MonkeyFilter! II
June 5, 2009 7:50 AM   Subscribe

Ron Gilbert (Wikipedia) recently sat down with his game, The Secret of Monkey Island, and wrote a commentary track detailing the design, secrets, and cuts made in creating the game. (via)

The Secret of Monkey Island (Wikipedia) was an acclaimed adventure game released in 1990 and developed by Ron Gilbert, Tim Shafer (previously: Grim Fandango design document, GDC), and Dave Grossman. It will be re-released (warning: sound) (Wikipedia) for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade--no Atari version is scheduled--this year. And a new game in the series will be released on July 7 for the PC and WiiWare.
posted by shadytrees (27 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
Neat! I'm very glad it's not an audio commentary track.
posted by smackfu at 8:03 AM on June 5, 2009


The remake has the original voice cast from the third game. Hell. Yes.

And c'mon, where's the 'youfightlikeacow' tag?
posted by slimepuppy at 8:04 AM on June 5, 2009


Well, I for one am looking forward to the XBLA remake, and the new game from Telltale. The commentary was interesting and proved I have absolutely no memory for adventure game puzzles.
posted by graventy at 8:04 AM on June 5, 2009


Best Game Ever!

And the Ron Gilbert link was awesome so I have no idea why you're bitching TwelveTwo, even if there was nothing new coming out. His commentary on the game is interesting.
posted by chunking express at 8:05 AM on June 5, 2009


This was awesome. I read it the first time a couple of days ago, and I was perfectly happy to read it again.
posted by BoatMeme at 8:19 AM on June 5, 2009


Y'know that would be kind of cool to play a game with an actual commentary track, so that when you enter a new area, encounter a new baddie, etc. it would play some audio from the game developers. Or maybe it would be annoying.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:20 AM on June 5, 2009


ZOMG MONKEY ISLAND!!!

Literaly this has made my day :D

oh it's going to be in episodes and probably not as good as before but ZOMG MONKEY ISLAND!!!

(well you fight like a dairy farmer slimepuppy! oh wait I lose.... ZOMG MONKEY ISLAND)
posted by litleozy at 8:23 AM on June 5, 2009 [1 favorite]


I have no idea why you're bitching TwelveTwo

I don't know either! I've never woken up in the morning before. Everything is so confusing!
posted by TwelveTwo at 8:28 AM on June 5, 2009


Y'know that would be kind of cool to play a game with an actual commentary track, so that when you enter a new area, encounter a new baddie, etc. it would play some audio from the game developers. Or maybe it would be annoying.

There's actually something sort-of like this in a bunch of Valve's games. It works best in Left 4 Dead - preferably after you've actually played through the first campaign, you go back and do the Commentary mode, where all the enemies ignore you and you're invincible. You just wander through, letting your AI buddies kill all the zombies, while you check out little floating dinguses that activate audio commentary about how and why things were built the way they are, why each enemy works as it does, what the development of the character designs was... it's pretty cool.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:58 AM on June 5, 2009 [2 favorites]


It's also found in Episodes 1 and 2 and Portal.

I didn't know about the L4D one, guess I know what I'm checking out later. Thanks!
posted by graventy at 9:03 AM on June 5, 2009


Portal had that as well. It was nifty.
posted by Dr-Baa at 9:03 AM on June 5, 2009


gg
posted by Elmore at 9:10 AM on June 5, 2009


The new Guybrush looks weird in both games.
posted by zsazsa at 10:27 AM on June 5, 2009


Well you can play the re-release in old school mode, which restores the (glorious) VGA graphics.
posted by chunking express at 10:31 AM on June 5, 2009


Awesome! My now husband's roommate our first year of college is a trim, nerdy fellow who bears an uncanny resemblance to Guybrush Threepwood. I look not unlike Elaine Marley and my husband is a bigger guy with dark hair, so he went as Ghost Pirate LeChuck. We all wore nametags (Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate; Ghost Pirate LeChuck; Elaine Marley, Governor of Melee Island) and whenever anyone said "Oh, like from Monkey Island?" we gave them a t-shirt we had made up ahead of time that said "I Fought the Swordmaster". It was AMAZING.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:43 AM on June 5, 2009 [14 favorites]


Tomb Raider: Anniversary (a remake/re-imagining of TR1) has also got a commentary track. Must be a trend.
posted by unmake at 10:59 AM on June 5, 2009


Mrs. P: You have inspired me with that story.
posted by absalom at 11:02 AM on June 5, 2009


Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena does too. It's a neat trend, if it keeps going.

Mrs. P, that sounds great! What were you costumed for?
posted by graventy at 11:02 AM on June 5, 2009


hm, i dunno - part of the magic of that game and others of its time was the fact that you couldn't go online to find walkthroughs. Unless you ordered hintbooks by mail, or had a lot of friends who played the game, you really had to work through it with your own wits. I remember it took me over a year to finish space quest 4, and it was so much more rewarding that way.

I absolutely loved the art of monkey island, and the music, though. Escaping into that deep blue night sky with the gorgeous island... such an important part of my youth...
posted by spacediver at 11:05 AM on June 5, 2009 [1 favorite]


Left4Dead's commentary mode also works very well as a trainer for people who may not be, uh, the best at FPS games.
posted by adamdschneider at 11:18 AM on June 5, 2009


Is this the place I squee about the new Monkey Island and the rerelease? Cause it's been a long time since I got news that made me this happy. And thanks for the commentary link.

squee
posted by threeturtles at 11:33 AM on June 5, 2009


Thanks, it was fantastic! It was for Halloween -- it was great because at first glance we were just pirates, but there was an additional layer of subtlety for those who got it.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:51 PM on June 5, 2009


Telltale is doing a new Monkey Island. I'm swooning over here.
posted by painquale at 1:29 PM on June 5, 2009


Guybrush being shot out of the canon was also foreshadowing for later when he needed to be shot out of the canon.

Simpler times.
posted by Sparx at 3:50 PM on June 5, 2009


I love that the special editions of the CHZO Mythos point-and-click games come with a commentary mode.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:08 PM on June 5, 2009


As long as the next Monkey Island is more like installments 1,2, and 3; and a lot less like 4, then I will buy this game.
posted by Vindaloo at 6:14 PM on June 5, 2009


f'in awesome. i was just saying in some other mefi artgames thread that what i want to see is more commentary tracks in video games. i love monkey island and i will now be off to spend some time w/ this. yAY
posted by jcruelty at 7:58 PM on June 5, 2009


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