The International House of Mojo

Have you beaten The Sword Master of M?l?e Island and feel like bragging? If so, then you can pick up an "I Beat The Sword Master" t-shirt at Cafe Press for only $15 each. It's made from 100% cotton and is available in many sizes. Plus, you can rest assured that these shirts aren't manufactured in one of those inhumane monkey sweat shops. Check it out!

Source: This guy

Adventure Gamer(s) is almost back! It sounds like they're sorting out some last minute (being maybe a few days) server issues, but as you can see their site now boasts a large Finally Coming Back image.

Remember, if you think Mojo went through hard times, Adventure Gamers has been down for almost 12 months, and has had their original domain (adventuregamer.com) stolen by their old web host!

Well, sorta. It's just a small part of it, but Vg Jam has a tab posted up of the intro to SOMI.. it's pretty well tabbed out and worth a look.

Hell, maybe you could make a band like The Minibosses that plays only LucasArts music... Now wouldn't that be great?

Head on down to the Grim Fandango Network section of LucasForums and you will come across the work in progess of a Grim Fandango-inspired novel being written in several parts.

Highly enjoyable literature or pure piffal in a glass? Why don't you read it for yourself and post your comments accordingly.

Update: There is actually another Grim Fandango novel, written by MeddlingMonk, floating around LucasForums as well. Give it a read while you're at it. It's long. - Jake

Source: GF Novel Thread

Tonight to round off all the Starwars news, we have a nice download for you boys and girls. Bgbennyboy has created a quick fix to get LucasArts adventures working in WinNT, Win2k and WinXP. The file is 80kb and uses VDMSound. So far supported games are:

Fate of Atlantis (White Label talkie cd version)
Last Crusade (White Label cd version)
DOTT (While Label talkie cd version)
Full Throttle (Original cd version)
Sam and Max (White label talkie cd version)
Monkey Island 2 (White Label cd version)

There are some untested games, but you should read the attached readme for more information. I have been unable to test this fix because right now one of my CD drives won't close and the other one won't open! So we would appreciate some feedback on this. Remember, its not supported by LEC. That's all folks!

An old friend of mine emailed me out of the blue to point out that I hadn't mentioned the version of ScummVM for pocket PC's. You can now play all your favourite games while commuting or pretending to test pocket PC games at work. I myself would never ever pretend to test a game while playing an entiretly different one... honest guv.

Update: In the tradition of ScummVM threads I'll update to point out that there is also a Macintosh version of ScummVM under development for MacOS X. Apparently there is a second Mac port underway by the author of SCUMM Explorer, but it doesn't have a website. - Jake

Source: old friend: Steven Mileham!

Rum Rogerz sent me some almost scary, but kinda cool fangame news today: "Night of the Hermit" is a game in which you play Herman Toothrot of Monkey Island Fame. Here's the Blurb:

It's been eight years since that pesky Guybrush left my Island, I've used up all of my money from that game and things started looking down. Until one day, i've received a message in a bottle, it said my great grandpa died and left me with a big mansion in a little place called Badger island, somewhere in the Caribbeans. I was overjoyed!, finally, a way for me to start life anew, so i packed my bags, and left my beloved hut on Monkey Island (TM) to claim my airloom...

Apparently, it turns out that messages in bottles take ages, so by the time he gets to his mansion, it's been taken over and turned into a sleezy motel where I'm sure all kinda of chaos will ensue. The idea is of course, to claim back your mansion. Go here and read allll about it and it's lurvely talkie version (not to mention, of course, download and play it)!

While Mojo was away on, erm, vacation, a new SCUMM tool has taken the fan community by storm. ScummVM, a free and open source application, allows you to run the old LucasArts adventure games on various operating systems. For example, you can run Day of the Tentacle on WindowsXP with full sound support! Of course, there are still bugs to work out and some people may find it a bit user-unfriendly, but it's certainly worth checking out. Go to the website for downloads and to see what games are supported.

Update: I've just noticed that there is even a Dreamcast port under development! It currently only plays the DOTT demo, but hopefully soon we will be able to play our favourite adventures on Our favourite Sega. - Spaff

Update: Another port is being worked on, this time for the ever classic Amiga. As far as I recall LEC stopped making their games for the Amiga after Monkey2. Anyone know better? and while we're at it, any other ports we should know about? Thanks Remi O - Spaff

Dave Grossman, writer/programmer for the first two Monkey Island games and co-project lead for Day of the Tentacle, has been up to his old tricks again. Dave has written a new children's graphic adventure for Ron Gilbert's new company, Hulabee Entertainment. Ron, as you should know, was the project lead for Maniac Mansion and the the first two Monkey Island games.

The graphic adventure is called Moop and Dreadly: The Treasure on Bing Bong Island. Dave describes it as "kind of like a Pajama Sam game, I guess, but a little smaller - designed to be small enough that you can buy it online and download it." Moop and Dreadly should be available this spring, although if you're a Cocoa Puffs fan, you might find a demo in specially marked boxes.

In addition, Dave has also written a game for even younger kids called Ollo. This game will also be released by Hulabee in the future. As for Ron Gilbert's involvement in these projects, Dave says that Ron has a creative influence in all of the projects in his company. Many thanks to Dave and Ron for getting them hooked on graphic adventures while they're young. The future looks bright.

In the December issue of Gamepro, a not-so-subliminal message was planted for LucasArts to consider. An article previewing the Gameboy Advanced version of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars discusses how a graphic adventure can be effectively ported to a hand held gaming system. At the end of the article, the writer suggests that "if Sword is successful, don't be surprised if LucasArts starts digging through its graphic adventure archives." So how 'bout it, LucasArts?

LucasArts Recently announced that over the next few weeks they would be unveiling some new titles and new parterships. The first of these was brought to us on Tuesday.

The Collective, the company responsible for developing the anticipated-by-one-and-all Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Xbox, have been chosen by LEC to create the next in a long line of fine Indy games.

The game, expected to release fall 2002, will be available on a variety of next generation console platforms and PC.

The upcoming title follows in the epic tradition of LucasArts' rich Indiana Jones action-adventure legacy. It will feature an all-new intriguing and historically relevant story set amidst the world's most exotic locales. The game will utilize The Collective's proprietary engine technology, bringing to the series a dynamic new level of fighting action and challenging puzzle elements.

You can read all about it in the Press Release, and remember to keep your eyes peeled for any other announcements!

Adventure Developer has finally run the much talked about (in some circles) opinion/advice column, "A lesson on Legal Anarchy: How to Avoid the Cold Wrath of LEC." The article, by The Adventure Game's "Yorik Kingzjester esq," discusses the do's and don'ts when making your LucasArts-themed fan game or addon.

The article deals in US copyright law and common sense, pulling examples from Narrative's Legends of LeChuck, and Scurvyliver's Fate of Monkey Island, one of the first fangames to be shut down, as well as others. I, um, haven't read the whole thing yet, but probably should.

I know its a couple days old but IGN XBox ran a second "story" about the alleged sequel to everyone's favorite dog and rabbit duo. It seems to actually contain less information than the Adventure Gamers report (way to go AG) but if you're following the sequel news as closely as I obviously am, you'll want to catch every article.

Adventuregamers.com is reporting on the possibility of a new Sam and Max game... but without LucasArts? Here's what they say:

PC Gamer's newest issue features the Top 50 Games of All-Time list. Sam & Max Hit the Road comes in at #47, and the blurb answers a question that many adventure gamers have been asking:

"What's next? While the flow of adventures from LucasArts has dwindled to a trickle, a source close to the project tells us that developer Infinite Machine is quietly working on a new console game using the Sam & Max license but without LucasArts publishing."

In case you're unfamiliar, Infinite Machine is a new game company that was established by Dark Forces and Jedi Knight creator, Justin Chin. Well, if there is any truth to these reports, at least a few ex-LucasArts employees will be able to work on it. Many thanks to Adventuregamers.com for this report!

Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Maniac Mansion co-project leader and lead artist, Gary Winnick. Read as we [cattle] prod Gary's brain about his past with LucasArts, the making of a classic adventure game, and... Maniac Mansion 3? Well, sort of. Read for yourself.

Mac demos of Escape from Monkey Island have finally been released. There are 3 versions: small, medium, and large, large having everything in the demo including voices, cutscenes, etc., and each size smaller having progressively less. If you still haven't played EMI due to your silly personal OS choice, get the demo, and see what you've been missing.

The October issue of PC Gamer published its list of the 50 best games of all time, and whaddaya know... The Monkey Island series made #36! Here's a quote from the article:

Why is it on the list? Can you think of a funnier, more distinguished adventure series? How'd they come up with that stuff? Writer/programmer Tim Schafer reveals: "When [co-writer/programmer] Dave Grossman and I started writing dialogue for the first game, we were just writing dumb jokes to crack each other up and pass time. I thought Ron [Gilbert] would rewrite it and make it sound more like 'game dialogue.' But he didn't. He left it. And in the end, it was great." Best Monkey Island ever? "What's always struck me as funny is the response to the newest Monkey game," notes Monkey 4 project lead Sean Clark. "The newest one is always 'not as good as the rest.' That is, until the next one comes out - then the previous one is 'the best ever.' What's next? Schafer launched Double Fine Productions, and is developing an action/adventure game for the Xbox. And Sean Clark? "Monkey 5! Okay, not really."

Thanks to oneo for the news!

Apple has started a new promotion to bundle some new software into currently shipping iMacs. included in the bundle are such titles as Simcity3000, Tombraider the last relevation, Escape From Monkey Island and Star Wars Pit Droids. Pretty interesting to see what Lucas Arts (and Aspyr) have got their marketing guys up to.

Source: MacUser

So what was the mystery feature at Ken Christensen's World Of Monkey Island? A Secret of Monkey Island comic done by talented artist Paco Vink! The first three pages are up and have been described as "arousing or holding the attention and absorbing," so be sure to check it out. You can view the comic at The World of Monkey Island.

AOTC- Attack Of The Clones...
That's going to take some use refering to as an abbreviation- along with ANH, ESB, ROTJ & TPM.
We all know what people on Mojo & Ewan (bless him) is saying, but what about the rest of the Online community?

Checkout what everyone else is saying with a collection of opinions from various sources on TheForce.Net.