The International House of Mojo

At one of yesterday's PAX panels, "Once Upon a Time...Storytelling in Games Today," people discussed...well, you know, storytelling in games today. People named Dave Grossman, Ron Gilbert, and Nate Fox (Sly Cooper). If you weren't there to hear their thoughts in person, experience the next best thing by reading the write-ups by Gamespot and Gamasutra (the latter seeming to have mistaken Grossman for Steve Purcell).

The same and other Mojo Messiahs were present at other panels at PAX, so keep an eye out for more such summaries in the near future.

This is a little late, but you may not have seen this yet anyway (at least, I hadn?t).

The second trailer for the Penny Arcade game On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One has been released. You can see it here, on Game Trailers.

If you?ve been following this game before, I think you?ll agree that the game has made huge improvements since we last saw it, and the segments of game play footage look extremely promising.

The game should appeal to LucasArts fans for the art-style, the adventure elements, and the fact that Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert is hovering in the background of the development, giving advice and comments like The Ghost of Christmas Past.

Source: The Adventuress

Read all about it! Penny Arcade's upcoming episodic adventure series will include Ron's input through some kind of "intense collaborative development process." I'm a bit hazy on exactly what his role in the game's development will be, but uh, he's apparently involved somehow.

No former LucasArts designer is safe from the rampant episodic fever!

Update: Gabe over at Penny Arcade has posted a short news blurb about Gilbert's involvement:

The press release covers all the basics about how Ron is a pioneer in the adventure game genre and how he was the co-creator of the Monkey Island series. I just wanted to share a quick personal note about the story.

We had our first meeting with Ron pretty early in the design process. Tycho and I were getting the story fleshed out and we had some ideas about the design and over all pace of the game. We laid it all out for Ron and then he picked up a whiteboard marker and started teaching class. I?m not sure how many people can say they got a game design 101 course taught by Ron Gilbert, but that?s exactly what Tycho and I got that day. His insights into the way you move the player through an interactive story so that they get to explore the world but don?t loose the narrative were incredible. He was drawing diagrams and helping us really visualize the game in a way that had never even occurred to us. We?re ridiculously lucky to have him on board and helping us with On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One.

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.

IGN interviews Rob Ron Gilbert! Gilbert! Gilbert! He chats about Maniac Mansion, the current state of adventure games, and 300.

Mostly I do a lot of consulting for other companies. Game design, writing, stuff like that. There is an adventure, role-playing game hybrid that I'm currently designing and looking for a publisher for.

Nothing new there, then. Come on publishers, ya bunch of knobs, help out our Ron.

Source: IGN

I was e-mailed this last week, but I forgot to update Mojo about it... until now! A tipster informs us:

We all know that Ron Gilbert was once working with Chris Taylor at Cavedog on the Games Total Annilation and Good & Evil. And we know that Ron Gilbert is designing a adventure/RPG and looking for a publisher. Well this article convinces me that Ron have hitched up with his old buddy Chris Taylor. Solid proof. The words "top-secret" and "very funny" reveal all.

My cynical journalistic side says that this is probably non-Ronzo related, but it?s fun to speculate anyway.

Source: "DirtyDan"

Garish decorations? A picture of Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer that looks like it's been drawn by a drunken two year old on drugs? Gabez updating the news again? Why, it must be Christmas time!

Some of these decorations are courtsey of last year's Christmas competition. Special thanks to Ignacio Vecino, Elbio Castro and Goblin.

Gamasutra had a little chat with Ron Gilbert about what he's been up to. Ron shares his thoughts about the industry, where its heading, and how it might be improved. There's some discussion about the title he's shopping around, but expectedly there are no new details. Anyway, the interview is good and two pages long, so give it a look-see.

Update: Woah! Apparently a single Ron interview isn't enough for one day! Check out this Gamespot interview with him that is also available as a podcast!

Ahoy! Here's some news that you probably missed:

An adventure game called Ankh was released a while back. Apparently the Telltale crew helped out with its creation, which might explain a few references (scanned from PC Zone magazine)

A new Pirates of the Caribbean trailer has been released. Yes, it does include a Voodoo Lady in a familiar looking swamp, and yes, the trailer does look pretty awesome (thanks to The Tingler for the heads up).

You can now review games over at IMDB... it only takes a second, and it will guarantee the production of Monkey Island 5, probably. Read all about it (thanks to Alien426).

Nightlight Productions have released part IX of Lost Cause!

bgbennyboy from Quick and Easy brought out a new program that lets you play old 2D SCUMM games in 3D, and vice-versa. I think. Something like that, anyway.

Yo-yos are now available from the Double Fine store! They glow in the dark giving you a +5 steet cred bonus (thanks to Raz's Domain).

Ron Gilbert loves the Gibbage!

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In its latest issue, Edge Online has published an article about (the lack of) humor in modern video games. As you might expect, the works of Ron and Tim get mentioned a lot (and even Armed & Dangerous gets a nod!), and Ron himself is quoted throughout the article. Now that's comedy!

People of France take note: Ron Gilbert has updated his blog with news that on March 4th he will be traveling to your homes, or at least a major city which possibly contains some of your homes. From his digital mouth:

We'll meet up on Saturday, March 4th at 2:00 pm. I don't know where yet, but we'll need to find a place that allows adventure gamers. Not sure what Paris is like, but in the States those places are hard to find these days.

I'm open to suggestions. Food, drink and stinky cheese are a must. Clayton and I are looking forward to seeing everyone there.

If you're interested in meeting up with Gilbert to totally dork out - French style - about Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion (and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure Edition if you're really hardcore about things), be sure to make your presence known in this blog post to inquire about details.

Ronzo's been getting into the festive mood this year with his Christmas comic strip full of bitter feelings for all the unfairness and pain in this unhappy world. Now that?s the spirit!

Mr Grumpy Gamer also posted a link to some kind of Monkey Island techno thingymabob. I managed to download a snippet by pointing my browser this way and was mildly impressed as a result. I believe me eyebrow moved itself up my face a full centimetre. Anyway, I think it?s a real song that you can buy for real money, so go check it out! Or don?t.

And just a reminder that our Christmas competition ends tomorrow so you better get in all your last minute entries soon! All the contributions I?ve received so far have been of really great quality (even the singing!) but don?t be put off if you feel that you don?t have any skills; I don?t have any skills either. We can both die pointlessly in the gutter together.

Come back tomorrow evening, British time, when I?ll post some of the best entries for you to criticise and remark upon.

The Pirates of the Caribbean 2 trailer has recently made its way onto t?Internet and, whilst this may be old news to all you World of MI surfers out there, it was at least new to me when I accidentally stumbled across it on Google five minutes ago.

Anyway, go give it a watch if you?re interested. I certainly am ? it looks like it?ll be on a much grander scale than its predecessor, and that can only be a good thing.

And also it?s Monkey Island the movie by Ron Gilbert omg we?ll get to know the secret in this one I?m sure hah u sux!!11

Source: Google, I swear!

Ron "Grumpy" Gilbert has emerged from his brief blogging hiatus to link to this, a video of some guy playing 12 SCUMM adventure games in 24 hours. Here?s a quote from a recent interview of the uber-gamer:

"I don't want to make the people think I'm a freak,? says Vogel, about his evident immersion in game culture, ?but when you're listening to music from fifteen-year-old games and painting pictures of Guybrush, Day of the Tentacle and so on, you pretty much have to love that shit, don't you??

I seem to remember a similar video where two other people completed some old LucasArts games in a set time, but that might just be the gin talking. Or not? Answers on a postcard please.

Source: World of MI

Here.

When we know so little about Ron Gilbert's next game, one might as well make every tiny tidbit related to it seem more substantive than it is. So in that spirit check out Ron Gilbert's latest blog entry:

With any luck the Adventure/RPG game will be funded with private investors, allowing me full control over the strange little game. I'm not opposed to a main-stream publisher funding it, but they would have to understand where I am coming from with the game and allow me to retain the IP, which is unlikely. But you never know. Someone gets a little too drunk, embarrassing photos are taken and bingo, I have a deal.

Keep an eye out on the blog in case of further updates.

Because we love stealing stuff from PC Zone, we?ve illegally scanned another article that?s in issue 159 of the excellent UK gaming mag - a look at Sam & Max 2 and why it was cancelled. No link to Mojo was given (probably because we keep scanning their stuff and putting it up on the net) but the Zone gang did ask Deus Ex Machina for some comments, because, you know, Ron Gilbert has totally been involved with every adventure game ever. Just kidding, we love you really Ronzo!

Anyway, they also asked ?doctor? Wolfgang Von Brent about Bad Brain?s blundering moves, though unfortunately they don?t make fun of him. Mike Stemmle actually says some interesting stuff, though: ?I?ve kinda blocked [the cancellation] out, like memories of ritual Satanic abuse?, he sighs, hopefully not speaking from experience. The article also reveals the painful statistic that the game was 90% finished when it was cancelled, a fact that embarrasses LucasArts even further. Unfortunately the Golden Guy in his ivory tower was unavailable for comment, but there have been reports that Jim Ward has been seen laughing manically from his helicopter made out of money.

Did you know that Ron Gilbert loves flying and until recently owned his own plane? Well neither did I until I picked up issue 159 of everyone's favourite UK based Gaming Magazine PC Zone! Seems like the Zone gang met up with His Glory Upon High and interrogated him about what he's currently doing. Here's a quote:

"Having Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman on [Monkey Island 1] - which was just sheer luck - helped enormously, as they're fabulous writers. I had a miniature half-size pool table in my office and the three of us would just play pool for hours, coming up with puzzles, working out the plot points and laughing ourselves silly".

You can read the rest in the scans here, and if you're British then be sure to also pick up a copy of the mag for more top quality games journalism!

Centuries ago the hulking Idle Thumbs cornered Ron Gilbert in a seedy alley-way and interviewed him for cheap thrills. Now, in 2005, the concluding part of the interview has been published online for all to read.

"I remember back when I was doing Maniac Mansion, I wanted to use the word "shit" in it... I went to the guy who was running the games division at the time, and I wanted, you know, I wanted to say 'shit.' It was really important to me, part of 'the artistic expression of the game.' ...it was really interesting.?

Ron also shows how he fondly remembers Mojo interviewing him, back in the day - "I don't remember", he jokes - and spews some more of that loveable grumpiness, on, er, just about everything. Check it out here, and don?t forget to read part one and two if you haven?t already.