The International House of Mojo

It only just relaunched, but samandmax.co.uk is doing something no one could have ever predicted from a modern-day Sam & Max fan site: reliable updates and actual content.

The unnatural activity began just a few days ago, when the site published an exclusive new interview with David Nowlin, the voice of Sam since 2006. They even got him to admit that "there has been some talk about some things here and there" with regard to future Sam & Max projects, so time to act like you're still a university student and get excited about that on the internet.

Mere hours ago, the restless fan site also reported on a second wave of Sam & Max action figures from Boss Fight Studio, which will consist of The Rubber Pants Commandos and Scuba Max. As for the first wave, both the Sam and the Max figures are still available for pre-order. Low on funds? Why not enter Sam & Max.co.uk's contest for a chance to win Max?

I don't know if there's any competition between Sam & Max fan sites these days, but I do know who's losing. In their neglectfulness, Jake and Metallus have allowed themselves to be usurped by a bunch of upstart monarchists from across the ocean. Being confirmed mercenaries, we at Mixnmojo are only too happy to forge an alliance with the winning side, so all hail the definitive, and some would say only, Sam & Max fan site of the modern era.

The arms race for undeserving re-releases continues to heat up! Having already received a bogglingly reverent N64 cartridge recreation from Limited Run Games a while back, the 1999 bestseller Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is now getting ported to Switch and PS4 as well. Be amazed as James Vicari of Aspyr attempts to frame the most obvious tie-in product ever conceived as some sort of crown jewel of the LucasArts catalog. But he didn't count on the pushback from those notorious skeptics at StarWars.com. I'm kidding, of course:

Get ready to re-live the emotional resonance of Star Wars Episode 1: Racer May 12th.

Source: StarWars.com

No no, not the game, nor Unofficial… -- though we’re sure it’s right behind -- but Sam & Max.co.uk. They have a new design and content (allegedly), not to mention forums. It's all delicately old school, so check 'em out.

Who knows, maybe we will get out forums back one day? (Zaarin)

Cognizant that the stay-at-home world we currently live in has come with a rise in video conferencing, Double Fine is offering background clips from Psychonauts 2 and RAD so that you can virtually bond with your loved ones and coworkers while advertising Microsoft product at the same time! The publicly available mp4s can be downloaded directly right here, courtesy of Spaff himself.

Speaking of Psychonauts 2, it's fair to wonder whether the pandemic will impact the development schedule of the oft-delayed sequel. It seems the team itself isn't quite sure yet. Beyond a comment saying as much and a vague statement from Microsoft about first-party studios facing "unique challenge" due to the ongoing situation, it seems the team is very much in the same boat as the rest of the world: figuring it out as they go along.

Source: Twitter

Although it's had an indiscernible impact on the frequency of Mixnmojo news posts, the ongoing pandemic has naturally caused a number of film productions to be delayed, and Disney has announced revised release dates for a number of its upcoming tentpoles, among them Indiana Jones 5. The long awaited cursed sequel is now slated for July 29th, 2022.

While COVID-19 is as legitimate as reasons get, the fact is that the delays to this project are so reliable as to achieve drinking game status. For those counting at home (and we do recommend you do your counting there, per government guidelines), this is the third year-long postponement that the film has seen since its original announcement back in 2016, timing the movie's release to be an 80th birthday present for its star.

That is, if you believe Ford is still the star of this. After all, the film's been undergoing serious behind-the-scenes havoc even before viral outbreaks started getting in on the act, with Spielberg demoting himself to a producing role and Logan director James Mangold reportedly being pursued as his replacement.

So we'll see! But at this point, Vegas is saying that Zaarin's estimates are more trustworthy than anything Disney would have you believe about this movie.

Source: Variety

Hey, in these SARS-CoV-2 times, we read what we can get. And you know, TheGamer’s top ten Telltale Sam & Max list is worth a perusal. They correctly got all the episodes from Mojo’s perennial favorite The Devil’s Playhouse on there, though I personally would put "They Stole Max’s Brain!" as number one. (Although "Looks like it’s time to boil the haggis!" alone should have boosted "Beyond the Alley of the Dolls" up a notch or two.)

As we’re all awaiting our impending doom, why not share your favorite episode?

Source: Jake’s official Twitter acct.

Answer: At least one!

Let me quote iam8bit:

Get ready to pick it up tomorrow at 9 AM PST. I mean, just look at the Scott C. cover. Available for PS4 for a mere $29.99.

MixnMojo may never sleep, but we are pretty damned lazy. How else can you explain taking two weeks to report on an amazing 3D animation featuring Ben Throttle? (Thanks to Scummbuddy for bring it to our attention.)

Red Knuckles Animation Studio are the incredible talents behind an ultra-realistic re-imagining of Full Throttle... that actually works.

I'd embed the video right here but we don't support Vimeo. So here's a link instead: Full Throttle 2020.

Spectacular, eh?

Source: Scummbuddy

It just isn't Lent without an anniversary of the cancellation of Sam & Max: Freelance Police.

Kind of weird to keep marking it every year like a bunch of creeps, I'll admit, but Mojo never was good at letting things go, and the event is, for better or for worse, an inextricable part of the site's history. And we'll be exploring that link in some depth soon.

I've recently let the cat out of the bag that we're at work on a big fat Sam & Max 2 feature. And when I say this article has got a calorie surplus, I'm talking President Taft, here. And we can't wait for you to see it, but unfortunately we need even more time to address a few...complexities...between now and publish time. And, to be frank, some of them were pretty darned avoidable. I don't why, for example, Remi insisted that the totality of the White Album be licensed for continuous streaming on each page of the article, but there's just no getting him to budge on his artistic principles. Your patience is appreciated.

In the meantime, make the most the occasion by reheating a Glazed MacGuffin or two and getting your pre-order of those deluxe figurines in. And have a thought for a graphic adventure that was guillotined amidst that bloody period of revolution in the Spring of 2004.

Our own Benny thought you should all check this out. Behold the laudable work of "Dude 27th":

Benny would have told you this himself, but the torrid fortune he's raked in from Quick and Easy Software over the years has enlarged his head, and at this point he exclusively communicates with his fellow Mixnmojo staffers in the form of snail mail dispatched through an elaborate network of high-priced attorneys. So it's left up to me, a man of the people, to pass the word along.

Edit: And because we're unstoppable lunatics who just can't help ourselves, here's a link to the mod to you can track its progress and support its creator.

Source: Bennyboy

Well, so much for a proper finale from the original team.

Variety reports that Spielberg has stepped down as director for the first time in this series' history. He is relinquishing Indiana Jones 5 of his own volition "in a desire to pass along Indy’s whip to a new generation to bring their perspective to the story."  He will remain as a "hands-on producer," while James Mangold of Ford v Ferrari "fame" is said to be in talks as his replacement in the director's chair.  Ford is reported to still be starring, but I wasn't born yesterday.

And just like that, the official ending of the Spielberg era of Indiana Jones becomes Shia LaBeouf shuffling out of a chapel.

Source: Variety

If you try to visit DoubleFine's website today, you'll be shocked to discover that you can't! In its place is a farewell message from the website itself. The dear old thing is going to wherever websites go when they die (archive.org?).

You might wonder why they didn't just secretly work on a lovely new website and switch them over when it was done. You might wonder if Microsoft decreed that their old website wasn't Microsoft-y enough and demanded it be taken down immediately. You might also wonder why we're even reporting on such things.

So never let it be said that Mojo doesn't make you think, even when scraping the barrel for news! #foodforthought

Source: DoubleFine

Some of us might not have seen this one coming. From Limited Run’s Twitter:

Well, huh! Mojo will return with more.

To capitalize on both the 40th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the allegedly upcoming fifth movie, Paramount is reportedly planning a 4K Blu-ray box set of all four Indiana Jones movies in 2021.  The Digital Fix has the scoop.

As you may know, while Disney owns the Indiana Jones IP these days, they only hold distribution rights to future films; the first four films remain in Paramount's control, which complicates the possibility of a five-film box set down the road.  However, the companies both stand to benefit from the renewed relevance of the brand, and the article states that Lucasfilm has given Paramount access to the archives in order to produce new bonus material for this release -- including, it is hinted, deleted scenes, which fans know have never been made available before.  Will we get to see the periscope ride, the singing on elephants, the death of Chatter Lal, Pat Roach's role in Last Crusade, the explosion in the Canyon of the Crescent moon, and the original tarantula version of the Name of God trial, among others?  Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I need to save money for a 4K TV.

Source: The Digital Fix

One of Telltale’s underrated titles was Tales from the Borderlands, a game I’ve chosen to forget was a spin-off from Gearbox’s Borderlands franchise. As it seems, a sequel to Tales… might be in the works according to DFTG. To wit…

Oh yeah, Poker Night, too, but whatever.

I do believe AdHoc -- which is in the middle of developing The Wolf Among Us 2 -- is made up of many from the Tales… team, so we chalk this up as good news.

(I apologize for this interruption in the Willow/Indy stream.)

Source: DFTG

At least, that's the impression Harrison Ford is under. Listen for yourself in this except from an interview with CBS Sunday Morning that will air in full this Sunday:

Stay tuned as we desperately follow every angstrom of the production's progress this summer.

Source: CBS Sunday Morning

So here's the deal.  Mojo may or may not be gearing up to publish a massive feature to commemorate the fifteenth sixteenth fifteenth anniversary of the canceled Sam & Max: Freelance Police.

So massive, in fact, that we thought it deserved more than one header.  Perhaps, thought I, with unwonted optimism, there could even be a unique piece of art crowning each one of the feature's numerous pages?* That's where you come in.  We are inviting all artists, professional and amateur, to contribute artwork related to Sam & Max 2 for display in the article, which we are arrogantly approaching as the final word on the subject.  We ask that it somehow be related to the cancelled LucasArts sequel specifically.  What that means is for you to intepret.  Go nuts.

If you are interested in making such a contribution and achieving immortality, please email your work to webmonkey@mixnmojo.com.  And tell your artistically inclined friends, because statistically speaking, they are unlikely to be Mojo readers.

Get drawing!

*In the unlikely event that we get more original art than there are pages, we promise that any work we accept will be given a place of prominence somewhere in the article.

The fifth Indiana Jones installment currently has a release date of July 9th, 2021. Assuming the Earth’s orbital period remains stubbornly faithful to a billion year precedent, any film of scale hoping to make that deadline would surely have to be in front of the cameras no later than this summer.

You’d expect, then, that Indy 5 would be as we speak in the passionate throes of pre-production, possibly even reverberating with widely circulated rumors about locations, castings, storyline -- y’know, all the usual buzz that comes with a high profile movie genuinely heading toward production.

And given the advanced age of the creative team, and given the ample time they’ve had to get the material ready, any delays at this point, you might assume, would be considered intolerable.

But you’d be a total idiot, apparently. BBC News asked Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy for a brief comment on the state of Indy 5 while she was on the red carpet at the BAFTA Awards yesterday. Her response would seem to confirm that old adage: no news is no news.

In a joint statement sent exclusively to Mojo for release, authors George R.R. Martin and Robert Caro have referred to the writing pace of this screenplay as “a trifle undisciplined.”

Source: BBC News

When they're not productively pondering what makes the Indiana Jones movies problematic, Vice Magazine can apparently find time to dash off the odd Loom retrospective.  And they're pretty good at it!  Check out their newly published appreciation for Brian Moriarty's spellbinding point 'n click classic in honor of its 30th anniversary.

Now for somebody to get the EGA version of the game commercially available.

Source: Vice Magazine

The folks at Collider were able to talk to Ron Howard at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, and they knew what project the world most wanted an update on:

Knowing that the project isn’t officially a go yet does clarify the matter a bit, but at least Disney approved the idea of having somebody map out the series, which is better than nothing. And it’s nice to know that Howard would be interested in an active role. Who better to direct the pilot? Mixnmojo in 2020 is Willow news central, after all, so we’ll let you know how things develop. Imagine if Cronkite had the courage to cover truly controversial subjects instead of Vietnam, and you’ll have a decent idea of what we’re all about here.

Source: Collider