"International Talk Like a Pirate Day," or September 19 to everyone else, has produced a trove of excellent Monkey Island discounts.

For starters, Telltale will allow anyone to download the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island for free on Saturday.

The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition has also been discounted by 50% on Steam and Direct2Drive through September 21. New low price: $5.

The deal also applies to the iPhone and iPod touch version of the game. If you're not sold on that, LucasArts notes that a free "lite" version of the app will soon be made available.

With LucasArts' recent remake of Monkey Island having "surpassed all of our expectations," studio president Darrell Rodriguez has now confirmed that "we plan to do much more of this, both on Steam and iPhone and other platforms in the future."

The revelation came during a GameTrailers TV interview, which also saw the LucasArts president speak on reissuing the Jedi Knight games and the potential of new entries in classic franchises, such as Grim Fandango and Indiana Jones.

"Jedi Knight series is coming next week as well," Rodriguez said of the old Star Wars-based PC shooter/saber-swinging franchise. Just before... Read more

Following a rather blatant tease, LucasArts has released an iPhone and iPod Touch version of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition in the iTunes App Store.

Priced at $7.99, the downloadable adventure packs the same features as its slightly more expensive computer and console counterpart, allowing players to swap between the 1990 classic and anenhanced edition with redrawn art, voices and redone music.

Thanks for the heads up, Kentor.

As LucasArts continues to embrace its various beloved adventure franchises, the developer's enhanced re-release of The Secret of Monkey Island is now available.

Priced at $10, the downloadable adventure can be had on Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Marketplace and PC thanks to digital download outlets Steam and Direct2Drive. The re-release allows players to swap between two versions of the game: the 1990 original and a newly enhanced edition with redrawn art, voice acting and redone music.

The first new Monkey Island title in nearly a decade, Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island - Chapter 1, debuted last week as LucasArts began re-releasing many of its vintage titles through Steam, with the retro titles said to be available through Direct2Drive soon.

With LucasArts having essentially confirmed plans to bring its vintage adventure games to the iPhone and iPod Touch, the company is now using the same heavy-handed tactics to suggest that The Secret of Monkey Island is on the way.

"For our Monkey fans - an iPhone sized wallpaper. No reason. Wink wink nod nod," reads a Twitter update from the studio. The company used the same "wink wink nod nod" phrase when it said it couldn't announce iPhone ports but they "would make sense."

The image is among those LucasArts is using to promote the impending release of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, which updates the classic adventure with new music, voice acting and redrawn graphics. Of course, the old graphics are there too, with the $10 downloadable game slated to hit PC and Xbox 360 come Wednesday, July 15.

LucasArts today announced that its update of the classic adventure game The Secret of Monkey Island will be priced at 800 Microsoft Points, or $10 on Steam. The "Special Edition" of the first Monkey Island game will feature redrawn graphics, new voice acting and a re-mastered score. Users will have the option of turning off the new graphics look in favor of the original art style.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition will launch next Wednesday, July 15, on Xbox Live Arcade and PC.

LucasArts' downloadable remake of old-school adventure classic The Secret of Monkey Island will arrive on PC and Xbox 360 come Wednesday, July 15, it announced today.

The PC release will be available through Steam and other online distribution channels, whereas the Xbox 360 edition will be sold through the online Xbox Live Marketplace. The studio did not name a price for the remake, which also packs the original graphics.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition represents one aspect of the revived franchise, with LucasArts having partnered with Telltale to produce new Monkey Islands in episodic form. The first of those, Tales of Monkey Island - Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, arrives on PC tomorrow and via WiiWare in the coming weeks.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition could be but the first in a string of classic LucasArts adventure game revivals if the sales figures support it, reports WAtoday.

"If this sells," said LucasArts community manager Brooks Brown, "there's no one at this company who doesn't want to do these games," raising hopes for re-releases of such fine adventure titles as Day of the Tentacle and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

"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," Brown explained.

If the redrawn graphics--with the old graphics also available--full voice-over and re-orchestrated score weren't reason enough to buy The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition when it arrives on PC and Xbox Live Arcade in summer, this surely is.

Secret of Monkey Island fans apprehensive about LucasArts' newly-announced revamp of the classic adventure can test their hopes and fears with comparison screenshots.

Screenshots are all good and well but video is needed to size up the redrawn graphics, re-orchestrated score, new interface and full voice acting. We, as it so happens, have a hodgepodge of footage--with the odd dip into the old graphics for... Read more

LucasArts' classic Monkey Island adventure series is to continue with Tales of Monkey Island, a new episodic series by Telltale Games, the publisher has announced.

A revamp of The Secret of Monkey Island was also unveiled, updating the series's first title with fully redrawn graphics, re-mastered score and full voiceover, trailered below.

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Tales of Monkey Island continues the adventures of hapless would-be pirate Guybrush Threepwood on PC and Wii in five monthly episodes, the first released on July 7. Telltale's team boasts many series veterans, including designers Dave Grossman and... Read more