The International House of Mojo

Hooray for cliches! A picture paints a thousand words? Okay then! (See what I mean?)

Can't wait.

Source: ATMachine via Twitter

I don't know what the chances of this actually happening are, but Dave Grossman's interested in continuing the Loom series.

In a recent podcast interview with Total PC Gaming (which doesn't seem to be out yet), they asked Dave what Telltale might be up to next:

“The one I always think about these days is Loom actually, and how ahead of its time it was. I think the problem with it at the time was that it was only two and a half hours long and now I find myself deliberately trying to design games that are only two and a half hours long. So I think… well, why not do that?”

Why not indeed?

Source: Total PC Gaming

The (evidently) lackluster sales of Staff of Kings is bad news for LEC but good news for you because all versions of the game have undergone a price cut, selling for $20 each now from Walmart, Amazon, and other online retailers. At $20 bucks the Wii version is a total steal, especially considering Fate of Atlantis is on the disc. The reviews might scare you, but I can personally vouch for the Wii version as being worthy of twenty smackers. Think of it as sort of like this awesome unreleased Indy arcade game from ten years ago that they decided to put on the Wii, and I guarantee you'll enjoy it.

A 'Guybrush Hair Patch' by Irishsmile and Riot23 has been released for the Secret of Monkey Island special edition.

Riot23 has taken my hair art and finished the mod. This includes all the sprites. Close ups are still unchanged though.

You can download it here. Just unpack and copy the "art" folder into the game directory.

And you can read about the patch development on lucasforums.

Source: LucasForums

I could write some witty opening paragraph, followed by an indented quote from Grumpy Gamer, and top it off with a one liner wrapped up in a hyperlink. But, really, I can't be assed right now.

Here's the payoff. And if you want your own one, that theme is back baby!

Source: Grumpy Gamer

If you were to right-click on the minimized frame of one of the new, Windows-compatible versions of the SCUMM re-releases from Steam and click "About," you'd know that these updates were based on the work done by Aaron Giles, a former LEC programmer who was recruited to handle the Windows XP compatible ports of Sam & Max Hit the Road and Full Throttle for the Entertainment Pack in the UK back in 2002. (The updated Sam & Max also made its way, in audio corrupted form, to an Armed and Dangerous pre-order bonus disc in late 2003, no doubt to raise excitement for a then upcoming sequel that proved to be not all that upcoming.)

Being a rabid fan of the SCUMM games apart from his employment, Giles reveals in his latest blog post that at the time he actually went ahead and updated some other SCUMM games while he was at it despite LEC only being interested in Hit the Road and Full Throttle:

But why stop there? Being a bit of a completist, you can imagine that I was compelled to get more than just those two games up and running. But LEC decided to focus on the two original games they requested, and they were eventually released in a limited fashion, which was in the end a pretty big disappointment for me, as I had envisioned something much more mainstream. And maybe even involving some of those other games I had ported — even though nobody had asked me to.

Aaron goes on to hope that a second batch of SCUMM games gets re-released (a prospect all but confirmed by LEC), and suggests that the unreleased work he did all those years ago would represent a head start for the coders at LEC. Apparently, some of the four games you see already on Steam are the fruit of his labors, with some additional bugfixes. Well done, Mr. Giles!

LucasArts president Darrel Rodriguez typed an extra long ellipsis in an email interview with G4TV. Mysterious!

I asked Rodriguez for thoughts on a return of the company's lauded X-Wing and Tie Fighter flight sim series.

His answer?

"We don’t have any announcements now, but stay tuned," said Rodriguez. "We will soon....."

Oh lordy, please be 'Special Editions' of the X-Wing games. Or better yet an entirely new game for PC and consoles by Totally Games.

And yes, before the "PC only" crowd start hurling concussion missiles, I do think one can get the full X-Wing experience on consoles with clever use of controller buttons/stick waggles.

Source: G4TV

It's looking very Lego Indyish, thank you!

IGN have a few videos up if you like looking at KOCS (pervert). The Diner Brawl is quite amusing, and there are a couple of new features shown off too, the World Builder (with alien-piloted UFO!) and the new (and rather cool) Split-Screen mode.

No release date yet, or how different the Original Trilogy levels are going to be from the first Lego Indy game. Still, at least that's one good Indy game out this year! (Kidding)

The Sam and Max 2 cancellation was the 9/11 of the LucasArts Fan Community. Afterwards, we experienced difficult times with an alarmingly protective administration. But now there's a new president, and it's time to catch up with what (if anything) has really changed.

As someone who has worked at LucasArts for twenty years, Mary Bihr was well placed to withstand our excessive interrogation. Observe.

Alternative Magazine Online has posted an interview with the voice of Guybrush Threepwood, Dominic Armato.

3D has some mighty fine talents of its own that 2D doesn’t bring to the table. But I don’t know how much longer it’s going to be an either/or proposition. When you see something like that fan-made 2D/3D hybrid scene of Woodtick that went up on YouTube a week ago, it gives you an idea of where these games could go. The technology isn’t something I know a lot about, so I don’t know how feasible something like that would be on a large-scale right now, but it sure is exciting, isn’t it?

Click here for the rest.

Update: Alexandra Boyd (Elaine Marley) speaks too.

As well as the Dominic Armato interview, Alternative Magazine also has an interview with the voice of Elaine Marley, Alexandra Boyd.

Source: Alternative Magazine

A video on Youtube showing off the upcoming avatar marketplace on Xbox Live, has revealed that fans with too much money to burn can buy 3D-ified objects from the game for their avatars. Every objects is sold separately so anyone who wants a full collection has to cough up many an MS point.

Hooray!

The Force Unleashed is expanding with more downloadable content including a Tatooine level, and a new retail version "Ultimate Sith Edition" (STFU USE). I guess that makes the original release the "Penultimate Sith Edition".

Also, fans of Star Wars videogaming will be thrilled to learn that The Force Unleashed is soon to conform with every other Star Wars videogame ever made by including a Hoth level;

...the Secret Apprentice is sent to the planet Hoth on a crusade to crush the Rebellion once and for all. While on Hoth, players face Luke Skywalker himself while visiting iconic locations seen in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.

You can read the full press release here.

Update: From LucasArts Twitter feed; "...you PC and Mac people who won't stop writing? TFU is coming out for you guys now!"

Source: Lucasarts

We previously posted about the existence of Lucidity,some puzzle game LEC is said to be making for the XBLA - a title that sounds pretty weird for the company, and in a good way. Today, Joystiq, who posted the original news on the game, has now posted what they claim to be the first, leaked screenshot from the largely mysterious (and still not officially acknowledged) game.

Interesting stuff, to say the least.

Remember when Gabez proclaimed that Monkey Island was hip? Well, apparently he was ahead of his time, as the Special Edition is now available in the iPhone App Store for $8.

While I haven't tried it yet, it comes with both the new music and voice over, as well as the "classic" edition. The interface is, obviously, a bit different, but hey... True point and click!

Now run out and be hip like Gabez, and play Monkey Island on your iPhone.

Jaap has told me that Joqstiq says that Big Download has reported that The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is number one on the latest Steam revenue charts.

This bodes well for Monkey Island 2: Special Edition!

Source: Jaap

Kotaku are reporting that LucasArts are planning on making "several world exclusive announcements" at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, next Friday. Since they're planning the announcements for the Star Wars Spectacular keynote address, I'd expect them to be related to that franchise.

Personally I'm betting on Star Wars Battlefront III, although if Imperial Commando turns up it'll blow my mind. Force Unleashed II is also a possibility.

They'll also be showing off Krome's Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, TT Games' Lego Indiana Jones II and Bioware's The Old Republic.

UPDATE: Apparently The Force Unleashed's just had some new mysterious achievements added, making it look like one of the announcements could be another downloadable map for the game in the form of Jabba's Palace.

Source: Kotaku

You may remember Symbiote Studios from such statues as Sam & Max: Freelance Police? Or maybe from when they kierdorfed LucasArts?

Well in this case it actually worked. They are now producing a Monkey Island statue.



There's simply too much Monkey Island goodness going on right now, I fear I'm going to pop.

Full details here.

Update: It's now available to pre-order at starwarsshop.com.

Source: Symbiote Studios

Well, here's something I never expected to say: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition has been released for XBLA and PC. Oh my! You should totally buy it and then check out Eurogamer's lovely review. Congratulations to Lucas for finally doing a proper special edition.

Don't forget to buy the game. 1000 Mojo Cookie Pirate points to anyone who posts a photo of their copy of the game in the comments.

There have been not-so-subtle hints of a Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition release on iPhone floating around for a while now but now it seems like an almost-certainty.

LucasArts had this to say on Twitter:

http://twitpic.com/9wgwq - For our Monkey fans - an iPhone sized wallpaper. No reason. Wink wink nod nod

This isn't the first time such things have been hinted at. Destructoid have the lowdown here.

Source: Destructoid

The LEC twitter feed is sort of like Mojo's little brother in that we both learned how to fish together, have the same blood type, and are both the sexual offspring of our mother and father. But also though, we tend to post about a lot of the same things. Look at all the news they pointed out that we would have done ourselves if they hadn't have been so happy to do our work for us:

• There's an excellent (and possibly the first?) official LucasArts podcast with the sound guys of MI:SE, including the legendary Darragh O'Farrell (voice director on The Dig, CMI and EMI, and the guy who cast Dom!). The discussion is great, and includes an amusing anecdote about snatching Earl Boen despite his retirement in Hawaii.
  
• Ron did a write-up about the general awesome insanity that's going on with LEC's old games.
  
• The Dig apparently made the cut of some list of great game locations.

I wonder if LEC is enjoying the newfound delights that come out of, you know, having an active relationship with its fanbase.

JP Update: LucasArts don't want your money. They're giving away free codes for the SCUMM games on Steam via Twitter (and other channels). They've also provided an iPhone Monkey Island wallpaper, "No reason. Wink wink nod nod".