It’s actually somewhat shameful that it’s only now that we’re posting an interview with BA Sound, the guys who handle the audio for the titles of LEC as well as Telltale and the other spinoffs.
Depending on the project, their services range from a game’s sound design, music composition, and voice direction, and given the particular importance those things have in a story game, and considering that the studio’s resume of them is longer than a Double Fine development cycle, it’s clear that they’re owed a lot for what makes some of our favorite titles so awesome. And that you owe it to yourself to read the interview.
Posted by Jason
Comments: 10
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.
Posted by Jason
Comments: 8
The first word on Monkey Island 2: The Special Edition has emerged from the muddy swamps. We don’t usually report rumors, but we can report reporting on rumors. From Kotaku:
We’ve heard from sources that the game is due to be announced very soon, perhaps even next week at the Game Developer’s Conference, and that like the first game’s special edition, will contain all-new graphics and audio.
Unlike the first game, however, this one will be reaching a few more consumers, with versions planned for not just the Xbox 360, PC ad iPhone (like Monkey Island), but the PlayStation Network as well.
(Highlights by me.)
There’s a lot to look forward to this GDC: Tim Schafer and Sean Vanaman will
banter about the funny, Telltale will be there with “
big news” (regarding Sam and Max 03?
There’s no Mr. Featherly in that, by the way), and finally there’s the GDC awards that Brutal Legend
got nominated in.
Lastly, there was a lot of clamoring yesterday after EA announced the list of consoles they’d be bringing
Deathspank to – a list that excluded “PC”. This does
not mean a PC version is not coming. As EA’s Jeff Green said
yesterday: “DeathSpank: If you’re freaking out about no PC version announce yet, stop freaking out. EA wants as many people as possible to play it…”
Posted by Kroms
Comments: 21
Sam and Max creator Steve Purcell has decided to sell a piece of unused concept for the Monkey Island 2 cover off eBay (or, as pirates call it, “YeBay”). Description:
The painting is 7” X 10” was done in gouache (an opaque watercolor) on heavy illustration board and has been covered with acetate since it was created in 1991.
Purcell was also responsible for the final cover,
The Secret of Monkey Island cover, and the
Tales of Monkey Island pre-order cover. In the words of my inner pirate, this painting “is
fab-u-lous.” The starting bid is a healthy $795.00.
Purcell’s also selling
this rare Full Throttle promo poster. In the words of my inner biker, “It’s
le fantastique.”
Shipping to Europe is still being looked into.
If you’re in a piratey mood, by the way, you should check out
Mixnmojo’s latest contest. The prize is a copy of Tim Power’s novel
On Stranger Tides, the main inspiration of
Monkey Island.
Check it.
Posted by Kroms
Comments: 25
You may remember a web-site called “Blood Island El Grande” from the days of Internet yore. This was a site that recreated the locations from Blood Island (from The Curse of Monkey Island) in stunning and exciting 3D.
Well, it’s back!
Not only has it got everything it had before, but now it also has new images from Blood Island locations, and the promise of further art to come.
I can also recommend the 2D art and the music, which has been brought to you (along with the rest of the site) by Goblin, the creator of our winning podcast jingle.
Posted by Gabez
Comments: 3
It’s finally here: our Escape from Monkey Island mega-look-back.
Enjoy! And don’t forget to tell all your friends!
Thanks a lot to Dan Lee for the superb 3D header art. Take that, Avatar.
Posted by Gabez
Comments: 54
Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, the latest game from Bill Tiller’s Autumn Moon Entertainment, has been played and reviewed, by firm but loving website Adventure Gamers.
They have given the game a respectable three-and-a-half stars, which you may recall being the same score they bestowed upon Tales of Monkey Island chapters one and two. That’s a good thing.
However, if that doesn’t seem like much to you, then keep in mind Autumn Moon is still a young, struggling studio. Both Telltale and LucasArts had their share of misfires before hitting their stride. Ghost Pirates is relatively cheap at £17.59; it’s even cheaper at £13.41 from Amazon marketplace sellers. I think that’s worth the beautiful backgrounds, at least; and you’re supporting a company with the potential to make great adventure games.
Update by Jason: Additional reviews: Electronic Theater, GameBoomers.
Posted by Kroms
Comments: 5
According to the Mamba twitter feed, Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island is now available at UK retailers, with its ship date having been Wednesday. Now we can all play Autumn Moon’s latest with English voices, and all is well.
If, like me, you’re in North America, your options are to get the game imported, wait for the confirmed but still undated digital distribution option to hit, or show some real resolve and wait for a North American publisher to materialize.
However you choose to procure it, go get you some handpainted Bill Tiller graphic adventure goodness, and stay tuned for the Mojo review.
Posted by Jason
Comments: 3
The fifth and final chapter of Tales of Monkey Island, “Rise of the Pirate God”, is now available for Wiiware in North America. Europe, being Europe, has to wait.
In other news, former Telltale designer Heather Logas finally has enough funding for her game. Congratulations, and good luck to her!
Heather’s father Jerry contributed some music tracks to Telltale’s very first game, Telltale Texas Hold’em. You can buy his band’s album from the Telltale store. It’s jazzy!
Update: Europeans can Wii with the Pirate God on Friday. Thanks to Metallus for the info.
Update by ATMachine: Er, apparently Nintendo was just kidding about that Friday European release thing. Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God will NOT be coming to European WiiWare today. Once again, thanks to Metallus for the info, although it’s hardly news to be thankful for...
Update by JP: Hey-yo Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It’s finally out.
Posted by Kroms
Comments: 6
Appletell, a website that focuses on apples Apple and its products, has been busy covering the Mac World Expo 2010. They managed to corner and interview Dan Connors (Telltale CEO), and then get Mark Darin to do a video interview. Darin, for those of you who do not know, was one of the leads on Tales of Monkey Island, and the writer/designer of “The Siege of Spinner Cay” and “Rise of the Pirate God”.
iGames Radio later managed to get Telltalers Chris Schmidt, Will Armstrong and “Matt Darin”, Mark Darin’s clone, on this podcast. It’s short, but worth listening to; there are interesting tidbits throughout, including how Tales’s story was developed.
In slightly more disturbing news, it seems that (Mark) Darin has joined the ranks of the Formerly Beardless, which include Tim Schafer and Dan Connors. What all of this is leading to remains to be seen.
Posted by Kroms
Comments: 1
Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures, a Star Wars based MMO developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts in 2003, has been given a 50% discount on Steam, its price reduced to $9.99 from $19.99. (A Star Wars MMO: just like it says in the title!) The package includes the original game, bundled in with the first three expansion packs: Jump to Lightspeed, Rage of the Wookiees, and Trials of Obi-Wan. A monthly fee to play the game is required. The offer ends on Friday.
On the other hand, it seems that the Steam version of Insecticide: Part One has been region-locked. This may or may not be a move by South Peak to stop themselves from getting some of my money.
Posted by Kroms
Comments: 1
For those of you who prefer to win a free copy of Ghost Pirates from a non-Sluganski source, you could always try the Adventure Gamers alternative. Looks like Mamba is making sure this game gets pimped on as many adventure game sites as they can reach, and good on ‘em for it.
One thing it’s not so easy to commend them for, however, is this release date confusion. While the Mamba site has and always listed the UK release date as March 26th, the date of February 19th has been thrown around as well at an increasing rate, and the sources are starting to become pretty darned legit.
Posted by Jason
Comments: 1
Aside from a no longer available port of Out from Boneville by Vanbrio Entertainment, Telltale’s catalog has never been naively available for Macintosh despite a sizable amount of requests over the years. Based on this rumor, however, Mac users may not have to rely on Boot Camp for their Telltale fixes much longer:
We have it from a very reliable, confidential source that Telltale Games may be planning to release its entire lineup of games to Macintosh very soon, possibly next month (February 2010).
The timing is perfect to coincide with the upcoming MacWord 2010, taking place February 9 through 13, 2010, at the Moscone Center in in San Francisco, CA (USA). An official announcement likely won’t be made until then.
I reckon we’ll know for certain in the coming months, but it’s sure looking like Telltale’s long running claim of wanting to expand to as many platforms as possible wasn’t just a lot of talk!
Update by Kroms: Crazy Telltale forum user natlinxz has found this
little thing, although it’s still not completely up yet. In their own words, “Whoah, looks like my years of making up URLs paid off!” Click on the words
little thing to see what they’re talking about.
Update 2 by Gabez: The Telltale Police have since pulled that Mac site, but it did confirm that Tales of Monkey Island, as well as the Sam & Max series, was coming to Mac, and that there would be some special deals in which you can buy bundles of games for a good price for a limited time only. Presumably the site will be announced officially soon.
Update 3 by Remster: Aaaaand
it’s official!
Update 4 by Kroms:
Tales of Monkey Island is already available; vote for the next Mac port from that last link.
Update 5 by ATMachine: According to Telltale, if you purchase (or have already bought) the PC version of one of their games, you will automatically be able to play the Mac version of that game for
free!Which means that
Monkey Island fans who bought
Tales on a PC but really want to play it on a Mac can do so RIGHT NOW. For FREE. Isn’t it great?
(And if you want the same deal for your other favorite Telltale series, do be sure and
vote on which one should be ported next.)
Posted by Jason
Comments: 28
Gamepro have interviewed and then written about the “Knights of Comedy”, including Tim Schafer, Mike Stemmle and Psychonauts co-writer Erik Wolpaw. It’s well worth a read, but includes this baffling excerpt:
[T]imes have changed. Early games were text-heavy because they had no choice. Modern games offer photo-realism and surround sound, with millions of dollars in voice acting budgets and characters fully capable of animated slapstick. But the inescapable drive towards ever-more realistic games has also reminded everyone that a written joke doesn’t just require good voice acting, or hi-tech animation. It requires good writing.
That’s where Wolpaw and [Chet] Faliszek come in.
No, I’m not talking about the
“photorealism” comment. I was referring to Chet and Erik of Old Man Murray being alluded to as the messiahs of good game writing. I never realized that the eagles on pogo sticks were a form of slapstick.
Posted by Kroms
Comments: 0
Telltale Games has put up their back catalog on GamersGate, with a (temporary?) 10% discount. That’s Tales of Monkey Island, Sam and Max (both seasons), Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People and Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventures. Neither Bone nor CSI, however, are available.
Posted by Kroms
Comments: 0
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