The International House of Mojo

Any fans of graphic adventure games, especially ones who have maybe been let down by recent adventures, or who have been hoping for something more from the genre, should definitely check out Adventure Gamers' new series of articles about The Future of Adventure Games. It's a good read worth taking a look at. They'll be publishing more articles in the series over the next 10 days or so.

Anyone who's a LucasArts.com member (and you should really all have accounts there), and received the latest LucasArts Insider email may have noticed they ask you to fill out a survey. We suggest you all fill it out, since surely you're all Insider subscribers. It's juicy.

The survey is heavily leaned towards adventure gaming, Sam & Max in particular. There are standard questions about what game systems you own, but then they veer off into crazytown, asking you what your favorite humor style is, if you like mini games in your adventures, if you've watched the Sam & Max cartoon show, and if youre comfortable purchasing games online. Be their guinea pigs! Register with LEC! Complete the survey!

If any of you pre-ordered Armed & Dangerous, tried to play the included copy of Sam & Max Hit the Road, and noticed that the sound cut out part way through, you're not alone. Aaron Giles, author of the XP compatible Hit the Road port, notes that there was an error while mastering the A&D pre-order discs, causing Sam & Max's sound data file to be corrupted. He offers possible solutions on his site, but unfortunately they all require already owning a copy of the old DOS version of the game.

As pointed out on our forums, LucasArts has recently made available a special bundle offer featuring all four Monkey Island games in one pack. To preemptively dash any hopes that this is some sort of collectors edition, the page specifically states that the games do not ship in a compilation box, but instead come in jewel cases and CD sleeves. Most likely that means you'll get Monkey Island 1 and 2 via the "Monkey Madness" CD in a paper sleeve, and both CMI and EMI in their budget jewel case editions.

However, the lack of collectability comes with the upside that it only costs $27.95. That's a damn good deal for anyone, so we expect you to buy them up until LEC is 100% out of stock, forcing them to re-print everything as a lovely deluxe boxed set that you won't be able to afford after buying out all the current cheap ones*. Honestly though, buy them for all your friends for Christmas and then insist over and over again that they play them. Also tell them to read Mojo.<:MORENEWS:>

* You all becoming poor and unable to afford it will then hopefully cause LucasArts to lower the price of this hypothetical deluxe edition (which will never realistically exist, but shh), allowing broke Jake to afford it, and finally throw out his pirated Mac copies of Monkey 1 and 2 that he got from his friend Andrew* in 5th grade.

* No, not tel, a different Andrew.

Everyone knows that LucasArts has been producing games with fantastic soundtracks for almost 15 years, but has only ever released a small handful of them on actual CD's, leaving obsessive soundtrack-grubbing fiends out in the cold.

The new "LucasArts Soundtracks" website, hosted by the Scumm Bar, aims to fill the holes left in our hearts, and music collections, by the lack of soundtrack CD's for classic titles. They've created soundtracks for Sam & Max Hit the Road, Fate of Atlantis, the four Monkey Island games, and more. Check it out.

CShutt pointed me to this thread over at Something Awful, where some dude writes about having the chance to check out some voice recording for Sam & Max Freelance Police. A quote:

While it was just line for line, some notes on the content of the first part.

• There's a couple mini games - one called "Wasp Darts" another has something to do with bumper cars.
• TONS of hilarious jokes in here, lots of monty python referances, some movie spoofs ("Our couch is like a box of chocolates," Max sputters)
• A "west side story"ish sequence, Max and Sam start their own gang.
• A hostage situation with a series of demands that must be met!

Sounds interesting, if it's actually true. ? ? Check out some more info here all of which should be considered highly unofficial. (There is, however, a small sound clip recorded by the voice of Sam for the poster's voice mail)

If anyone's been wanting to get a closer look at that Sam & Max Freelance Police trailer that came out at E3, a nice high-res high-framerate version is now online at LucasFiles (this is the trailer that came on the Armed & Dangerous preview disc, and has already appeared on a few other sites, but now it's up just for you!).

Also, if you were considering downloading the Secret Weapons Over Normandy PC demo, but were too pissed off at GameSpy and FilePlanet's nutty download procedures to do it, that is now mirrored on LucasFiles as well, minus the hassle. Hooray!

As most people know, it is nearly impossible to find copies of Sam & Max comic books. Even the bundled "Surfin the Highway" archival collection that was released in the late 90's is tough to come by these days. But really, how rare is it? Well, according to Amazon.com, the book's worth the "low price" of $150. If ever anything deserved a "holy jumpin' mother of God in a sidecar with chocolate jimmies and a lobster bib," this is it. Yeesh.

Johnny "ThunderPeel2001" Walker has re-uploaded his game guide and walkthrough site for the classic Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade adventure game, and in addition to the old Last Crusade site, he's added a new section dedicated to helping you through Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Check it out at indyguide.mixnmojo.com.

Bgbennyboy has come out of self-imposed-Internet-exile to release a new version of ScummVM Quick & Easy, his popular ScummVM front-end for those who don't want to deal with managing their ScummVM config files and such themselves.

New bits in this version include support for ScummVM's new graphic and sound modes, the ability to jump to various points in the game via (gratuitously annotated) boot paramaters, and more. Check it out at Quick & Easy.

Apparently now that they don't include Max in every game, LucasArts has decided to start including him with games. According to EBGames.com's Armed & Dangerous page, anyone who pre-orders the PC version will get a CD containing Armed & Dangerous concept art, music clips, and the opening cutscene. If that isn't enough, the pre-order bonus disc also includes the full version of Sam & Max Hit the Road!

This pre-order bonus is of course a followup to the Rebel Strike Gamecube bonus disc, which includes a Gamecube compatible version of the old old vector Star Wars arcade game by Atari. Good stuff, I tell you. The Rebel Strike pre-order bonus disc promo is going on at almost every retail chain and online store (in the US at least), so it's probably safe to assume that the Armed & Dangerous one isn't limited only to EBGames. (Update: The GameStop.com pre-order page has a couple more details about the disk and pre-order deal)

Source: Adventure Gamers

Well pumpkins, the answer to that age old question may have finally been found. How much wood, in fact, would a woodchuck chuck, given that a woodchuck could chuck wood? Stephen Lavelle has done some calculations and by George, I think he's got it!

The goodness that is ScummVM has been updated once again! In addition to its support for countless classic LucasArts adventures including Curse of Monkey Island they've added some stuff to the new version:

• Extensive overhaul of the music subsystem, more games now support music
• Support for the Enhanced (V2) versions of Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken
• Support for Beneath a Steel Sky, made possible thanks to Revolution Software supplying the team with the original assembly source code!
• Aspect Ratio correction added, by popular request (similar to the aspect correction found in the LucasArts Entertainment Pack)

Perhaps the coolest part of the announcement is that along with the new 0.5.0 release, Revolution has allowed the ScummVM team to release the classic adventure Beneath a Steel Sky as freeware! Maybe some other companies could learn from this example. Download ScummVM and Beneath a Steel Sky here!

And of course, users of ScummVM Quick & Easy will be pleased to hear that benny has just put out an 0.5.0 compatible version. Finally, if you haven't read our LucasArts Editors Day coverage, you're missing out big time.

Those of you anticipating Knights of the Old Republic should be pleased to know that the XBox version has gone gold and will be available in stores July 16th, at least in the United States and Canada. Thanks to the Adventure Gamers forums for the tip.

Unrelated Monkey Island 2 Fun: If you're interested in getting a peek into what looks like the early development of Monkey Island 2, you should check out this thread in the Mojo Forums. All you'll need is the latest ScummVM and a copy of the original Monkey 2 non-playable demo, which is available in that thread.

(Legend of MI has put up a page with screenshots and info about the recent MI2 demo discoveries for those interested.)

GameSpot has published Entry #1 for Hal Barwood's RTX Red Rock designer diary. This first entry deals with the woes of cutting parts out of the game as the production deadline looms closer. Here's a small glimpse into the process:

So, with a good cut to make, why is the process so tough? Because we're in schedule hell, with hard dates to make and not much time to make them. Each little featurette must be measured against time that could be spent honing up the frame rate, for example, on the PS2. And cuts can backfire.

PS2, eh? *sniff* In addition, the feature allegedly contains 37 new screenshots. Note for you Windows users: the screenshots will not appear if you've been monkeying around with your "hosts" file. Enjoy!

And now time for some that really interests me, seeing as how I don't have an Xbox.

The press machine seems to be revving up for the PC version of Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. Both IGN and GameSpot have written previews for the non-console port, complete with new screenshots. Here's a quote from GameSpot concerning the keyboard and mouse controls:

Fortunately, the PC version of the game will use an intuitive first-person shooter control scheme in which you will move using the W, A, S, and D keys and attack using the left and right mouse buttons. You will be able to block incoming attacks by pressing the shift key, which will also automatically lock onto a specific enemy and let Indy focus his attacks. As you might expect from his many motion-picture adventures, Indy fights like a brawler, though pressing both mouse buttons also lets him grab his enemies, then shove them back against walls or even toss them off of ledges.

Sounds like fun. And if anyone has an Xbox they'd be willing to donate... we'll talk later. Thanks to Daniel Clarke for the links!

Lots of new (and early) updates from LucasArts.com yesterday evening. First, you can check out the Knights of the Old Repbulic page for a profile on a new character by the name of Canderous Ordo.

Then, stop by the Ask LucasArts section if you want to find out how the Xbox port of The Clone Wars will be different from the Gamecube and PS2 versions. (Hint: Xbox Live)

There is a new screenshot of the week as well from Gladius. This shot seems to demonstrate the game's interface during the battle sequences.

And finally, the RTX Red Rock page has been updated to include audio clips of one-liners from the main characters. You adventure gamers may want to pay particular attention to Boris Dezurov, as his voice seems to be quite familiar beneath that Russian accent. Yarr!

On a side note, there is still no official word from LucasArts concerning the rumored cancellation of the RTX Red Rock Gamecube port, but we were told to expect more info "soon."

World of Monkey Island has posted page 21 of Paco Vink's Secret of Monkey Island online comic. This page features the moment when Guybrush meets Elaine just after he attempts to steal her idol. Good times!

News has been a bit slow, but luckily for us Gamespy have posted an interview with Rick Watters, The Collective's producer responsible for Indiana Jones and the Emperors Tomb.

GameSpy: And ? "Snakes? Why does it have to be snakes?"

Rick Watters: We get to explore some of the other nuances of Indy's character in this game as well.

Read more of Watters' choice answers on Gamespy. Alternativley, depending on laziness, make them up yourself.

LucasArts.com updated its RTX Red Rock page yesterday. The update includes five new screenshots, which as always, look quite impressive. There's also a bunch of really cool concept art in the gallery now as well. Find them all right here.