The Secret of Monkey Island
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Monkey Island SE might go to WiiWare, PSN, Monkey Island 2 a possibility
Speaking to the Guardian, Craig Derrick, producer of The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition, said that the game may make the jump from XBLA and PC to another platform as well. When asked about why LucasArts chose Xbox Live Arcade as the launch platform and not Wiiware or PSN, Derrick responded, "Well, we never said we wouldn't be on Wiiware or PSN now did we?" He added, "We may have another platform announcement to make very, very soon," though he failed to elaborate any further on the matter. Derrick also seemed to share the sentiments of some other folks involved with both the Special Edition and the upcoming Tales of Monkey Island from Telltale, saying that he'd like to see a redone version of Monkey Island 2. He noted that Monkey Island Special Edition is an "experiment to see what interest there is for these types of games and if people are interested in playing them on a console." In other words, whether or not we see another revamped LucasArts adventure game depends on how well the Monkey Island sells. We're sure the Joystiq staff will buy at least one copy, if that helps ....
Architect's Journal ranks top 10 gaming worlds
Before you start furiously clicking through the source link to see where on the list of Architect's Journal's "Top 10" gaming worlds Second Life falls, we're just going to tell you upfront that it's number seven. That's three full spots ahead of the (apparently) FAT-inspired Super Mario World! Outrageous, we know, we know. The list is rounded out by some rather ... interesting choices -- from Jet Set Willy's house to Halo's ring world, and everything in between, which are all discussed in highfalutin terms that we simply can't wrap our heads around. "Gemutlich?" "Miminalism" (note: not "minimalism")? We're sticking with the video games, thank you very much. [Via Kotaku]
Taking a stroll back through The Secret of Monkey Island
With an HD remix of The Secret of Monkey Island and a full-on episodic assault in Tales of Monkey Island on the way, many might find themselves wondering what all of the fuss is about. Those individuals have likely been stomping around the Earth for no more than 12 years or so, and thankfully GameSetWatch has come to the rescue with an incredibly lengthy retrospective (like, 5,000 words long) on the series. We must warn you that the piece is filled with various spoilers, so if you've never played any of these games before, don't say we didn't warn you. But, for the rest of us, it's a great primer for the bounty of content ahead. %Gallery-64659%
LucasArts developers play Monkey Island on Justin.tv tomorrow, June 19, at 3PM
Be ye ready for a ... sorry, we can do better pirate than that! Noy jitat, arrrrrrrrre ye ready to watch some LucasArts developers play Monkey Island and answer your barnacle infested questions? Then head on over to Justin.tv/lucasartsgames tomorrow at 3PM Pacific. LucasArts devs will play through the early part of the game for approximately an hour and answer viewer questions. The event will not be recorded, so you'll have to make a date if the event interests you. Or, you know, someone out there in the stormy seas of the internets can record the event and then maybe slide a link where people can watch it later. You know, in the comments here or something. Too right, now ye be thinkin' like pirates!
LucasArts wants to re-release classic adventure games (if you want to buy them)
If the words Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango and Full Throttle bring pangs of joy to your heart of hearts, you'll want to hear this -- several LucasArts higher-ups have stated the desire to bring more of their catalog of classic adventure titles back to life, provided that people show interest in purchasing them. For starters, you could drop a few bucks on the upcoming XBLA and PC remake of The Secret of Monkey Island as a good faith offering. This sentiment was mentioned to Australian news outlet WAToday by LucasArts community manager Brooks Brown, who said, "if this sells, there's no one at this company who doesn't want to do these games." One fan of the company's beloved point-and-clickers is LucasArts CEO Darrell Rodriguez, who spoke with Joystiq on the possibility of more classic revamps just before E3, and explained that he "couldn't do anything but release more of these titles" if sales for Monkey Island and desire from the gaming populous were strong. Long story short, if you don't buy Monkey Island, and they don't re-release Grim Fandango because of your non-purchase, we're going to find you and punch you repeatedly in your most delicate places. %Gallery-64659%
Ron Gilbert to give keynote speech at PAX 2009
We consider the creation of the SCUMM engine to be a historic event that's on par with the invention of the light bulb or the discovery of fire, so forgive any and all typos you may find within this post -- it's tough to type while squealing and flailing your arms about. A press release just landed in our inbox which revealed the keynote speaker for the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, WA -- it's Ron Gilbert, inventor of SCUMM and creator of Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games. A collaboration between this adventure game luminary and the pair of comic-producing philanthropists isn't too surprising -- after all, Gilbert did consulting work on Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. Surprising or no, we're still buying two passes to show how awesome we think this is. (No, you can't have the other one. It's symbolic.)
Monkey Island won't hold any secrets after these videos
If you're new to adventure games and have yet to see The Secret of Monkey Island, check the videos after the break for a pretty good idea of what the game's like. If you love Monkey Island, check the videos for a look at the beautiful HD upgrade that has been lavished upon it. There's really something here for everyone. And by "something" we mean "eight videos." Is it cool for us to say that one of the best new games of E3 is an old game? Because it totally is. Along with the actually new Monkey Island game.
Rumor: Secret of Monkey Island coming to XBLA
Listen, we know you want to freak out after reading that headline, we do too. But let's work through this together, OK? GamerBytes says it spotted Secret of Monkey Island, the first in Ron Gilbert's revered adventure series, listed for Xbox 360 (likely XBLA) on the website of the German USK ratings board. The listing -- which actually called the game a "Special Edition" -- shows Activision as having some involvement, but likely because it handles European publishing duties for LucasArts. However, the only evidence we have of the game now is GamerBytes' screengrab, as the listing's apparently been pulled. We're hoping against hope it was removed not because the listing was in error, but because it popped up a bit earlier than the companies behind it would have liked. You may now commence the freakout.
Classic LucasArts artwork turned into movie posters
All too often when mixing genres, the results – like that Mountain Dew left over from last night – fall flat. However, one enterprising forum-goer has has defied convention (and warmed our hearts), successfully marrying classic LucasArts adventure games with our wall's longstanding desire to be covered in nostalgia. The results consist of several beautiful posters, most based on original artwork lifted from an era when LucasArts wasn't afraid to point and click, including Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman masterpieces, The Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. Designed to be printed and hung, we can't think of a better way to hide that unsightly crack above your bed.
LucasArts' PC adventures possible on DS, stalled by size limitations
To this day, it baffles us that LucasArts still hasn't re-released its library of adventure titles, if only so our non-gaming friends can believe us when we tell them the developer "doesn't just make Star Wars games." Speaking to Eurogamer, Fracture assistant producer Jeffrey Gullett said it's something they've looked into it but that there's an issue of size limitations for a DS version. Said Gullet, "The cart size of the DS makes it impossible to put out ports of any of our old graphic adventures ... There's literally not enough room on those carts to put the games out." The standard DS cart supports up to 256MB (but with slower data transfer speeds), while the DS version of ScummVM is just over 7MB. We're not sure if Gullet meant the entire LucasArts adventure library wouldn't fit on a cart, but we're willing to bet you could at least get the first three Monkey Islands under 128MB.
Joystiq interviews DeathSpank's Ron Gilbert
Described as "the perfect melding of a Monkey Island style adventure game with the wicked RPG gameplay of Diablo," Ron Gilbert's episodic endeavor also formed part of our recent GDC interview with Hothead Games. Though the Orphans of Justice still have quite a bit of growing up to do, we quickly quizzed designer Ron about Deathspank's upcoming lampooning of adventure game heroes, as well as the series' inevitable downward spiral in quality after the, uh, 600,000th episode.
GDC Quest Quiz I: Ron Gilbert
We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle. The Player Ron Gilbert, designer of The Secret of Monkey Island (amongst other LucasArts adventures), consultant on Penny Arcade Adventures and designer of Hothead's upcoming episodic series, Deathspank. The Puzzle You're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first. The Inventory (1) perforated parasol (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle (1) sealed manila envelope (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue Find Ron Gilbert's surprisingly direct solution after the break.
