The International House of Mojo

This is probably the most exciting e3 event ever, and Mojo has a man at the front-line, Jeff Moeller, to report on everything that's going on! Booyah!

Jeff met up with David Grossman and Emily Morganti to ask all the pressing questions about Telltale Texas Hold'em Tales of Monkey Island. Check it out.

Look out for more hot e3 coverage coming soon!

(Note: it wouldn't be "Classic Mojo" without some technical errors at the same time as important news, and so, naturally, the gallery thumbnails have failed. Dan Pettit is thought to be the cause.)

Update: Jeff has written up his first impressions of the game, which you can now read in the article.

Jump over to Spudvision and you will not only see a sketch of the original Secret of Monkey Island cover, but also learn that Purcell will document the creation of the brand new Tales of Monkey Island cover on the same blog. Which is really quite cool.

If you've been screaming bloody murder over the new Monkey Island games' art-style, well you can now rest your fears. Watch this gameplay video. It's completely, 100% Monkey Island. Then watch the stage demo! And how cool is it that the advertisement at the beginning is about Brutal Legend?

Personally I still would like it if they went in a more CMI-ish direction with the art style, but I have to admit the Telltale team have done a pretty good job with what they have. I've bought it. So should you.

That most excellent of websites, Adventure Gamers, has previewed the first episode of The Tales of Monkey Island (although those of you who do not want to know any plot details should probably avoid going in). A snippet, to make the wait that much more unbearable:

Though I only saw a fraction of the first episode, I can confirm without hesitation that this is a Monkey Island game. The jokes are Monkey Island jokes. The situations are Monkey Island situations. I laughed more during this demo than I have in any single adventure game (or episode) I’ve played in the last few years.

Update: Gamespot preview, with obligatory (somewhat minor) spoiler warning.

Update: Dave Grossman is interviewed about Monkey Island 6 (that's what they're calling it). On a personal level, I do hope they make the (mentioned-in-passing) a Monkey Island 5 in the Curse of Monkey Island/Vampyre Story vein, but adjust the art style accordingly. I love Telltale's work, and am very excited for Monkey Island, but personally am not sure if the Telltale Engine is right for this particular franchise.

So, Mixnmojo was actually able to report the announcement of Monkey Island 5, and not as a brilliant April Fool's joke. Clearly, LEC has to be applauded. But is their recent respect for their back catalog a one-time thing, or a sign of things to come?

The answer can probably be found in LEC's Monkey Island press release, a document you should read if for no other reason than that you actually exist in a world where you can read a Monkey Island 5 press release. A paragraph of particular note:

These efforts are just the start of LucasArts' new mission to revitalize its deep portfolio of beloved gaming franchises. In addition to these Monkey Island projects, LucasArts recently revealed that the classic adventure game Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (originally released in 1992) is included as an unlockable bonus in the Wii version of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, set to be released on June 9. Additional announcements are forthcoming.

I know I should know better than to so quickly let LucasArts back into my life after all those betrayals, but damn if she isn't looking smoking hot in that lingerie.

Fright of the Bumblebees is finally available on Xbox Live for 800 MS Points. The main addition to the Xbox 360 version is achievements gained by progressing through the game and other challenges.

In other news, Telltale has also made the first two episodes available separately on PC for those who want to try out an episode before buying the whole season. Each epsiode costs $8.95 and there will be an upgrade path available soon for people who decide to buy the entire season after buying one episode.

Source: Telltale blog

Want to get Psychonauts for PC for free? Well, your ideal response should be "no thanks, I've already got it, but I appreciate the generous offer", but in case you have a friend whose life might benefit from some Double Fine in his/her life, GameTap are now offering it for free.

You have to sign up with them, but that doesn't cost anything. They also offer Sam & Max: Abe Lincoln Must Die! for free too, but that's been done. I also should point out that there are other great free games to choose from (STALKER, Deus Ex, Thief 3, Tomb Raider Legend, Earthworm Jim etc), but we don't care about those.

Source: GameTap

Telltale's new poker-oriented survey sure seems to suggest it. Telltale Texas Hold'em was the company's first and for now only casual game, although in the past they've hinted that they might make more at some point. Hopefully if that ever happens they'll do something with more variety than just a bunch of poker games, but for now a Texas Hold'em sequel is fine with me. Oh, and if you take that survey you get the original game for free.

Telling is turning five years old, and to celebrate the occasion Telltale is offering a unique promotional deal on their products.

The way it works is this. Visit this page for a unique coupon code that will enable you to buy any individual Telltale game for $5. This coupon code can be shared with anyone, and every time a person uses your coupon code, you get $1 of credit on Telltale products. The more people you share your code with, the more credit you'll receive! The promotion lasts 34 days.

If that doesn't interest you, there's still the fact that Telltale's main page is now decorated with a huge image of pretty much every character that has appeared in a Telltale game. Which is pretty awesome.

Update: The event's press release reveals an interesting little statistic - over one million Telltale episodes have been sold since the company began.

Those of you who are season subscribers of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures should have already received an e-mail about the availability of the second episode, "The Last Resort," in which Wallace decides to build a community beach resort in his basement in response to poor weather conditions. What with the episode being out and all, it makes one wonder what you're still doing here.

Update: Check out our very own review.

In a press release sent out today to promote the release of the latest Wallace & Gromit episode 'The Last Resort', an interesting little fact appeared at the end.

Last but not least, we’re gearing up for E3. If you’ll be at the show and would like to see Telltale’s newest games, let’s schedule a meeting! We will be showing a sneak peek of the final Wallace & Gromit episode, plus a brand new series that we’re announcing at the show. Should be pretty exciting…

I've confirmed from Emily at Telltale that this new series is not the third season of Sam & Max but is an entirely new series. Will it be Telltale's first original IP or another exciting license? We'll find out June 2-4th!

And for those of you who haven't bought Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures yet, here's a new video.

Chris Remo of Gamasutra had a chat with Dan Connors about episodic gaming, and Kevin Bruner sat in on an episode of HotSpot, the Gamespot podcast. Give them both a look/listen!

Contrary to popular belief, The International House of Mojo has no underground sources in Telltale Games. At least, none that give us any information.

However, intelligence gathered by our network of spies suggests that Telltale will be revisiting the CSI license in the near future. Watch the compelling evidence in this video around the 9.40 mark. To quote:

"We've got some super secret stuff... we've got the CS--oh... different games *embarrassed smile, glances nervously off-camera*"

My conclusion? This is all further evidence of...


(There's also gameplay video and information nuggets in that video for the new Wallace and Gromit episode -- stay tuned for our episode review coming soon).

Wallace & Gromit are returning to your PC screens on May 5th. in their next crazy adventure: The Last Resort, Mojo has learned.

It'll be a biscuit, lad!

Telltale has finally made the Strong Bad collector's DVD available on their site. The latest news is that it'll ship sometime in June. As with Sam & Max, the DVD is free + shipping for anyone who has bought the entire season.

Source: The Telltale Blog

Gamespot got to take a look at the second episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, "The Last Resort." Included amongst the in-depth impressions are the first ever screenshots from the episode, which should be released in May. The XBLA releases of Wallace & Gromit, on the other hand, are said to be a few months away.

It seems that in the wake of Nintendo's long overdue SD card solution (which allows downloadable content to be played directly off of SD cards up to 32 gigs in capacity), Telltale's WiiWare sales for Strong Bad have more than doubled. Telltale even saw fit to issue a press release celebrating this fact, and this quote from Dan Connors in it is worth noting:

We're looking forward to even greater success on WiiWare with Strong Bad, as well as other projects.

More Telltale WiiWare games on the way? Sure seems like a possibility. It's pretty amazing to think how many potential customers were being lost due to the Wii's infamous space issues. Good news for Telltale and other WiiWare developers, bad news for my wallet.

Aardman and Telltale are hosting a contest for Wallace & Gromit themed artwork. The winning prize? The artwork being featured in the fourth and final game episode, "The Bogey Man."

The rules and regulations can be found right here. So get cracking on your cracking entry, before I crack your skull open with this molybdenum crackerjack box.

O-M-G! Not only did we put up a review of Strong Bad, we also decided we like the game! Go read, fool.

Update: the rest of the episode reviews are up now too, in similar timely fashion!

Telltale released their first episode of Wallace and Gromit, entitled Fright of the Bumblebees, today. If you haven't still picked it up, do so now. For one week only, the game will be for $29.95, and everything you buy along with it will be 50% off (this offer is also extended to those of you who pre-ordered). So what are you waiting for?

Update: Review is now up.