While working on the recent Special Edition of the game, Lucasarts' Adam Bormann says he had to go back into the code for the original Monkey Island. And while in there, poking around for puzzle AI, he found a ton of content left in the game by its developers, including Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer.

Seems every time the original developers made a change to a puzzle or a piece of dialogue, they simply left the old stuff in the code. So Lucasarts have yanked it all out and posted it. Some of it's all-new content, others added lines to existing chit-chats, but for fans of the series it's all good reading.

Secret of Monkey Island – The Deleted & Extended Scenes [Lucasarts]

Yup. The dude from Sam & Max (and the box art for the two original Monkey Island games). You can even pay a little extra and get the thing signed by Purcell himself.

Yaarrrrgghh.

Pirates! Posters! [Telltale]

Choice quotes from the keynote:

-"I remember when 16 colors were more than enough and I remember when 16 colors were not nearly enough."

-"Monkey Island's budget was $135,000, and that was a AAA game back then."

-"I have the job our parents tell us does not exist."

-"We should always live in a state of discomfort of fear about what we are creating. It means you are making something different and special. It means you are making something unique."

-"This is what excites me about [today's] indie games: they have the freedom to fail... they have the freedom to be better."

-"People ask me to prove that games are art. I ask them to prove me them they're not."

When he mentions that he created SCUMM a thousand gamers in attendance cheer. That's PAX.

Long story short, network C5N got trolled. Someone sent them a tip that a Facebook group was propagating this dangerous drink, all the rage among kids these days. Grog XD! I love how they included the smiley. Hairspray Job Number One ticks off the ingredients - rum with acetone, battery acid among them - and then the anchor brings in Dr. Alberto Cormillot, said to be a well known nutritionist, to appraise the health benefits of this potent mixture.

"This mixture has kerosene, sulphuric acid, red dye No. 2, SCUMM ... what could probably be SCUMM?" he says, according to one translation.

Well, Google it. Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion. Used in the development of several graphical adventure games back in the 1990s, one of them Escape from The Secret of Monkey Island. Think Dr. Cormillot got that answer?

"I googled it, and it's an alcohol delivery service," Dr. Cormillot says.

Palma de la mano de mi cara ...

The video above annotates what was actually broadcast on C5N with Monkey Island - in Spanish, no less - so you get the full picture of just how stupid this all is. I think it was produced by a comedy show down there, but I'm not sure if it's a broadcast program or web produced.

Epic Fail Argentinian Journalist Fears for Teens Drinking Grog XD [Lucasnews, thanks reader Jeff. Destructoid also had it earlier, from a different source.]

It's called "Siege of Spinner Cay", and will be out on August 20, keeping with the publisher's plans of releasing one episode per month. Be interesting to see how it goes down, actually, as I thought I liked the first episode, but then went and played Monkey Island: Special Edition and realised these new games are just like Telltale's Sam & Max titles; facsimiles of earlier work, which do an admirable job of colouring between the lines but just never quite capture the same feel as the original games.

Some Germans have put together what they feel a Monkey Island 2: Special Edition should look like, complete with high-res backgrounds made from original concept art, along with a quasi-3D overlay.

Can't say I like their inventory scheme as much as I like the environment effects, but I like the environment effects a lot, so that's OK.

Monkey 2: Special Uber Art [Loneclone]

And by "new" we don't mean the new version of the old game, we mean the proper new one. Telltale's "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal." It'll be out in North America later today (or if you slept in will be out already!), but for PAL customers, sorry, Telltale will "have release date information for you guys very soon".

Launch of the Screaming Narwhal coming to WiiWare July 27! [Telltale]

This $90 statue will be available from Lucas' own StarWarsShop come September, and stands 10" tall. Depicting a very human LeChuck against a very weedy Guybrush Threepwood (who is captured mid-root beer salvo), there will only be 1000 made available. Well, 995 after I'm done with them.

[thanks Chris!]

As you can see, in visual terms it's not a bad downgrade of the gorgeous PC/360 version. As far as gameplay goes...I haven't played it (come on, I only just finished the PC version!), but it looks fairly straight-forward: finger moves cursor, and the buttons down the button handle interaction and inventory.

If you're interested, it'll cost you $8.

So we won't. Instead, we'll review this as a port. Think of it as your memories of Star Wars versus your impressions of Star Wars: Special Edition. In some ways, it's great seeing an old favourite given a new lease of life. But in others, well. Han shot first.

Loved
Same Old, Same Old: This isn't a "remake". There's no new 3D tech underpinning the game, no re-written puzzles, no sweeping changes to Ron Gilbert's original vision. Instead, it's exactly the same game. Same lines, same characters. Heck, you press F10 and the game switches between new version and the original, so seamlessly you can do it mid-animation and/or mid-conversation (though you won't get voice acting in the 1990 version). So you know exactly what you're getting: one of the best adventure games ever made, and possibly the funniest as well.

New Vision: But it's not quite the same game. It plays the same, but sounds and looks very different. For the first time, voice comes to the original, thankfully (and tastefully) done by most of the cast from the later games, including Dominic Armato as Guybrush . There's also a new, shinier art style atop the game, which in most places looks great, especially the life it breathes into the game's landscapes. Some characters, however, have a lot less…character, a bit less humour to their faces, so it's not an improvement across the board.

Hated
A Wretched Hive Of SCUMM & Villainy: LucasArts' SCUMM menu system persevered for a decade or so because it was perfect. It served the original well, and it served its sequel well, but this remake does away with it in favour of a weird adaptation of LucasArts' later single-click interface. Some things are activated intuitively with a mouse click, others you have to drag through a cumbersome inventory system. It's a messy problem to face in 2009, especially when you can just hit F10 and be reminded that they did things better back in 1990.

Like a night out to go see the remade Star Wars movies, if you're a fan of the original, you'll enjoy the update, as it's nice seeing a rusty old game given a new lease on life. Even if a few of the additions are a little unnecessary.

Monkey Island: Special Edition was developed and published by LucasArts, released on July 15 for the PC and Xbox 360. Retails for $10 on PC and 800 MS Points on Xbox 360. Played game to completion for, what, the 17th time now?

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition updates the classic LucasArts adventure game with the high-definition graphical updates you demand, but also offers the original old-school visuals purists go nuts for. New voiceover work, an updated score and un-messed with hilarity makes the 800 Microsoft Points asking price a steal.

Madballs in... Babo: Invasion is a bit more expensive at 1200 Microsoft Points. But it offers 16-person multiplayer action and four player co-op, with decapitated Avatars and playable Madballs at your disposal. Enjoy Skirmish, Team Skirmish, Capture The Flag, Invasion, and Avatar Attack modes, while savoring rare Madballs licensing opportunities.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and Madballs in... Babo: Invasion [Xbox.com]

Comedy isn't easy, especially in the medium of the video game. Injecting humor is more than simply having a character say something funny. It takes precise timing, a certain amount of skill, and a strong knowledge of your audience.

What separates games from movies or books is the gameplay, and developers have to take that gameplay into consideration. They aren't simply riffing to a bunch of people sitting in a darkened bar. They're trying to entertain someone who just finished slaughtering enemy forces or solving a difficult puzzle. That requires someone possessing not only a strong grasp of humor, but an understanding of how games and gamers tick.

It's a task that is proving more difficult as video games evolve.

During the 80's and early 90's, humor flourished in the game industry, due in large part to the adventure game genre. Simple point-and-click mechanics and largely dialogue-drive gameplay gave adventure game legends like Roberta Williams (King's Quest), Al Lowe (Leisure Suit Larry), and the LucasArts' Monkey Island triple-threat of Tim Schafer, Ron Gilbert, and Dave Grossman ample opportunity to plunge players into hilarious circumstances.

Grossman's still at it, working on the resurgence of the classic adventure game in the form of Telltale Games' episodic Tales of Monkey Island for the Nintendo Wii and PC. He tells Kotaku that there's chances for humor in games to develop in some fascinating ways.

"As the games get smarter and start paying attention to more things about what the player is actually doing, using that ability not just to create challenges but to create humorous moments will be pretty cool. Eventually I expect to be out of a job over that."

But to get there, games will have to continue to surmount some challenges that the advance of technology has introduced, challenges that have sometimes made it tough to make new games funny games.

As technology improved, things began to get more serious. With the rise of 3D technology a strong focus was put on making games look good, delivering a more realistic — and often darker — experience to the player. Cartoonish comedic games became more of a novelty than the norm. Few titles, such as Rare's Conker's Bad Fur Day for the Nintendo 64, fully embraced humor.

The CD-ROM format, which allowed developers to add more voices to their creations, gave birth to games like Gex and Blasto for the PlayStation, both of which relied on repetitive celebrity wisecracks to keep players entertained. The humorous, cartoonish adventure games, once a haven for comedy, gave way to more mature adventure titles like Myst and The 7th Guest, both showcases for the emerging tech.

The cutscene also matured during the 90's, evolving from brief animated segments meant to give players a rest between rounds of Pac-Man to fully-voiced, CGI rendered movies. Even today, many games use the cutscene to present humorous occurrences, keeping the story and the gameplay separated.

What are the issues keeping today's games from embracing comedy?

Freedom plays a huge role. When a game takes a player from point A to point B, as in Valve's Portal, the game's writer basically knows where the player will be at any given time, and can react accordingly. The more freedom a player has to determine how they play, the more difficult it is to fire off a punchline at the right moment. A sandbox game like Grand Theft Auto, in which the developer has no way of predicting how the player progresses, turns to unconvential methods to deliver humor outside of gameplay, such as radio chatter and mock television programs.

Another big issue with today's game is the length. Writer/director Harold Ramis recently touched on the issue during an interview with GamesRadar around the release of Atari's Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

"To make a game so funny with so many comic alternatives, that would be like writing three hit movies. The scripts are impossibly long. That would be a considerable investment. And I was thinking if you wrote that much comedy, chances are you would put it in a feature film."

So is it more difficult for humor to thrive in today's games? Monkey Island co-creator Dave Grossman doesn't think so. He believes that the type of game you create doesn't dictate if you can successfully integrate comedy...only how.

"I don't know if it's easier to do in the adventure game format than it is in a lot of others. Really, the kind of humor that you do is dictated by what kind of game you're making."

Grossman explains that comedy doesn't always come from the mouths of video game characters. A game doesn't have to have an amusing script in order to be considered funny. In fact, changing trends in the video game industry have led to rise of new types of gaming comedy.

He brings up the example of the recent tower defense variant, Plants Vs. Zombies.

"The gameplay is real simple...there's nothing super elaborate about it, but as soon as I hear the first zombie going "urrrrr" I start to chuckle. There's a moment when you've built up all of these plants making "poot poot" noises and suddenly a giant wave of zombies comes in going. "arrghharghhargghh". It's the sheer pandemonium that's just hilarious."

It's the absurdity of games like Plants Vs. Zombies that sets them apart. Games that take traditional game play mechanics and place them in a completely ridiculous setting. The growing popularity of independent games and accessible distribution channels like Steam are fostering a rise in absurd, surreal titles, and the attention such games get could get more traditional console publishers to take chances on titles they might have once laughed aside.

Grossman inadvertently touches on another emerging aspect of comedic gaming, physical comedy. Where previous attempts at motion control had failed, the Nintendo Wii seemed to hit at exactly the right time, capturing the hearts of gamers tired of standard game controls and the attention of the non-gaming public, intrigued by the idea of a playing games in a more active fashion.

Any activity that requires people to physically perform is rife with comedic possibilities. Grossman recently found himself performing physical comedy while playing Ubisoft's Rayman's Raving Rabbids for the Wii.

"Just the fact that I am throwing a cow in the game is funny. The little action-y things I am doing...you'd think, "But how can they be funny?" but it's just the way that they're presented that make it hilarious."

Sony and Microsoft have their own alternative control systems on the way. Both Sony's motion controller wands and Microsoft's Project Natal are bringing with the potential to make otherwise stoic and reserved players look completely ridiculous. Now, that's funny.

As for the fate of tradition forms of video game comedy, the advance of technology doesn't have to be a hindrance. Any comedian can tell you how important observation is to good humor. Many games use primitive player observation to interject quips and snide remarks reacting to the player's actions. Simple things, like running out of ammunition, or turning the wrong way in a racing title; the games see what the player is doing and could react accordingly.

Building on the same sort of technology, developers would not only be able to deliver more accurate and situation-appropriate humor to the player, but also tailor the humor to the player's demeanor. That idea Grossman saw as something of a threat? It's in development — at least in a horror game:

Konami's Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Wii watches everything the player does, from specific actions to how long the player has particular objects in their view, using that information to build a profile that affects how the game plays out for each person.

That level of observation could easily be taken from the horror genre and applied to something a bit lighter. A funny game, crafted just for you.

For fans of the original PC adventure games, the setting, situation and characters will be immediately familiar. Elaine Marley has apparently been captured by ghostly pirate, LeChuck (again) and Guybrush Threepwood – Elaine's husband of some years – has apparently gone on a quest to find voodoo ingredients to defeat him and is only just now arriving to save the day.

For the uninitiated folks, the game will still seem familiar: tits go up and things get wacky, just like you'd expect them to in a Telltale game.

What Is It?
Tales of Monkey Island is a new adventure told in five parts that picks up where the Monkey Island adventure game series left off. A ton of LucasArts alumni who worked on the original games evidently wound up at Telltale and convinced LucasArts to let them develop a fifth game in a five-part episodic format typical of other Telltale games.

What We Saw
I played through the beginning of the first episode to the point where Guybrush washes up on Flotsam Island, determines that he needs to defeat a pirate called Deep Gut to obtain the only ship on the island and for some reason, his hand is glowing green and randomly punches him.

How Far Along Is It?
The PC version ships July 7, but Telltale's tendency is to work all the way up until the day before they roll an episode out; so this build definitely didn't look done. They're still hammering out a mouse control scheme and graphics were missing or broken.

What Needs Improvement?
The mouse control scheme: There's a divide among PC adventure gamers between those that like W, A, S, D plus mouse and space bar and those that only want to use the mouse. Telltale has experience with both in their point-and-click adventures work—and a keyboard-only control scheme in Wallace and Gromit—but for Monkey Island, they're looking for a compromise. Right now, you can use the keyboard to move around, but you still need the mouse to click stuff and manipulate your inventory. The alternative is to click and hold the left mouse button to bring up a red direction arrow over Guybrush. Dragging the mouse in this mode will make Guybrush walk steadily in whatever direction the mouse is moving toward. It's still a bit twitchy, and it would be nice if you didn't have to hold the left button down; but there's still plenty of time for the development team to figure it out.

What Should Stay The Same?
It's Monkey Island, Not Sam & Max: People are skeptical of Telltale's take on Monkey Island because it looks cartoony –- like Sam & Max. Based on what I've seen, however, Telltale hasn't forgotten what it is that made Monkey Island a great series. For example, they've worked very hard to keep the wide-roaming adventure feel of the original games intact. Most Telltale games work with a centralized location that the characters keep going back to in every game; this allows the artists to reuse the same assets in every episode. Tales of Monkey Island scraps the hub, however, and sets each adventure in a different location. Even when Guybrush gets a ship, says Telltale, it won't become a permanent fixture – this is a Monkey Island adventure and anything can happen.

Final Thoughts
Personally, I'm the type to wait for compilations like Sam & Max Save The World instead of shelling out for monthly installments. However, I'm told that the adventure-ness of Monkey Island –- complete with episode cliffhangers -– will turn the game into one of those things you have to keep up with. Like the TV show Lost, only infinitely funnier.

But now we've had a taste, we want more. Full Throttle. Day of the Tentacle. Loom. And we might just get them...provided people buy Monkey Island.

"If this sells, there's no one at this company who doesn't want to do these games" says Lucasarts' Brooks Brown. "It's a matter of showing that there's interest and this market is alive and get people as excited as possible about Monkey Island Special Edition to show that these things can make it".

That's part shill, yes, but also a valid point from a publisher; adventure games are far from a proven commercial commodity, which is why Lucasarts stopped making them in the first place.

But such an outlook is heartening to people who for years now have asked "where are my DS Lucasarts adventure games" and heard...well, nothing.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to looking at this for the rest of the day.

By George, it's Monkey magic [Screen Play]

Ron Gilbert, who wrote both the original Monkey Island and its sequel, has posted on his blog a picture-filled trip down memory lane, detailing some of the some of the design decisions behind what many regard as one of the funniest video games ever made.

It's the "making of" book you always wanted, but never got, because...well, there hasn't really been one. Makes you wish game and/or book publishers would realise there's a market for this kind of stuff!

Stuff and Things and Monkey Island [Grumpy Gamer, via GSW]

On one side, the blind lookout. On the other? One of the game's classic swordfights. And this? A handy reference chart containing all the game's swordfighting quips, just in case you catch somebody giving you shit about your new kicks.

I Am Rubber, You Are Shoe: Monkey Island Sneakers [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Despite my fondness for the adventure games of yore, it appears the days of puzzles in narrative games have come and gone. Puzzles - especially the serial unlocking variety found in the old LucasArts games - seem to have become a relic of a bygone era. Where they once provided a necessary ludic element to a clever and often complex narrative - designed to add challenge and force the player to earn his progress through the story - few modern players have the patience for such challenges anymore ....

Combat has replaced puzzles as the progress-impeding mechanic du jour for modern gamers, and fast-paced action, quick reflexes, and gamepad dexterity are the premium skills. To be sure, games like SOCOM and Call of Duty also require strategic thinking, and online multiplayer often requires fine tactical thinking and cooperation. But puzzles - the kind you study for awhile, scratch your head about, and maybe even mull over in your sleep - have largely disappeared from narrative games.

Is there a place for puzzles of the old school stripe in current games? Abbott suggests considering the purpose of such puzzles in narrative-driven games while re-thinking their implementation; it's a difficult puzzle, to be sure, but one whose dividends could pay off in future gameplay.

Puzzles are for geezers [Brainy Gamer]

I think that it will [shift into a Hollywood-type model]. And I think that, ultimately, it has to. And I think we will shift to that model, but I think that there are a couple of things that have to happen before we really shift to that. One is that I think technology has to settle down a little bit. I think technology is moving forward really rapidly, and part of what a lot of teams do is exploring new technology, and I think that's kind of hard to do with an ad hoc thing.

I think the other thing that's going to have to happen - and this is a really big one - is we're going to have to become unionized. Because I don't think that you're going to be able to grab all of these freelance people when you need them if there isn't some kind of a union structure that's over the top of them. You can't really have a bunch of animators just floating around from job to job with nothing in between.

So I think there's going to have to be a lot more structure, and I think that's going to have to come in the form of unions - which, you know, I don't know that I really agree with that; I think unions bring a lot of bad things to gaming, but I think they're going to be necessary for us to move into that Hollywood model.

Interesting interview with a lot of content; worth plowing through if you're in the mood for some interesting reading.

Spanking Death: Ron Gilbert Goes Episodic... And Loves It [Gamasutra]