And the award goes to…
How awesome is that!!?? Thank you IGN and to everyone that made The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition a huge success! Stay tuned for some exciting things happening in the New Year.
We also made The Top Ten Handheld Games of 2009 list over at Digital Spy!
Interview with Adventure Classic Gaming
The nice folks over at ACG have an interview up with me where we talked about the inspiration and development behind The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, our future plans for this and other franchises, and whether or not we'll ever reveal the true secret of Monkey Island.
And once you're done reading it, jump right into the forums over at MixnMojo to discuss it further.
Lucidity available now on Xbox Live!
Lucidity, a new game from the LucasArts team that re-imagined The Secret of Monkey Island is now available on Xbox LIVE Arcade and PC via digital download.
In Lucidity, players take a trip into the imagination of Sofi, a young girl who is filled with a persistent desire to explore new worlds and overcome all obstacles in her way. In this challenging puzzle platform game, players are tasked with keeping Sofi safe as she drifts deeper into the strange new world of her dreams. Through quick reaction and placement of randomly generated puzzle pieces, players must create a path through beautifully detailed dreamscapes to keep Sofi in perpetual motion and deliver her to safety.
"Lucidity comes from our effort at LucasArts to form several small internal development teams and give them the creative freedom to make games that surprise, amaze and inspire," said LucasArts President Darrell Rodriguez. "The re-imagining of The Secret of Monkey Island and the development of the all-new Lucidity are just the beginning of this effort."
Monkey Island 2: Cry Engine
I'm continually impressed by this guy. What do people think? Check out some more of his work at: http://www.loneclone.de/projects/monkey.htm
The Secret is Out: We have a hit!
The reviews are starting to pour in and The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition looks like a hit! Here are just a few of the reviews (click the image for the full review):
89% - Based on 17 critic reviews
9.5 out of 10 - "Don't miss this."
A - "What we have is a classic game packaged in a way for everyone (PC or console gamer alike) to finally and easily play it, and that's exactly what you should do -- whether you're learning the secret of Monkey Island for the first time or 50th time."
A - (Excellent) - “Secret of Monkey Island is a classic, and the enhanced visuals, soundtrack and audio, along with the inclusion of the original art and music is just icing on the cake.”
9 out of 10 - "Should you but it? Well, yes. It's Monkey Island"
8 out of 10 - While its age does lead to some problems in game design, this is a worthy remake of what is rightly considered a classic adventure game, and you’d do well to give it a try.
Monkey Island: Special Edition Released
Pirates! Adventure! Monkeys! Relive the hilarious swashbuckling misadventures of the wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood as he attempts to become the most infamous pirate in the Caribbean! Back by popular demand, The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition faithfully re-imagines the internationally-acclaimed classic pirate adventure game from LucasArts in gorgeous HD detail.
Featuring an all new re-imagined contemporary art style, hand-drawn and presented in 1080p, complete voice over by members of the original Monkey Island™ franchise cast, a re-mastered musical score using live instruments, plus scene-for scene-hot swap to seamlessly transition between Special Edition and Classic modes at anytime.
Buy it now on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PC, and iPhone via digital download!
Calling Vienna
For the past few years our fans in Vienna have held an annual Monkey Island Memorial party where they celebrate all things Monkey. This year, however, they decided with the announcement of two new Monkey Island games that they would change the party from a memorial to a revival. We could, unfortunately, make it in person to join them this year (maybe next year?) so instead we recorded a quick little message to them.
And check out pictures from past parties at: http://www.monkeyislandmemorial.com
Guardian UK Interview
Check out my latest Monkey Island interview on The Guardian UK's Games Blog website. Click the image for the redirect:
Destructoid Interview
Brief interview with Destructoid talking about the reasons for updating Monkey Island. Read the interview at: http://www.destructoid.com/producer-tells-us-why-lucasarts-updated-monkey-island-136578.phtml