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www.talesofmonkeyisland.com

We had given up hope, mostly. True, it remained close to our hearts, but rarely at the forefront of our minds. Some fansites remained, although others had shut down for lack of material or purpose. And those in the know? They told us time and again to give up – there would be no more Monkey Islands.

Monkey Island represents a strange yet significant event in pirate history. Those of us who love pirates more than average; most of us would point to the Pirates of the Caribbean rides as the most influential element in our piratey formative years. This is a common experience we share across a wide age range – from the old to the young. But there exists a sliver of us – the piratey Gen Xers – that also largely fell in love with another piece of piratey pop-culture long before the floodgates were opened by the Disney films, and that was the 1991 videogame The Secret of Monkey Island. In many ways cutting edge at the time, today’s audience would likely view it as only a little better than Donkey Kong. [read more »]

I know I’ve been way too quiet this week – keeping news and reviews all to my selfishness. But you’ll forgive me when you watch this video – assuming of course you’re familiar with Monkey Island (which you should be.)

Not even a full day since learning of the pending Tales of Monkey Island, and already I also learn of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. That’s right – the original game in a scene-for-scene remake with better graphics. And if you’re leary of that, at any point you can revert to the original graphics with a mere press of a button. All sorts of fun details including artwork, videos, and other monkey stuff at www.monkeyislandspecialedition.com. Also check out the blog of Monkey Island’s original creator for lots of other Monkey Island gossip.

What, still not satisfied? Fine – check out the sweet new Monkey Island merchandise over at the Lucasarts Store.

I, for one, am utterly flabbergasted at how now – after most of us had accepted a Monkey Island-free future – we’re being treated to this deluge of monkey madness, to say nothing of how they managed to keep this all a secret until just before the release dates. It makes me what other surprises they have in store – a movie? a line of insult-driven cutlery? premixed grog?

Proving once again that denial means nothing (it seems only last week I was reading that Lucas Arts had no intention of ever revisiting the Monkey Island franchise), Tales of Monkey Island is due for release in July!

I’m a lot excited, and a bit scared – the previous Monkey Island Game was the weakest of the lot, and by no small margin. And I don’t feel that 3D is the greatest medium for the series. And I have little faith that these latest ventures (yes, there will be five of them, being “eposodic installments”) will do much to rekindle Monkey Island’s roots. But all that said… MONKEY ISLAND!!!

You can read more at IGN, or visit the official site at www.talesofmi.com.

El Último Blog al que Irías: Converse All Star: Mêlée Edition.

It’s Monkey Island custom shoes!

!!!

One shoe has Guybrush in a swordfight, the other portrays the night watchman of Melee Island. They don’t show what’s on the flip side of either, so I’m going to assume LeChuck in a tickle fight with Herman Toothrot on the left, and Elaine Marley in a seductive pose on the right.

So for your naysayers who thought Monkey Island was dead, EAT IT!

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This may well be the greatest pirate book I’ve ever read.

My discovery of On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers was a strange one. First published 20 years ago, it’s largely flown under the radar amongst the pirate crowds. I’d never heard its name uttered amongst fellow enthusiasts swapping their favorite reads, I’d never heard murmurs of it being made into a movie, never saw it pop up as an Amazon.com recommendation – it’s honestly a miracle I discovered it at all.

It was while reading an old interview with Ron Gilbert – creator of the first two Monkey Island games – that I first learned of this book. The Pirates of the Caribbean Ride has largely been attributed as the inspiration for these brilliant games, but in this interview Gilbert indicated that it was actually the book On Stranger Tides that spurred the creation of Monkey Island. Now, the PotC rides were indeed key to my early love of pirates, and the Monkey Island Games were themselves key during my teenage years. So to learn that there might be a third part of this equation – well, I certainly had to check it out. [read more »]