Issue #101: We Turn 100! And 29!
That’s right, 100 is what happens when you skip 13.
And They Said It Wouldn’t Last…
… “they” being us. But here we are, four years later, one-hundred issues, and still kicking. Who’d have thunk it? Plus, Mojo Proper turned twenty-nine a couple of days ago. You can’t keep a good, snarky site down.
The real world, meanwhile, isn’t quite as shiny.
Double Fine looks to be one of the studios facing the chopping block, courtesy of Microsoft. Tim Schafer’s two-headed baby is, apparently, in negotiations to go independent again, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. Double Fine itself approaches it with its usual quirky humor, at least publicly.
The Wolf Among Us 2, meanwhile, is the game that keeps on stumbling. For a second, it was all roses, until it was revealed that one Zak Garriss will direct the game. On his resume: “breaching ‘personal boundaries’ with female coworkers,” calling BLM a “hate group,” removing a transgender character from Life is Strange: True Colors, and forcing his team to “list their political affiliations.”1 I don’t even know… Why can’t Wolf Among Us catch a break? The original game was excellent. C’est la vie, and we’ll see what happens next.
It’s not all bad, though, and after a long process, we finally got the gone-but-only-sort-of-forgotten Adventure Gamers Forum backups online. They’re read-only, of course, but serve well as a deep dive into what the “community” looked like in the aughts. Read at your own discretion.
More to come soon. Truly!2
– Remi
The Psychonauts That Was
Not trivia as such, but we fixed a bug in our screenshots database, and the old Psychonauts gallery is back online. What’s so significant about that? Have a gander…
Yep, it was definitely a different game at some point. What’s that brain truck all about?!
This is also a good excuse to check out our “Return to Double Fine” article and its accompanying gallery.
“Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp”
A great track from Psychonauts – why wouldn’t you want to listen to it on a ten-hour loop?
This Week’s Exercise in Democracy
Going by last week’s poll, 62% of you have been around the Mojosphere for the last twenty to thirty years. Good on you! 15% picked ten to fifteen; 8% fifteen to twenty, while 16% of you are relatively new – ten years or shorter. Really, tell all your friends about Mojo, it’ll make their lives better.
This week:
Historical Moments in History
29 years ago this week, Mojo (the most important site on the internet, probably) launched!
Merch for the People
Only the best! The Adventurer has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo, though be warned: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear – or display – these masterpieces.
Full News Roundup
18 Jun: Adventure Gamers forum archive lives – on Mojo: Was there ever any doubt we’d come to the rescue? Apart from me, that is.
17 Jun: The Wolf Keeps Being Cursed: It’s still among us, though.
15 Jun: Double Fine among Xbox studios facing closure: Microsoft’s generative AI investments, you’ll be happy to hear, appear uninterrupted.
Last Week’s Mojole Results
It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.
11 Jun: “devil##” – Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse. Excellent game!
12 Jun: “time###” – Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space. Great game!
13 Jun: “save###” – Sam & Max Save The World. Fun game!
14 Jun: “poker##” – Poker Night 2 was quite decent.
15 Jun: “##q####” – Brendan Q. Ferguson. I don’t know what the Q stands for, but it IS his middle name.
16 Jun: “roy####” – Roy Conrad was the voice of Ben Throttle.
17 Jun: “titan##” – Titan AE: I found it interesting that Roy Conrad appeared in this film. But I digress.
And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.
Your Daily Challenges
Mojole too easy? Too hard? (Probably too hard.) Here are other daily challenges to get the brain cells firing on all cylinders.
Monkey Island Frantic: A Monkey Island scene-guessing game at a frantic pace. Image updates at midnight Pacific time. Brag about your results on the Mojo Forums!
Guess That Tune: Each daily game features a clip from Monkey Island music. Guess the tune in up to 6 tries, and return each day for a new challenge! Here, too, you can post your results on Mojo Forums.
Return to Monkey Island Trivia Card Game: The card-guessing game, now in your browser.
Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)
Hey, kids, do you want to become one of us? Why not join our Patreon? One single dollar will make you a Friend of Mojo. And for the privileged few, there’s the $5 Diamond Club tier, which will earn you a special mention in The Adventurer. Join now! Our interns are hard at work finishing up the special mention section!
The Mojo Network
The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.
The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.
The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.
Probably!