The International House of Mojo

This is probably the most exciting e3 event ever, and Mojo has a man at the front-line, Jeff Moeller, to report on everything that's going on! Booyah!

Jeff met up with David Grossman and Emily Morganti to ask all the pressing questions about Telltale Texas Hold'em Tales of Monkey Island. Check it out.

Look out for more hot e3 coverage coming soon!

(Note: it wouldn't be "Classic Mojo" without some technical errors at the same time as important news, and so, naturally, the gallery thumbnails have failed. Dan Pettit is thought to be the cause.)

Update: Jeff has written up his first impressions of the game, which you can now read in the article.

That most excellent of websites, Adventure Gamers, has previewed the first episode of The Tales of Monkey Island (although those of you who do not want to know any plot details should probably avoid going in). A snippet, to make the wait that much more unbearable:

Though I only saw a fraction of the first episode, I can confirm without hesitation that this is a Monkey Island game. The jokes are Monkey Island jokes. The situations are Monkey Island situations. I laughed more during this demo than I have in any single adventure game (or episode) I’ve played in the last few years.

Update: Gamespot preview, with obligatory (somewhat minor) spoiler warning.

Update: Dave Grossman is interviewed about Monkey Island 6 (that's what they're calling it). On a personal level, I do hope they make the (mentioned-in-passing) a Monkey Island 5 in the Curse of Monkey Island/Vampyre Story vein, but adjust the art style accordingly. I love Telltale's work, and am very excited for Monkey Island, but personally am not sure if the Telltale Engine is right for this particular franchise.

Unlikely as it seems, this time the rumours were true. Lucasarts has announced Monkey Island remastered for Xbox Live and PC.

Even more exciting though is the button on the bottom right of the page 'Telltale continues the adventure'. It looks like the other rumours were true and Telltale's new game is...Monkey Island. Telltale's site is down right now, so expect confirmation and updates in a bit.

Update by Remi: Some more info on the remake: will be this summer, with updated graphics, re-recorded music, and voice overs. (Although you can also play the original version, and seamlessly swap versions during gameplay.)

There are some videos and screenshots on the official web site, and apparently some old names are involved, including Dominic Armato as the voice of Guybrush.

And yes, apparently Telltale is... Producing it? Possibly?

More news will probably be updated here as we get it. For now check out the official site.

Tales of Monkey Island: Telltale will apparently be behind the brand spanking new Monkey Island series: Tales of Monkey Island, which will be released for the Wii and PC. Sorry, I think I just peed my pants.

Also, there's brand new TMI trailer. And Ron Gilbert has posted his thoughts on the original SMI, and has revealed he was involved in the brainstorming. Oh, and Dominic Armato is doing the voice. Grab a behind-the-scenes look!

Source: Adventure Gamers

So E3 is in three or four days (depends where you live on the planet) and you must be wondering, "Hey, are my favourite game developers going to be there?" (or, if you are Tim Schafer, "Will I finally get Kroms's autograph?"). But because of my genetically-inherited laziness and the fact that I've been on the run for my life in the past two weeks (after declaring Star Wars an overrated pile of steaming manure to a bunch of fanboys clad in golden bikinis), I'm going to link without doing all the reading for you. You want details, you click. Or wait till Gabez fires me and updates this post, whichever comes first.

- Telltale are announcing a new series at E3. They are also saving you a good amount of cash because they love you, and have put up the old Summer of Sam and Max page for you to reminisce about the good ol' days of 2007. And speaking of Sam and Max, Steve Purcell recently got nominated for an Eisner (and there's a reason it kinda rhymes with "Oscar"). You can vote for him to win. He's also posted something of a behind-the-scenes look at working on a Sam and Max piece. Then this guy professed his love to him. And Max went sini. Oh, and Mike Stemmle's a daddy. Congratulations, Mr. Stemmle!

- Brutal Legend will also be at E3. I'm guessing there's going to be a new trailer, but for a lot of you the real highlight is going to be your chance at interviewing Tim Schafer. All you need to do is to sign-up at Twitter and then, at 7PM PST, June 2nd (that's Tuesday), basically spam the guy with your questions and then hope to whatever you believe in that he picks it. How to do it posted by Ryan/Thrik, who may seem calm but has since frozen himself in an ice cabinet to pass the time, not realising he forgot to take off his creamed pants before doing so. And if you live in America, you can sign-up for the Brutal Legend newsletter and stand a chance to win a real Tenacious D guitar (the kind with strings). Also, if you're into that sort of thing: watch a full minute from one of the first cutscenes in the game.

- LucasArts will be doing something. My slow internet prevents me from knowing what.

- I have no idea if Autumn Moon and Hothead are going to be there. It'd be pretty great if we got more details on Ghost Pirates, Vampyre 2 or DeathSpank.Autumn Moon will be there, to show-off the new and lovely Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island. But it doesn't look the same for Deathspank, unfortunately.

As Winston Churchill once famously said: "Exciting!"

According to the German ratings board USK, a Special Edition version of The Secret of Monkey Island may be on its way to (of all things) Xbox 360. Presumably this will be downloadable via Xbox Live rather than boxed.

While obviously this must be counted as rumour (not least of which because it raises many questions), let's not forget that just last year USK were the ones that first alerted the adventure gaming community to the existence of Broken Sword on DS and Wii.

Whatever happens, let's hope it's true and that it's coming out on PC and Wii too. Until then, let your imaginations run riot over the tantalising phrase "Special Edition"...

(Additional thanks to Diduz for spotting this first!)

Source: Eurogamer

Over at iDesign iPhone is a lovely piece of fanart - a glorious iPhone wallpaper of LeChuck in voodoo striking pose. Obviously, the 3D work pales in comparison to this, but a respectable effort nonetheless!

Thanks to reader Ivo for the tip!

I don't know if this even counts as 'news', but Eurogamer are suggesting that TT Games' may be doing Lego Indiana Jones II. They suggest that it may contain levels from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Shocking stuff, I know.

Eurogamer then went on to suggest that Double Fine may be working with Jack Black, that Ron Gilbert may have a new game based on his character Deathspank in development, and that there is a strong possibility that the sky is blue.

jp update: Yeah, so the LEGO Rock Band game (see comments below) was confirmed, and the 'LEGO Indy II' game's existence was leaked at the same time, so...

Source: Eurogamer

Defying even the most cynical of expectations, GamersGate has outright removed Mata Hari from its list of upcoming releases, making it unclear if a North American version of the game will ever get released.

For those who are still desperate to get the game, it might be worth noting that the Italian version apparently features English voice acting, though not English text. Considering the game was written an English, you have to think such a version will see release someday. We'll let you know if anything develops on that front.

Through some clever molding and a lot of time, sculpture artist Iain Reekie has created what we all desire: Grim Fandango action figures. The Manny figure comes complete with skeleton bird and sausages Robert Frost, while Glottis looks straight out of a Tim Burton animation.

Not available in stores unfortunately, as that would prove God existed and so therefore he wouldn't. QED.

Source: Iain Reekie's website

In his blog "a hardy developer's workshop," renowned Mojo disciple Igor Hardy has posted an article that lists the "7 Best Martial Arts Fight Scenes in Adventure Games."

Coming it at #5 is the epic Monkey Kombat showdown between a giant monkey robot and an animated statue of LeChuck at the climax of Escape from Monkey Island, and topping the list is Bernard's painful encounter with the sinister Oozo the Clown from Day of the Tentacle. This is why the internet exists.

The worldwide premiere of Mata Hari on GamersGate has somehow missed its latest purported release date of March 25th. Now it's listed for "mid-April." You can make a book on it.

The stars are aligning, and LucasArts seems to be getting their release dates straight. Thanks to Spong and Indiana Jones Shop, unless there's another slip it seems those dates for Indiana Jones and the Sock of Kings are:

June 9th (US)
June 12th (UK & Europe)

The rest of the world should be around this time too.

The CV of an animator at Traveller's Tales revealed some unannounced Lego projects at the studio - which is the way most gaming secrets seem be be revealed these days. She then confirmed it, but then stupidly said that both games are unconfirmed (huh?).

They are, fairly predictable, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Indy II. However, the biggest surprise is that the latter is going to be called Lego Indiana Jones II: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, suggesting that the whole game is going to be based around Indy IV.

I vaguely remember reading about "Monkey Island Memorial Day" last year, but what I hadn't realised was the terrifying scale of the operation, or the fact that this was to become a yearly event.

In 2007 the organisers brought 500 rabid Monkey Island fans together in Vienna and entertained them with a series of themed distractions. This year the two day convention is shaping up to be even more (bizarrely) organised and ambitious than before. There's a web-site with a lot more information, including photos from last year, and details of this years tightly packed schedule. Our own Monkey Island convention seems a little tired in comparison.

Also, from the Memorial Day Blog:



Er, what? This is the reason The SCUMM Bar died.

Source: Marek's Facebook

An interesting post from last month can be found on Bill Tiller's personal blog. As you may know, Tiller was the artist of the beloved site logo for adventure gaming mega-site and friend of Mojo, Adventure Gamers. But as he reveals, the original design was a trifle less sanitized.

Notice anything different about this logo?

Yep. The guns. I was told that might imply that adventure games have a lot of shooting. So I was asked to changed it. So I did, to an idol and a Torch. I agree. Good call AG!

At least the compromise Marek and Bill cooked up did not involve walkie talkies.

Although Mata Hari has received less than stellar reception from German reviewers, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like judge for himself the latest graphic adventure game Hal Barwood and Noah Falstein have cooked up.

Unfortunately, the game's worldwide launch in the form of a digital download through GamersGate has been delayed yet again. It's now listed as coming out on March 25 - not that you're actually going to believe it until the game is installed on your hard drive.

JediMudkip of the LucasArts forums promised a few more gameplay-related answers for us today, and delivered. You can find them all here. I had a couple in there, including most importantly for anyone who played and got fed up with Emperor's Tomb:

Is there a checkpoint system in the game?

Yes, there is a checkpoint save system in the game. Again we've tried to be very careful so that if the player fails a puzzle or combat section that the checkpoint places them back in a position that is fair.

And about damn time too!

There was also good news for UK Indy gamers today (like me), as NGamer magazine published the first decent preview for us Limeys. You can see hi-res scans of the two-page preview here and here, but I'd advise you to pick up the mag if you can, because we're all good people really.

Of particular interest is that it's the first preview to be honest and mention the awful state of the graphics and the dodgy resumé of A2M. This doesn't put off their enthusiasm for the game though.

Oh, and they also mention about the Staff of Moses being in Birmingham. Obviously. That's about as crazy a theory as the idea that you can find Atlantis on Google Earth.

UPDATE: MCV, a videogame trade site and so fairly reliable, has said that Activision has dated Staff of Kings for a May 22nd European Release. This is exactly one year after KOCS, so we need a good SOK this time.

Thanks to EvilDevo at TheRaider.net's forum, the official preview of Indy Sok is now scanned and available online in a readable resolution.

There's not that much new information barring how the controls are going to work, but it does strongly hint about the identity of the co-op character on the last page.

"... fans of the franchise can look forward to some senior moments."

Henry Jones Snr perhaps? If so, what LucasArts said about him never being playable before is wrong - Indy's dad was playable in both Last Crusade AND Lego Indy.

For ease of viewing, I've stuck the scans up at IndyJones.net's Previews page.

The latest issue of PCZone magazine (out in the UK next Thursday for non-subscribers) has a short preview of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. Mostly it's just a collection of new screenshots, including a rather neat one of Gromit clearly showing off the thumbprints on his arm.

However, the bad news is the PCZone have confirmed that Peter Sallis will not be playing Wallace. However, his voice will instead be played by Aardman's official back-up actor for Sallis, "you know, the bloke who did his voice on that rubbish novelty alarm clock you got for Christmas".

There's a rather lovely retrospective review of Grim Fandango now up at GameStooge which manages to state all the reasons why I love the game... except the puzzles. Go read.

Source: Game Stooge