The International House of Mojo

At damn last, LucasArts have (SHOCK!) updated their website with stuff about Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings.

While the screenshots look a bit... well, you can probably form your own opinion, of most interest is the Fact Sheet for the game. And of most most interest is that (GASP!) Fate of Atlantis will be unlockable!

This is the first time since Maniac Mansion with DOTT that LucasArts have ever given away one of their adventures for free. And with the point-n-click joy of the Wii too!

Also of note is the (WONDER!) Co-operative mode, "with a familiar character never playable before in an Indy game". Dare we guess - Sophia?

Update by Jason: While it really contains nothing not already covered by LEC's long overdue announcement of this game, Nintendo Power has released a scan of the first page of their exclusive preview as a tease.

Update by JP: Joystiq have confirmed that Fate of Atlantis is unfortunately only unlockable in the Wii version of the game.

Source: LucasArts

A Maniac Mansion fan named Mark sent me an e-mail linking to a site called cubeecraft.com, which features a bunch of free, printable designs that can then be folded to make cube-shaped paper toys in the likeness of characters. What is one of the characters that they offer? Why, none other than Purple Tentacle, everyone's favorite mutated villain bent on world domination.

Update: As Giygas points out in the comments, this isn't the only Mojo-related character available. The site also has Sam & Max, Strong Bad, and Indiana Jone toys waiting for you to download!

A few weeks back we reported that GamerGate would be selling Mata Hari as a digital download on January 31st. Turns out they were just messing with you, and the product page now lists the game as a pre-order, claiming the new release date to be March 3rd. We'll keep you posted.

Gamedaily has decided to do one of those lame video game related lists, this one titled "Ten of Video Games' Most Lovable Lummoxes." And who should make the cut but everyone's favorite Department of Death driver Glottis? Maybe it's not so lame after all!

Update by Jason: This trailer would seem to confirm suspicions that the internally developed, Euphoria-enabled 360/PS3 version that has been in some stage of development for five years has been scrapped, and that LEC is now going to simply publish the 3rd party Wii, PS2, and handheld ports that did not suffer the same production problems. Note that, like the ports for The Force Unleashed, the Indy game that will be released is unlikely to be very similar to the original, next-gen versions in areas beyond storyline. If what seems obvious about the LEC version is true, it's unknown what if anything is being developed internally at the studio right now.

Source: Jan de Haan and 5IC

The makers of the promising-looking Fate of Atlantis-style fangame Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth have today released... a different Indy game.

Entitled Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Spheres, the short game can be downloaded from the Barnett College website now. We'll update this news post with info on what this game actually is later today.

UPDATE: It's an adventure all right, albeit only one room - it's a slightly late (but very clever) Christmas joke!

Yes, A Vampyre Story 4. In rather a cool interview with IncGamers, Bill confirms that AVS is going to be more than just a trilogy.

"We won't get to meet Shrowdy's mom until A Vampyre Story 4, though she makes a brief appearance at the end of the credits in A Vampyre Story 3. And we will definitely be meeting Jack the Gimper, the creepy chap in the painting. He plays an important role in AVS2. We'll also meet Carpathia the Wolf-Woman ™, the Mortus Monster, and we will get to change Mona's costumes for the first time. And trust me, seeing the outfit she has to wear will be worth the ticket of admission. Also, in the first half of the game the player will be playing Froderick exclusively while Mona is incapacitated. But I should say no more..."

He also mentions that Autumn Moon's non-AVS game will be announced early 2009, hopefully.

Igor Hardy, the author of the Hal Barwood interview just posted about, wrote in to inform me that GamersGate purports to have Mata Hari available for downloadable purchase on January 31st. The product page for the game suggests a price of $39.99.

A brand, spankin' new interview with the fabled Hal Barwood has been conducted by the forces behind Adventure Classic Gaming. The results are just crackerjack, as you can see:

What is the extent of your collaboration with Noah Falstein on Mata Hari?

We worked closely together for months on the story and design, and then I wrote the dialog�in English yet, even though the first market is Germany. So everything was then translated back into German by Ziggy Fielder.

How has this experience differed from your previous collaboration with him on Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis?

They were similar experiences. The main difference, I think, is that Noah was ushering me into the world of professional game development back when we did Fate, and this time we�ve both been working in the business for many years. That means a lot of the ideas that go back and forth do so in a kind of old-friend shorthand.

And no, I don't know when Mata Hari will be released in territories beyond Germany either, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Which you can do while reading the full interview!

The good old boys who hail from TheRaider.net continue to provide the world with undeserved excellence, most lately in the form of a brand new Hal Barwood interview. All the topics that you could possibly fathom (except for maybe "What the hell was Big Sky Trooper all about?") are covered here in the interview that you are going to be reading. Now.

We've already been talking about it on the forums, but now Jason has farted up some thoughts for you to breathe in and digest.

You most likely know all about A Vampyre Story, the game developed by many people from the classic LucasArts era, and designed by Bill "Curse of Monkey Island artist" Tiller -- and you will probably know how eagerly anticipated it is for many people.

If you've played the game, please leave a comment on the site or the forums, and let people know what your impressions were.

Seems that way, as Sven_Q45 on the forums got his copy in the mail, providing photographic proof.

No word yet on the North American release date, but evidently Amazon.de now ships to North America, which may also be the only way for US folks to get their hands on that extras-filled AVS special edition.

According to the German Amazon page for Mata Hari it seems like the game is being released on the 21st. this month. The official site has also been updated with info about the seductive gameplay mode which you'll use to whore yourself out to the richer gentlemen (and women) of the Belle Époque.

Over on the English Amazon page for A Vampyre Story, its release date is also set for the 21st. contrary to what we reported earlier. Who is right?

Adventure Gamers recently got a chance to sit down with Crimson Cow The Adventure Company and play through a build of A Vampyre Story and subsequently put together their thoughts into something Mojo doesn't do anymore: a preview.

Their impressions are of course positive, and will probably heighten your anticipation even more for this highly promising and long-awaited game.

Gameplay in A Vampyre Story is very conventional, but with a few tricks up its cloak. The game is entirely point-and-click, but makes use of the “verb coin” type of interface, where holding down the mouse button over a hotspot reveals use, talk, or examine options. There’s also an additional fly option, as Mona can turn into an adorable little bat herself at will, though this is used only for places Mona can’t reach by walking. Which is too bad, since she won’t run at all and walks very slowly. Fortunately, the space bar can be used to skip directly to her destination, plus skip dialogue. Conversation is carried out in straightforward dialogue trees that you’ll exhaust in their entirety, and while some responses provide player choice, the differences are mainly cosmetic. Many of the topics are non-essential, but you’ll want to click through everything just for laughs and background details.

There's a lot of new information scattered throughout the preview, which you should really read while waiting for November to roll around.

It's time like this that I really wish I were German: those in die vaterland can apparently order special Vampyre Story themed pizza.

The pizza comes with sweetcorn, pepperoni, jalapeño peppers, and what I can only assume to be human blood. Sounds delicious!

Thanks to the invaluable Sven_Q45 for this information.

If anyone ends up ordering one of these pizzas, please let us know the glorious reality is like!

The latest episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People is available today on WiiWare as well as for the PC from Telltale's web site. Grab the individual episode for $8.95, or simply claim the episode as part of your season pass.

Rock on!

Blog site Gone Is Gone posted a little piece recently about Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. I don't know how close they are to insider knowledge, but they managed to get hold of a few new screenshots which are now up in our gallery.

Now sit down and twiddle your fingers or whatever you do to pass the time. We're in for a loooong(er) wait.

Shipping today after years of speculation and wishful thinking is the Wii port of Sam & Max: Season 1, developed by Telltale and published by The Adventure Company. You ought to be able to find this baby on North American store shelves this week, whereas international customers will have to wait just a bit longer.

If you were one of those people clamoring for seeing Sam & Max on the Wii someday, now's the time to put your money where your mouth is, and ensure that Season 2 gets the same treatment. Wait patiently for your pre-order to be fulfilled, or end your procrastination and buy now!

Oh, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is on home video today as well. As a direct result, Ray Winstone's "Jonesy! I'm gonna be alright." is now my Windows error sound.

It seems that the North American release of Sam & Max: Season 1 for the Wii will not be gracing store shelves this week, as initially reported, but rather next week, due to a "manufacturing delay". Ah well, only one week.

Remember that pre-ordering from Gamestop gets you that bonus disc.

Hey, you. This is the last week to send in your reader opinion about Day of the Tentacle. So quit putting it off you slackers.

Remember, you wouldn't just be wasting your time on some disposal internet fluff! This is history we're making here. Think of the article as a time capsule where your thoughts will be preserved and enjoyed for years to come. Future generations are in your debt.