Captious thoughts on the interviewer's faculty and some reflections from Tim himself can be found in the Double Fine forum thread this was posted in.
Source: Double Fine forums
In breaking news, Disney has acquired Lucasfilm for just over $4 billion. Star Wars Ep VII slated for 2015 release, apparently.
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm, a leader in entertainment, innovation and technology, including its massively popular and “evergreen” Star Wars franchise and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm, headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.
Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.
What the Duck?
Source: Coming Soon
Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is a new kickstarter project by Corey and Lori Ann Cole, based on the School for Heroes, their previous email based webgame. You may recognize The Coles as the creators of Sierra's Quest for Glory series, the children's adventure game Mixed-Up Mother Goose, and Castle of Dr. Brain (which was the ancestor of puzzle games such as Brain Age, Professor Layton, and Puzzle Agent).
Hero U is being co-developed by Transolar Entertainment (The Cole's current development studio, as FAR Studio is now used for art and web development) and the Australian video game developer Brawsome, the developer of the adventure game Jolly Rover and the puzzle adventure game MacGuffin's Curse. Brawsome is run by Andrew Goulding, who was the Assistant Producer at Krome Studios Melbourne on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
The goal of the Kickstarter project is $400,000 USD. Currently, the total stands at just over $137,000 USD with 28 days left to go.
For those of you that haven't purchased Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse (is there even anyone reading Mojo that hasn't?) or for those of you who want to buy the game cheaply a second time to get it on Steam, the Indie Royale Halloween Bundle has it and four more games (Home, Pathologic, MacGuffin's Curse, and Evil Quest) for the minimum low, low price of less than $5 USD.
You pretty much can't ridicule LucasArts enough for their abject failure to join the 21st century and maintain their library of titles. They are in the enviable position of having one of the most beloved back catalogs ever, but the notion of lifting a finger toward the ambitious and bankruptcy-assuring goal of making these classic games obtainable is too radical to entertain. Want to buy Maniac Mansion? Ain't that too bad. Need a legitimate copy of Full Throttle? Go to hell. How about finding out if Grim Fandango is as good as its reputation? That's what torrents sites are for.
There's no excuse. LucasArts should have been on this years ago, either by launching their own service or by licensing their catalog to one or more of the multiple outlets who would be glad to have it. But even in 2012, when the responsibility and long-term value of preserving the oldies is common sense to publishers dramatically younger in age and lower in profile, LucasArts seems to actively take pride in their refusal to get with the program.
Is there another explanation? Back when Gametap was a thing, the rumors held that the service had acquired the rights to add LucasArts' library to its fold before the studio abruptly threw ice water on the whole thing at the eleventh hour for reasons unknown. Ever since Good Old Games, a fine home for classic PC titles, launched in 2008 there's been fitful chatter about the service's brass trying to open up a dialog with LucasArts. But as a number of companies have learned, a Jew will kiss a cross before LEC will deign to acknowledge an outside business proposal that doesn't begin with, "Hi, I'm THQ and I wanna make a Star Wars iPhone game."
In the end, what we've wound up with are four SCUMM games on Steam and a handful of console gems on the Wii's Virtual Console. Congratulations, LucasArts; you are a stripper.
I rant and I rave and I remind you of all this to prepare you for today's news of nascent disappointment. VG 24/7 reports that GOG is close to signing a deal with one of the three remaining publishers they've been attempting to negotiate with for years, and yes, LucasArts is explicitly identified as one of the holdouts. (The others are Microsoft and Take-Two.)
Is this it? Did someone at LEC slip up and accidentally ratify an idea that imitates respect for their legacy and goodwill toward its hoary fans (and who could just as easily have youthful counterparts)? Is the possibility of a legal transaction in which money is exchanged for legitimate installations of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders or X-Wing actually in the offing? Will it be possible to buy The Curse of Monkey Island on the level again? The answer, of course, is no, and we all look forward to finally having a convenient portal for purchasing Grand Theft Auto.
Source: VG 24/7
Tim Schafer has been spotted wearing his "boss" hat while discussing business decisions, contrasting his usual "game designer" attire and Schaferesque wit. Luckily, serious Schafer is by no means inferior to his blockbuster self, particularly when he drops wisdom regarding the video game industry:
“One of the most frustrating things about the games industry is that teams of people come together to make a game, and maybe they struggle and make mistakes along the way, but by the end of the game they’ve learned a lot — and this is usually when they are disbanded."
Source: Wired
The Walking Dead is coming out on retail disc for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on the 4th of December in North America. IGN has a picture of the retail box, as well as information about a GameStop exclusive bundle that features exclusive cover art by Charlie Adlard (the artist on The Walking Dead comics), and includes The Walking Dead Compendium One which also features the exclusive cover art on its cover. The standard version will retail for $29.99 USD and the Collector's Edition will retail for $69.99 USD.
The article also has a confirmation that the fifth episode of The Walking Dead will be released digitally in November.
In other Telltale news, with The Walking Dead winding down Telltale is finally discussing Fables. There's no new news, but last week at the New York Comic Con, Telltale re-announced their upcoming Fables game. With The Walking Dead being finalized in November, it would be nice if the first episode of Fables could be released this December to tie in with the comic's tenth anniversary.
It may look like it, but we haven't completely forgotten our reviewing duties. elTee has returned with a review of The Walking Dead's latest episodes: Long Road Ahead and Around Every Corner!
What are you still reading this for? Go check out the review.
New poll! This time we ask what is the most awesome version of LeChuck and you can pick from any of the incarnations we've seen so far.
Our old poll asked if you want more Monkey Island. Unsurpisingly, the vast majority answered "I must have more!". Only 8 people were more interested in further special editions while four thought the ship had sailed for the franchise.
| Should Monkey Island continue or be left in peace? | ||
|---|---|---|
| I must have more! | 45 | |
| More Special Editions would be nice | 8 | |
| That ship has sailed | 4 | |
| Total votes | 57 | |
Three Telltale games are included in the bundle: Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, and Jurassic Park: The Game, all of which are through Steam.
The other games and applications in the bundle are: Artboard, Bejeweled 3 (through Steam), Courier, DiscTools Pro, Evernote, HDRtist, Radium, and Scriviner. Additionally, Firetask will unlock for all bundle owners after 25,000 bundles are sold, and Bioshock 2 and Painter Lite will unlock after an unrevealed amount of bundles are sold.
Mike Levine, co-creator of Insecticide with Larry Ahern, wants your opinion on the possibility of a new Insecticide game:
Hey, Larry Ahern and I have been tossing the idea around of a new Insecticide game, this time losing the action and making it more of a pure adventure game. [p]Curious how many people would be into this? Should we join the trend and do a Kickstarter?? Or can everyone just mail us bags of cash so we don't have to give KS 1/3 of the money?! [/p] Anyway, we really want to bring Chrys and Roachy back to life ... their's was kind of cut short, and they have a lot of bugs left to squash!!
Would people like to see this happen? If so let us know!
thanks,
Mike
Leave your comments in the comments or at this forum thread.
The release dates for The Walking Dead episode 4: Around Every Corner have been announced. It's coming out in North America on PSN later today. Then, tomorrow, it will be coming out on North American XBLA, and on PC and Mac worldwide.
Release dates for the European market have not yet been announced, nor have release dates for episode 3 or episode 4 for iPad. Not much is known about episode 5 either at this point, but since the entire series is coming out on retail in North America on the 4th of December, the fifth episode will be out sometime before that.
Update: The fourth episode is now out on PC, Mac, and XBLA. Early reports say this is the episode where your previous choices come into play, meaning that the big choice in episode one is no longer the only choice that meaningfully effects gameplay. This is also the episode where the winner of the contest has a character modeled after them who dies and later becomes one of the undead. The runner-up winners are members of the zombie hoarde. So if you won, keep an eye out for yourself. :)
Costume Quest is discounted by 50 percent, Brütal Legend is discounted between 69-81 percent (depending on platform), Psychonauts is discounted by 50 percent, Stacking is discounted by 50%, Iron Brigade is discounted by 33-50 percent, Double Fine Happy Action Theatre is discounted by 50 percent, and Once Upon a Monster is discounted by 15 percent.
Looking for a crossover between a well known casual game and a Lucasfilm license, but Indiana Jones Adventure World isn't cutting it for you? We have good news then, as Rovio has been teasing a mashup of Star Wars and Angry Birds. Nothing has been announced other than an image of an angry bird with a lightsaber and news that the crossover will be revealed in New York's Times Square at 10 a.m. EDT on the 8th of October.
Update: According to Fast Company, who contacted Lucasfilm for clarification, the teased mash-up between the two franchises has to do with both an Angry Birds Star Wars game and an Angry Birds Star Wars toy line that includes collectible action figures and a re-imagined version of the classic board game Jenga.
Update 2: The announcement that the announcement announced has come and gone, and now we have a release date. The Angry Birds Star Wars game is coming on the 8th of November.
It's rare when a fan game comes along that is inspired by both Sierra and LucasArts adventure games, but Pledge Quest II: Noodle Shop of Horrors (or Vohaul the Cat's Revenge) certainly falls in that group. It was created to support the SpaceVenture stretch goals through Paypal. Since SpaceVenture is created by the Guys from Andromeda, the creators of Space Quest, the jokes and references primarily relate to the Space Quest series and related games. However, the primary plot device is inspired by a classic LucasArts adventure, and there's references to a certain property that was licensed by Telltale as well.
The game itself is a three room adventure that is kind of a blend of both worlds, having the interface of Sierra games with the game philosophy of most LucasArts games. You can't die in this game (although if you look hard enough, you'll find at least one reference to Sierra's death sequences). It's a well made fan game that is well worth playing. The one room original Pledge Quest is fun as well, if you haven't tried it yet.
Source: Decaffeinated Jedi
A few months ago, Telltale joined the DRM-free movement at GOG.com with 3 of their best series, Sam & Max Save The World, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, and Tales of Monkey Island.
Now two more Telltale series are available DRM-free on GOG.com: Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse and Back to the Future: The Game.
Each of these releases contain bonus features, like the soundtracks of the first two Sam & Max seasons (still no Season Three soundtrack, not even in digital form), developer commentaries, animated shorts (Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions and an unknown short with Season Three - perhaps Our Bewildering Universe?), and more.
Mike's past games are woefully skimmed over in the interview, but there's a lot of information on his new development studio, including that the company's first release is an iOS app called “Dolphin Paradise: Wild Friends”, and why the company has chosen a free-to-play system for their games.
So apparently cover art for Star Wars: First Assault has been leaked that indicates two things: it will be an XBOX Live Arcade title (at minimum) and is an internally developed game.
People are also speculating, what with the trigger-happy stormtroopers, that this game will be a spiritual successor to Battlefront. They'll find out soon enough, because promotional assets mean this thing can't be very far away; certainly, it would seem to be LEC's next release.
Remember, for all the latest info on Star Wars: First Assault, you'll probably want to hit Google, but if you're patient I'm sure we'll eventually catch up or something I don't know really.
Our new poll asks: Should Monkey Island continue or be left in peace? Do you want more from Guybrush and co. or are you happy with what we got? Vote to the right!
The previous poll asked which of Captain Blondebeard's teeth was replaced with gold. Most of you think it is the lower left central incisor. Who knows? The full results are below.
| Which of Captain Blondebeard's teeth was replaced with gold? | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lower left central incisor | 11 | |
| Upper right second molar | 4 | |
| Upper left lateral incisor | 3 | |
| Lower right canine | 2 | |
| Lower left first premolar | 2 | |
| Total votes | 22 | |
Yesterday, Bill Tiller uploaded a picture (as seen below) from the making of the video for the upcoming A Vampyre Story Kickstarter campaign. There's also a small video clip available of Froderick.
IGN's Up At Noon show has the premiere of the trailer for The Walking Dead episode 4 along with an interview with the writer of the episode, Gary Whitta. Skip ahead in the video to the 10 minute and 25 second mark to view The Walking Dead portion of the show.
Here's something to wash away the Monday blues: George Kitchen, known on YouTube as wdrpgwd - who you may remember as the person who did those lovely Tales of Monkey Island music remixes from three years ago - has been putting more time and effort into, well, making more remixes for Tales of Monkey Island. I recommend listening to the entire set, but will link you to my personal favourite song, a groovy number from "Lair of the Leviathan". Check-out wdrpgwd's channel for more, including remixes from Monkey Island 2, or download the albums of available songs off of MediaFire, here and here, though beware of pop-up ads appearing in the latter two links.
Source: YouTube