This is the second parody trailer for LEGO Indiana Jone 2, comparing moments in the game with moments from the iconic movies.

This trailer compares the classic Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark feature film to the upcoming game.

This trailer shows off the upcoming sequel to LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. It features a revamp of the first game, and adds in the newest movie as well.

Download the trailer here.

While Guybrush Threepwood is returning in a new title and a relaunched classic later this week from Telltale Games and Lucasarts as Eva mentioned, today the big news was regarding the return of a number of classic Lucasarts Adventure games (The Dig and LOOM being the best news) and more than a few of their not-quite-as-old franchise action titles like Star Wars: Republic Commando, Star Wars Battlefront II and the various Indiana Jones titles are making their way to Valve’s digital distribution system, Steam on July 8th.

The complete annotated list includes:

• Armed and Dangerous™
• Indiana Jones® and the Fate of Atlantis
• Indiana Jones® and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
• LEGO® Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure
• LOOM™
• Star Wars Battlefront® II
• Star Wars Republic Commando®
• Star Wars Starfighter™
• The Dig®
• Thrillville®: Off the Rails™

It definitely looks like Lucasarts is trying to recapture the the glory days of the company before it became the “bad” Star Wars game and LEGO tie-in company. The games will be released on the Xbox 360 via Live! as well.

There are a few more games I’d love to see make this list like the Maniac Mansion games, or Grim Fandango – by Tim Schafer – lately the mind behind Psychonauts and Brutal Legend.  Till then however I think I might just consider picking up another copy of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and LOOM.

What if you could play as a walking war-machine construct? A golem of destruction with a pure heart and good soul? This concept might fit naturally into a modern sci-fi setting or even some good old space opera, but a number of years ago – in an attempt to spice things up and introduce some new ideas – Wizards of the Coast sponsored a contest to find its next D&D campaign setting.

Greyhawk, The Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Ravenloft and the various other settings apparently just weren’t as marketable. The company wanted some fresh, new ideas. This opportunity became a chance to let the amateur and professional developers compete to see whose concept would become the next official D&D setting.

The result of that contest was Eberron – a fantasy world in keeping with the core of Dungeons & Dragons, but one that turned things on its ear just a bit with concepts like – Halfling plainsmen riding dinosaurs, living constructs, shapeshifters as player races and adding a very Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider pulp feel to its core adventures placing players in a world that operates on magic, outside the fantasy constraints of pseudo-medieval Europe or even an Asian fantasy amalgam.

Eberron was built around a different mythology and cosmic organization. There exists magic powered public transportation, airships and great dungeons of fallen civilizations alongside an invading alien force and mysterious magical elf ancestors who refuse to go off into antiquities and instead guide the path of the entire elvish race.
Read the full article

Dungeons & Dragons Online, Turbine’s under-performing adaptation of the popular pen-and-paper game and its Eberron setting is going through changes when Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited launches this summer. The relaunch converts the existing game – D&D Online: Stormreach from a subscription game to a free-to-play title. In addition to changing the business model, the game is also promising to increase the current level cap to 20 while including many features typically reserved for paid games like crafting, raiding and guilds.

Dungeons & Dragons Online uses a highly altered version of the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules and includes many of the core classes players will recognize from the tabletop settings. For those unfamiliar, Eberron – the game’s setting, has a distinct magi-punk feel featuring Indiana Jones meets The Lord of the Rings style themes and locations. The game will not restrict player levels or play time and will also implement a new DDO Store feature for players to purchase dungeons packs, hirelings and equipment not available in the standard game. Additionally a new DDO Unlimited VIP account option gain server priority, more character slots and access to all premium content along with a stipend of 500 DDO Store credits each month for upgrades and alterations.

As a fan of D&D, I avoided the game once I discovered it was not going to accurately model the game it was licensed from, but this switch to a free-play mode might just convince me to take a crack at it. Considering the rumor that Atari might be considering using newly acquired Cryptic Studios to revamp their Neverwinter Nights franchise as an MMO could there be a fight for the D&D MMO on the horizon?

You can check out the full details in the press release after the jump. Those interested in offering to beta the new title can also apply here.

Read the full article

LucasArts has gamers setting sale for Monkey Island in two new updates of this classic adventure series. Guybrush Threepwood is coming at you in new episodic adventures from the creative team behind Sam & Max and Strong Bad, Telltale. Gamers can enjoy Tales of Monkey Island in five months of brand new swashbuckling adventures for the PC and WiiWare

The word on the web on the Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition has turned out great for Money Island fans. gamers will get to meet all their favorite characters from the Secret of Money Island in there-imagined first adventure of Guybrush Threepwood with HD graphics and full voiceovers. Learn the art of insult sword fighting with Guybrush to a new musical score. The game will be out for the Xbox 360 and PC.

Get the full details on Tales of Monkey Island and the Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition from the press release following the break. There’s also word of an easter egg included on the upcoming Wii version of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings.

Read the full article

Nothing grows more during a slow news day that a wild, baseless rumor, but they’re still just so entertaining to hear about. CVG is now speculating that the next licensed property to be given the “Lego video game” treatment will be the Harry Potter series. They stumbled along this little tidbit of information, and so they’re now trying to confirm it with Warner Bros.

Even though EA owns the rights to make PC and console game’s tied into the movies, it’s hard to say if that agreement encompasses Lego versions as well. At any rate, Traveller’s Tales must certainly be looking for a new property to tap after the success of their Lego Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Batman outings. Shouldn’t be too hard: turn everything in Hogwarts into bricks, add a few co-op puzzles, throw in a dash of wordless, goofy cut-scenes, and you’re done. These Lego games practically make themselves.

[Image Via From Bricks to Bothans]

David Jaffe and Sony have apparently had a lawsuit filed against them for alleged copyright infringement in the God of War series. The suit was filed by Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog in the U.S. District Court of California, who are alleging that God of War is too similar to their written works, Olympiad and The Adventures of Own: Owen’s Olympic Adventure. The two say that they sent their works to Sony in hopes of getting them made into motion pictures, as well as to several agents that work with the SCEA. This happened around three years before the first God of War game shipped, which is also the time that David Jaffe said the game took to make. Here are a few examples of the similarities the lawsuit describes:

• Plaintiff’s works tell the original story of how a champion saves Athens from destruction by the invading Spartan army that has been sent by Ares… [GoW]… is the story of how a champion chosen by Zeus and Athens saves Athen from destruction by an invading army sent by Ares…
• In plaintiff’s original work and God of War, the Champion’s family is hacked to death in a one-room building in a small peaceful village. In both stories the Champion feels partially responsible even though he is not really to blame…
• In exchange for Kratos’ pledge, Ares gives him… the Blades of Chaos… two massive, glowing, sword-like blades fastened to chains fused to Kratos’s wrists… These Blade of Chaos are taken directly from a scene in Bissoon-Dath’s work… “As Zeus strides forward… his hands MORPH into two massive swords that glow like light sabers…”
• …Owen must cross the Bottomless Valley over a long, sagging suspension bridge, shown on Barrette-Herzog’s map… in God of War Kratos must cross the Bottomless Chasm on a long, sagging suspension bridge…

Wow, a bottomless pit, swords for hands, and a family being killed. I’m surprised the writers behind Indiana Jones, Terminator, and Bambi aren’t in on this lawsuit. Or the Greek poet, Homer, for that matter. I just hope we hear another fun-filled rant on David Jaffe’s blog about this some time soon.

Via GamePolitics

In the history of video game consoles, the Virtual Boy from Nintendo still stands out as one of the worst. To this day, most people remember the device as a less-portable Gameboy that could bring on massive migraines in a matter of minutes. But that’s not stopping some collectors in the UAE from snatching up some brand new Virtual Boys that were recently discovered in Dubai last month. While cleaning out a warehouse, some video game retailers unearthed a lost shipment of 100 Virtual Boys, all in mint condition and in their original packaging. Since the console only sold under a million units and was released for barely a year, these systems are actually considered rare and worth well more than their original price. As such, avid collectors have been grabbing one or more of the newly discovered Virtual Boys off the shelves, hoping to resell them for a higher price.

And I thought millions of E.T. Atari cartridges buried in the desert was strange. I can only imagine what it must have been like for those game retailers to open up a mysterious box containing such horrors…

Via The National