The International House of Mojo

Some UK-based site called Alternative Magazine Online has been publishing interviews with Dominic Armato wherein he reflects on the latest episode of Tales of Monkey Island. Naturally, this means we get to read his opinions and production stories for Rise of the Pirate God, as well as memories from his past, which seem to have been blissfully expunged of the stalking he incurred from Mojo readers:

When I did Curse and Escape, I chatted on IRC and did a couple of brief interviews with a couple of the hardcore Monkey Island fansites like The SCUMM Bar. A few months ago, I went to PAX, met a horde of people and had something like 20 interviews, some with pretty major gaming publications. No sneaking under the radar anymore!

While we may have reported on one or two of the previous interviews at the time, you really should read all five of them, and if you haven't, permit me to supply a hint book to your game of catch-up:

• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  

For those of you wondering how the imminent new version of Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, updated with Earl Boen's voiceover work, will be made available, Telltale has answered your question in the latest issue of their newsletter.

"Earl Boen, the man who first gave a voice to the evil ghost/zombie/demon pirate in 1997 with Curse of Monkey Island™ has returned to play LeChuck in the final chapters of Tales of Monkey Island!

Plus, he's re-recorded lines for the prologue of "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal", which will be available on the Collector's DVD, and coming soon as an updated Chapter One download on our website!"

This should allay the concerns of those who feared that the TMI DVD would be the only option for hearing Earl in all his demonic glory.

Source: Telltale Forums

Mojoer black_sheep tips us off again. Monkey Island's over, so that must mean... Sam & Max is on its way!

And what's this? Concept Art?

Sam & Max 2010.

Is this a resurrection of Infinite Machine's Sam & Max Plunge Through Space? (Oh, Justin Chin's no longer at Telltale, so probably not).

So after only a six-hour delay (geez, you'd think we'd be used to it by now), Telltale have finally put out Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God!!

It may be late in your time zone, or early, but there's no time like the present to continue the adventures of Guybrush Thrumwind Threepwood, Mighty Pirate!

And if you haven't bought the episode yet (or the season), there's still time to redeem your personal epic fail at life. After all, Telltale's store is open 24 hours a day.

So as part of Telltale's roundup of previews for Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God, there was this article from BigDownload.com. Particularly noteworthy is the second page, which contains this quote:

"Remember to grab the demo right here on Big Download next week Tuesday the 8th -- the original voice of LeChuck, Earl Boen, is back!"

A demo of *what* precisely? Remember that the original Tales demo was the beginning of Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, in which Adam Harrington substituted for Earl Boen as Demon LeChuck.

Could this mean that Telltale will be replacing the old release of Narwhal with the new, Earl Boen-filled version (which was already foreshadowed in this trailer) on Tuesday, at the same time as Rise of the Pirate God comes out?

Let the speculation commence!

(Also, while you're at it, do check out this Chapter 5 preview, which contains a few new screenshots. Beware of SPOILERS therein, though.)

UPDATE: elTee has thoughtfully pointed out that the same article we linked to above (and scandalously skimped on reading) indicates that Tuesday's demo is in fact of Chapter 5 gameplay. So Earl Boen in Narwhal might not be coming so soon as we first thought. There's always the DVD...

UPDATE 2: Jake from Telltale comments!

"Earl Boen definitely recorded a demon LeChuck for Ch 1 (as obviously indicated by his voice appearing in the trailer). I don't know when it will be released, though."

So there you have it. The Earl Boen dialogue for Narwhal is fully recorded, but the release date for an updated version of TMI Chapter 1 with his voice work is undetermined as of yet.

Telltale Games are giving out codes this weekend, which I think are $10 discounts on stuff you buy. It's never really said. (Edit: scratch that, I was right, as Telltaler nikasaur confirms in the comments.) You'll need to follow them on Twitter and be ready to snatch-up the code as soon as it gets released, as the codes are one-use only have limited use. I think? Even that's speculation. Anyways, follow.

Another reason to join Twitter is that we're not always able to break news as it happens, and sometimes you get one day deals such as $2.49 for Lucidity or The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. Deals that LucasArts mentions on Twitter.

The real reason for this update, however, is to endorse the idea that you should follow the Mixnmojo Twitter account. Our Twitter feed is automatically updated by the magic of technology, using a mysterious method that scientists have agreed to call "amazing". To see the magic in action, follow Mixnmojo.

Earlier this week Telltale demoed the finale of Tales of Monkey Island, Rise of the Pirate God, to the press as part of a formal wake for Guybrush Threepwood, complete with remembrance photos/wristbands, a slideshow of the series' history, and even a eulogy delivered by Dave Grossman. If only we could have been there.

Though you've probably seen most of what was shown (those three screenshots, some light story spoilers) and may have even read one of the write-ups by now, Telltale has thoughtfully collected the previews that came out of the event of mourning for your convenience.

Update by Kroms: Those crazy Germans have published I Wonder What Happens In: Tales of Monkey Island: Rise of the Pirate God, which is German for "I wonder what Guybrush is doing in hell right now with Nor Treblig". I have to link to it. Guybrush would've liked that.

Psst. Hey you, over there. Do you have a cousin named Sven?

Close enough. Wanna buy some Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God screenshots and concept art? Right now I'm selling them for the very low price of free!

Just come on down to our Tales of Monkey Island screenshots gallery and our concept art gallery, where you'll find the latest and greatest images on display. Caveat emptor, though, for SPOILERS lurk within....

Don't forget, the full game comes out on Tuesday, December 8!

(This message brought to you by wholesale distributor AlfredJ on IRC.)

The Tales of MI Blog has a new interview up with another Monkey Island voice actor - Nicki Rapp, the pipes behind the well-received Morgan LeFlay, pirate hunter and Guybrush Threepwood's biggest fan/traitor in Tales of Monkey Island. You may also know Rapp as the voice of Lili in Psychonauts. And she is going to kill you so much if you don't read.

I've found that two kinds of people who read Mixnmojo: those who wish they were bunnies, and those like me who wish they were dogs. So you will be happy to know that I've been trying to find out when Sam and Max Season Three is released, so that we may have fulfill our wish of being dogs again; here's a mix of rumors, speculation, and fact.

I think that Season Three will launch in either December of this year, or January 2009 2010. There's a small rumor going around that Chuck Jordan is leading the project, and that Mike Stemmle is working on an episode (four, if some article I can't find again Giygas found again was correct). We know that Telltale are looking for a new IP to launch in May/June (citation needed; but I'm paraphrasing Dan Connors), and are, in the meantime, working on something.

It wasn't unreasonable to conclude it was Sam and Max. I didn't want to post my admittedly weak speculation until I had some confirmation; Dan Connors confirmed (see 8:30, although the entire interview is worth watching).

I should remind you that they'll be dropping the point-n-click interface of Seasons One and Two, and instead will be adapting something else. Possibly click-n-drag?

So there you go. Speculation, rumor, speculation, reported. I feel like I should be on Fox News. Anyways, you're probably excited and so am I; even if you're not, remember that Mixnmojo is the Citizen Kane of speculation. Or the Citizen Kane of being Fox News. And that people who claim to hate things really feel otherwise, like self-hating Jews or internalized homophobes. So if you hate Sam and Max, I can only assume you hate-but-actually-like bunnies, because you couldn't be one when you were always limited to playing as Sam. So much for wish fulfillment. Are you a self-hating bunny lover? I implore you look at this photo and relax. We can both put our dog/bunny differences aside and look at the photo. I can relax looking at the girl, whereas you can relax looking at the bunny.

In order to get you even more excited for the finale of Tales of Monkey Island, Telltale has assembled a pulse-pounding, three minute "Story So Far" trailer, currently hosted exclusively by Game Trailers. A point of interest is that in clips featuring the undead LeChuck from the first episode, his lines have been re-recorded with Earl Boen.

In other Monkey Island voice actor news, the Tales of MI Blog has scored an interview with Alexandra Boyd, voice of Elaine in TMI, CMI, and the recent remake of the original game. Apparently she's been recording all of her work from London as she's moved out of LA since the CMI days. This and other tidbits can be discovered by reading the full interview.

Now that 2015 has come and almost gone, you may be left wondering what to clamor for with Monkey Island 5 almost complete. A new Monkey game? Not necessary. You may be shocked: after SMI:SE and TMI, someone announced IWWHIIWWHITOMIROTPG, "almost 95% complete". The grumpier among you will be happy to note that it's in 2D. And dark.

And speaking of Tales, Telltale have re-cut and added footage to this here recently updated fan trailer (much to said fan's delight), adding in stuff from Chapter 5 (so, spoilers), and (I kid you not) re-recording the relevant lines from Chapter One with that dude who appeared in Chapter Four. Spoilers: I'm talking about Earl Boen.

Finally, some insane people are doing a Monkey Island animated movie, which Steve Purcell is not doing concept art for. If you think you could lend a hand, go for it.

Telltale released their latest CSI game, Deadly Intent on October 27th 2009.

It seems that Jason must have played the game before he was tragically lost in 199 AD, because we found a review of Deadly Intent chiselled onto the side of Hadrian's Wall.

Long a mystery to historians, its significance is unveiled for the first time, transcribed in article form on this web-site.

It's official, Rise of the Pirate God will be coming to your poxed computers next month. December 8th to be exact.

Update by Kroms: You can now buy individual chapters off the Telltale store. Also, notice the "Tales of Monkey Island Season One". One. Like the number preceding five in 2015.

While the outlook of a third Bone game hasn't been exactly promising since, oh, early 2006, it's always a shame to have to read something like this:

DEN: What about some of the other franchises, I know you have announced the next Sam and Max, but what about future installments of Bone, or Strong Bad?

DG: There won’t be any more Bone games, our agreement ended. But Strong Bad, we liked working with the Brothers Chap. We worked very closely with them.

I guess if the Bone movie ever leaves the conceptual phase there's a possibility that the tides could change, but for now it's looking like the Bone cousins are stuck in the Valley evermore, at least as told within a Telltale game.

This is the second-to-last update about Tales of Monkey Island remixes. If you want to be featured, now's the time to send them in. Because MojoMail is a little bit unreliable, you can also join the forums and send me a private message.

Reader robearth sent-in this very interesting and original remix of the main theme. It's pretty great.

This insane person continues to be very resourceful and very original, and has added Chapter Two's "Swordfight Theme" to her his list of remixes (Youtube, MP3 download), as well as Rapp Scallion's theme from MI2 (Youtube, MP3 download). You can get her his complete remixes here.

Tell me if I've missed anything!

Here are mega suites of the Chapter Two and Chapter Four soundtracks, compiled and strung together by Telltale forumer Trenchfoot. Should you want to extract your own tracks, our resident monkeys can give you the keys to bgbennyboy's Telltale Music Extractor. Click here to beg the monkeys for the keys.

As observed in this Telltale forum thread, Monkey Island graces the cover of Issue 70 of UK magazine Retro Gamer. Included is an eight page retrospective of the series complete with new interviews with Ron Gilbert, Dave Grossman, and Steve Purcell. Awesome.

But that's not the end of the news. The same thread contains the following post of boundless intrigue by our own Laserschwert, whom Retro Gamer contacted for the use of his cleaned-up version of the MI2 cover:

Interesting side note: The Retro Gamer guys told me that when they went to get the okay from LucasArts to use the MI2-artwork, LucasArts was actually concerned about that, because - as the put it - "they haven't released Monkey Island 2 yet". Sounds like it's going to get a definite re-relase... question is: will it be an SE?

Hopefully (depending on your school of thought on this), that's the slip-up on LEC's part that it sounds like, and we can expect a special edition of LeChuck's Revenge on the horizon.

Not that we've been particularly diligent with keeping tabs on all the great TMI coverage, but you might also want to check out this informative interview with Mike Stemmle.

The third episode of Telltale's Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures is free for one week, starting today, in celebration of the 20th anniversay of Wallace and Gromit's debut (meaning the offer ends Monday, November 9th, 12pm PST). My dad summed-up potential reaction when he said: "Man, I feel so old."

The series as a whole is going for $20 this week. Any purchase of the game will mean £1, or almost $1.60, donated by Telltale to one of two charities: the UK's Wallace and Gromit Children's Foundation, or the United States's Penny Arcade Child's Play.

Muzzled! was directed by Sean Vanaman, who you may know as the writer of Chapter Three of Tales of Monkey Island, Lair of the Leviathan. From what I can tell, Muzzled! seems to be the best of the lot. I wanted to consult the fourth review written by our W&G critic, Zaarin, to compare but couldn't, because - to my shock and horror - he had not written one.

Update: Anyone here a little short on cash should be happy as well, since every completed Telltale series is going for $20 this weekend, till Monday, November 9th, 12 PM (PST). For anyone out there who has not played the new Sam and Max games, or Strong Bad: now's your chance.

(Special thanks to Giygas, who mentioned this before but, because I couldn't verify it when the store was temporarily inaccessible, did not get any credit. Thanks again!)

Source: Telltale's Blog

So after only several hours' delay, Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood is at last available for downloading!

What are you waiting for?! Get to it!

Update from Mr Manager ("we just say 'manager'"): Reviews are a bit slow coming this time, as the reviewer's copy was first released late last night. But hey, they're trickling in -- go read The SCUMM Bar's fanboy droolings and World of Monkey Island's musings.

Update: Our own review is now up!

Update by Kroms: There's a few Chapter Five spoilers flying around, so you best be warned about any threads containing the words "Nintendo Power". There's one thread on the Telltale Forums that I can't name (Chapter Four spoilers), but it begins with the words "What Morgan" and is posted by user TheHutt. Try to avoid it if you want to remain spoiler-free for Chapter Five.

Source: Telltale's Blog

When Telltale made and published four episodes of popular series Wallace and Gromit earlier this year, it was Zaarin who stepped-up to review the PC versions of episodes one, two, three and, obviously, not four. Woah. In a shocking twist that could only have come from the heartless conspirators who re-cast Sam and Max, episodes two, three and four were delayed for Xbox Live Arcade as a retort to Zaarin's indiscretion. Twisted arms were twisted further when Bad Asp did not call the Feds after the recasting of Wallace.

I wish I could tell you to buy the episodes, by the way. Even if Peter Sallis's tears have dried - and Bad Asp reminds you that Nick Jameson and Bill Farmer's have not - I don't know much. If Zaarin had reviewed the fourth episode - and I would like to remind you that he has not - then I could whole-heartedly endorse the series. But I can't. It was Zaarin who played them - I myself have not.

What I'm trying to say is: Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures is out on XBLA. Next Wednesday. Did I fool you? You should make-up for that with charity. (Thanks to Custard for the corrections.)