The International House of Mojo

What was that I was saying not too long ago about Maniac Mansion fans?

A reader by the name of Fedez sent me two pieces of fan art earlier today, a drawing of Razor with a skull earring, and another of the big happy Edison family gazing upon the evil purple meteor. The only time that hamster wore a more terrified expression was when Syd pressed the "reheat" button on the microwave.





Don't you think it would be great if, I don't know, some hypothetical hosted site that used to flourish but now no longer gets updated returned in a glorious comeback in order to archive fan art like this? Just thinking out loud here.

I've always been hopelessly obsessed with all things Maniac Mansion since being a kid, and when you weigh in the nostalgic factor, it doesn't taste a lie to call it my favorite game of all time. It would appear that I am not the only person the franchise has had this effect on, as the fan scene surrounding the game has always been pretty remarkable. You're probably familiar with Maniac Mansion Deluxe, the 256 color remake from 2004. Lesser known projects include the likes of an ongoing series of micro spinoff games powered by AGS, a project dubbed Maniac Mansion Mania. A million years ago I even remember an inventive fan creating a playable, fully 3D environment of just the exterior of the mansion.

The latest example of impressively excessive fan devotion to the father of SCUMM is this, a new remake of the game observed in one of our forum threads. What makes this remake of the classic original Maniac Mansion worthwhile when an acclaimed one already exists?



That's right: it's being re-imagined in the style of Day of the Tentacle. You can see some sprites and animation tests here, as well as an open call for help. It's unclear how far along the effort is at the moment, the status being that "the backgrounds are almost done." Still, whether or not this remake will end up being completed, or end up being like 99% of all fan projects, the work seen so far is pretty impressive.

The TMI Blog's unstoppable jubilee of Monkey Island voice actor interviews continues with a probe of the immensely talented Jared Emerson-Johnson, who you no doubt know as a composer, sound designer, and voice director whose resume includes games made by all of the studios Mojo covers.

In addition to sound design and voice direction, Emerson-Johnson's contributions to TMI include the voice of deranged French culturally variant scientist DeSinge, whose obsession with collecting Guybrush's pox-ridden hand caused our hero a number of inconveniences. The factoids he shares in the interview are not to be missed by those who aren't keen on missing something not worth missing out on.

Some UK-based site called Alternative Magazine Online has been publishing interviews with Dominic Armato wherein he reflects on the latest episode of Tales of Monkey Island. Naturally, this means we get to read his opinions and production stories for Rise of the Pirate God, as well as memories from his past, which seem to have been blissfully expunged of the stalking he incurred from Mojo readers:

When I did Curse and Escape, I chatted on IRC and did a couple of brief interviews with a couple of the hardcore Monkey Island fansites like The SCUMM Bar. A few months ago, I went to PAX, met a horde of people and had something like 20 interviews, some with pretty major gaming publications. No sneaking under the radar anymore!

While we may have reported on one or two of the previous interviews at the time, you really should read all five of them, and if you haven't, permit me to supply a hint book to your game of catch-up:

• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  

For those of you wondering how the imminent new version of Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, updated with Earl Boen's voiceover work, will be made available, Telltale has answered your question in the latest issue of their newsletter.

"Earl Boen, the man who first gave a voice to the evil ghost/zombie/demon pirate in 1997 with Curse of Monkey Island™ has returned to play LeChuck in the final chapters of Tales of Monkey Island!

Plus, he's re-recorded lines for the prologue of "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal", which will be available on the Collector's DVD, and coming soon as an updated Chapter One download on our website!"

This should allay the concerns of those who feared that the TMI DVD would be the only option for hearing Earl in all his demonic glory.

Source: Telltale Forums

So after only a six-hour delay (geez, you'd think we'd be used to it by now), Telltale have finally put out Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God!!

It may be late in your time zone, or early, but there's no time like the present to continue the adventures of Guybrush Thrumwind Threepwood, Mighty Pirate!

And if you haven't bought the episode yet (or the season), there's still time to redeem your personal epic fail at life. After all, Telltale's store is open 24 hours a day.

...well, almost.

You can read our our review whilst you're waiting for the game to be released.

...exciting!!

Update: The Pirate God review has risen on ye olde The SCUMM Bar too.

So as part of Telltale's roundup of previews for Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God, there was this article from BigDownload.com. Particularly noteworthy is the second page, which contains this quote:

"Remember to grab the demo right here on Big Download next week Tuesday the 8th -- the original voice of LeChuck, Earl Boen, is back!"

A demo of *what* precisely? Remember that the original Tales demo was the beginning of Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, in which Adam Harrington substituted for Earl Boen as Demon LeChuck.

Could this mean that Telltale will be replacing the old release of Narwhal with the new, Earl Boen-filled version (which was already foreshadowed in this trailer) on Tuesday, at the same time as Rise of the Pirate God comes out?

Let the speculation commence!

(Also, while you're at it, do check out this Chapter 5 preview, which contains a few new screenshots. Beware of SPOILERS therein, though.)

UPDATE: elTee has thoughtfully pointed out that the same article we linked to above (and scandalously skimped on reading) indicates that Tuesday's demo is in fact of Chapter 5 gameplay. So Earl Boen in Narwhal might not be coming so soon as we first thought. There's always the DVD...

UPDATE 2: Jake from Telltale comments!

"Earl Boen definitely recorded a demon LeChuck for Ch 1 (as obviously indicated by his voice appearing in the trailer). I don't know when it will be released, though."

So there you have it. The Earl Boen dialogue for Narwhal is fully recorded, but the release date for an updated version of TMI Chapter 1 with his voice work is undetermined as of yet.

Psst. Hey you, over there. Do you have a cousin named Sven?

Close enough. Wanna buy some Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God screenshots and concept art? Right now I'm selling them for the very low price of free!

Just come on down to our Tales of Monkey Island screenshots gallery and our concept art gallery, where you'll find the latest and greatest images on display. Caveat emptor, though, for SPOILERS lurk within....

Don't forget, the full game comes out on Tuesday, December 8!

(This message brought to you by wholesale distributor AlfredJ on IRC.)

The Tales of MI Blog has a new interview up with another Monkey Island voice actor - Nicki Rapp, the pipes behind the well-received Morgan LeFlay, pirate hunter and Guybrush Threepwood's biggest fan/traitor in Tales of Monkey Island. You may also know Rapp as the voice of Lili in Psychonauts. And she is going to kill you so much if you don't read.

There's a new Monkey Island game out, abbreviated as IWWHIIWWHITOMIROTPG. It's in sparkling retro two dimensionality, and will cost you a whopping $0.00 (translating to £0.00).

Someone - and I don't know who, so please step forward and announce yourself - Reader Snader emailed me about this remake of the original Maniac Mansion, inevitably made in the official language of adventure gaming, German. The game's status was recently updated from "announced" to "nearly complete". Read all about it.

So, enjoy. Or don't. Whatever you choose. You could just check out this eerily accurate representation of Europe's relationship with Monkey Island.

So after only several hours' delay, Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood is at last available for downloading!

What are you waiting for?! Get to it!

Update from Mr Manager ("we just say 'manager'"): Reviews are a bit slow coming this time, as the reviewer's copy was first released late last night. But hey, they're trickling in -- go read The SCUMM Bar's fanboy droolings and World of Monkey Island's musings.

Update: Our own review is now up!

Update by Kroms: There's a few Chapter Five spoilers flying around, so you best be warned about any threads containing the words "Nintendo Power". There's one thread on the Telltale Forums that I can't name (Chapter Four spoilers), but it begins with the words "What Morgan" and is posted by user TheHutt. Try to avoid it if you want to remain spoiler-free for Chapter Five.

Source: Telltale's Blog

So word on the proverbial street (err, the Telltale Games forum) is that the latest issue of Nintendo Power magazine (the December issue, which is on sale now) includes a preview of Tales of Monkey Island Chapters 4 and 5, The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood (omg!) and Rise of the Pirate God.

FAIR WARNING for those who seek the issue out: The preview includes some major plot spoilers dished out by Mike Stemmle, as well as some possibly spoilery (and previously unseen) concept art.

Source: Telltale Forums

Telltale have (rather belatedly) announced on their blog that this coming Friday will see the release of Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 4, The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood. (Oh noes!)

Clicky for the news and some screenshots! (Do beware of some spoilers, though.)

Telltale have released four new pieces of concept art for Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood (due out soon!), which we've kindly put up in our Concept Art gallery for the game.

Be warned: there are some slight spoilers.

Edit by ATMachine: Description of the concept art removed to avoid spoilers. If you DO want to be spoiled, click away!

After a long delay, Telltale will finally be releasing Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space (aka Sam and Max Season Two) on Xbox Live this Wednesday, the 14th of October. The price is 1600 Microsoft Points.

Telltale are also promising that further episodes of Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures will arrive on Xbox Live starting in November.

Source: Telltale's Blog

Steve Purcell is now showing off on his blog his three initial concept sketches for the Tales of Monkey Island cover painting.

(Yes, we know this post is a week late. But here at Mojo we like to say that slow and steady wins the Cheese Squigglies.)

Interestingly, Purcell writes that he was never satisfied with his drawing of Elaine on the Secret of Monkey Island cover. In fact, his pencil layout drawing for the MI1 cover shows that he redrew Elaine, taping a cutout of her revised figure on top of the paper.

(And if you've never visited Purcell's blog, don't forget to check out all the posts under the Pirates label, which includes some character concept art he did for The Curse of Monkey Island, as well as storyboards for an "unidentified" pirate film.)

Source: Spudvision

To whet your appetite for this coming Tuesday's release of Chapter 3 of Tales of Monkey Island, Telltale have posted a few more screenshots of Lair of the Leviathan on their trusty blog. Beware some spoilers within, however!

Telltale have also released a Lair of the Leviathan gameplay video, currently exclusive to IGN, which is equally spoilery.

Source: Telltale's Blog

Today is the 25th of September (for a little while longer, at least) and that means that The Siege of Spinner Cay (the second chapter of Tales of Monkey Island) is now available to download on WiiWare in Europe.

If you
(a) live in Europe
(b) own a Wii
(c) do not own Spinner Cay yet, and
(d) want to own it (and why wouldn't you)

...then get cracking!

Mojo has learned (from our well-placed sources ;) that European gamers will be able to play TMI Part 2, The Siege of Spinner Cay, on WiiWare come the 25th of this month.

It's already available on WiiWare in North America, but for those unlucky European console gamers who haven't played the second chapter of Tales of Monkey Island, Nintendo and Telltale will be spreading the pirate love next Friday.

Source: Telltale's Blog