The International House of Mojo

In an interview on videogamer.com, STFU (360, PS3) producer Cameron Suey, explains why PC users were ignored on this release, and that LukickAss isn't abandoning the platform.

VideoGamer.com: Do you guys have any message to your PC-owning fans, because you guys have a heritage on PC?

CS: Absolutely. We started on the PC. Unfortunately that goes back to the point of such a variance of the platform. There wasn't such a variance at that time and it made a lot more sense to develop on PC. The message is that we're not shutting the door on PC at all. Just for this project it happens to be that we don't have a PC SKU. I really hope that everyone can experience this game on a platform eventually.

VideoGamer.com: Might there be a PC version in the future?

CS: No.

Read the whole thing here.

Source: videogamer.com

Could that be the title of the new Indiana Jones game?

Forum member Moedred at TheRaven (TheRaider.net's forum) unearthed a trademark filed by LucasArts in 2007 for this title to be used as "interactive entertainment". It's not part of the list of trademarks for possible Indy IV names.

The trademark can be seen here. Just click 'Basic Search' then type in 'Staff of Kings'.

If it is indeed Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, then that fits with the ongoing rumour that the "quest of biblical proportions" would be for the Staff of Aaron/Moses, that helped cause the Seven Plagues of Egypt and parted the Red Sea.

Another tidbit of info was also unearthed in the Dorling Kindersley kids book Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide, that states about the game that Indy is "searching for his former college professor, Charles Kingston". This would mean the game may be taking a more Last Crusade approach than the usual Raiders retread.

UPDATE: And in other Indy news, there's a new trailer up for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Slightly pointless as it's mostly the second trailer and no one will ever see it in a cinema as the film comes out in less than two weeks.

It can be found here:
480p / 720p / 1080p / YouTube

LucasArts LEGO Indiana Jones site has been given the full overhaul, check it out here;

lucasarts.com/games/legoindianajones

Some gaming site/show previews have been captured and made it to YouTube (featuring lots of hilarious cut-scenes and game spoilers, so watch at your own risk);

Clip 1 | Clip 2 | Clip 3

Source: LucasArts

You shouted, you screamed, and you were heard. That awesome Grim Fandango t-shirt is now available in black. Actually it has been for a while, but whatever. Go buy!

Also, Albert Hofmann, the man behind certain Mojoers' Favorite Past Time™, LSD, passed away today. Rumors that he was killed by a cash machine are still unconfirmed.

Hofmann was 102, so he must have done something right.

So someone somewhere decided to be funny and compiled a "triviagasm" of The Wacky Science-Fiction Titles of LucasArts and stuck it over at io9.com. This includes that LucasArts stopped making adventure games in 2002. And not a single mention of the awesome Telltale Games, even though Sam and Max Hit the Road is mentioned.

Two words: The shame. The shame.

(We're kidding io9. We love you.)

Source: io9

I've known about these for a while but I haven't posted about them before because they were still works in progress. Anyways, Trev-Solo over at Deviantart created a bunch of really good art Indiana Jones sketchcards. He loves (loves loves loves) Indiana Jones and he's very talented, so check them out.

He's also done some cool sculptures, including Indy and Anakin Skywalker: check them out over at his gallery.

Source: Deviantart

Guys: Shocker. Belloq is still alive. The dude who played him is not dead yet. How do I know? He's in LEGO Indiana Jones, but he's also in London - at the same time (coincidence?! I always knew there was something fishy about that place). Eurogamer caught-up with him and jammed a mike mic in his face in an interview for your eyes to feast on.

Source: Eurogamer

Any of our Egyptian readers will be aware of Amr Khalid's "Hemaya" campaign against drugs, as shown on on his web-site. Do I spy the LucasArts logo on that apple? I see a lawyer coming: hello!

In other news, a reader sent in a video link to Sam & Max Hit The Road's introduction, reconstructed in "3D." The e-mail didn't say who the sender was (probably due to our mailing system running on steam and cogs), but to whoever it was: thank you. And if you haven't seen this video before then it's definitely worth watching.

Lastly, as staff member Ron Gilbert reports, an Australian man has recorded a "bass" line to the Maniac Mansion theme, which I'm told is quite "kicking."

That's right. The game you will be able to play on PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, DS & Xbox360 is also going to be available on N-Gage mobile phones. Looks fairly decent too:



So now PC owners can look forward to announcements that the game is also coming to Casio FX-82 calculators, the Commodore 64, Colecovision, certain digital watches, iPods, microwave ovens and speak'n'spells. Probably.

Source: YouTube

The third instalment of Mojo's riveting LucasArts' Secret History series will soon be upon you.

This time we'll be looking into Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure. In case you haven't done so already (and so doing risk having your face melted by the almighty), send your opinions for our aptly named Opinions page to this address. See your name in lights and get an amusing avatar all to yourself!

The Force Unleashed site is up. Go take a look if you want.

If you haven't already, you'll need to watch the trailer and then check out this Penny-Arcade strip.

UPDATE: Of course the main draw in the new site is 'The TFU Experience' (they really haven't seen Spaced, have they?) video, which shows off the game on the other non-LucasArts developed platforms. Prepare to seeth with rage when Haden Blackman says "we wanted the game on as many platforms as possible" and then forgets to mention the PC in any way.

Anyway though, there seem to be cool exclusive features on every platform, as Glo_kidd suggests is probably to get people to buy more than one copy of the game.

PSP version - historical fights from the movies.
PS2 version - Jedi Trials mission.
Wii version - incredibly cool control system that seems to work just as we'd hoped.
DS Version - A handheld console you actually want to own.
360/PS3 version - Full LucasArts-developed Euphoria-powered version.
PC version - The chance to play through Jedi Knight, TIE Fighter, KOTOR or Empire At War again.

Source: Lucasarts

And it will be out on September 16th. You could read the press release if you want a much longer version of that statement with no additional information.

Yippee.

...Darrell Rodriguez.

He has been named president of LucasArts. Full press release here.

"I couldn't be more excited to join such a dynamic and innovative company as LucasArts," states Rodriguez. "The people are world class and the IP is the best in the business. To be able to work with such cultural icons as Star Wars and Indiana Jones and develop new franchises is like a dream come true."

As pointed out in forums by Haggis, no mention of the historical original IP. Nor any specific mention of Indiana Jones 2015 though Force Unleashed, Fracture and LEGO Indy Jones are discussed.

Rodriguez is currently Electronic Arts LA's chief operating officer and has worked at Disney Imagineering. Hopefully him being a creative type bodes well for the future of the company.

Source: LucasArts

This is a weird one. I was about to go to bed when I went through my spam folder and lo-and-behold if there wasn't an email from my old @mixnmojo address. God knows why it was being forwarded to my spam, or how many important e-mails I may have missed (grrr) but anyway, check this out:



It is what appears to be box artwork for a SEGA copy of The Secret of Monkey Island. What's weird about it is that Monkey Island was released on the SEGA CD, but not the SEGA Megadrive (or Genesis, if that's what you prefer.)

I can't tell you the source of the image, but apparantly it's on a rolling slideshow on a big plasma screen somewhere in the LucasArts complex. This photo was taken on a mobile phone as it rolled past, as the photographer experienced what I can only assume to be blind disbelief.

It all sounds crazy, and apparantly 'the woman' at LucasArts didn't know anything about it. Perhaps LucasArts were working on a Megadrive port of The Secret of Monkey Island and then canned it when the SEGA CD was announced? It's possible I guess.

For completists the original photo can be found here, albeit in a cropped form.

(PS. I don't know how to work the image system, but I figured this news was worth sharing as soon as I found it. Sorry if I've messed up our galleries!)

Update: Yes of course, it was an april fool. View the real (and very clearly fake) image below.

It seems that Dan Pettit, who you will all know for his excellent work as lead tester on The Curse of Monkey Island, has now moved up to become president of the entire company!

No doubt Pettit's skill of noticing faults and correcting them will be useful in his new role, and though no changes to the development of Force Unleashed or Indiana Whatsit have been announced, you can be sure that they will at least both be released bug-free.

Update: Jack Rodford, our source at LucasArts, has told us that Pettit has had difficulty filling the shoes of Jim Ward. This is apparently meant to be taken literally: back when Randy Breen was president, a rule was established that the president has to walk around in large metal boots, and kick anyone who works too slowly. Since then every LucasArts president has been required to have big feet, and Pettit is the first in that line to have, in fact, small feet ("Pettit" is actually a nick-name: his real name is Smith).

More on this story as it develops...

Mr. Capel has written an editorial "rant" on LucasArt's treatment of the new Indiana Jones contraption.

The article describes the game's strange history, looks to possible sources behind the mystery, and concludes that it is "a whole smoke and mirrors act."

A very rum business indeed.

Gametrailers.com has lovingly compiled a 13 minute retrospective movie; part 1 of a series covering the history of Star Wars video games.

This is just the first episode showing the very early years (Atari 2600, original Arcade games), so plenty more to come. The next installment is due in two weeks.

Well worth checking out. How many of those games have you played?

Source: gametrailers

If you haven't heard of Drew Struzan, shame on you. Probably the finest movie poster artist of all time, he's so good it's very hard to tell that his posters are hand-drawn and don't use photographs like every other movie poster out there.

StarWars.com has a very nice interview with the man behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones posters, showing all his work on the two series including the excellent Infernal Machine and Emperor's Tomb covers. Although they don't really mention them, and the brilliant IM cover sadly gets relegated to an advert.

That's really all there is to say. Just let the preview do the talking.

You remember how we secretly knew about Jim Ward leaving LucasArts before the news official broke, because someone with a LucasArts IP address got to the site through Googling "Jim Ward quit LucasArts"?

Well, a few days ago, a LucasArts IP address got to the site through Googling "Jim Ward LucasArts Fired"!

A LucasArts spokesperson issued the following statement: "huh? Fired? Who told you that? Oh, er... I mean... that's not true! Ward was our wonderful leader!! We have no internal fragmantasion here! The fact that we're working on a game called Fracture is complete coincidence!"

"Coincidence"? Or all part of...