The International House of Mojo

Check LucasArts.com tomorrow for a trailer reel that hilights little clips from every game at the show this year. They were playing this montage trailer on the giant screen at the show along with the other "full length" trailers which are currently available at the E3 site.

Hopefully we'll be able to get a non-ShakyCam glimpse at RTX Red Rock and Full Throttle II, as neither of those games have full official trailers online right now. Though, I don't remember for sure if FTII was in the montage trailer or not. We'll see!

Update: I've been asked a couple times if this E3 montage video is the same as the LucasArts 20th Anniversary "game history" video they showed at the press screening before E3. As far as I know, this is a different video which focuses only on the current games (though I could be wrong). Hopefully they'll put the 20th anniversary video online at some point though.

IGNCube has interviewed LucasArts game producer, Reeve Thompson about his and Hal Barwood's upcoming 3D action/adventure, RTX Red Rock. Sadly the article is locked by IGN unless you pay for their Insider service (which I do actually recommend), but here's a question from it:

IGN: We understand that NASA had a big influence on the game itself. How far did that influence reach?

Thompson: We've tried to infuse a sense of realism in RTX Red Rock... this is a world that might exist someday, and we want it to feel that way. For that reason we've spent a lot of time looking at NASA plans and designs, and use them as inspiration for almost everything we're designing.

Of course we have to imagine 100 years have passed, but overall we want people to recognize some of the visual elements of the game. We've also spent a lot of time thinking about how people would live on Mars, and what the lives of the colonists would be like. You'll find details in the game, like ceilings painted to look like Earth's sky, or pictures of Earth's forests, that we believe future colonists on Mars would like to have around.

The rest of the interview discusses why RTX is different than, say, Tomb Raider (some differences given include the ability to control crazy little robots, not to mention the fact that they're trying to have an actual story within RTX), and about Eugene's special abilities.

Worth reading if you already have an Insider account, but don't feel too worried if you can't see it. Hopefully we'll get our own interview with some RTX people sometime in the near future.

LucasArts.com continues its long string of Friday updates, this time giving some attention to RTX Red Rock. The product spotlight for this new Hal Barwood title has been updated to include five new concept art images. The new art includes some mine drilling items and a tough-looking woman that may lead to some jealousy from IRIS. Check it out.

This week's poll on LucasArts.com closed with interesting results. The poll asked LucasArts website visitors which game genre they preferred. Unexpectedly, adventure games won the poll with 26% followed by RPG's at 18%. Does this mean that adventure games aren't dead after all? Does it mean that LucasArts should focus more original titles in this genre? Or does it mean absolutely nothing at all? Don't ask me, I just work here.

Computer-making giant Gateway has put together sponsored by LucasArts, nVidia, and Intel, which tests your skill at Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. They are boasting over $60,000 in cash and prizes(!!!) to the winners, so those elite JK2 players among us should really look into this.

GameSpot has taken its crack at the long string of Best of E3 awards. This time, LucasArts grabbed more recognition as Star Wars Galaxies earned the #3 spot in "Top PC Games" as well as #8 in the "Top 10 Overall Best in Show" category.

However, this time Gladius earned some recognition as well in the "Honorable Mentions" section. Here's a quote:

Gladius is a game about gladiator combat and promises to be a deep, character-driven game with plenty of variety and lots of depth. It reminds me a lot of one of my PlayStation favorites, Final Fantasy Tactics--and I can only hope that Gladius has a similarly rewarding story and equally sophisticated mechanics. The flat, empty environments in which the battles take place seem a little simple, but it looks like the actual gameplay will be plenty complex. It's great to see LucasArts branching out again like it did in the old days. Hey, how about a sequel to Outlaws?

Good point. Check out GameSpot.com for more.

CNET.com has posted their E3 best of show awards. Again, Star Wars Galaxies was recognized, winning the award for "Most Anticipated of 2002." Star Wars: The Clone Wars was also recognized as a runner up for the "Dark Horse" award while Knights of the Old Republic was runner up for "Best in Show."

This isn't directly related to LucasArts or Star Wars, but Tim Schafer's new game Psychonauts was runner up for "Best Bet Before Next E3." Congrats to everyone who got the great free press! Unless you bribed somebody. In which case, shame on you.

In case you have no idea what that headline means, (and why would you?) Mojo Network Site The World of Monkey Island has posted a short Q&A with LucasArts' head of PR, Tom Sarris. Since WMI could not actually make E3, they asked Marek of AdventureGamers to ask the questions on their behalf. Here's a clip:

1. Is it possible that we will see a Monkey Island 5 in the future or have you definitely closed the book on that franchise?

They are definately going to make Monkey Island 5 since it is their most popular franchise. However, we shouldn't expect it in the near future.

Check out the full Q&A over at The World of Monkey Island!

LucasArts.com has updated their Gladius product spotlight to include lots of new concept art, featuring some cool environments and some not-so-friendly-looking characters.

Additionally, LucasArts has put up a new poll on the main page in which you all must participate. The new poll asks, "What is your favorite genre?" The adventure game genre is currently leading the race, but it will be interesting to see which one ends up winning at the end of the week. Go vote! Vote for adventure games! This subliminal message was brought to you by Visa: It's Everywhere You Wanna Be.?

The SCUMM Bar has put up a great new article by community bigwig Remi Olsen. This feature details the whereabouts of some of the people who made the Monkey Island series happen. It's a great read, and highly informative, so check it out!

As we conclude Mojo's coverage of E3 2002, we present our exclusive interview with LucasArts President Simon Jeffery. In our interview, we discuss such topics as Star Wars, original games, the 50/50 balance, Monkey Island, graphic adventures, former employees, and much more. Give it a read, won't you?

Continuing with the E3 impressions, we have Andrew's views on Hal Barwood's RTX Red Rock, an action/adventure headed for next-gen consoles. In the preview Andrew talks to Reeve Thompson, RTX's producer, and discusses how RTX might (and might not) appeal to classic adventure fans.

In what will likely be my last ever article for Mojo (because I hate writing feature stories), I've written my impressions of the upcoming vehicle-based Star Wars action game, The Clone Wars.

Though I'm obviously not the best person to write about this (or about anything at all, really), I tried to compare the demo we saw of The Clone Wars to my experiences with past LEC vehicle-based action games like Rogue Leader and Battle for Naboo. Whether or not I succeeded is unknown, but you can certainly leave a comment and let me know what you think.

LucasArts have released a collection of new screenshots from the new Indiana Jones game, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. Our E3 preview of this game will be up in the next couple of days, look forward to that, folks!

Our next E3 preview is of LucasArts' upcoming 100% action, 100% Star Wars, Bounty Hunter. Here's a bit from the preview:

"The game's not about inventory management," the man at the Bounty Hunter display said. "It's not about finding the red, blue, and green card in order to get through the level. It's not about finding keys." And indeed that's what it appears to be. If you encounter a door, you simply use a laser cutter to weaken the door and then kick it down.

While it may be fun, it's probably not every Mojo reader's cup of tea. Read if you like action games, shooting things, and kicking down doors while shooting things.

The sixth Star Wars: Galaxies developer's chat event will take place on Tuesday, the 28th of May. Here are the details pulled from the official site.

Join us Tuesday, May 28th for Dev Chat #6. Guests Raph Koster, Kevin O'Hara, Rich Vogel and Haden Blackman will talk about E3 and answer your questions about the event!

If you're curious about this highly-anticipated title, you'll definitely want to stop by!

LucasArts.com is running a new poll that is very similar to one Mojo ran a few days ago: Which of the following games announced for E3 are you most excited about? You can pick from the four original titles that have been announced at E3 this year, so go vote now! (You must register an account first.)

Source: Blondebeard

Well, Mojo was down for a few hours, along with much of the LFNetwork, and we apologize for not being able to bring this to you sooner.

Italian Gaming site Multiplayer.it snagged some footage from the upcoming Full Throttle trailer. Check it out here!

For those who cannot access FTP servers for any reason, check out our mirror here. Make sure you've got the newest version of DivX 5 to view this clip.

Mirrors:

• 6mb Avi - Multipayer.it - DivX5 required
• 6mb Avi - The Scummbar.com - DivX5 required
• 5mb Mpeg - Mixnmojo.com

Source: DeepThought2k

Thanks to TheForce.net I have been made aware of this article on a Japanese gaming site concernig last night's LucasArts E3 preview Screening. It is accompanied by some photos including one of the ever-Englsih Simon Jeffery.

Funnily enough all the text is in Japanese, so you might require a Translator. But if you just want to see the shiny picures... don't bother.

Israeli Vgamers magazine has managed to get some pictures of Full Throttle II taken at the special LucasArts screening last night. There are 3 in total, and you can see them here, here and here

The game looks pretty crazy in 3D, but it's nice to see familiar faces!

Source: ViduAyte