer being fashionably late.)

For those who don't remember or who have never played this LucasArts gem from 1993, it was a top-down two player game for SNES and Genesis that had you ridding suburban neighborhoods, malls, Egyptian tombs, etc. of the living dead with water guns and weedeaters. The game was a hoot and a half (and even featured an unlockable Day of the Tentacle stage!) and I suggest all Wii owners give it a whirl once it shows up for download. There's a reason it still has a loyal fanbase, you know.

Also, while the game was published by Konami, I hope this is a sign that future LucasArts developed titles might show up on the service at some point. There was a rather cool NES port of Maniac Mansion and the not-half-bad Shadows of the Empire for N64 among others that would make nice additions to the VC library. Fingers futilely crossed!

Update: Tragically, it would seem that the intel was mistaken, as Zombies Ate My Neighbors is no longer listed on the ESRB site. For those who need something to hope for though, know that Konami (the game's publisher) and Jaleco (the NES Maniac Mansion publisher) have previously had their games added to the Virtual Console, so it's not 100% impossible. Just don't hold your breath.

After much forum clamoring, Telltale has posted four more selections from the Season 1 soundtrack on its site. Included is the Ted E. Bear theme, two tracks from Abe Lincoln Must Die!, and one from the upcoming Reality 2.0. Woah.

And for folks who take their games straight from the tap, Machinima Short #12, "Saving the Economy," is now available for viewing.

Reality 2.0 premieres on Gametap one week from today, and will show up on Telltale's site two weeks after that.

GDC was on a few weeks ago, and I went along, observing the people there almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Yet across the bay of San Francisco, minds that are to my mind as mine is to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded my report with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against me.

Read all about it here!

Depp Schmepp. Here's the trailer you really need to see - Sam & Max Episode 5: Reality 2.0.

Source: Telltale Games

As Udvarnoky suggested yesterday, the trailer for the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie is online now.

There's not much to say. The film has clearly gone even further off the depp deep end with its fantasy pirate gibberish... but it does look like fantastic fun.

The length of time it took for this trailer is worrying though - the film is supposed to be in theatres in a little over two months, and there are rumours that it's not been a particularly fun post-production. Let's just hope that's because they're trying to keep the same stunning quality of CGI, and not because the film has a bloated plot (with too many subplots) and more than a few holes.

The trailer's on Yahoo, but I'd go to Movie-List to download a copy and fullscreen it up.

Source: Movie-List

I have no idea what the headline means either, I've simply got Can't Buy A Thrill on in the background.

Dan Connors interviews are always informative, usually with a snippet or two of new information each time one is published.

You can read the Chris Remo Shacknews special about how Sam & Max is selling. You can read about Telltale's console plans. You can read about the areas that will be improved in Sam & Max season 2.

Where? Right here, of course, at Shacknews.

Source: Chris Remo of Shacknews

Those of you who are interested in seeing the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: LeChuck's Revenge At World's End should head on over to this site at midnight (or anytime after I suppose).

At World's End, supposedly the last of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, opens May 25th worldwide to Monkey Island fans everywhere.

The Tingler was complaining that we hadn't reviewed the last two episodes of Sam and Max, so I said: "do it yourself, idiot" - and he did!

You've probably already played the game by this point (unless you're waiting for the whole season before buying, of course) - but go read anyway, and see if you agree with the verdict. Go on go on go on go on.

Guess what, gang! We have a new hosted site ? all about Thrillville!

Except not really, since it?s actually a rant about how LucasArts used to be really good. But it?s still thrilling.

Seriously, has anyone actually played Thrillville? It's probably a really good game. Probably.

Oh, and it?s not even properly hosted by us, because I honestly can?t work out how the hosting system works on Mojo. Sorry about that.

Anyway, enjoy!

I was e-mailed this last week, but I forgot to update Mojo about it... until now! A tipster informs us:

We all know that Ron Gilbert was once working with Chris Taylor at Cavedog on the Games Total Annilation and Good & Evil. And we know that Ron Gilbert is designing a adventure/RPG and looking for a publisher. Well this article convinces me that Ron have hitched up with his old buddy Chris Taylor. Solid proof. The words "top-secret" and "very funny" reveal all.

My cynical journalistic side says that this is probably non-Ronzo related, but it?s fun to speculate anyway.

Source: "DirtyDan"

Hooked Gamers scored itself a peek at the upcoming Indiana Jones game for the Xbox 360 and PS3. The preview doesn't contain any new information that I can see, and all the screenshots look familiar, but give it a look anyway!

Source: Hooked Gamers

Taken from the TT Games website; TT Games is supporting British charity Red Nose Day by offering a special secret cheat code for LEGO Star Wars II (on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PC and Gamecube).

It puts red noses on all the characters in the game ? from Han Solo to the Emperor. See classic Star Wars scenes as you?ve never imagined them!



All they ask is that you make a donation to the charity, of any amount you can afford, suggested donation is ?1.

See here for more details

Source: TT Games

Apparently they're using every holiday as an opportunity to draw some awesome A Vampyre Story art and share it with everyone. And I ain't complaining.

We may already know about it, but it's still nice to have the official press release. The retail version of Sam & Max: Season 1 for Windows will be distributed by The Adventure Company this August. There's no word on what, if any, extras will be included on the disc, but it will be different from the CD that Telltale will ship out to season buyers in May. It will be a surreal and awesome experience to see Sam & Max on a store shelf again, at least for me!

Telltale's also got a lovely writeup of this year's GDC in their blog. Included are three special machinima shorts that were made for the event (and account for Sam and Max's "special appearance" there). Well worth the read.

And if you're one of those wacky kids who are subscribed to Gametap, you should check out the eleventh "real" machinima short, "The Teapot Drone Scandal."

Yes, it's survey time again. Telltale games is garnering your feedback on Sam & Max, and asking about your favourite TV shows, movies and other media (including existing video games).

Check out Emily's post on the forums and take it away.

Me, I'd love to see some original IP come out of the company, but while they're asking for existing franchise suggestions I couldn't resist giving my support to Blade Runner and Dark Crystal episodes. And Dank the Caveman, of course.

Source: Telltale Games

Gamasutra held a series of recorded interviews with various folk at GDC, and today they've put up their rather well done one with Dan Connors. What sets this 18 minute beauty apart from most game-related podcasts is that it won't annoy you to the point of suicide.

You should download it because it's quite an informative listen. For those of you who foolishly choose not to, know that Dan more or less confirms the retail release of Sam & Max.

The upcoming Star Wars FPS, originally scheduled for this November, has been delayed until Spring 2008. Just last month the same thing happened to the new Indiana Jones game, only here there's no movie that can be used as an excuse. It's almost as if, gasp, the game is actually delayed, for the same reason other games are!

Sounds pretty reasonable to me. After all, isn't it better to release a game that's late but quality than timely but buggy? I mean to me the only way something like this would make you look bad is if you publicly slammed every developer who did the same or something.

Telltale has posted its initial coverage of GDC in their most recent blog entry. Most of what they report has already been brought to your attention by the vigilant JP. However, they also have (a scan of an ad containing a picture of) the cover of the March issue of gamedeveloper, which as promised displays a brand new Sam & Max drawing by Steve Purcell.

Here's hoping that Purcell's apparent willingness to draw inordinate amounts of amazing Sam & Max feature art extends to the cover of the Season 1 CD release. ...Oh! And in the blog Telltale also teases that Sam & Max will be making a "special appearance" at the GDC Awards ceremony. If there's any luck they won't behave themselves.

While it will come as no surprise to anybody, in a shaky-cam interview by joystiq, Dave Grossman reveals that Sam & Max season 2 planning is already underway, and that season 1 story arc will wrap up with episode 6 and not carry over to season 2. Of course merely being 'planned' doesn't necessarily mean the thing will go into production, but I'd say chances are pretty good.

The same stunt camera-crew also interview Steve Purcell here.

And if you want to know why everyone's so drunk, you can blame the blue cocktails.

Source: Joystiq

As pointed out by Telltale forum goer Alhon, that loveable rogue Max's appearance in the LucasArts videogame Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight has achieved canon status in the Star Wars universe according to the Star Wars wiki "Wookieepedia".

This article is an easter egg from a digital media, such as video games, but has been deemed canon by either the author or the Star Wars licensees, and thus should be taken as a part of the "real" Star Wars universe.

Max had been staying with a female Human in the city of Barons Hed on Sulon, during the time when Katarn was attempting to track down 8t88 and a stolen map to the Valley of the Jedi. Katarn, curious as to what a certain locked house in the city was hiding, lay in wait until the woman returned and unlocked her door. Seizing the opportunity, Katarn burst through. What he saw?other than the frightened woman?was a short, armed rabbit with a maniacal grin.

After some nudging on Katarn's part, Max joined the Jedi mercenary in defeating the various thugs who had been terrorizing Barons Hed. He and Katarn parted ways upon reaching Government House in the city's center.

Check the rest of the article to read about when Max again teamed up with Kyle Katarn, and how Max's likeness has been emblazened throughout the Star Wars universe.

Source: Wookieepedia

You may recall last year Mojo reported that the Lucas Animation studio in Singapore was being expanded to include a handheld gaming division.

Today Develop revealed that the first game from the studio will be... a Star Wars title!

LucasArts is working on a handheld game based on its new Clone Wars CG TV show, and its sister production studio at Lucasfilm Singapore has been expanded to handle the development. The game will be the first internally developed handheld title for LucasArts...

Industry veteran Feargus Carroll is taking the reigns at the studio as project lead, bringing with him over 12 years of production experience earnt at the likes of Psygnosis, Infogrames and Electronic Arts. His more recent titles include Freedom Fighters, Black & White 2 and Battlefield: Modern Combat. Meanwhile the production's lead artist role will be filled by Matt Aldrich, former EA Vancouver art director.

Source: Develop

A special message from, uhh, Phoney Bone and the Pirate-in-a-jar for all Sam & Max Season 1 owners.

Source: Telltale Games

That's what this says. A boxed version of Sam & Max Season 1 distributed by The Adventure Company this fall? Sounds awesome to me if it's true. Guess we'll know in a few days!

And the tenth machinima short, "War Games," is now on Gametap. Since it contains episode 4 spoilers it may be a week before it appears on Telltale's site, but the curious can probably find it on the Gametap page within a few days.

Source: JA+