It should be noted that "Jason" (seen posting news below) is actually just Udvarnoky, who has decided to change his Mojo username after being repeatedly teased by Gabez. Given that I thought "Gabez" was pronounced "Gabe Z" for years (considering that Gabez's real name is in fact Gabe, and not Gab, that is a reasonable thing to think) I find this slightly reprehensible, but what can you do? You are now all informed.
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It should be noted that "Jason" (seen posting news below) is actually just Udvarnoky, who has decided to change his Mojo username after being repeatedly teased by Gabez. Given that I thought "Gabez" was pronounced "Gabe Z" for years (considering that Gabez's real name is in fact Gabe, and not Gab, that is a reasonable thing to think) I find this slightly reprehensible, but what can you do? You are now all informed.
Okay, not quite that earth-shattering. In reality (I hate living there, spoils all the fun), Capcom are bringing a game called Treasure Island Z to the console known as Wii. It's a humorous piratey point n' click adventure game. Sound familiar? Oh, and a monkey follows you around. And the main villain's a talking skull (just look at that picture with this playing in the background, you'll get the idea).
Of course it's also cel-shaded, which brings to mind Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker as well. Nevertheless, even without the Monkey Island/Zelda vibe it's still a point n' click adventure coming out on the Wii, which is a very good thing indeed. Let's hope Capcom make good on this promising beginning. Okay, vaguely possibly interesting beginning.
The latest Sam & Max Machinima short "Artichoke" is now up properly over at Telltale's site. I can't recommend it highly enough, as the ending honestly made me shoot milk out my nose for the first time ever. Hooray!
Also on the same page, Telltale has a few new Bone-related goodies. Most notably, however, are the new Soundtrack CD covers made by regular (and incredibly talented) Mojo forumite Laserschwert, who of course is the proud creator of the wonderful LucasArts Soundtracks site. Good on yer mon!
When other sites review games, it's cute and all, but we both know there's only one opinion upon which you base your purchasing decisions, and that opinion is Mojo's.
So it's for your benefit that I hastily threw together a review of CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder, figuring that Mojo should probably have one up before Hard Evidence comes out, or at least within a year and a half of its release. My review seems to have neglected to enter that crucial phase where it's edited down into something that's coherent, concise, or readable, but that's never stopped you from viewing my stuff in the past and it shouldn't stop you now. Special thanks to Gabez for doing all the work in getting this article up because I can't format a picture.
If the cynic in you is convinced that the recent deluge of articles is mere coincidence and not a sign of things to come, you're probably right. Still though it was fun while it lasted. Oh and be sure to keep an eye on the CSI database page just in case I end up doing that in-jokes gallery I told myself I'd do a year ago.
Hi guys... as you know we?ve been working on a new version of Mojo for a long time now. Well we?ve finally settled on a design, and we want your feedback! Jake spent a long time on this, and says that it?s the best version of Mojo yet! It?s very streamlined, efficient and modern. New Mojo will have less content than ever before, but the content that is there will be very high quality! Also, we won?t have to update the site as much!
Let us know what you think!
It?s good, right? Do we love it?
Guess what, gang! We have a new hosted site ? all about Thrillville!
Except not really, since it?s actually a rant about how LucasArts used to be really good. But it?s still thrilling.
Seriously, has anyone actually played Thrillville? It's probably a really good game. Probably.
Oh, and it?s not even properly hosted by us, because I honestly can?t work out how the hosting system works on Mojo. Sorry about that.
Anyway, enjoy!
Gabez has put together a multi-page extravaganza exploring his favorite memories from 2006, and also griping about the bits that piss him off. Actually he's mostly angry. You should read it.
Also included in 2006: a review are the results of the Mojo big end of year poll, which you all surely voted on before gabez deleted the threads. That's on page 3! Get going!
So now that Mojo's back up from one of its world famous and highly predictable server catastrophes, here's a quick rundown of what's happened this past week:
- As you all know, Sam & Max: Culture Shock was released on Tuesday to the Gametap-subscribing public. It has met with rave reviews - check some out here and here (Some of those not recommended until after playing the game). Most of you are probably waiting for the worldwide release on November 1st, but should any of you subscribe to Gametap at some point in the future, do so through this link - Telltale receives a royalty.
- A bunch of other Sam & Max related stuff has been unleashed onto the web to coincide with the release. As foreshadowed, Telltale has made the sketchbook and Max bones shirt available in their store. Gametap has launched its proper Sam & Max page complete with the release schedule. (Add 15 days to each of those for the Telltale launch.) There also exists some contests, an interim theater, and lots of other wacky things that you should find out about for yourself.
- Bill Tiller updated the Autumn Moon site to say that production on A Vampyre Story is going well, and that a company blog will be appearing soonish. Also, their main page has been totally Halloweenafied.
- Rumors have surfaced that LucasArts plans on publishing a Star Wars game.
In classic Mojo tradition, the day before Sam & Max came out, the server decided it was time to crash the hard drive. Fortunately, Matt and others from LFNetwork were able to recover 99% of the data after only a few days downtime! (Not bad compared to the previous record of six months downtime) Anyway, welcome back! Things seem back to normal for now.
DJG, Mojo's php coder from fairer times, snuck in during the night and fixed our forum tracker in the sidebar there to the right. So now, finally, you can once again keep track of all of the action and intrigue of Mojo's forums without actually having to visit them. Woo!
Sorry about that. The site's back though, as you can see. Cough.
As has become an annual tradition, Steve Purcell has sent along a heartwarming holiday image to brighten your day. This year he missed Christmas but sent along a new years card instead, featuring baby Max and an old sad Sam.
Twas the night before Christmas and all through Mojo, nothing was stirring, not even a hobo.
But enough about our sad lack of moving vagrants... it's time to announce the winner to our annual Christmas competition!
The results are in, the judges have been bribed and a decision has been made. It wasn't an easy conclusion to reach, but in the end I decided to pass on the free copy of Bone to Laura Abbott who sent us some amusing LucasArts Christmas carols plus an animation of Indy and Sophia under the mistletoe.
Even though the other entries were just as brilliant, Laura's cheeky confidence in submitting songs despite having no talent or vocal qualities warmed my heart and moved me
You can download the carols here and here, and read the lyrics here, and also gaze in wonder at a few of the other entries that we got that deserve very honourable mentions:
Merry Christmas!
We've got a full version copy of Bone to give away to one lucky Mojo reader as part of our traditional Christmas competition?, courtesy of the lovely folks over at Telltale. Even if you?ve already bought the game (who hasn?t!?) it will still make the perfect present to someone this Christmas / Hanukkah / Celtic midwinter feast!
To be in with a chance to win this delicious prize all you have to do is make something that?s both Christmassy (or just wintry if you?re a non Christian barbarian!) and Mojo-ey (by which we mean related to Telltale, Autumn Moon, Double Fine or, er, LucasArts).
Here?s a few example ideas to get you going:
All contributions will be warmly welcomed ? even if you have no skill, we may give you the prize anyway! Probably not, actually, but you should still enter as we may publish the entries online and, well, it?s a bit of fun.
Send anything remotely to do with winter and Mojo this way, and remember that you can send in as much stuff as you like! The closing date is Christmas Eve, so get writing/drawing/making/knitting/baking now!
Update: even if you don't win you can still get 15% off the price of Bone this Christmas by entering "MOJOPROMO" into the Promo Code field accessible during the checkout process from the online store, or in the
splash screen of a downloaded game.
...by Christmas!
A big thanks to Goblin (who designed the awesome new logo), Paco Vink (whose Christmas wallpaper owns so much it hurts), Ado (whose Christmas card to the SCUMM Bar was vomited back up as a background) and Steve Purcell (whose old Sam & Max Christmas card hangs beneath our menu and makes us wet our pants if we'd worn any, or something)
Anyway, happy holidays. ;-*
A few news updates today:
As previously reported, Plunder 3d appeared in December's PC Zone. The Tingler has helpfully scanned in the article. See this forum thread for more.
Defying critics, expectations and Duke Nukem Forever comparisions, the new ScummVM Website has finally appeared. Go have a look.
A new version of the self-explanatory tool Psychonauts Explorer has been released. New in this version is partial support for the PS2 version, a new search tool and a bunch of bugfixes and enhancements. More details are available here.
You know what makes Mojo so God damn great!? Our glorious little hosted site children! Look at them there... they sing, they dance. They act and they cook. They?re our cute little baby children that we had together but it?s our little secret and don?t you dare tell anyone else about them or I?ll poke your little beady eyes out.
With that in mind I interviewed Mathew Smith about his web-site, Uncle Matt?s dead fish emporiam, otherwise known as Nightlight Productions. Don?t know what that is? For shame! Read the interview to top up your brain knowledge and then whip yourself mercilessly with a copy of the Bible.
Oh, and Indy Month is still charging forward full steam ahead. It?s just that it?s, well, a very long month. I think it ends in February and the reason for that is because Harison Ford is a very old man and so takes longer to complete his orbit around the sun. But two more spine-tingling articles will be coming eventually, I promise. That?s our little promise there and don?t you dare tell anyone about it.
A couple things people haven't updated about but should have:
- Ron Gilbert is continuing to make his presence known, taking his game concept around to publishers hoping someone will bite. Also he is all shady about whether or not it's an adventure, but according to forumites over at AG, he has previously said it will be an RPG type game with comedy and adventure elements. Who knows, though? Well, Ron does.
- Over at Telltale's Bone website, the "Extras" page has opened, featuring a new video clip, some concept art, screenshots, and other things worth poking around at. Like the gameplay videos recently posted at Gamespot, the new stuff on the Extras page looks pretty nice - the game seems to have shaped up into something great.
Despite my reputation as the Matthew Hopkins of POTC / Monkey Island comparisons, it is perhaps appropriately ironic that I once again open the can of worms. Hell, I started it last time. I just love that movie. But yeah, anyway, at the Comic Con in San Deigo... whenever it was, there was some Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest footage. And old Deppo is to be seen escaping from some cannibals.
Unless one of the cannibals happens to have a lemon on his head, I think I'm safe. But feel free to make crazy hasty rumours. You know you want to.
