Congratulations, I can't tell you how much joy Monkey Island gave me, you must be a very proud man.

Congratulations. monkey island is the best point&click adventure ever. Please monkey island 5

Awesome Ron!

Now give us 5! :P

If only it was my decision to make.

Just curious, but if you were actualy given the opportunity to do it, would you go back at a 15 years old game (13 years old if you count to mi2, I dissmiss the others) ?
Wouldn't that be a little of a 'stuck in the past' syndrome ? Wouldn't you prefer to make something new ?

An anniversary worth celebrating. Truly one of the greatest games made.

And so, 15 years ago, Ron created the question that would haunt generations of adventure game players... But what the heck is the secret of Monkey Island ? :)

(not that I do care particularly myself, just wanted that it was also the anniversary of this never-answered question :P)

I'm 19yo and I've 'discovered' Monkey Island at the age of eight. For some reason every year I find myself playing MI/MI2 once again, even now in 2005. Maybe because MI is a hard-to-die-piece-of-undead-game. Maybe because the present games industry is boring. Maybe both.
Thank you for creating Monkey Island, Ron.

Yea something similar happened with me, I think I was 5 or 6 years old when I played it in my Aunt's computer (286), it was the CD version that came out close to 1991. Now I'm 19 years old, and I'm studding Computer Science, and all because of your game.

Ron your game changed my life.

You should be proud of your creation, it's a master piece.

Happy Birthday Guybrush!

Ron, can you post a scan of disk 144?

I was pretty sure you had those disks.  That puzzle sure had me "stumped" ;)

You should have saved that one for next April Fools

"Hey look what I just found!"

OMG... what have I been doing for the past fifteen years?

That's really cool. :) Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2 are still among my most favourite computer games of all times (and with scummvm, I'm still able to play them, too). :)

Monkey Island is the greatest game ever!!! Thanks Ron, I don't know if I have said this before.. But YOU are cool!!

At last, a proper chance to say "thanks for Monkey Island" without being off-topic! :)

So, Ron (yeah, and the rest whose blog this isn't, particularly Michael Land for the music): THANK YOU for the unbelieveably wonderful piece of my life that is the Monkey Island series.

Random thoughts: I've given up explaining my emotional involvement in a computer game to people - Pong, MI and DeathSpank-types all being considered "computer games" doesn't help... Anyway, some games are true works of art, and 15 years later, we definitely need more of that magic in games. You can only go back and replay the classics so many times.

I willl pay 8 gazillion dollars for disk 144. c'mon Ron, it's not doing you any good.

For 8 gazillion dollars, I will not only make you a disk 144, but I'll fill it with all the stuff that was under that stump.

I'll forward you bank wire transfer instructions.

Wil you be using those money to buy the rights for MI from Lucasarts? and make us MI5 (or 3)

:)

For 8 Gazillion bucks he could almost buy LucasArts itself!

Almost.

That isn't too interesting with all the non-interesting games coming from that direction nowadays

Almost?

It'd be like buying the Death Star...

what a coincedence! i played it for the whatsoever time in my life last week.

also i will beat my future kids if they won't be falling off their chairs laughing when i will hand it to them with a smirk.

Ahhhh, yes. I love hearing these names, for me it's a synonym of quality gaming. Something you don't hear very often. Somebody hire these folks! they're responible for the greats! (If you don't, history will come back to hunt ya'll.)

And ohhhh remember the line: "Look behind you, a three-headed monkey"

(that was 15 years ago, already?)

My own personal cheers for Mr Gilbert & the gang

The screenshot with the actual three-headed monkey is the background on my laptop. ;)  My brother used to yell that for years when trying to distract me.

Congratulations! And thanks, I get nostalgic about that game now, Imagine that!

I hope you have played already the latest Tim Shafer's game?
Isn't it GREAT?! :)

Who's this Steve Percell? ;)

"My name is Guybrush Threepwood, and I want to be a pirate!"

Possibly the finest opening line in any game ever.

I recently replayed the series with my girlfriend, and on the whole they aged well.  MI1 visually looks, well, 15 years old.  But it's still funny and fun.  In my mind it defines the elements of the modern adventure game.  It achieved a perfect balance.  When I first played MI2 it didn't do much for me.  In particular, I didn't like the ending.  On replay, it was better than I remembered..  MI3 aged quite well.  I think the team did a good job of capturing the essence of MI1 and 2.  MI4, well, hmmm.  When I first played MI4 it seemed like a fine, fun game.  Perhaps at the time it had been so long since MI3 that I was desperate and blinded to its flaws.  Playing MI4 within a few months of the previous 3, it's a far, far worse game, a shadow of the previous 3.

I agree with you completely.

But really, the only redeemable feature of MI4 was Guybrush's "sexy" voice. That always had me in stitches.

I actually far preferred 4 to 3.  3 dropped the ball on the story, replaced the old, characteristic art style with a boring Disney-esque cartoon style, had a far less clever sense of humor, and featured none of the original team (making it essentially a lame 'fan game').  What a disappointment.

After that, MI4, as poor as it was, at least had some writers from the Sam & Max days, and its spirit and humor skewed alot closer to the originals, even if the story and monkey combat sequences were totally idiotic.

I remember when CMI first came out.  I was worried about LucasArts giving Guybrush a voice and a cartoony style, but I figured I'd get used to it.  I think it's a credit to the game that I not only got used to the style, but learned to accept and love it.  The only quibbles I really had were the way Wally was brought back, and it was perhaps a bit unfair to the MI4 team to marry Elaine and Guybrush.  And, yes, some of the humour was a bit childish.
With the humour, though, I'd say the childish bits were only the tip of the humour iceberg.  It was everywhere, from Guybrush's facial expressions to the Plunder Island Naturalist Society.  There were a few running gags, and a lot of in-jokes.  A lot of the humour was clever, and most of it was funny.
With MI3, as in MI4, the most was made of the new graphics style the team ventured into.  The graphics and characters are all beautifully drawn, and you can hardly tell that it had to be reduced down to 256 colours.  We probably have Larry Ahern, who was on the MI2 team, to thank for this.
The sound was perfect, it brought in just the right atmosphere.  And as you played the game, and talked to all the "NPCs", you could see that a lot of care and work had gone into each one.

All in all, I found the game fun, and a joy to play.  It may have been different from the first two, but it was a good game, and that's what's most important.

(That said, Ron, I still have hopes that one day you'll make Monkey Island 3A, or at least make sure Monkey Island 5 includes a divorce)

Well, I really liked Monkey Island 3, in fact my favorite games are the 1 and 3, but I should say that monkey island 4 should have not existed.
I never heard the voices of guy brush in English because I have the CMI in Spanish & EMI too, but i could say that the guys of ERBE (the company that use to do the translation of Lucas Arts to Spanish a long time ago, now that is the work of EA) made an amazing work.

!5, eh? My how you've grown. Why I remeber you when you were a newborn, giving me hours of pleasure in my friend's Amiga. Now look at you? You'll be driving a car soon and thinking about college.

// wistful sigh //

15 years old and still one of the best games made.

I was introduced to "Secret" for the first time the other day and I'm enjoying playing MI2 at the moment. Two of the funniest, best thought-out games.

Thanks very much.

hy ron.i thank you for greatest game Monkey island the game is so awfully great that i want to cry... it inspired me to try to make my own game because todays games are ugly 3d and got no weed so i got an idea lets make game similar to monkey island on weed & rubber chickens and so on... pictures:  http://island-of-plots.wz.cz/English/download.html
main page http://island-of-plots.wz.cz
well its not just about weed and im not on weed but it looks funny :)
hey ron got any tips for game? sorry for my stupid english
YOu must do a seqel in 2d graphics plz plz i beg you
it has been a long time we monkey-playes have nothing to play
so can you do something about it?


live long & prosper
voodoo

Psssst, it's "Purcell" ;)

Oh, and: Happy birthday Guybrush!!!

Congratulations Ron for creating a license that's so successful that LucasArts still wants so much money for that you can't pay it. I think this would be a good moment for LucasArts to give you the license as a birthday present with a nice pink ribbon with a large bow in it and a greeting card with a hand drawn Guybrush on it.

word! :)

or even better, they should finance it :D

I think it's really significant that so many of us still play through Monkey Islands 1 & 2. When we know the games inside out the central game mechanic, the puzzle solving, is gone, but there is still something there that compells us to play again. I think that's the sign of a great game and it's all too rare.

Good grief. Monkey Island is just younger than me. I grew up with it, I used to play it with my brother on the amiga, and it was brilliant. I sort of inherited the games, and I still play them every once in a while. The music, the characters, the art, they all came together perfectly.
Ron, I would like to tank you for making i my mind the best adventure game I have ever played, the opening of the Secret was so atmospheric I will never forget it. It started off a saga.
15 years ago eh?
For some reason, it makes me sad.
There won't be another like Monkey Island, that's for sure.

THANK YOU!!!!  For me it´s the best game, I love it.

Jesus. My son was already negative 3 when the game came out.

I'm officially old.

We love and revere you for giving us a friend. I'm gonna drink a Grog in celebration, then spend the next five weeks in bed hungover :)

GROG! GROG! GROG!
     GROG! GROG! GROG!
          GROG! GROG! GROG!

Is Guybrush just a little child in his brilliant dreamworld?

wow... 15 years... and Monkey Island is still alive, that´s great!
Thanks Ron, and of course the whole team that made MI1 and MI2.

Alvaro, from Chile.

Happy Birthday Monkey Island!  I've played it every year or two since I originally used the Dial-a-Pirate wheel to play.  Thank you, Ron, for all you've done to make games this wonderful.

Ron, my best wishes to you and your old lucas arts fellows...
keep on pushing !

I grew up with Guybrush Threepwood.
To him I owe a lot of good memories.
To you and all the team I can only say:
Best.Game.Ever!

italics How appropriate. You fight like a cow. italics

haha, Thank you for a fantastic game. :-)

Next you need to make us a humorous sci-fi adventure extravaganza... with pirates, and ninjas... and a shrubbery!

Thanks Ron, I just discovered all the glory of monkey island about six months ago
and I love it.
So how much is the monkey island rights?

Seriously Ron, thank you. You don't know me, but thank you for grog's contents, rubber chickens with pulleys in the middle, a used ship salesman turned used coffin salesman, thank you for spitting contests and dance move treasure maps, voodoo ladies and monkies, monkey heads, navigator heads, ghosts, zombies, disk 22, a certain traveling circus, and making grave robbing fun(ny).

I didn't make grave robbing fun, it's always been fun.

You're right. Grave robbing is such a thrill in just your boxers.

How did you get Ron's boxers?

Thanks everyone!

How I'd love to have a beer or two with some of the names on that list!  Speaking of which, I wonder if we'll ever have a Ron visit here in Australia?

What kind of beer?

Fosters, of course!

- Ender
   Co-Lead Dev, ScummVM

Why Not jst Have a pind of grog :P

Coopers is the beer of choice in Adelaide (at least among us younguns), although VB (Victorian Bitter) is probably the most popular throughout the country.

Most young Australians have never even seen a Fosters... its not a popular beer at all!

Coopers do some damn nice brews though: Pale Ale, Draught and (my favourite) Sparkling Ale.  Hard to beat a jug of Sparkling outside a Rundle St pub at 1 oclock on a 40 degree (celsius) night...

To be honest, I wanted to answer Cascade. Thats a REAL australian beer. But since I've been living in Perth, I haven't seen a bottle once.

Which sucks, because I grew up on that stuff when I lived in Tassie :)

- Ender
   Co-Lead Dev, ScummVM

Root beer !

I'd love to come to Australia!  It's high on my list of places to visit.

You know, New Zealand is a lovely place aswell.

Especially Christchurch.

Have a meetup there! I'll come.

<<four notes from the Indiana Jones theme>>

I recently got a high end, portable, carefully designed for the best 3d-full textures-AI-blabla games......just to play this two masterpieces. And we are 15 years far away from it´s release? Do bureaucrats or money-crats need anything else to wake up?

Thanks to THE MONKEY. :)

We all loved MI..... very much... c'mon Ron give us a new game, something we can all treasure again and celebrate in another 15 years time

Patiences grasshopper.

You have patents on grasshoppers? Ahh, I see it now... The Mystery of Grasshopper Island.

The Secret Of Grasshopper Island 2: Locust's Revenge

Then some company will come out and buy out the Ron/the development team and Grasshopper Island 3 will be made by a bunch of incompetent nincompoops.

I'm with every one else when I say thanks.  Awesome game...

The best adventure game ever made. Thanks.

The best adventure game I have ever played in my live. (and one of the first)
This game changed the world of gaming for young guy like me in 1990 when I was just eight years old.

I had no knowledge of the english language but still I managed to play the game, and as I played the game, I started to learn my first words of english through the words in the game and what happened on the screen.

Thank you Ron and the whole incredibly talented crew who were responsible for this gaming legend to be born. It's a wonder that such a team ever existed in one place at the same time, so much talent. :)

Wow, it's pretty incredible to think I was only 6 when I first played this game. Thanks for all the memories Ron. I still have to go back and play 1 and 2 once a year or so. And just to put my 2 cents in, I preferred CMI over EMI without a doubt. I loved the artwork, and the game was just so much fun to play. Maybe it's just because of that awful control scheme that was used in EMI. I really miss the old point and click adventure games of my youth. Anyways, cheers Gilbert, this Warsteiner is for you, and I wish you much success in the future.

Monkey Island is what got me into gaming in the first place.  Happy birthday MI!

Also Congrats from me for this awesome game. It has been my first game ever and i played it for 3 days and 2 nigths without getting real sleep at the age of 8 till the end =)

Maybe without this game i wouldnt be a gamer and a programmer these days ;)

Happy Birthday MI and thanks to the whole Crew!

First of all, let me thank you for making Monkey Island. Trully a masterpiece that will remain as that for ages.
Second, I must say...C'mon! make something new...If you had the creativity to make MI, you sure can make something different...
stop complaining about a licence you don't have and create a new one.
make a game about cavemans, elfs or farmers...
just put the same creativity you put for MI and maybe you will raise the money you need to buy MI IP back!

ron is doing something new, but you have to keep in mind a few things:

first of all, it may be hard to meet the high expectations if there are things like Monkey Island in your portfolio

second: monkey island was not made by ron alone. much of the praisefor the dialogues has to go out to tim schafer for example as far as i know, which you can see if you play grim fandango oder psychonauts. so, as much as i respect ron, it would be hard for him alone, to create a new saga like monkey island, without talented and creative news people helping him. and i think it's hard to find a team like the guys who were mentioned by ron above.

third:  gaming industry today is not the one from 1990

but as said before: ron is doing something new. and hell, aren't we all hoping that it will make us all laugh again and talk about it in 15 years, like we remember guybrush today? ;)

Ron (or at least LucasArts) put together a talented team before, no reason why he can't do it again!  If anything, the talent pool should have increased in 15 years!  Hopefully Ron would sign on some of those talented and creative artists wanting to try something different that he's mentioned before.

Happy birthday, Guybrush.
Ron, just a quick thank you from the bottom of my heart. Peole like you make the games industry great less awful.
I'm sure that this legacy must sometimes feel like something of an albatross, but it's one heck of an achievement to have made this many people this happy.
Thanks for posting this and giving me an on-topic opportunity to get all soppy.

12 years old and totally addicted - my first memories of Monkey Island.

I too am one of those gamers that plays through the whole series of Monkey Island games at least once a year...

Happy birthday Guybrush, you fight like a cow!

Happy birthday Monkey Island!

First of all - thanks for great hours, probably days (counting how many times I played it through), and thanks for a fantastic franchise with pirates.

Now to business. :)
I know your site is licensed using by-nc-nd; That Monkey Island disk would be an awesome addition to Wikipedia. However, it should be less restrictively licensed, usually GNU Free Doc License or CC by-sa. I say "should", because the English Wikipedia also accepts fair use images while many others don't. So, to use it to the fullest extent on all Wikipedias, you would have to drop nc and nd for the image.

Please think about it. :-)

Simply a huge thanks for MI. I played it when 11, now I am 26 years old and  I think it was the main reason because I decided to work in software industry.  We're all waiting praying for your next work.  Make us happy soon!

Now I just need to print these disk images, put them into my disk drive, and I will have my own illegal copy of Monkey Island

MUHUHAHAHA !!!!

(Or maybe I will have to shrink these images in Photoshop because I just have a 3"1/2 drive)

To read the MI data from a printout of a floppy disc you will need an optical drive.

I might also cut the edges and use my CDROM drive - It's optical, innit ?

Mazal Tov !!

I say, this calls for a convention. Like us trekkies and our 40th anniversary.

Oded Sharon.

Congratulations to you Ron!!

Monkey Island 1 and 2 are two of the greatest and funniest games I´ve ever played. Still now I love to go back to monkey island now and then to put dogs in coats, drink lot´s of grog and pronounce myself as the greatest pirate ever.

Thank you guys for some really great times.

"Oh look behind you, a three-headed monkey!!"


Tom

Ron you're really cool!
i'm from Turkey and do ya know, you're really a popular guy in Turkey too! And Monkey island series are the most popular games ever here!

a woodchuck should chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, as long as a woodchuck would chuck wood. ;)

Hurray! Happy anniversary, Guythreep Brushwood (it's GUYBRUSH! ;)
This means it's also the 15th anniversary for the noble art of Insult Swordfighting! Let's make it an Olympic event for all to appreciate!

Cheers, Ron Gilbert!

Thank you for one of my sweeter childhood memories
and one of the best games ever published.

Marco

-----------------------                                                                                                                                                             "Look! A three-headed monkey!"
        - Guybrush Threapwood

What a wonderful time... congratulations... those were the days i grew up to become a man ^^
I currently play it on my DS... just great...

I just remembered I was thirteen years old when I was playing Monkey 1. Now I'm 28! AAAAAARRRRRRGH!!!!! I had almost managed to forget it. You're evil, Ron.
Domenico

I just wanted to thank all of the guys who created Monkey Island, not only Ron Gilbert :P

btw is Micheal Land still @ LucasArts?

Happy Birthday Monkey Island.

I miss you :(

Why would anyone want a 5 when you can go on a whole new franchise?

"The Midget of Donkey Island"

The unbelievable story of Larry Wilco, a flooring inspector who sells his boat for a mule and hacks his way through an utterly evil Empire that declared war on point 'n' clicks a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Thank you very much for this fantastic game!!!! I hope Monkey Island 5 will come...

Happy Birthday Ron ! =)

I'm LOVIN IT!!!!! Grats ;)

heck, can't say anything that wasn't said before. monkey island is the game that made me a gamer. it's kinda strange to recognize, that i know the biographies of nearly the half of it's creators. :D

so shame on you ron & co.! I could be rescueing the world now (or at least cats from big trees), but instead i'm a dumb nerd, readingy a grumpy weblog, and nearly crying because there ain't never gonna be a game like a 15 year pseudo pirate-adventure again!

Congratulations!!!
I learned some of my first english with Monkey Island! It´s one of the best games ever!

Congratulations, Ron. You have no idea how happy you made me in my early teenage years, how much of my time I used to dedicate to all the Monkey Island stuff, not only on thinking about the puzzles, but also by fantasizing about swordfights and stuff. To me, Monkey Island was as important as the Indiana Jones movies.

I will always want to be a pirate.

"The Secret of Monkey Island" was my fist adventure-game. Even today it's my favourite game. I mean, other games like "Runaway - A road adventure" or "The Westerner" (maybe you know the games) are also good, but the best adventure-games are the "Monkey Island" games. I play them even today.
Happy birthday, LeChuck, Stan, Herman and (of course) Guybrush and all the other Monkey Island characters.
And congratulations to Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, Steve Purcell and all the other people made Monkey Island.

(my English isn't that good, but I hope you all understand what I mean ;) )

MI was probably the first game I really sat down and played, thank you for that.

now, i'm just curious - is there any way to go about purchasing the game anymore?  or all the old SCUMM games while we're at it?  I'd love to play them all again, and i'd prefer to do it legally....

Fifteen years... I can barely believe it.

Thank you very much Ron.

I guess I'm unqiue in the fact that I played the games a few years ago (when trying to catch up on the few adventure games I missed growing up).  I still don't understand the ending to MI2.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed both of them.

Thanks for the best adventure game I ever illegally copied in the early nineties. I still use the insults to strike down little old ladies on the street.

Happy anniversary!

Happy birthday Ron & Guybrush! :) Little bit of cliché (but true) words:  thanks for my first adventure, thanks for a game that learnt me first English words, thanks for my most favourite game, thanks for a game that contributed to choosing game development as my occupation... and best luck for the future!

PS:Just being curious - have you actually ever tried to buy the rights to MI back from the Wookie factory?

And one more thing - I apologize for illegal copying the first two MI's in the early 90's. I am not sure if they were sold in Slovakia that time but I bought them at least retrospectively from Wookies... but I still feel guilty - I guess no $ went to the original Monkey team :(

They were not available here but i got them in Vienna that time. But it for sure was the best game i ever played! Vlado from Slovakia.

Ron, Thanks a lot for Monkey Island, just for that you deserv to go to heaven (if there is one), no matter how many bad things you do to the world from now on.
I wish I was rich so I could buy the Monkey Island rights from LucasArts and give them back to it's real creator.

Your skull gets to be on the top of the stack for remembering this Ron.

Probably the most enjoyable project I ever worked on in the games industry with the most talented (and entertaining) group of artists and programmers I ever saw.  I still have one of my sketchbooks from the project.

Thanks for the memories Ron!

Hi Ron, my name's Hagay, I'm from Israel. MI1 and 2 were my first adventure games, played at a friend's house when we were 10 years old... (I'm 22 now.) I was too young (and didn't know enough english)  to understand some of the humor, but over the years I've played the series so many times I can now pretty much quote the first two games by heart.

Last year I was at the Game on show, and when I saw the original art for MI I just smiled like a maniac and had to take a picture of myself with it...

Thanks for all the memories.

Congrats! I always loved the game and it brings very nice memories back to me. Thanks for giving me a great time. I hope and pray there will be a new episode of the game.

Wow. I'm speechless... now THIS is an aniversary worth celebrating. One of the best games ever, no doubt about it. Cheers!

Ron Gilbert, THANK YOU from Spain... 15 years ago I was playing Monkey Island in my Amiga 500, and today I'm still doing that, but in a P910...

Ehh... yes, the BBQ, it could be funny to have an spanish friend there, don't you think so? If you do send me an email, 'amigo mio'...

Thank you for one of the best games I ever played!

If only EA had the rights to Monkey Island, we'd be eagerly awaiting the 15th part of the series. "Monkey Island 2005 with improved graphics, a whole new soundtrack and the official '05 insult swordfighting license."

Ron, gracias por crear un hito en la historia de los videojuegos!!
Quiero que sepas que compre mi primer mouse para poder jugarlo!!!-
Saludos desde Argentina.
Alfredo.

PD: Sigo esperando otra obra de arte tuya!!!.

I must admit though, MI2 was better

Years ago, I dressed up as Stan for Halloween.  Even made up the business cards.

Thanks for the memories, Grumpy. Hows Monkey Island 3, then?

Hi Ron, thank you very much for creating this great game. It was one of my best times playing it and ... I will be patient ... waiting for things to come ... hopefully soon ;-)

Thank you so much...  I was about 10 years old the first time I played MI 1&2... they were my very first games and I still can remember how my brother tought me how to use SCUMM...  I still play them today, and still laugh as hard as I did when I was 10.  
Well.. actually, I have to thank you and your crew once again because MI is the reason why I'm gonna be married soon. The first time that I met my fiance was in an usual chatroom some years ago, and as he saw my username "Elaine_Marley" he couldn't resist saying "I can hold my breath for ten minutes!" to me... :)
we are so deep in love today... however, I will let you now when we got married ;)
And if I should ever give birth to a daughter we will call her "Elaine". :)

So thanks again Ron,

Suki  

(I'm sorry if my english is full of mistakes, but I'm from Germany...)

I Want to say This is the coolest game ive ever played. I played it when i was 4 and im still talking about it now. This is the game that got me learning C++ programming so i could make games just like u.

Actually, I'd have to second that.

Thanks for the inspiration =)

third.
Also, aaaaaahhhhhh for Suki's message above.

Fourth...

Without MI I probably never would have realized how exciting it is to create games.

Monkey Island also taught me english.

Monkey island1 and 2 are both amazing. I play them all the time and never get bored. i think that M1 should be made into a movie it would be cool. I start to make a game and in the end i end up playing your's instead of creating my own. Its just an awsome game thanx ron

"i think that M1 should be made into a movie it would be cool."

Hey. I'm in the process of writing a scrip for a MI1 movie. I have been working on it for almost two years now, but I got side-tracked about 6 months ago and haven't continued. When I first played MI3 I realized how well it would translate into a movie. I then went beck and played MI1&2 and realized that if I made a movie of MI1 and incoporated some ideas from 2&3 it would be an even better movie. This was a number of years ago.

I then got the inspiration to start writing a script for it when I first saw Paco's Comic on WMI. I workedd on it quite steadily for a while, but I eventually found that I didn't like where the script was going. It was too much like the game/comic and that wouldn't make a good movie. I sent the script-in-progress to WMI and they posted about it. I got a few emails telling me how good it was, but none telling me the things that should be changed. I've been pushing myself to start it back up again, but I haven't gotten around to it.

I actually sent it to you, Ron, a couple of times. But I got NO RESPONSE. Ron, respond please. Just read it. Its not so long. the rest of you can read it at  http://free.hostdepartment.com/s/smallfrozenhamster/SOMI.pdf. I don't think that is the most up to date version o fthe script, but it's fairly close. I think I cut some stuff out of that one.

What I want to do is really incorporate ideas from MI2&3 into it. If annyody can help me out with that I would appreciate it very much. I would love to somehow get BLood and/or Skull Island into it. They are actually my two favourite locations of any MI game (no offense Ron.)

Well see ya.

Isn't Pirates of the Carribean essentially a MI movie? I mean, it has it all... ghost pirates and such...

Yeah it even has scenes in the same as monkey island like the part where they are trying to escape the prison. with the key in the dogs mouth and the pirates trying to bribe him with a bone.

Hey, I remember running into either you or one of the other MI creators on the End Of The Line MUD (run on the stanford.edu's machines...) back around the time MI2 came out. Was that you? If it was, it was nice chatting with ya. ^_^ Thanks for making a brilliantly enjoyable and funny series of games.

Last week I've played Monkey Island, again... It's still my favourite game and I enjoyed it really, really much. But I'm still trying to find out, what the secret of Monkey Island is... Well, I've startet Monkey Island 2...

15 years already. wow. This game really did live up to the name of the genre. Something about it captured imagination. I remember feeling like it was a window into a real living, breathing world. Undoubtedly one of the best games ever made. I would pay more than the price of a regular new game for a new MI made by that team. Even if it was the same 256 graphics scheme with the SCUMM system. It shows you dont need flashy graphics and new technology to capture imagination. Good job, guys. thanks

Thanks Ron. Monkey Island 1 and 2 are the Monty Python of computer games.

¡ Feliz Cumpleaños Guybrush !

Hey I still have those exact disks..... and the box.
Monkey Island 1 was the game that got me interested in computers in the first place when I was 8. It took me forever to finish....
Anyway THANKS RON for a great game

I've been a MI fan since the original release. I introduced my wife to it a couple years ago and she loved the whole series. We're replaying them right now (started as a celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day). I'm looking at the original box and floppies next to me on the floor as I type this. We're currently on Part II of Curse of Monkey Island, and loving every minute.

It's El Pollo Diablo!!

Yay, finally being able to say thank you without being off-topic!

Cheers for Monkey Island Ron!

SiN

How nice!

Too hours playing that game. Too memories. All that stories beneath Monkey Island (Stan, Big Whoop, Voodoo Lady, Herman... not THAT MAN WITH TROUSERS IN MI4, the Scumm Bar, the Grog receipt...).
I told jokes from Monkey to my friends. And I was the only one of the group who played the game. I felt special. My older cousin played MI2, for example, and he missed a lot of the jokes. He didn't understand'em... And me... My only wish was to grow up to became a pirate.
And then that "Lynch ending"... Yeah, MI1 was the first, the BIG GAME; THE CLASSIC. BUT... MI2 had that fabulous ending. I was growing to became a pirate, but I was wrong. THE SECRET, THE BIG WHOOP, is not being a pirate; it's just your way trying to be one. It's your voyage, your trip thourgh the seas, finding the ending of the adventure. There's a song in my country that says something like: "When you're ready to travel to Itaca, you must pray to Gods, ask'em for adventures and danger moments, you must pray to gods, asking emotions and a very long and hard voyage."
But when you discover that, you are too old to be young. And, yeah, that's the secret. That's the Big Whoop, too. That's the prize to the adventure... Growing WITH the adventure, never reaching the end. Admit it; MI2 was better 'cause it had the secret. And we are still playing those games.
You must keep the adventure alive, never reaching the end, 'cause, after that, we still are young boys and girls trying to find our brothers and sisters.

Long life to MI1 and MI2! (And for the ones that make MI3 and MI4, WHAT YOU DID TO THE REAL GUYBRUSH?! Where have that macho beard gone? You killed Guybrush! You, ** pirates!)

And greetings from Catalonia! Happy Birthday, Monkey Island! I was 9 years when I first played Monkey... I ended the game with 11. Now that game itself is 15 going on 16... The world keeps going... Bring us to the horizon.

Thanks Ron, for the most greater adventure that I have ever played. Greetings from Spain!

Man,what more should I say........overwhelming but not surprising
I dont think,there's much to add,except that I always felt this special bond between Guybrush and me and know i learn,that we dont only look similar (according to others),but almost were born an almost the same day.....Ok,for me it was 10 years earlier ;)

enough of me..... Thank you so much,Ron!Life wouldn't be the same without you and your Masterpieces.

Hey Ron, any chances you can show us some stuff that was left out from the final versions of MI 1 & 2? Or even strange beta screenshots and things like that, you know, rare stuff :D

Happpy Birthday Guybrush!

I was only 4 when my bro and I played MI1... it taught me to read! :D

Hoooray! Happy birthday Monkey Island! That game is one thing I grew up with, and I'll ever be a fan. Hope there will be more adventures, but please not in that disturbing 3D graphics... :D Monkey Island changed my life when I was young, since I first played it I have become obsessed with pirates :) Maybe you go and have a look at my website!!

Thanks for all Ron, your fan, Florian

and... ahoy! :D

Happy birthday and congratulations!

Yay, Monkey Island is 15 years old! Congratu-diddly-ations.

Hi! thanks you so much for games. The very bests was monky island 3 the curse. The other ones were okay but that one was you best by far. Thanks so much to you!

haha

Well, Monkey Island 3 DID have the best graphics ;)

Only the original 16 color EGA graphics are officially recognized as "good" or "best".

My personal favorite was Secret of Monkey Island, and my favorite character was Lemonhead.  "And it says, "made by Lemonhead," just like mine."

Ron, I have to ask you about the ending to MI2, did you intend for the whole Monkey Island games to be just a daydream? When the story picks up again in MI3, it seems to have been an "evil spell".

That's the second biggest diskette I've ever seen.

The best times of my life were spent moving that lovable little bunch of pixels around the screen and wishing I was a pirate...I really need to get out more...and possibly employ some newer jokes.

"Que apropiado, tu peleas como una vaca."

It must have been 9 years ago when I ran into the pirated spanish copy of this wonderful game. I remember the 3 floppy disks... and where was disk 144?! You bastards! I want my uh... money back.

Very very thanks for all, Monkey Island!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for hours of fun. And for getting addicted to videogames.

Hooray! I love Monkey Island so much. There's even an homage stump joke in "Psychonauts". Thanks for making me love games. Hi Bucky!

Hey man! I cut my career teeth on this game. Thank you for making such a great game. I met some interesting folks in the test pit. I was 17 and you guys let me be the Lead Tester on the VGA version...kick ass! I wrote about it on the Star Wars blog. Kudos! What sweet memories.....
Grievous has got nothing on LeChuck....
http://blogs.starwars.com/matthewood/2

Happy Birthday MONKEY ISLAND !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Ron. Thanks for making the two greatest games I ever played. And for showing me what a metronome is used for! I can't believe it's been 15 years since SMI.

Wow, congrats. I remember getting the Lucasarts classic collection (loom, MI, maniac mansion, zak, indiana jones) and just being absolutely floored by Monkey Island. MI1 (and its sequel) will always be an example of brilliant adventure game design, and thank you for making the sort of game that I was always looking for.

15 years have passed. I have grown up but Guybrush is the child remaining inside me. Bring him to life again.

Happy Birthday Guybrush&co!

i play MI 1 when I was 10 and I just learned English cause of this game :)
(better then in school)

please MI 5 !!!

greetz from Germany

I first played The Secret of Monkey Island about 8 years ago. It was Easter time when my cousin and me were sitting in front of my old computer; enjoying the magic of Melée Island despite all the chocolate eggs. It was the beggining of a love that still lasts!

Congratulations from a Brazilian fan!

I wanted to thank Ron for those great two Monkey Games, i first played Monkey 2 on an old 80286 Computer and still love it.

If only u would still have influence on how Lucas developes further MI Games, anyway i wanna see a part 5. :)

Thanks for a great time that still lasts from Austria.

I just love this game since i´ve got an Computer. One of the first games i played on my 286 sx 25 in 1994. Gybrush Treepwood, the smartest and funniest charakter since adventures has been digitized... Come back for more please...

greetz from germany

acidfreak  

LETS DRINK GROG GROG GROG GROG!!!!! :D

Un pollo de goma con una polea en medio? Y eso pa qué servirá?

Yep, the game worked in spanish too. I remember back 14 years ago playing this game, and it still brings a smile to me. Thank you for the great memories. Saludos, salud, y viva por us!

Whenever I speak of my favorite games of all time (vocally or online) I always put Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge in the top 3. Years later, that same sense of spirit, panache and fun persists in all it's 256 color glory. A few years ago, I sought out a Roland MT-32 and Michael Land's music still sounds as rich and enjoyable as it did in 1992. The moody, somber LA logo music instantly brings me right back to fond memories Scabb and Mêlée islands...

When I was but a wee lad, my gaming world consisted of the Nintendo Entertainment System and the occasional arcade game. One fateful day, I was introduced to a magnificent title on the NES that went by the name of Maniac Mansion. Finally! Here was a game that didn't consist of just jumping over gaps on scrolling 2D backgrounds. There were actors doing things independently of the player - you didn't even need to be on the same screen as them! I didn't have to worry about dying, (well, for the most part) I could just concentrate on enjoying the story, the puzzles, and the amazingly detailed and interactive environment. I recall vividly drawing out detailed maps of the mansion in my 8th grade notebook. I was solidly hooked...and I wanted more. Sadly, there just weren't that many games of its kind on console systems.

A few years later I received my first computer and soon discovered (by chance in gaming magazine) that Maniac Mansion was originally a PC game. (!) Fortunately, LucasArts' address was listed in the periodical and I wrote them a hand-written letter beseeching them to inform me how I might purchase Maniac Mansion for the PC and how I might find other games like it. A few weeks later, one of the earliest copies of The Adventurer arrived by mail and a whole new magnificent world was opened unto me.

Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island were truly seminal games of my childhood and young adulthood, and in truth, were watersheds for my desire to pursue gaming as a career. I look back fondly upon these games and the sequels they inspired and continue to relish and enjoy them today.

For that Ron (and Lucasfilm/Arts of yesteryear), I am eternally grateful.

Ron, a warm thank you for what has always been my #1 favourite game of all. I'd pay you, but I already did (LOL). :P

Can't express it in words.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Happy Birthday, Guybrush!

\o/

<3.
Thank you for contributing to the making-me-grow-up-with-a-strange-sense-of-humour fund.
-Emmy.

Great thanks on creating a historical masterpiece...... or 2! and ive just heard telltale is probably making a completely new sam and max.....
Cause Lucasarts failed us!

greetz

Hilbrand

hmm and when in 1991 was mi2 finished? it's interesting how the greatest game took only one year to make...

Hurrah! Shame Monkey Islands 3 and 4 sucked. But you weren't involved in those... were you?

"Monkey Island" was one of my first games and it's the only one I still play in nowadays.
Right now it's running on my PSP while I'm posting here.^^
Hope there are some freaks who can port it to the 360 otherwise I wouldn't know what to do with MicroSoft's fine piece of design that lags of fine games to play...

Thank you for 15 years of joy and laughter.

Maybe i'm too flatterer right now, but...

Just thinking about connections. It's a masterpiece of art, devoted by thousands over the world, claimed to be the best ever made, done in the very early days, remembered several years later ...

What I'm talking about?

Is maybe Monkey Island the Citizen Kane of game industry? Is Guybrush a kind of Charles Foster Kane ?

Is Ron Gilbert the Orson Welles of video games?
Of course, he is.

Keko from Argentina - sorry for this improvised english.

patiently waiting for his touch of evil pirate

Ron, your team gave us some of our most pleasant childhood memories. I sincerely hope my children may someday have the same fortune.

Good luck!

finally got to complete all four games recently.  They're all great in my book.  Thanks for the wonderful characters.

Juheirassa

Congratulations. Thanks for many hours of fun. :)

You've given me the funniest hours i've every had in my whole life - i am not able to show my gratidute towards you and the whole team. I just say: we are not worthy :)

Gabor Takacs
Game critic for 576Konzol
http://www.576.hu/index.phtml?action=kiadvany

Monkey Island Forever

Thanks Ron

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag,  Guybrush! ... und natürlich auch alles Gute für LeChuck!
Thank you Ron for making one of the coolest games ever!
Greetings from Germany.

It is a coincidence then, that yesterday I worked on the character map graphics for the original version of SCUMM that ran on c64. (remember those very limiting 4x8pixel blocks Ron?)

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8752&start=135

It ended up as a bit of of a proof of theory that MI would have never worked for c64, but still fun nethertheless :)

I came to a greater appreciation for the graphics in the EGA game. Some of the MI EGA screens have to be the best things ever put to EGA.

Hats off from Germany to you, Ron. You've created a hell of a game, one I keep playing each and every time :o) Thanks for countless hours of swashbucklin' fun :o)

Jan

I played MI2 one more time, a year ago. I just wanted to spend little time... But I did the whole game one more time ! This is one of the few games I must replay entirely while I just want to spend little time playing ;)
The Lucasfilm hotline... ^^

MI was so great... The stump thing, when we discovered it I was little boy and we really asked ourselves questions about what was this disk 144! And it finished by a "Game Over" if I remember correctly!

Ron, I'd like to be there, working on your next masterpiece and be part of the magic.

Congrats 15 years later is a little late. I don't know why you never finished good and evil.  Times change. The market changes. You either change with the times or you don't and you can't sell stuff and you complain more than you code. I enjoyed your past work. Good luck.

BTW: I'm still stuck on MI2. It's the 1st puzzle: The CodeWheel ;)

Thanks Ron for the many, many hours of entertainment!

Hello,
The amount of posts on here are testament to the games success and longevity.
I was about 14 when I first played MI (Amiga) and the nostalgia still lives with me so much today that I play the first 2 about once a year. I used to bunk off school and play it at my friends house with his sister :)
Moments I remember are Guybrush turning green in the water when Fester chucks you in and that navigators head, that just freaked me out.
Thanks for the memories and thanks for giving us such a great game.

Dudes, that's a lot of posts. This just shows how many people ware mentally maimed and scarred by that great game...

I still have my dad's original MI Box, complete with all the floppy disks, the manual and the "dial-a-pirate". all signed by our guru :)  I'll just give it a hugg before I go to work...

http://sa.arandoir.com/images/Tarim/p13_b.jpg

I was going to wait for four more posts so I could be the 200th, but I can't be arsed.

I dont think we'll ever see a new Monkey Island again. But it always will be remembered as a legendary adventure series.

BTW, Ron, I would like to know your opinion about "Fenimore Fillmore - The Westerner", in the case you have played it. It contains many similarities to Monkey Island series, but with a cowboy in the far western.

Ron you and your buddies made an incredible story,
one which could be adapted into whatever medium someone chooses to put it in.  Whether it's through fan art, a comic strip, songs, or a play by some high school kid; monkey island still lives on strong after fifteen years.  

Btw the production of the play got me a scholarship to go to college.

People are still wowed when they hear I adapted a video game to the stage, the story is really just that good.

The Secret of Monkey Island will always be something very special to me.
It's not one of the best games ever made it actually is "THE" BEST GAME ever made!!!
Well I think so at least :)

Ah yes, those were the good old days.

Ehy ron why don't you write something about the creation of MI?
I always asked myself where some things of the story and the jokes come from, maybe there is something funny about it, for sure you had fun creating it.
Share with us some "back stage" story! (please)

How old is Guybrush at this time?!? 37?!?

Sorry in spanish... :-)

¿¡15 años!? el tiempo pasa demasiado rápido. Desde luego que esta aventura es una de las mejores, bueno diría que es la aventura definitiva. Auténtica y genial por todos lados, ¡tantos recuerdos! es imposible explicarlo, Ron eres el mejor.

Now in english:

The Secret of Monkey Island is the "ultimate" graphic aventure, it's really great and original. Thanks for do it.
from Spain.

I liked the game, just not the adventure aspect of it. I wish it would have more firstperson action or some cool minigames, like the latest Leisure Suit Larry.

Surely you must be joking :-)

So nun mal auf Deutsch

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, würde mich über ein 5. Teil freuen.

Hey, that disk is clearly from the VGA version! It wouldn't be 15 years old yet! Where are the original EGA disks, Ron?

Wow.  Someone finally noticed that.  I was beginning to think I'd slipped one by.  I don't have the EGA version.  I am a notoriously bad pack rat.  

At least it is the 5 1/4 floppy version.

Now I'm starting to wonder if you pulled that disk image off of Mobygames... : )

If you dig any deeper, you'll discover I had nothing to do with Monkey Island.  It's all starting to unravel.

Aha, I knew it. Zsa Zsa Gabor was the real creator of Monkey Island - and that also happens to be the fabled secret. Your house of swindling cards is coming crashing down now, Mr. Gilbert.

(Oh, and do come and visit South Africa some time. You'll find our grumpyness is nearly unmatched.)

Ron, what happened to you? You are now a black spot! LOL

but you are elvis, arn't ya

Of course u had nothing to do with Monkey Island I thought of it all :P

Hmm. It seems you're going to have to get a pirated version...

Man, I hated that badly xeroxed copy protection wheel with a toothpick in the middle.

The other solution was to Xerox each position of the wheel. I think it turned out to be 16 positions in all, so 16 sheets...

That was quite a lousy protection indeed.

15 years have passed between paper wheels and DRM...

It's been 15 years already? Wow. I guess now might be a good time to ask:
How do I get the fish from the back of the kitchen? ;)

It's just a red herring.

Fifteen years later,

Who would've thought about the 40 GIG DVD....

Hollywood, we're still waiting for the blockbuster Guybrush debut on screen!

Happy Birthday Guybrush :) And cordial thanks, for developing my favourite adventure, Ron.

I wrote recently a test for "The Secret of Monkey Island".  I would say an almost perfect timing. :D

If you like to read - have a look here
...it's in german, but there are also some pictures :)

Happy Birthday then :)

Strangely, although MI was a good game, I always preferred and by far, Maniac Mansion and Zak Mac Kraken... Don't know why. Might be related to the fact those two were also available on my beloved C64. And also the fact that seeing those two games on a 8bits computer with64K of memory was quite outstanding. Think of it... 64K to hold a game like Zak !!!!

Well done Ron !

Monkey Island was something like tintin in its own genre and so fabulous, legendery and memorial that I woudn't dare to run the game again and shed some more tears for the good old times. I wish for us all the fifth epizode!
I still owe my English, music and programming skills to this game and the following series.
Thanks Ron. Just wanted to let u know that there are people in Iran looking forward to playing the next epizode after all these years...

Happy birthday Monkey Island. It is easily the greatest game I have ever played. I must have been 10 when I bought the game and spent weeks trying to complete it. I still have the original disks and box sitting next to my computer even though I no longer own a computer with a floppy drive.

I say we all pool our limited resources together, form the Guybrush Coalition for Freedom and collectively BUY The Monkey Island Franchise, then hand it over to gilbert to make 5! and 6! And 7! Until there is no more monkey island to tell!

We shall topple the idioticy that Lucasarts has become! FORWARD FOR FREEDOM!

Monkey Island is the #1 Greatest PC Game. EVER. Thanks to all of it's creators for filling my head with visions of three headed monkeys.

15 years and still running that is one great game

Thank you making the world less sucky.

My italian version of Monkey Island! EGA 16
http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=monkeyita1ks.jpg

Good ol' Monkey Island.  I remember when I was in about 2nd grade I wanted to be Stan for halloween, but even finding clothes THAT snappy is hard.

thanks for all the wonderful memories mr. gilbert.

ps: thanks for making my site referer of the week!

isnt it amazing that in 15 years just how far the technology has come?
and isnt it even more amazing than in 15 years there has never been a better adventure game made that Monkey Island. Thanks for your, and all of Lucasarts Games work on these games, they certainly made my childhood brighter and they offer me a small glimmering hope deep inside my soul that one day there will be an adventure game made worthy to claim "its better than Monkey Island 1"

Thank you Ron for the best game Ive ever played. I remember playing it for first time with 7 years at my old Amiga with my best friend... The laughs were so high that the nieghbours came to my house asking for some silence ;). So for that, and all the times Ive replayed MI and MI2, many thanks.

And Happy Birthday Guybrush!

WOW !

Hey RON !  How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood ?


... its your turn



Greetings from Greece

Wow, 15 years? And it seems just yesterday when I started loving those genius masterpiece games...

Still haven't lost hope. Somewhen, somewhere, someone will be making a decent Monkey Island 5. Someday...

Happy 15th anniversary, Guybrush! :)

Ron, I wouldn't mind it that your house is a mess. I say this needs a celebration; on with that BBQ!

Greetings Ron,

What can I add to what many of your fans have already said?

Thank you, thank you, thank you for creating, along with your team, such a MASTERPIECE of a game. It has to be some great game if it made me ignore Scud missle sirens during the first Gulf War! :O

The top game in my 20+ gaming years.

Best Wishes from Saudi Arabia,

Nabeel

Just wanted to say thanks for giving me that glorious game those 15 years ago. I was 9 when I played it, and I think my sense of humor was greatly influenced by that game and other lucasarts classics. Surprisingly, unlike other childhood items, I still have the game w/original box & all that crap. Maybe someday you & Tim can collaborate on another classic. Thanks for the memories. -TMW <timwilk_at_gmail.com

thank you for releasing this game.  
it was my first adventure game. i was 10, when i played it on my amiga 500 and it's the best game even now.  

there are only a few games, that have a special place in my memories...these games are: the monkey island series and Loom.

I was there. 'The secret of Monkey Island'. Most certainly my all time, and Im sure many thousaunds if not millions of other peoples. favourite. I agree with everyone else, its the greatest series of games (particularly 1 & 2) ever thought of, let alone made. I absolutly enjoyed beyond belief the amazment of the MI series. Thank u Ron for bringing it to us! I alone with countless others want an MI5, more then any other game, even if ot only wrapped the series up, Id be more then content. It really is the greatest game ever. If that never happens, I guess I just want to let Ron, the legend, know that I am priviledged to have played and throughly enjoyed his creation and gaming experience - I agree with all of those at the SCUMM BAR that it is irreplacable and that no game can dream of coming close to the standards that MI has become worldwide. Thank you so much, Johnersfang

230+ messages of praise and veneration !

Can someone bring up a bit of controversy before Ron's modesty suffers from this concert of unanimity ?

For instance : that fake game-over part where Guybrush falls from the cliff WAS NOT FUNNY AT ALL ! And also, in MI2, the peg leg hotspot is FAR TOO SMALL !

I must agree, the peg leg was really small.

But man, you rock, Mr. Gilbert.

sure.

grim fandango was better :P

well on second thought maybe not, but it's equally great :)

A stroke of genius. Thank you.

I raise my glass to you Ron

Even after 13 years MI2 for me still is the best game ever. Hey, I learned english playing that game! And - heck - it sure wasn't easy trying to understand some of that gibberish.
And - sorry Ron - I have to admit that I played a pirated version back then. Could that be the reason why I still have nightmares of swashbuckling swearing ghost pirates...?

+1 on Dominik.

Including the pirated version related stuff.


But after, all, ok, I played on a pirated version.
But back then, I REALLY wanted to be a pirate.

Knock *Knock*

FBI ! Please open the door !

I didn´t know the date, but two Days later i played (and solved) it on my PDA and the feeling was almost like the first Time. Really a great Game. Actually i play Monkey Island 2 and think i´m gonna solve it today.

Ron, what are you up to these days pal?

Well, i was one years old when the game came out.. But still Monkey Islands is seriously one of the best games ive ever played. !!

Did you notice that LucasFan Games (creators of Maniac Mansion Deluxe and The New Adventures Of Zak McKracken) was shut down by LucasArts? At least from their website it seems so:

http://www.lucasfangames.de/

I noticed it too , through the Indy FOY site forum. Software companies are starting to really get on my nerves. They should learn to leave independent game creators alone!!
And the irony is that these projects are not commercial. They think they are losing money?? Of course they are! And it's only because THEY did not think about projects like this or were too scared to fund them.
At least let's hope that FoY does not receive any cease and decist letters. (Cross your fingers Ron :P )

I bought a computer to my grandma (76 years old) a year ago, and she played MI 1&2. She enjoyed a lot with them and me too being her walkthrough, less times than i ever thought. The problem was to start with those games because she has never been enchanted again since then with others. Because you didn't make games man, you made magic

Happy Birthday

uhauhaauhauh my game is the best

Happy Birthday Monkey Island!!

I have a question: Whats up with Monkey Island 5?

"i think that M1 should be made into a movie it would be cool."

Hey. I'm in the process of writing a scrip for a MI1 movie. I have been working on it for almost two years now, but I got side-tracked about 6 months ago and haven't continued. When I first played MI3 I realized how well it would translate into a movie. I then went beck and played MI1&2 and realized that if I made a movie of MI1 and incoporated some ideas from 2&3 it would be an even better movie. This was a number of years ago.

I then got the inspiration to start writing a script for it when I first saw Paco's Comic on WMI. I workedd on it quite steadily for a while, but I eventually found that I didn't like where the script was going. It was too much like the game/comic and that wouldn't make a good movie. I sent the script-in-progress to WMI and they posted about it. I got a few emails telling me how good it was, but none telling me the things that should be changed. I've been pushing myself to start it back up again, but I haven't gotten around to it.

I actually sent it to you, Ron, a couple of times. But I got NO RESPONSE. Ron, respond please. Just read it. Its not so long. the rest of you can read it at  http://free.hostdepartment.com/s/smallfrozenhamster/SOMI.pdf. I don't think that is the most up to date version o fthe script, but it's fairly close. I think I cut some stuff out of that one.

What I want to do is really incorporate ideas from MI2&3 into it. If annyody can help me out with that I would appreciate it very much. I would love to somehow get BLood and/or Skull Island into it. They are actually my two favourite locations of any MI game (no offense Ron.)

Well see ya.



P.s. Sorry for the double post if you saw the first one. I meant this to be at the bottom.

I've just had a look and I do agree with you. This sounds rather "gamy" to me. I am in no way a movie or gaming industry professional, but for what it's worth, I think the game mechanics and movie mechanics are very different (although there may be similarities). A catchy line in a game will sound dull or "over the top" in a movie.  Although there are movie-like scenes, MI is based on "written" dialog while a movie is "live action"  dialogs.

Not being an english speaker doesn't make my point easier to explain. And as I said, I am no writer anyway. So my opinion isn't worth much.

Maybe it would be interesting to hear what Ron has to say about the differences between the movie medium and the game medium, about how speech in games made the storytelling evolve within the past few (15 ?) years, and about his perception on the mechanism of humor in adventure games.

... Or maybe noone is actually interested in this and I should go stick to the "Ron you ROCK !" type comments.

I agree completely. What makes it difficult for me to convert the game to movie is that this script happens to be my first ever crack at screenwriting. I have written somethings since I started it, but this one was my first try.

And to answer your comment about Ron reading it. I guess he just doesn't like it, or me, or possibly both. I have emailed him twice about it and posted here, and yet no comment. Wierd.

By the way. YOu said you are not an english speaker. Where are you from. Your english seems to be exellent.

I did not comment about Ron not reading it, I just said that a man with his experience has sure many interesting views on storytelling.

"Hey. I'm in the process of writing a scrip for a MI1 movie."

Dude! That is awesome! Someone definitely should!I have some ideas if ur serious about that help thing. But you'd better make it BRILLIANT if you want a success! Anything less would not do MI justice! Watch this space.

I love the series, and since I am from europe I hope you enjoy havin´
your fans all over the globe. Since I first played TSoMI on an amiga
I still enjoy having fun with it on my newer computer running SCUMMVM.
Have fun, rock´n´roll The Lord of......................

"eeehh.. I don't wanna look like a dunce"
"Ye, ye, I know what you're thinking... stop it"

Monkey Island is the best game ever. The first I played was MI3 (sry for my english I'm german ^^). And then i bought MI1 and Mi2. At the release of MI4 i bought it, too. And now I wait for MI5 ^^. PLEASE make MI5. Monkey Island is the best game and will it be ever.

RON I LOVE YOU

In german:

MonkeyIsland war nicht mein erstes Adventure und ich spielte es zum ersten mal erst vor 2 oder 3 Jahren, aber es ist das beste überhaupt! (Ich bin übrigens 19) Gespielt habe ich es in der richtigen Reihenfolge ;) Erst 1, dann 2 und dann noch 3 und 4. Mein Lieblingsteil ist MI2: Le Chuck's Revenge :D Mein größter Wunsch wäre ein MonkeyIsland 3a ;-) Aber bitte kein 3D, MI4 ist schrecklich! Um ehrlich zu sein: Ich würde mir eine 256-Farben-Version wünschen, im selben Look wie MI1 oder 2 :D

Also dann: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Du sprichst mir aus der Seele! ;)
So müsste Monkey Island 3a aussehen!! Zu schade nur, dass Lucas Arts die Rechte für MI immernoch in ihren giiierigen Krallen hält... ~.~

Ja das ist zu schade -.-

Ron you rock...  I just saw Lost with the episode of the black rock pirate ship and stuff and MI daunted again in my head.. oh... so good fun.

I hope lucasfilm chokes on their lame-ass starwars shit.

i didn't read at all but did the original ibm version of monkey island come with the 5.25" floppies AND the 3.5" floppies? i'm just curious cause i found a box with both sets of disks

Hard to imagine that it was 15 years ago that I first spotted Money Island 2 in the Shop and bought it on a whim. Little did I know it would become a pillar of my misspent youth - thanx Ron, I wouldn't have spent it any other way. Happy Anniversary.

Congratulations from Finland!

I have the M.I. theme as ringtune on my mobile phone!

I'm too^^

ohoh, I should no more try to write in english^^

correction:  I also

"Me Too" would work just fine. :)

"So do I" sound less colloquial

Does the 300th msg poster get any gift ?

The 300th msg poster get a cookie ^^

And i've the dancing parents on my mobile phone screen :D

haha Yeh same Here! The Lechuck theme actually

Congratulations to all the one's involved in this game (how long i was waiting  this moment... 15 year) , i played the ega,vga and the sega cd edition of Monkey Island 1 and i still love the ega edition.
Thanks to MI I learned to judge a game for the content and not the graphics, and i apply that in everything i do since then.
By the way, in the ega version there was a special combination to make the ending appear (not the real one), anyone remember this one?

well, cheers from a chilean living in mexico who found inspiration in your games.

Gratz Ron and the team for making the best adventuregames ever, 15 years have truly been a long time for us players to wait for the next one that will capture us again, now being 1 or 2 generations older.
Sure CMI and EMI was fun for a while, but when I´m down in one of my many  nostalgic depressions, I always play the first two parts, made by you guys.
I wouldn´t say that the last two ones are bad, but they just don´t have that true MI-feeling, I mean even with that flashy, fancy graphic and voiceovers, they were still not even close to what you guys managed to create all those years ago.
I believe that you could make a game pretty much like the first two ones concerning graphics,controls and music and pull it of better than CMI and EMI.
Just hope that you´re not are afraid of taking on the burden of trying to repeat your former sucess,we all love you and what you have done for us.
Cause in the end, you are the only one who actually know Guybrush ,being his father and all.
Your fans here in Sweden would love to see you again in the future.
Once again, Congratulations to you Ron and the team!.

Thank you so much for such wonderful games. I grew up playing MI 1 from when I was but six years old and have played it several times, year after year. It never gets old, merely more hysterical every time, because my sense of humor has progressively become more and more absurdly warped as I have gotton older (I owe that to you and your team).

You have given me many great laughs over the years Mr. Gilbert, and for that I owe you my thanks. May Monkey Island live forever.

15 years after .... Come on tell us about the new game already! :) is it going to be like Quest for glory or Fable?

well its the BEST GAME EVER,ive played it since i was very very young im 20 now, will be 21 in jan, but i remember playing monkey island 2 first then number one i still play it now and have in on my mobile phone, i love the music, characters,backgrounds, the lot...i want to also find MERCHANISE on monkey island but even thats hard to find can anyone tell me where, cause ive tried ebay..you can tell how truly good this game is cause even though this game was based on the ride pirates of the carribiean, the movie that claimed to be based off the ride aswell has clearly used material from MONKEY ISLAND itself ,cause i heard the ride itself doesnt have evil dead zombie pirates..also i heard the sequel of the movie has something to do with voodoo dolls like monkey island 2..i saw the poster of pirates of the carribean 2 and saw on the poster a little voodoo doll hanging off the sign...Ron if i was filthy rich i would buy the right of monkey island for you..one day i got bored and thought up of monkey island monopoly, it seem quite cool and i had enough characters and locations and stuff.

Hey i dont know if anybodys visited a site called newgrounds but the have a really funny monkey island 2 outtakes heres the link: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/111996

and also heres newgrounds page dedicated to monkey island parodies:
http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/monkeyisland.html

enjoy

Man, In my humble opinion, the greatest game ever invented. I'm only 17, and my dad introduced it to me when I was around 5... so 1992! I would say it had an incredibly strong impact on my sense of humour! I can play it so many times, and It will never get old. Thanks Ron for everything!

Happy Birthday Monkey Island! Thank you so much Ron Gilbert and the Others...

This is my present for you... http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b269/bobomil/DSCN5074.jpg

I have recently finished the 1 st game and starting Le Chuck's revenge.
It has been many years since the last time I played a MI game. All I have to say, that MI series (not the first two , but 3 and 4 as well) are of the few trully classic games.

Who is willing to play the 'supposedly classics'  first 2 Doom games today? Very few.

On the other hand MI will live forever, because it gives us genuine pleasure and entertainment.

Either you play them now or  1000 years later, their value remains the same (or should I say greater).

Mr Gilbert you are a genious.I'm expecting your comeback with the new game you are developing. I'm certain it is going to be another one classic.

Ron Gilbert, you are the embodiment of genius.
Dear LORD:
You have been credited on
The Monkey Island Series
Day of the Tentacle
Loom
Zak McKraken
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Total Annihilation

among others.
Those represent COUNTLESS hours of my life well spent, and honestly helped me gain my current love of english and my pathetically punny sense of humor.  When I think of LucasArts, I think of two names: Ron Gilbert and Steve Purcell.  

I wish that today's games were more like yours, way back when.  I am merely 22, and I have watched the game industry evolve from content into a more gameplay/graphic market.  Halo 2 is neat, don't get me wrong, but who didn't love spending hours walking around clicking "Look At," "Tree," or "give wax lips to yak?"
There was a moral guiding force behind it all, and it in at least some extent embodied chivalry, romance, empathy, and other virtues.  All the while, the games managed to make me laugh with crazy antics (esp. DOTT), loopy characters (like Max of Sam & Max), and hilariously bad yet funny jokes ("You fight like a dairy farmer!" "How appropriate. You fight like a cow!"

These days all I see are sports games, racing games, or sex-filled violent flings.  I miss the 2D adventure games like Loom, or the pixelated chalices in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusdae: The Graphic Adventure.  

Thank you, Ron Gilbert, for helping to cultivate my imagination and values. You are a true SCUMM bag!!! (that's a compliment)

You are the godfather of the adventure game, and, God willing, we shall rise again!!

Supportingly,
Rob W
rycaltor@gmail.com

2 games and so many heartily devoted fans. undoubtedly, there are many many more out there than the people who have already commented on this page. thousands. from all over the world. iran, turkey, israel, italy, spain, usa, england, brazil...from every fucking part of the world. amazing. that this game has gotton so universal. this is a mastepiece which knows no man-made limits, borders. uni-fucking-versal.
i congratulate you, ron gilbert. you and all the other people who had laboured to create this masterpiece 15 years ago. i am sure u had fun doin it and we sure had fun playin it! bravo!

happy anniversary for monkey island..monkey is the best,beatiful,great game of all times..i have 27 years and i have played monkey the first time in july 1991 on the AMIGA 500..only one thing..tnx RON
LUCIO from NAPLES-ITALY

Thanks Ron! Guybrush's games are my favorites ever!

Happy Birthday Monkey Island!!

Don't you scallywags understand?...

They are not games; they weren't created for yer sake or for filling the pockets with booty. They are a product of undiluted creative energy, product of the times when game production was an artistic retreat, an experimentation with imagination - and salary was just an excuse for leading a life of a cofee-drinking child. The times when you didn't think of the outcome and created what felt right at the whim of the moment, not what yer experience suggested would make 40-year-old korean ex-businessmen kill themselves by spending 72 hours at the monitor to see a number go up by 1. There is no sense in asking for the fifth Island ye landlubbers, and begad ye shouldnt have asked for the fourth...

Can't ye see? they're not coming back... The times have changed... the coffee-drinking children have grown up and they accept now the beastly fiendish things their 15-year old experience suggests...

Simply the best game ever. Thanks again, Ron.

Congratulation genious!
Happy birthday Mr. Guybrush!

My dream: A new Monkey Island Adventure!!!!

Monkey Island is the best game the human mind could conceive!

15 years, I can't believe it! What can we do to have a MI5? (Ron must be tired of that!) But please! And by the way, in MI4, the Voodoo Laby said that she sign a contract for 5 games! lol! Seriously, Congratulation!

299

300?

Error:  Array overflow: m_comments[300]

Thanks Ron, thanks for Monkey Island 1 and 2, thanks for Guybrush Threepwood, Thanks for the best game series of all time.

Thank you Ron. You created the best videogames in the history (Monkey 1&2) These will remain forever. THANKS!!! :)

This is all well and good. Mi1 and Mi2 are superior examples of the genre. No doubt.  But the question remains, what are you doing now? Why aren't you inviting your former coworkers over and havign a bar b que? You might get something done instead of just sitting around and complaining.

Don't just stand there. Do something. Your Laurels are rotting beneath you old man. Get to work.

Thank you for creating Monkey Island. Y'all know who you are. (:

All the best wishes for the future. Your work is forever appreciated.

-M.

Hey Ronny, can we collect some money for you ? I´ll hope one day you´ll buy the MI-licence from Lucas Arts and produce "Monkey Island V" with your new company "Gilbert Gems"...;o)

Ron.. you are great...
We miss Guybrush...
I hope one day to see Monkey Island V... maybe with the graphic style of the first two episode...
I love pixel art
I love Monkey Island

If a game has a spirit it can never die!!
Thanks Ron for "Monkey Island"!!!

monkey island is not only a game...
monkey island is a life-style...
happy birthday...

Happy Birthday to Guybrush and the whole Monkey Island "cast". And special thanks to Ron Gilbert, whose game is the only one that made me not regret the fact I bought it original!

I've still got that wondrous gamebox with the original 5.25 disks (the Italian version had horrible black&white labels on them, though).

May the legend of the mighty pirate Threepwood will live forever!

I remember when I was 7 or 8 years old and in a shop mall I've found a copy of The Secret Of Monkey Island.
I implored my father to buy the game, but he insisted that the game was only in English and I was not able to play it (I'm Italian).
I didn't mind his point and I pressed him to buy anyway the game, attracted as I was by the stunning cover.
Once at home, my scrap PC didn't manage to run the game. I was very sad, but early later, I was able to run it on my cousin PC.
And finally I realized that I couldn't read English language, and I put aside this wonderful game for about 11 years, when I remembered it, found it, and finally played it.

Now I've played almost all of your games, and I have to thank you because you are the main responsible of may greater passion, game design.
Thank you, Ron.

Ron, "The Secret of Monkey Island" was one of the best videogame in history and he changed my life (when I played Monkey I was 4 :-).

Thank You Ron!!

Manuel

Congratulations for the best adventure game ever.

Thank you very much!

Was that the entire team for MI?

Yes, not including testers.  The Lead Testers were Judith Lucero and Kirk Roulston.  I don't have a list of all the testers.

Thank you Ron,
your fantasy is my dream...

from Naples, Italy

Another "Thanks a Lot" from italy.

Ending this game....was like the end of youthness. Really one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.Thank you Ron.From the deep of my hearth. A masterpiece. THE masterpiece (...and maniac mansion too anyway ;).

Thought you would like this ;-)

http://www.worth1000.com/entries/185000/185127qVxu_w.jpg

What would the world look like if pirates ruled?

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/gallery/contestcache.asp?contest_id=4122
http://www.worth1000.com/cache/gallery/contestcache.asp?contest_id=7383

Monkey Island: the best game I've ever played!Thanks!!!

BEST GAME EVER.

Congratulations!

Any news about Monkey Island 5?

Ahhhh, those were the days, except I had a much smaller Amiga disk, er disksssssssss.

Oh yeah! How many was it? I think it was 8 for Monkey Island 2. That 1 Mb add-on hard drive was a dream.

I think it was more like 14 disks for Monkey 2.  Just goes to show how good a game it was that people were will to keep changing the disks.

Thanks RON

Yeaaaah Monkeyyy!! I love iittt!! UGA UGA UGA

and its all been downhill since......

Thanks, Ron. MI signifies much for me, really

Congratulations! I have had several hundreds of hours of fun with MI1 and MI2! And thanks to www.scummvm.org i can still play these old classics!

Thanks and good luck in the future!

thank u for the greatest game ever Ron!!!!

A big "Thanks!" from Italy.
I have discoverd this site today... Glad to know about you Ron.
You are the master!

Matteo

Time flies...

Gratulation aus Deutschland!!!

The secret of monkey island was the first game i ever beat. To this day it is still my favorite game (I have played it twice this month and am currently playing my old ega version) i love the entire series. lucasarts adventure games are the reason i fell in love with computing.  Just yesterday I bought a palm e2 just so i can enjoy a handheld MI experience trhough the scummvm interpreter.
Thank you Ron Gilbert for the Monkey Island games
Thank you for creating the scumm engine wich has powered some of the greates games of all kind
Thank you for teaching me that i didn't suck at video games just because i was bad at running and jumping,and
Thank you for giving an eight year old boy the satisaftion of beating a game before his sixteen year old brother fifteen years ago
thank you

Thank you Ron!!

The Secret of Monkey Island  is one of the best game ever made!

Playing with Monkey Island during my teen-hood was one of the best experience I've ever had in my life!!!

Keep going on!!!

Many greeting and a big happy birthday from germany/NRW. MI is one of  the funniest game I ever played. My respect to Lucafilm/Lucas arts. I enjoy your games!!!

Bollo

What can I say...Ron you're a great man and Guybrush has a special place in my heart forever!

Thanks for all!

Grazie per le bellissime avventure che ci hai fatto vivere, per averci portato la dove nessun altro poteva portarci.

Grazie...

I'm italian, and I'm twelve. Monkey Island is fantastic! (My english is horrible...)

My interest in gaming has really decreased in the last two years, and the nostalgia generated from reading this page brings me back to a time when my interest addiction for Video games began.  And they were good times as the first computer game I picked from the shelf was The Secret of Monkey Island (must have been the box art...someone else mentioned that as well). I was not very good at the game at first and got stuck almost immediately in trying to find a helmet. But soon I learnt that rubber chickens have pulley's, killer poodle's can be sedated, and most importantly a pot can be a helmet (bits of knowledge that have served me quite well in real life). I have great memories of playing through this game with my Dad helping me as I got stuck (which was frequently). With so many people remembering similar experiences, it truly is a testament to Monkey Island, and of course the genre itself. Maybe we are all just getting old, but I feel lucky to have been around to experience the "golden" years of these games and would like to get that feeling again. But that's the very definition of nostalgia isn't it?

So thanks Ron (May I call you Ron?), for making something that so many people enjoyed. I hope I can do the same someday!

I think the number of comments on this page says it all, the Monkey Islands, are still my 100% fav games. 1 and 2 are by far the best, however 3 is also up there as being top notch, 4, well it isn't the best, but it wasn't bad.

I still go back and play them now and then, and although I know where everything is, there's still a few things that catch me out. After discovering a port to my mobile phone (P800) of ScummVM, I was over overjoyced to find out I could take my Monkey Islands 1 and 2 with me (works suprisingly well on a small touch screen).

Let me pat you on the back (it must be quite sore by now, so ohps! sorry!) I wish games as good as these existed today, oh wait of course they do, I've still got them! MI here I come (again)!

Ron , have you ever noticed how many Europeans are among your fans?
Perhaps the majority.I'm from Greece. Adventure games are still respected in Europe. That's why we have seen so many productions during the last years from European companies.

On the other hand I think that in US, people don't seem to esteem them enough.Correct me if I'm wrong.

It'd be good if you give us another dream...

Scrivo in italiano poiché l'inglese lo so poco.
Ma avevo desiderio di celebrare e di mettere anche la mia firma in questo spazio celebrando e rendendo onore ad un vero mito della nostra storia, insuperato e insuperabile, ne da se stesso - vedi nuove edizioni - ne da chiunque altro.

grande Ron, grandi tutti. E' sempre una profonda emozione rigiocarlo ancora oggi.

I'll try to translate...

->

I write in Italian since i know English a little...

But I had the desire to celebrate and to put also my firm in this space celebrating and giving honor to a true myth of our history, unsurpassed and unsurpassable, nor from himself (you see new editions) nor from any other. Great Ron, great all.  It is always one deep emotion replay it still today.

<-

Same things for me too... :°

Hi Ron,

My name is Giancarlo and i writing from Italy

congratulations also from me for you and the whole crew...

I've played MI and the others titles from Lucasarts many times...the quests drives me crazy to solve and i very appreciated the sense of humors present in every step..

Actually playing all the adventure games in original language, when  i was a teenager, improve my english language knowledge!

So..happy anniversary and best of luck for you all!!

A thousand thanks for this great game!
All german point & click adventurers salute you!!

"Hinter dir, ein dreiköpfiger Affe!"

Where are the updates?

Why would he take this post out of the spotlight by updating the site?  Who wouldn?t want to endlessly bask in ongoing praise over an achievement that occurred over a decade and a half ago?  But then I?d have to question the usefulness of the entire site?

You're just now questioning the usefulness of this site?  Hey...welcome to the party.  There are chips in the kitchen, but I think all the beer is gone.

... And the house is a mess...

Ron, MI was a great game and I remember playing it with my infant son bouncing and inevitably spitting up on my knee.  Probably the weirdest thing about this reminder of your achievement is the 5.25" floppy disk.  That same infant, now 16, would not know what to do with a 5.25" floppy disk.

Barney Jones as in Barnaby Jones P.I.?

I would like to thank you from Italy, Ron, for what you did with MI.

Everyone of us still laugh and have fun in front of their PC playing MI saga (MI2 was the best in my opinion!), although we are now workers (I am 26)and not the child of 11 that played Monkey Island 1 for the first time!

So, when the #5 of the series? I know that the Market is not the one of the '90 and you cannot give us your opinion about the possibility of a new "Escape" or "Revenge" or "Largo's Embargo" or whatever, but I have just a comment: my brother is 11 years younger than me (he is now 15), and is living only the 3D games period. In any case, his favourite games are adventures, and of course MI!!!

In my opinion adventure games are not died, also GTA San Andreas can be seen as an "interactive" adventure.... what about a Guybrush that can live as in San Andreas....?!

One more, I read a lot of positive comments about Syberia.... ok, nice game, but a sad adventure game, nothing special.... this is however the demonstration that the Adventures are still appreciated by the customers!

So, let's fight for a new Ron Gilbert's MI!!!!!

Is there any chance Ron that you will MOVE your a*s for a fifth MI-episode ? ^^

Thanks, for MI and everything else.

How sad the progression of gaming since MI's arrival; such awesome technical power (with no end in sight) and so little charm, style and wit.

Thanks again.

I'll bet if I looked up "masterpiece" in the dictionary, there'd be a picture of this game! :)

Thank you Ron! Happy birthday Guybrush!

Greetings from Rome
Marco


(...now we're waiting for the REAL Monkey Island 3!) :)

Hi Ron!

First of all, congratulations!!! My first computer was an XT, I was 4..i would never forget..how slow run Maniac Mansion on my computer....so I expend my time playing your games at my friend's house..with powerfull computers... of course at the end i bought i newest computer... and play at my home.
Even know I still play your games, ...Monkey Island affect to much to our lifes , imagine when my parents said me what i wanted for christmas i said a rubber chiken  "con una polea enmedio" (sorry i'm spanish..and i dont know this in english)..or how many times, i have said " Look , a three-headed-monkey"...your jokes, are part of the life of people who have grown with Monkey Island.
So , Thanks for make us be what we are now. Thanks for Monkey Island.
Thanks from Spain

Sebastian

15 years ago...
My Amiga 500 couldn't do anything but unceasingly running and running and running The Secret of Monkey Island...
My think for the best age the story of the videogames has ever known.

Sebastian, that would be "with a pulley in the middle".

Monkey Island is "El Don Quijote" of the videogames community. We're celebrating an absolute masterpiece...

Congratulations, Ron! (And of course Tim, Dave and all the ol' crew)

Ron, i was just wondering if you personally would have gone withe a demon pirate Lechuck if you had creative control over monkey island 3?

There's an FAQ with Tim Schafer on the Edge site, should anyone be interested (and you should be). :)

No se como podría expresar lo agradecidos que estamos yo y todos mis amigos por haber creado este juegazo. Felicidades! y a ver si hay suerte y la familia crece y tiene un quinto hijo :)

Can't quite express how grateful me and my friends are for creating this great game. Congratulations! and if we are lucky the family will grow and will have a fifth son :)

How much does the Monkey Island IP actually cost?

sniff *sniff* I can trace back my love of video games to the original Monkey Island. It's my Pong so to speak, and it never fails to impress me that even today there is a small legion of people actively working on ways to get us to play this classic on every kind of hardware imaginable (scummvm, I'm looking at you). And an even larger legion of dedicated fans doing the gaming.

I won't launch into a rant about the state of the adventure gaming scene, instead I'll just feel nostalgic for a while and reminisce about rubber chickens with a pulley in the middle ^_^

Well, everything's been said, and I just wanted to add my gratitude to Ron and the crew for providing us countless hours of (il)logic tests, enthusiasm and fun. I remember I used to skip meals when I was stuck with a puzzle, and my parents got REALLY concerned about my mental sanity.
Well, maybe they weren't totally wrong, and this is all credited to you Ron. Thank you again, for what you've done, for what you're doing, and for what you will do ;-)

Well, The Secret of Monkey Island is my favorite game of all time. I loved Half-Life, I played Civilization endlessly, was intrigued by Midwinter, but The Secret of Monkey Island is my number one. Thank you Ron and team for this wonderful adventure.

I have to add this: I really love the graphics of Monkey Island 1. They are just marvellous, the best 256-color-320x200-graphics of all time. And the music is also great.

MI Series: the best and funniest ever! (the MI theme is unforgettable - sometimes my wife catches me whistling - "what kind of music is that?" heheheh) Thx Ron! (from Brazil)

A great experience!brings me back to my childhood...and keeps me there!! Yikes! Used to skip school for that game (12 yearls old...)! Still when i play monkey island 1 & 2, i totally forget everything else (work, girlfriend, vital stats...).Congratulations for making gaming history and truly thanks for a great great and inspiring game.
PS. Monkey Island 5.Please.Thank you!

When I finally convinced my parents to buy me a computer (VGA 286!) waaay back when I was about 8 years old, it came with a bunch of software, all of it already installed. The first thing on the disk-menu was this game, "The Secret of Monkey Island". I can still remember it now: First the annoying copy protection, then the twinkling Lucasfilm games logo, then a picture of a island set against a night sky (rendered in glorious EGA graphics, yes I had the EGA version (better in my opinion)) and then the logo appears and this cool music comes out my PC speaker...and my life changed forever...
SOB wish I still had those floppies now... Only got a CD-VGA version now.
Thanks Ron, and co for many fine memories and showing me what I wanted to do with computers! Hope that troll Lucas gives back the rights to you! No red-herring for him!

Thanks guys, for that ironic, fantastic adventure.

THE Leppa

Wow 15 years, Monkey island has a place in my heart since I started playing it. Thanks Ron for this wonderfull game.

Wow, 15 years? Damn, I remember the first time I played The Secret of Monkey Island...I was only 4 years old! Ron, I have to thank you, for the great games you did...and for the games you will do! You're the best! Monkey will always be the greater LucasArts game.....it's a pity that they (LucasArts, I mean) have abandoned adventure games....but Ron, please, don't stop! If an adventure game will have your name on it, I'll buy it!

And happy birthday, Guybrush!

PS: And sorry for my bad english...I'm Italian! Ciao! Grazie, Ron!

.
.
.
Congratulations, my favourite game !!!
(and favourite soundtrack !!!)
.
.
Please review a new edition !!!
.
.

Happy Birthday Guybrush indeed,

I'm a uk MA student of digital games design and as an assignment we were asked to include our top ten fav games or important moments in gaming history.  Monkey Island was of course one of them.  

Pure Class.

Happy Birtday Monkey Island!
I like it Pixelated! Why everyone have to make 3D-Games.

Greetings from Germany

Happy birthday Monkey Island.

You have taken me over my childhood. Monkey Island made me what I am, I have understood the real meaning of vitty and ironic.
It's not a matter of videogaming. It's a matter of Life.

Thanks Monkey!

Greetings from Italy.
Molto appropriato, combatti come una mucca.

Dear Ron, I would thank you so much for what I've done!
MI was the first game I've ever played (I was 11) and, IMHO, it's still the best game ever made!!!

My hat is off to you, Mr. Gilbert, now and ever!

Greetings from Italy! Ciao!

"Dear Ron, I would thank you so much for what I've done! "

Ehm... the correct sentence is:

"Dear Ron, I would thank you so much for what you've done!"

Errata corrige :D

Monkey Island is the reason I have developed a passion for computer games, leading me into my current major of computer sciences. I'm a little late for the post here, but thanks for all the great memories Ron. Truly one of the greatest games of all time. I go back and play this occasionally, moreso than CMI or even MI2. It never gets old; I still laugh at the jokes.

Long live Thriftweed... er... I mean Threepwood!

Thanks Ron I am Khriss from Peru your games are one of the greatest memories of my childhood, Please give us a Monkey 5, I was thinking maybe the nintendo DS is the perfect platform for all Monkey Island Games I mean, Beautiful 2D games, I want to read those words again Deep on the Caribbean.....

Is it that long ago already? Seems like that "stone-age" game won't find any rest. People play it on their high-end machines, on their mobile phones, on PDAs and other devices. It's become a true classic, a piece of history, one of the few true cultural milestones of the digital age.

I ask myself - why do games so seldom and so small impact on people? Books and movies can change you, can make you think, point out a different view on things you're used to. Of how many games can you say that? Only very few. MI1 and 2 are among them, as is Loom and Grim Fandango.
But MI does even more - it grows with you. You can play it as a child and will have a great time with it. You can play it years later and find hidden irony and some great insight. And you appriciate that while playing the game as a grown-up lets you discover a lot of more subtle humour, on the one hand you could enjoy it a child without the feeling you're missing something and feeling dumb, and on the other hand the more childish jokes don't get in the way of enjoying it when you're older. When I should compare MI to anyhting from other media, it would stand firmly in a row with Terry Pratchett's Johnny- and Discworld-books.

Am 31 now and still play it every other year (as I do with Loom, but that one is easily played through on a rainy afternoon). And still I manage to find another detail, understand a play on words in a new way.

And I also passed it on: MI were the first games I let my little brother play, they were also the first my girlfriend ever tried. But got hooked with gaming (what makes life with my girlfriend so much easier except for the regular battle for the gaming machine...).

Great work, Ron, and thanks. Please pass this on to the rest of the old team if you're still in contact.

happy birthday, monkey 1!

i played the secret of monkey island back in 1998 (!) (i got my first computer only a short time before) as a 14 year old and despite to all the other games i played (and will playing) it's still the best game ever made. ron, tim, dave and co: thank you so much for these hours of joy! :)

best wishes for your new projects,
ryam.

Thanks for MI, thanks for Guybrush and Elaine, and thanks for Stan he was great ! I hope to see your name again in the credits' s section of a possible MI5.
Please Ron gave us a new MI. !!!
P.S.
Sorry for my bad english

Congratulations with the anniversary!!

It is truly the second best game every made. I will never forget the Sierra-parody with the rubber tree. Hilarious!
But the best game still remains Monkey Island 2 to me. I really loved it.
These two games are really childhood-memories and they grew on me. It was a true adventure to play those games. The animation, the graphics, the characters, the humour and the plot. Wow, all were great.
And also the theme to Monkey Island, great, I've got it on my MP3-player and on a CD. It's just a masterpiece!

Ron and everybody: thank you for these superb games, they will never be forgotten!

One request; let us all relive the happy memory of playing Monkey Island with Guybrush, Elaine, LeChuck and the rest of the gang and release Monkey Island V. Please?

Best wishes,

Wouter
(Sorry for my english)

Happy birthday Guybrush! I recently introduced a co-worker to the MI universe and she was hooked immediately, so you still have what it takes too sweep the ladies off their feet :-)

If I could make a wish it would be, besides the obvious MI5 (hmm...imagine what MI6 would be like - Guybrush as a British secret service agent ;-), a remake of MI1 and MI2 to bring graphics and game engine up to date...

Have fun!
/Martin

I'm only 17 and I've loved the Monkey Island series for as for back as I can remember. While I enjoy each installment on its own, MI1 and MI2 are easily my favorites. I accually remember having to play the game on th 5 1/2 disks.

I did have each game on CD up until a few months ago, but I seem to have lost my 'Monkey Madness' Disc with the first two on it. So needless to say I'm in a rush to find somewhere to purchase a new copy before it becomes even harder.

Anyway, I'd just like to say congratulations on making one of the greatest games.. well.. ever. And thanks for the countless hours of enjoyment you and the rest of the MI team have given us.

MI 1&2 are still some of the greatest games there are! Funnily, I´m still using them to convert people into gamers. I´ve found that many people (especially women) who have zero intererest in games can still get really into Monkey Island. And then they get sad when they find out that these kind of games are not made anymore.

Monkey Island games SO need to be re-released with a full graphic update. On Nintendo DS if nothing else. Classic games deserve to live forever, just like classic books and movies.

I love MI 1&2. They were my first computergames.

Please tell Stan I need a new ship.

Thanks so much for the greatest adventure game ever played. This game changed my life totally. I got married to a girl who I played MI1 :). Ron you are a legend in my heart.. and hope you will entertain us again.

P.S: If you ever visit australia it's my shout for beers.

Monkey island 1 & 2, day of the tentacle , the dig, maniac mansion, zak mc kracken, and so on.....these adventures still rule even in 2005!! played on different platforms c64,amiga, pc ....come on development studios like lucasarts and others please create more of these games, there is a great need, not everyone like fps, and racegames and shit.....there are a lot of people who like 'click' adventures....wanne make good money again? create new adventure games like monkey island!!!

what whould have awaited us under this @!"$& stump?
Many greetings from germany!

**Bitte Disk 22 einlegen und Enter drücken**

look what you've done Ron...

you've enchanted us with a game!...
i know a lot of us will keep so carefully this oldie disks 'til the end of our lives...just to look at them and remember our childhood in front of a pixeled guy trying to be a pirate...the good old times...

i know a lot of us will remember you 'til the end of our lives in fact...

thank you SO infinitely much...luv ya ron, always in our minds...

(am i getting old here???? lol)

Hello Ron, I really enjoyed Monkey Island until I got to part two. It took me forever to find the hatch (To this day I miss it) the ink too! Blimey. and when you finally make it to monkey island! I just had to give in, thanks to a magazine's walkthrough I managed to get to the end but I was left feeling a bit empty.

Be honest, if it was possible to erase the past and remake monkey island 1. Which bits that need changing really stand out, in your personal opinion? You can even imagine that you would create it using modern gfx techniques if you prefer. You have my permission and everything! SEX!

You bloody genius

"I say we all pool our limited resources together, form the Guybrush Coalition for Freedom and collectively BUY The Monkey Island Franchise, then hand it over to gilbert to make 5! and 6! And 7! Until there is no more monkey island to tell!"

This is in fact a great idea! Like the open source community who created Apache and beat companies like IBM and Microsoft with their free software, we could actually all chip in and give Ron the opportunity and freedom to make the third part of the trilogy and FINALLY know what the secret of Monkey Island is... How much are the rights in fact?

I think it's not a bad idea... They did it with blender... I would contribute for sure!! Let's recapture Monkey Island and give it back to its legitimate owners... I can just imagine the incredible amount of legal problems there would be, but surely there is a copyright lawyer who is a MI fan too...

How on earth do you compare Monkey Island to Apache?!

You flappy mouthed Linux obsessors get around don't ya ;)

And what would be the point in buying the rights to monkey island? Monkey island 1 and 2 already exist!

Have you made any other games ron?

hey there ho there love... Nick my lovely you are truely are crazy... but thats just one of the many reasons why i love you! ARSE! i really want to play that game of yours.... Joe and the Basset!

hey there ho there love... how is my favourite man? i love you you crazy ARSE! but your crazyness is awesome...

I REALLY WANNA PLAY YOUR GAME... "Joe And The Basset"

Love Your Lou
XxoOoxXxoOoxXxoOoxX

Monkey Island should be given an award or historical reference for the very cool piece of entertainment software it was..........

Congrats and thanks for bringing so many laughs to the adventure game world.....
Just a thought here, have you ever considered doing a new game with say some newbies like AGDI / Himalaya studios.... not monkey island...but some thing completely new....it might not pay aswell as lucas but you'd probably get a kick out of colaberating with other die hards of your ilk.....
and maybe even bring back some of the magic of the adventure game that is begining to be replaced with 3D everything......(except a story..)

Bobski

I guess Monkey Island is the only computer game which can be considered a piece of art. Really.

Really, really nice, great job!!!

Only a MI5 is missing... :D sure it would work out... Adventure games are back!


An other great fan of adventure games.
And game designer. :D

Monkey Island is the only game that make me smile and cry at the same time, reminds me a great period of my life. MI gave me dreams and fantasies.
Thanks a lot Ron (and all the team of course). Now our dream is a new adventure by Ron Gilbert, we need to dream again!
Happy Birthday Monkey Island, Happy birthday Guybrush!

Salvo from Italy

I just have to post a comment!!!
Monkey Island was one of my first games ever!
Ma father bought it (german version) and I had soo much fun with it.
Too bad I could not speak english at that time as I think the translation isn't as fun as the original.

Monkey Island started my interest in (interactive) storytelling and game-desgin. Thank you guys for that!!!

Long Live the Monkey Island spirit!

And now,.. gimme sum grog mate! ;)

Regards,
Smithy (switzerland)

Guybrush: "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
Woodsmith: "A woodchuck could chuck no amount of wood since a woodchuck can't chuck wood."
Guybrush: "But if a woodchuck could chuck and would chuck some amount of wood, what amount of wood would a woodchuck chuck?"
Woodsmith: "Even if a woodchuck could chuck wood, and even if a woodchuck would chuck wood, should a woodchuck chuck wood?"
Guybrush: "A woodchuck should chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, as long as a woodchuck would chuck wood."

Happy Birthday Monkey Island, and, of course, happy birthday Elaine and Guybrush! Why did you all guys forgot her? She is part of the soul of the game.

Thanks Ron for giving me my "alter ego", if you could see me dressed as Elaine you would agree with me ;)

This sucks. Monkey Island is dead. There will not be any more MI games. And Ron hasn't made anything successfull since he left Lucusarts, just a few lame kiddie games. Why are we admiring you Ron? You're history. You've made something good 15 years ago and we all thank you for that. But since that you've been sitting on your ass and complaining. I deny to believe that you cannot find enough investors to bring on another MI game. You're just fooling us you'd "gladly" make another one, but the truth is you've already lost it. All that's left of you is an old and grumpy man. Instead of complaining, try changing.

THX Ron, MI will ALWAYS on my mind!

RON, please...we need MI 3 ( i dissmiss the others..) You are the only one that can continue that game without lose the phylosophy of mi 1...ron please... don´t think of the money, think of you can make the last episode of the best game of the world and...everybody will remember you for making it. We hope you will...thanks

Its great to see everybody give ron the respect and praise he deserves. I think Ron will go down in history as one of the great artists/entertainers of the 20th century. Up there with Chaplin, Kubrick, Gondry...

Sigh--- Monkey Island was one of the reasons for me getting my first PC. And  today.... still playing Adventures.... at the moment Broken Sword 2 and soon The Longest Journey 2.... hopefully.

El Monkey Island es la mejor saga junto con el Broken Sword. Un saludo a Ron Gilert y a toda la gente de Lucas Arts.

SCUMMVM : what a wonderful engine ! My addiction to MI 1 and 2 push me to rediscover them for a thousand times... Hope for a new one now ! Make me dream.

hi ron - i came across your blogging while wikipedia-ing for monkey island

i am surprised - with your experience, you must have been offered a role as creator of another monkey island like series - if not from lucas arts, then from someone else?

sami

Well, somehow I didnt notice that post before. I am registered to "Ron Gilbert" news in Google so I dont miss anything.

I cant believe how big this post got. Can you guys see??? you can scroll down and read all day. Doesnt that mean anything? Dont people have a sense of kind anymore? Why dont they let go the license they dont need??? :(

Anyways... i am late to the party and yet yelling, just couldnt keep it inside anymore... hey, I never did when it comes to MI :)

Would like to thank all the team who worked on this game, and all the people who kept supporting it until this day. Special thanks to Ron, but we still havent seen the last of you I hope.

upcoming Sam & Max and Vampyre Story could only mean there is still a hope for the monkeys fans :)

I really appreciate this site and how you still keep in touch with your loyal fans...

Thanks for all

Turn off and wake up !

"Whoop .. Mr. Ron Gilbert, sir... Can I say something ? .. I held my breath over 15 years.." :D

Thank you (and others) very, very much for this all time classic in adventure-gaming. Couldn't bother for Monkey Island-memoribilia like a 5th-sequel or so , but plotting and creating  the first one must have been a lot of fun.. it still shows if you play the game "these days" ... It's never meant solely as a product. It's .. priceless. .. 'Project led by Ron Gilbert' at it's best .. Again, thank you.  ;)

For the future.. I always thought there might be one where the best of SCUMM and 3D combined together propelled new levels of entertainment. With some effort.. and patience.. Dreams..

How appropriate .. Maybe I'll be like Guybrush one day....

.. or play the yukelele

.. or feed my canary

.. or give you my regards

.. or turn off my computer

The One $ Question is: When will the next Ron Gilbert ADVENTURE coming out? :P

Possible answer : .. whenever Germany wins the Worldcup in Sucker.. euhm.. Soccer ? .. :P

:D

So 2010 then.

So ... gimme that buck.. :P ;)

Mr. Gilbert, you made the best adventures ever. Monkey Island will never be forget, i think'll play it even in 2030!! :D

I was nine as I played Monkey Island! It was my first computergame! Today I'm a programmer (24) and I still love that game! ^_^

Pirates of the carribean 2 is full of Monkey island Stuff! Voodoo lady, using a coffin as Boat, Cannibals, .... You should really get some Money from these jerks....

Exactly what I thought... now I want to play Monkey Island again. Except I don't find my disks. And that I don't find anywhere to buy them.

Can I cry a river or will Elaine be mad?