The International House of Mojo

The Wii versions of the first two Sam & Max seasons are the only ones we've yet to bless you with our take on in review form, and the recent Atari release of Season 2/Beyond Time and Space leaves us with fewer excuses to put the obligation off. Instead of just writing up a brief review of the Wii versions, however, the article ended up evolving into an unwieldy compendium of the various retail incarnations of the two seasons, with the Wii impressions being encased in there somewhere. Oh well!

GameTrailers have a lovely new video up on Sam & Max: Season Three Freelance Police The Devil's Playhouse, a GDC documentary interview with the team behind the game. I can't watch it where I am now (that'll be work), so I can't tell you how spoilery it is.

By all accounts it should be an interesting documentary. It's no Last Chance To See, but then nothing is. Not even Last Chance To See.

Source: GameTrailers

To get a free Wiiware Strong Bad game all you have to do is live in the UK or Germany, have your Wii online and fill out this short survey.

The free game is Strong Bad Episode 2, Strong Badia the Free.

Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse is now available for pre-order on your PS3 - assuming, of course, you're using the North American PlayStation Store. Europeans, being a lesser species in the eyes of all three major platform holders, have to wait.

The pre-order nets you a $5 discount, but you don't get a disc version like the PC/Mac folk do at the end.

Read about how to pre-order stuff on PSN here, and a kinda spoilerly hands-on preview, written by former Telltaler Emily "fov" Morganti for Adventure Gamers here. Click the final "here" for the obligatory second link to the main story.

Update: Any German or UK Wii-owners should fill out this survey; the reward is a free copy of episode two of Strong Bad's Cool Game Attractive People (Wii version), but the supply's limited.

Source: Telltale Blog

The latest Idle Thumbs podcast for March 15th 2010 features Sean Vanaman of Telltale Games. You may remember him from such GDC panels as that one on comedy from the other day.

In the podcast, from about the 46 minute point, they discuss that very panel and Sean has some quite interesting things to say about writing for Guybrush.

Have a listen up there, or directly here.

Source: Idle Thumbs

Samandmax.co.uk is at it again, and they ain't quittin' until they get their hands on every last voice actor bearing a credit on a Sam & Max episode. Their latest interview is with Brian Sommer, the voice of such characters as Brady Culture and Jurgen's monster. You may also know him from his roles in other Telltale titles, including Bone, CSI, and TMI. As always, it's well worth reading what Samandmax.co.uk was able to extract.

On the last day of the Game Developer's Conference Sean Vanaman (Telltale games writer), Rhianna Pratchett (daughter of Terry and writer of the Overlord games), and Tim Schafer (oh, you know him and not Sean Vanaman? Shame on you) chaired a panel on Comedy In Games. 1Up has a nice sum-up, along with some nice quotes. Of course Tim gets all the best ones.

Moderator: Either within the games world or outside it, what informs your comic sensibility when you're putting together a script or a game?

Tim: [long pause] Where are we stealing our ideas from?

Source: 1UP

The Onion A.V. Club interviewed Steve Purcell while at GDC for his thoughts on the announcements of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse and LeChuck's Revenge: Special Edition, and related topics. When Purcell opens his mouth, you would do well to listen. A taste:

AVC: Has the reprint of your comics bred any new interest?

SP: I have no idea. I haven't checked with the sales figures for that, but I'd imagine there must be a saturation point for the same set of comics that that reprint has been. I'm not sure I can milk any more readers out of that one. I always tell people I have this story at home that's half-finished, and a quarter of it is inked and it's the story I feel I should sit down and finish and get it off my plate once and for all. It's a story where Max is shot in the ear and has to go to the hospital, and Sam recruits a new partner: a white-handed gibbon.

By the way, where were all you rumor mongerers when this was going on, anyway?

Source: A.V. Club

With Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse now "officially" announced, and new details trickling-in, you might want be wondering how it all looks. Surely, you think, the trailer is exaggerated? Does the game really look so beautiful?

Actually, it doesn't: the trailer does not do the game justice. Oh, it's a great trailer (and props to Telltaler "Shauntron" Shaun Finney for putting it together; seriously, excellent work!), but look at this cutscene (Gamespot video) - apparently the very first one in the game. If you want to see how to use lighting properly in a game, watch that cutscene. Those opening shots are beautiful. I demand some wallpapers.

In other words, Mixnmojo is now in the strange position of telling you that a game looks prettier than its advertising makes it out to be. No kidding.

Here's some gameplay videos, though do keep in mind their spoilerly nature.

Update: Giant Bomb nabbed Chuck Jordan and Will Armstrong and had them preview an early build: Enjoy some spoilers.

Source: Gamespot

Yes, Telltale has finally launched its website for Sam and Max Season 3: The Devil's Playhouse.

The site includes the recently-leaked-and-then-removed official season trailer, plus several screenshots from the first episode, whose title is, as we had already guessed, The Penal Zone. Incidentally, a couple of the new images showcase the new direct control system in action!

The website also includes the names of all five episodes in the season.

• Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
• Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain!
• Episode 4: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
• Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep

Also of note: The Tales of Monkey Island Collector's DVD is finally available to pre-order!

As well, there's now a boatload of new Monkey Island merchandise available, including a second set of TMI buttons, a replica of the Voodoo Lady's tarot card set, a TMI drinking mug, a TMI T-shirt, a portfolio of concept art by Telltale's Ryan Church, and best of all, a "treasure chest" of TMI swag. This last item includes, among other things, a replica Piece of Eight, a "Trial of the Century-y-y-y" souvenir button, and a copy of Reginald Van Winslow's beloved map.

The trailer that leaked earlier for Telltale's Sam and Max Season 3 (aka The Devil's Playhouse) claimed the first part of the five-episode season would come out in April. Now IGN brings us word that the first chapter's release date is, more specifically, April 15.

Apparently, Season 3 will come with an in-game notebook designed to get new players up to speed on the events of previous seasons. Also, the article confirms that the direct control scheme which Telltale first debuted in Tales of Monkey Island will now be ported to Sam and Max. Other technical improvements, such as real-time shadows, have also been implemented.

The pre-order price will be $29.95, a five-dollar savings from the standard season price $34.95, much as with other Telltale titles. (As happened with Tales, Telltale will be selling only the season package, not individual episodes.) Plus, as with the Tales pre-orders, those who pre-order will get access to a special forum to chat with the game developers until the first episode goes out.

The series is scheduled to debut on three platforms--PlayStation Network, PC, and Mac--simultaneously. For those who want to experience The Devil's Playhouse on PSN, pre-orders will be available through the PlayStation Store.

Oh, and do beware: the IGN article contains a few SPOILERS for the first episode's beginning.

Edit: Updated to reflect the actual pre-order price, as opposed to IGN's speculation.

Source: IGN

Mojo is all about timely reviews. Go read our Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space review, then be enlightened. Again. Because you were probably already enlightened when you first played it.

LucasArts has revealed via its Twitter account that The Secret of Monkey Island (Special Edition) is heading to the Playstation Network and to Mac. That's "Announcement One", apparently.

Expect more details in the coming hours from the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

And bring on "Announcement Two"!

Update by ATMachine: Reports trickling out from the LucasArts press conference suggest that SOMI:SE will soon become available for purchase from Telltale's website. However, this has not been confirmed yet.

Update 2: In addition to the earlier Twitter report, Kotaku has now picked up the news of Telltale selling SOMI:SE in their online store, so it seems pretty official.

Source: Twitter

The trailer for Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse, Telltale's latest Sam and Max game, is now up on G4TV.

Of note is that the game is coming to PSN, debuting Telltale's games on the PlayStation - and, err, only to PSN? Well, no, but that's the only logo slapped at the end of the trailer. Anyways, the first of the five episodes hits April (which is embarrassing).

Enjoy! And remember: 100 Mojo Cookie Pirate points for each reference you spot.

Update: Trailer's down! Guess it was put-up too early?

Update by Remster: Former Mojoer and now head of the Telltale Illuminati, Jake, has confirmed on the TTG forums that it was posted before it was supposed to and thus removed.

Graham Annable, formerly of Telltale Games (and who still supplies the Telltale website with Dank/Dunc/Dunk comics) is having a 'best of' book "The Book of Grickle" published by Dark Horse comics.

Comic Book Resources interviews Graham about the publication.

My current main focus is a project I'm hoping to be able to announce sometime in the near future. I'm extremely excited about it and the direction it's been going in. But right now it's all top secret I'm afraid. Kind of a cryptic answer I know, but I really shouldn't say more just yet.

Check it out.

Source: Comic Book Resources

Today is the shipping date for Atari's slightly belated retail release of Sam & Max Behind Beyond Time and Space for the PC and Wii. Head on over to the product's official page for a 20% off deal - both versions retail for a reasonable $19.99, by the way. So, awesome! And I wonder what the exclusive bonus content is?

Incidentally, today is the first day of GDC, and while there are still a number of upcoming conventions for epic reveals to be spaced out across, I would expect a pretty big announcement or two to be coming our way this week. The only variable when it comes to the LeChuck's Revenge special edition is the "when?" and Telltale still has to launch their The Devil's Playhouse pre-orders and maybe announce the mysterious new series they've been tantalizing about for a year now.

And there's plenty of other possible announcements for both companies to make. Handsome Halibut? More back catalogue re-releases? Those crazy Telltale iPhone rumors? Be sure to keep up with us throughout the week (with your malware software running, ideally) as we keep you on top of all the madness.

Turns out that following someone's twitter feed benefits more than serial killers. For example, the twitter page of Alexandra Boyd, voice of Elaine Marley, reveals the following February 21st tweet:

Alexandras ep of New Tricks on BBC1 mon 9pm. FROM PARIS WITH LOVE opens fri & new series of Monkey Island starts recording on Tuesday!!

Which would certainly gel with the existence of the all-but-announced Monkey Island 2 special edition. (She probably means "series" of recording sessions - it seems a wee early for this to be Telltale-related.)

Of course, Boyd isn't the only one sharing things best kept behind closed doors. Take David Boyll, voice of Hugh Bliss and Philo Pennyworth (not to mention D'oro the Explorer in Tales), who reveals a disquieting openness about the frequency of his bathroom visits in the latest interview snagged by samandmax.co.uk.

While it's heartbreaking to think that we won't get anymore Bone games from Telltale, the epic saga's upcoming animated film version seems to be chugging along nicely. The evidence is this new interview with Jeff Smith. Although it admittedly doesn't offer a wealth of information you don't already know if you've been following the production along with us, Smith provides a progress update and describes the level of involvement he will have to ensure that the cinematic adaptation of Bone doesn't turn out calcium deficient:

For more than 10 years, Hollywood has been interested in putting Smith's entertaining epic on the big screen. At one point, Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount held an option. In 2008, Warner Bros. acquired the rights for producer Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes). Animal Logic, the Australian visual effects company (The Matrix, Happy Feet, 300) will turn Smith’s drawings into CGI. Despite a recent kerfuffle with Warner—a potential train wreck that instead became “one of those fires that gets put out”—Bone, the movie, is on track and a director will soon be announced. Smith is the film’s executive producer. And although he is not writing the screenplay, all quality control decisions pass through him. “I’ve seen everything,” he says. “It’s their project. But they’ve been very good about keeping me in the loop and showing me everything and it’s pretty exciting so far.” He admits that he is “kind of stubborn when it comes to Bone and animation.”

The film will apparently utilize motion capture in some way, though considering the production company's pedigree (Happy Feet), you have to think that there will be plenty of, erm, "traditional 3D animation" involved as well.

Source: printmag.com

A new interview with Telltale CEO Dan Connors has been published by Develop. Dan hints at the ways his studio will continue to evolve the episodic format, and he talks a bit about the company's future as well:

What's next?

We're looking to engage more franchises, including those that are more topical and relevant in the current entertainment world.

Sounds like we can expect to see Telltale working on something super high-profile in the near future. Anyhow, read the whole article for more. Key tidbits include a 1.5 million unit tally for episodes sold so far across all franchises, and the suggestion that The Future could see Telltale deploying on some unconventional channels.

Update by Kroms: Here's a video interview with co-founder Kevin Bruner, which also deals with the future of the company, and a never-seen-before interview with Sean Vanaman ("Muzzled!"), who discusses Wallace and Gromit.

Seeing that The Unofficial Sam & Max Website has fallen into disuse since the forces behind it have gone on to actually make Sam & Max games, it's nice to see that samandmax.co.uk is getting frequently updated. These new kids on the block have already got another interview with a Bay Area voice actor posted, and this time the subject is Peter Barto, the voice of Flint Paper, Agent Superball, and Peepers (RIP) in Telltale's Sam & Max seasons. Head on over and check it out.