The International House of Mojo

If you've ever listened our podcast, you will know that it is insightful, witty and delicious -- but you will perceive that it lacks any created jingles.

That's where you, our musically talented readers, come in. We would love to have a short piece of music (vocals are optional) that will work well as a pod cast opening. In fact, we'd love to have several: if you send us any kind of jingle that meets our (embarrassingly low) standards, then we'll add it to our jingle library and use it randomly. You will have immortality, and our eternal thanks.

Plus, as an extra incentive, we're giving away a copy of A Vampyre Story to the very best musical jingle. If you didn't grab a copy of AVS when it first came out, then you missed out on a real treat, as our review will testify.



To give you some inspiration, here are some jingles from other podcasts and radio shows:

• Adam and Joe (BBC 6Music) -- and alternative podcast jingle.
• Idle Thumbs (we're probably all about the middle ages)
• LucasCast (the LFN's podcast)

Have fun!

(Note that the version of A Vampyre Story that constitutes the prize is the North American retail version published by The Adventure Company, which ought to work internationally.)

Update: 15 days left! Thanks to everyone who's entered so far; keep 'em coming! :)

Update 2: Only three days left! The contest ends on Tuesday. Every contribution is appreciated and will likely be used for future years in our podcasts.

In a recent excavation of a tomb in Orkney, two items of interest were discovered: the body of a Dark Age chieftain named Jaisonius Spirit Feather, and a collection of vellum manuscripts.

Within the content of said manuscripts was this article, describing Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures, some 1,800 years before the game was even made.

We can only assume that the body was Jason, tragically lost in the year 199 AD, but still performing his duties to this future web-site.

To celebrate Zombies Ate My Neighbors arriving on Virtual Console, we sent intrepid adventurer Jason Harang back in time to 1993, the year of the game's release, to find out more.

Only later did we realise that he had been accidentally sent to 199 AD, which, even by our confused reckoning, is some way out.

As a result, Jason is regrettably locked forever in the stubborn clutches of time. Before being consigned to this terrible fate, he did, however, write us a review of Zombies, which was mostly the point in sending him to the past in the first instance.

Better late than never! It's time to get out your guitars for the International House of Mojo's Brutal Legend Mojocast©!

In typical Mojo style, however, Brutal Legend was not discussed. We didn't want to let this ruin a perfectly good podcast, and fortunately there's a new episode of Tales of Monkey Island available, so the guys focused on that instead.

As we've sent The Tingler to explore new Mojo opportunities in the land of China, Jason and Peter are joined this time by our resident Tim Schafer/Heavy Metal expert Karim (otherwise known as Kroms.) The bad news for kroms is that we hired him to analyse Ozzy Osbourne's contribution to Brutal Legend, and as he refused to do this, he will not be getting paid for his time.

Nevertheless, enjoy the Mojocast my friends!

Tim Schafer, of Full Throttle and Grim Fandango fame, recently released Brütal Legend, in an attempt to appease the rock gods of old.

In my experience, "rock and roll" is something one does in a quarry, and "heavy metal" is work for the blacksmith.

But who the dickens am I? Read what our "metalhead" rock expert elTee thought in his insightful review.

Another TMI episode is out which means another podcast follows. Udvarnoky, The Tingler, and SurplusGamer recorded a podcast last Sunday discussing Lair of the Leviathan and other related things.

Oh, and we're also on that iTunes thing over here.

Clicky!

It is -- unless I'm hallucinating from lack of sleep -- September 29th, which means only one thing: Michaelmas! Mojo's TMI review!

Please read what our resident "professor of good vibes" thought of Telltale's latest effort, then play the game for yourself (if you want to, that is). The review is free of major spoilers.

The feature image is stolen from "Manatee Magic" by Susan Morrison Sims.

Update by the Remster: We've posted TSB review also. No need to create a new news post for it, as really, it's an agree-fest with what eT wrote. But go read anyway!

Update 2: The game is released. (elTee)

YARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Ahoy, me hearties! 'Tis Talk Like a Pirate Day! Spew some filth! Wash me deck, ya scallywags! Get in line ya dirt doilin' dirty dippers! But lest ye forget: I'll keelhaul any man who dares pirate games without holding its makers captive!

Poke yer eyes for patches and cut yer hands for hooks! It's a day to celebrate yer infamy! YARRRRR!

Update: Free booty! YAHAHARRRR!

Did you know that Mojo is on Twitter? Pretty impressive, eh? So why don't you just go and friend us (or whatever it's called) and follow @mixnmojo.

And oh, in case you, like the rest of quasi-intellignet world, prefers to get our podcasts delivered straight into your favorite media program, you can use this link for iTunes or this one for anything else.

Little by little we're catching up with 2007...

Do not adjust your time machines: there really has been a three-month gap between now and the last Secret History article.

Thankfully, the gals down at the article factory ploughed through all of last night, resulting in a seven-page Grim Fandango article sitting on my desk this morning.

I quickly sent it the publishing division, and the conclusion of their labour can be seen before you.

Big thanks to Colin Panetta for his artwork, Tim Schafer for his precious memories, Haggis and Icebox for their essays, and everyone else who contributed. Cheers!

Update: Artist Colin Panetta has updated his blog with a "making of" the header art, including some sexy wallpapers to download.

Geeze, are we already on to Escape from Monkey Island? Yes, at some point in the future you will be reading the Secret History article for the fourth Monkey Island game, and, if you act now, you might just be reading an opinion of yours along with it on the second page. Simply send your Reader Opinion to me, and do it with great haste. Or I will punch your face. Into a paste.

Was EMI obscenely underrated? Did it ruin your childhood? Did they go too far with that scene where Guybrush survives a nuclear shockwave in a lead-lined fridge? We want to know!

Disclaimer: Please, for my convenience, send your actual submission by email only, and not in the comments below, so I don't have to worry about tracking them down. I'm not your momma.

Another House of Mojo podcast coming in your ears. Join Jason, Chris and Peter for an adventure into the sonic dimensions.

WARNING: This file is being brought to you in an untested capacity. The International House of Mojo makes no guarantees of content or quality.

Ho ho. What I mean to say is: I'm sure this podcast is excellent, but I haven't listened to it yet. If I did that, you'd all have to wait for another 97 minutes before I could post this news. So consider this a gamble on my part - and why not? It wouldn't be the first time I've accidentally endorsed something bad.

So is this the greatest podcast of all time, or an awful failure? Find out!*

*Seriously I'm sure it's great. But no guarantees!**

**It really probably is.

The Tingler Reminds: This podcast we cover Tales of Monkey Island Episode 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay, so if you haven't played and finished that don't listen for there be spoilers ahead.

We also discuss Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and our opinions on the new Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island trailer.

We wanted to get the Grim Fandango Secret History up way earlier than this, but it didn't qualify for a better travel package, and it ended up getting shafted with the Excelsior Line. (Plus, y'know, Monkey Island 5 got announced and all.) However, its journey of the soul is honestly very very nearly complete this time, which is why I'm giving everyone one last chance to send in reader opinions about this masterpiece if you haven't already.

I'll take anything sent to me before Sunday if you want your thoughts in the article! Let's get a move on now, you're not dead yet.

...to Zaarin! He is 1337 years old today.

Surplus Gamer, AKA Mr Coloumb, AKA "that guy from the podcasts," wrote up some thoughts on the control system argument, currently raging its way across the barren plains of the Internet, like a microcosm of the Iraq war.

For those who don't know, some people are angry at Telltale for forgoing the hallowed point 'n' click control system in the latest Monkey Island game. These people, says Mr Gamer, are wrong.

Mojo is again casting pods in your face! This time the participants are Jason, SurplusGamer, Tingler, and from time to time me as I may or may not have drunk too much wine to be able to keep up.

Now, go pod your ears off.

Additional note by Tingler: The topic is Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1, so if you haven't played that yet DO SO. Good, now you can listen without fear of spoilers. We also discuss the recent Steam releases and what we'd like to see.

Oh, and I apologise for occasionally making your ears bleed.

Continuing our unstoppable onslaught of articles in your face, we give you... a new Wallace and Gromit review!

In. Your. Face.

The International House of Mojo pulls out another e3 article!

In this last one, Jeff Moeller tells us about Lego Indy 2 and the usual line of Star Wars games, which you may or may not care about. Also included are some fairly awesome Monkey Island t-shirts.

Check it.

We (myself, SurplusGamer, Tingler and Jason) made a new podcast, all about Monkey Island: share and enjoy!

This time the pod cast is 100% less amateurish, but still retains all the fun and hi-jinx that you either love or hate.

A big thanks to Zaarin for mixing this up, and for everyone who contributed their voice.

After a semi-competent attempt to discuss Insecticide, Mojo makes another reckless venture into the realm of podcasting with this diamond of a listen (93.3 MB), recorded this past Sunday. Gabez, The Tingler, Zaarin and myself log onto Skype to discuss several Mojo topics as well as the then upcoming E3. Hilarious ironies include our relentless cynicism regarding the possibility of anything Monkey Island related being announced at the expo. Hindsight is 20/20, guys.

If you can get past the pervasive awkwardness, shoddy sound quality, and the fact that people (me) constantly talk over others because everyone else was just an extremely distant whisper before Zaarin cranked up the volume in the editing, we hope you enjoy the podcast. Do leave feedback below!

Update: MP3 version now available!