The International House of Mojo

1UP have written an excellent article on Tim Schafer that covers everything from his past to the present and tentative future, and has everything from props from Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman, what Double Fine might be up to after Brutal Legend (potentially: sequels), and a band from the past called Big Breakfast.

This is all part of a week-long "Brutal Legend blowout" that 1UP are doing. Read today's post and go crazy. Extra brownie points to anyone who sends-in photos of Big Breakfast performing.

Update: Posts two, three, and four are up, and the final part, the Brutal Legend explosion of awesome information will happen tonight. In the meantime you can read-up on "Rock Movies That Should Be Games", ten things you didn't know about Brutal Legend (including four deliciously awesome new screenshots to feast to), and how Tim Schafer will help you graduate if you take Anthro 160 at UC Berkeley.

Source: 1UP

Well, call me heartbroken. There isn't a single video of what's apparently been one hilarious evening, hosted by Tim Schafer. The awards were aired on TV by G4 today, but for those of us outside of North America or without a TV, such as myself, this is a raw deal if it doesn't hit the internet soonish. Some other quotes, apart from the one in the title:

- "The other day I was swimming and a man waved and me and yelled but I couldn't hear him. And then a shark came and bit off my arm. That's when I learned the importance of audio."

- "Downloadable games come into your house through the walls, just like ghosts. They entertain you but you can't touch them, much like strippers. And when they're smaller games, they must be more creative, like short strippers."

If you know where we can get some sort of live footage, that would be great. We did get some live text, but man, that's just not the same.

Update: You can watch most of it. Thanks Noah!

It should also be on TV on April 10th. Thanks jaap!

Update update: Woah. You can now watch it more fully, filmed from the sidelines by one Alex P. Thanks, man.

MTV Multiplayer is doing a "GDC Chain" of questions where one developer passes on a question to another developer.

Tim Schafer was asked by Sucker Punch President Brian Fleming (I know!): "What is our favorite tentacle, and why?"

Tim's answer: “The green tentacle is nice, but the purple tentacle is more of a go-getter. He really evolved as a character in that he grew a hand. I was sad to see him get squished and sent off to Saturn.” He then asks "Wanted" producer Pete Wanat a question, which you can read here.

Wanat, by the way, was the one responsible for getting Jack Black to do Brutal Legend, so thumbs up to you, Pete. You wear those sunglasses because you're cool and you know it.

Source: MTV Multiplayer

The first of three Brutal Legend panels has happened, and got not one, not two, not three but four rounds of applause because of sheer awesome. Crank your hype-meter up to eleven because this shit just got serious.

If you're feeling more offended than interested, right now, because I said "Shit", then don't bother reading on. Brutal Legend is stuffed full of Metal (capital M), testesterone, beautiful, scantily-dressed women and no lack of breasts. It's the core and essence that dominated the imagery of the golden age of metal. The art-style was inspired by the works of Frank Frazetta and Simon Bisley, which leads to a lot of colour contrasting and silhouettes.

Now, the game itself has changing weather conditions and a dynamic day/night cycle. As Art Director Lee Petty wisely points-out, more than half of what you see at any given point, in any game (I'm guessing especially sandbox games like Brutal Legend), is the sky. And so Double Fine has decided to treat the sky as the canvas it ought to be, and it goes from everything from "tranquil orange" evening to "swirling cyclone of purple with long streaks of lighting" (lighting, or lightning?).

Although more information was given-out, there's an embargo that's preventing the press from talking about it - until next week. Either way, thanks to Kotaku for sharing what they could.

Update: Gamasutra lays some new thick and delicious information, guaranteed to light your senses on fire.

Source: Kotaku

Brutal Legend got some preview press today, and while the writers are still under embargo, Kotaku were kind enough to have posted some new Brutal Legend concept art. Check it out!

Don't forget that Tim is hosting the Game Developers Choice Awards tonight. It only airs on TV on Friday, but if you know anywhere where we can get live coverage, or live text, please tell us in the comments!

Source: Kotaku

All you need to know is the title: Tim Schafer in Host Master and the Conquest of Humour. It's wish fulfillment. If you're wondering how I posted this before DFAN, it's by having gone back in time and then beating Tim to the punch. Yes.

The Game Developers Conference has arrived!

GDC will start on Monday, March 23rd, 2009, and conclude on Friday, March 27th.

There's several Mojo-related events lined-up. The first one will be on Thursday, and will be about the Art of Brutal Legend; the second is on Friday, and will involve several developers, including one Double Finer, who will talk about sound design, and the third one (also Friday) is probably the one that gives-out most hints to the content of the game, and is about creating the right team and methods for testing something with the "the size, scope, nature" of Brutal Legend.

Tim Schafer himself is hosting the awards ceremony. You can watch the presentation and ceremony, but alas only on Friday - three days after the awards are given-out on Wednesday. G4 TV will exclusively air the proceedings at 6:30 PM PST. If you want live text-based coverage, you'll probably want to flock to the likes of Kotaku. G4TV.com will also have "around-the-clock" coverage.

Tim also hosted the 2007 Awards Ceremony, which you can watch here.

Don't forget that we might also get a new Brutal Legend trailer.

Now, if anyone only knew where we could get some sort of transcript from the Double Fine panels, or some sort of live-text coverage...

The new issue of UK-based PSM3 is out, drunk, partying, gorgeous and waiting for you to get your filthy paws all over her. Eddie Riggs makes one sexy cover, and I mean damn. Remember, kids: if it ain't smoking with a guitar in its hands, it's not worth looking up to.

Source: Double Fine Action News

As pointed out by Brutal!, an interesting rumor by GoNintendo indicates that a Wii port of Brutal Legend may be in the words. Mmm, okay.

The blog also has some info on some LEC games from the same source. The claim is that we will get a LEGO Indiana Jones II by the end of the year. They also report that Battlefront III is in the works, though we of course already knew that, albeit with some confusion about who the current developer is. Hopefully such a lightning fast development of a new LEGO Indy game doesn't translate to a re-release of the first with a Crystal Skull themed bonus level.

Update: GoNintendo have been asked, presumably by one of the many parties involved, to take down the news reported. They've done so. Conspiracy!

Double Fine and EA are showing-off a (possibly new) Brutal Legend trailer at GDC - if not at the event itself, then later at Double Fine's place, where hopefully we'll get cameras rolling to show us their latest love-child masterpiece. Not filmed: Activision slitting its wrists with jealousy.

Source: Kotaku Australia

Now that Brütal Legend is safe in a new publisher's hands and set for release by the end of this year, we're in an emotional position to digest the details of how close it was to being obliterated without all of the nerve wracking. Indeed, as some new magazine scans posted by our most Brutal! of hosted sites reveal, the game's publishing agreement with EA came mere weeks before Double Fine would had to have shut production down.

The Activision/Vivendi merger saw numerous game casualties, among them Ghostbusters and Brütal Legend. With no publisher but an increasingly polished game already in hand, Double Fine opted to buckle down and continue building the game even as operating funds became increasingly scarce.

[...]

Regardless of the setbacks the game encountered throughout 2008, Double Fine avoided shutting down production, though Schafer admits the potential was looming in the final weeks before the deal was struck.

Yikes! Also included in the Game Informer preview is at least one new screenshot, so get yourself over there.

Fact about video game pirates: You are terrified every time you come in here. To you Mixnmojo must be like walking into Restaurant Cannibal. Do you know what Udvarnoky does to pirates? What Gabez and his "little friend" do? And man, wow, Tingler, just, don't get me started on The Tingler. He caught this pirate one time, and...wow. All I can say is blood. Lots and lots of blood, and screaming. Such terrible screaming.

So where am I going with this, and what does it mean to you? Can you still be saved?

Well, basically, it's that you can get either of the two Psychonauts soundtracks for less than $8.99. "No money" is no longer an excuse: $8.99's less than what you pay for most of that junk you call "fast food". Added bonus: no shipping costs, because of legal download services. So what I want you to do is to cut that torrent (before Gabez cuts your throat), pick a service, and buy yourself either (or both!) of the two Psychonauts soundtracks - that's one for gameplay, and one for cutscenes. Then kick back and enjoy, both masterworks by the always-brilliant Peter McConnell. Intensify the pleasure by knowing that your money is now part of Brutal Legend's budget, and feel sexy.

Source: Double Fine Action News

Guess who showed-up drunk and uninvited?

I guess Activision must have been browsing through their old photo-album of "dropped games of awesome" because they've been mumbling something about "threatening with lawsuits", and "money", and "Why am I so ugly?" to EA and Double Fine. And I will tell you why you are so ugly, Activision: it is because you are full of soggy, blistering pimples, as a result of your allergy to the awesome you let slip through your fingers - the awesome of Brutal Legend. Not to mention, you're also embarrassing to be seen with. Plus you smell funny too.

My advice? Don't go through with this. Jealousy never helped anybody. But hey, at least you have some more awesome to look forward to - just before you let it drop again, anyways. Haha. Man, Activision, you are so dumb.

Source: Variety

Can you say, "Awesome"?

EA also released some trailer grabs a while ago, all in high-res. Check them out.

Source: Shacknews

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

PSW magazine had quite a nice spelling-mistake-filled preview of Brutal Legend in their current issue, but to spare us the moderately illegal act of scanning it in they've kindly stuck it on GamesRadar instead. Thanks guys, but seriously - it's spelled "Schafer".

Source: GamesRadar/PSW

Move over Hugh Jackass Jackman, we have a new host in town - and his name starts with a 'D' is Tim Schafer. Hide your food, lock up your drinks, make sure there is no potential mix between eating and laughing because you may unexpectedly choke to death, and tune in on March 25th.

If we're lucky we might get another awesome caveman speech, and Gamespot might cover it again. Tim also hosted the awards in 2007, which you can watch fully here.

OK, awesome. At least if the Oscars suck this year we'll have something else to fanboy over look forward to.

Some of you probably know about the whole Warner Music Group thing on YouTube. For those of you who don't, what's happening is that basically WMG are committing financial suicide and are, to make money the way everyone else is in the 21st Century, muting any YouTube videos with their music on it. That includes Black Sabbath.

So that means that the Brutal Legend debut trailer (the very first one) is mute now, on YouTube. Way to go.

Guess what's inside the new OXM. (More than one possible answer.)

1. Brutal Legend article just dripping with Schaferesque awesome.
2. Monkey Island 5 announcement. (Xbox 360 exclusive.)
3. The words "LucasArts" and "dignity" in the same paragraph.
4. This sentence: "Games! Gears! Trends!...And your mom?"

Click here to find out and to make it feel loved and then buy buy buy.

(This only applies if you're in the United States: only they get the-correct-answer in their OXM. Must be in the Bill of Rights or something. Man, those Founding Fathers, they think of everything.)

Update: For those of you not fortunate enough to be able to read the new info, there's a short summary here.

Update 2, by Sir Tingler of England: Unfortunately for those rebellious colonial yanks, it's also in the UK edition of Official Xbox Magazine too - out now.

Update 3: Brutal! has the scans of both the US and UK editions. They are actually identical in terms of content, just have different designs, of which the UK version's easily the better. Nyeh.

Source: Double Fine

Thanks to a mighty blizzard outside that stopped me from going to a party, I got bored enough to surf the internet and - lo and behold - found an ancient article by Tim Schafer, written back in 2007 (that's centuries in internet time) for OXM. So, yay, Tim Schafer. Everyone thank the blizzard outside and then sacrifice your children in its honour.

(PS: Apparently also OXM will be publishing something about Brutal Legend next month. You can thank the blizzard for that too, and then sacrifice your goat.)

Source: OXM