Arrrgggh!  Ahoy ye scurvy scum…stow yer goods and let’s weigh anchor…:  I don’t know why but I just love International Talk Like a Pirate Day!  It happens every year on September 19th.  You may recall that Johnny Depp/Cap’n Jack has long been my favorite pirate…now, of course, I have a new one.

And this year, an extra fun way to mark the occasion is being boosted by LucasArts and Telltale – jumping into the celebrated Monkey Island® swashbuckling pirate games!

Wait…

Hold the phone…(no not literally!)

You say you have never played heard of Monkey Island?  Oh well, good thing we can rectify that then!

On September 19, Telltale is making the premiere episode of Tales of Monkey Island® a FREE download on their website (http://www.playlikeapirate.com/) all day.

Did ya catch that – F*R*E*E!!

In addition, today through September 21, LucasArts is offering amazing deals on several versions of The Secret of Monkey Island®: Special Edition titles, including:

** 50% off the iPhone and iPod touch version of LucasArts™ new The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition via Apple’™s App Store.

**    50% off The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition on Steam®, Valve Corporation’™s delivery and management platform for the PC and Direct2Drive, IGN Entertainment’™s digital download store.

So don’t miss out!

LucasArts will also soon release a free sound bite version of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition on the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPod touch as well as a sound board application for iPhone and iPod touch that features 16 witty and ridiculing sound-bites from The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition.

Taking place each year on September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was officially started in 1995 by two Oregon-based pirate lovers and has since become a pop culture phenomenon celebrated by would-be scallywags all over the globe. The event has evolved beyond simple pirate speech with people inserting piratey activities into their everyday life by eating, drinking, dressing, blogging, laughing, Tweeting, and gaming like a pirate!

The Monkey Island pirate game phenomenon all started in 1990 with LucasArts™ The Secret of Monkey Island, a graphical adventure PC title featuring an aspiring pirate named Guybrush Threepwood. The game was an instant critical success and has since spawned three additional titles, making it one of the most enduring videogame franchises of all time.

The new wave of Monkey Island excellence kicked off this summer with two new projects.  Telltale premiered the Tales of Monkey Island game series on PC and Wii, in July, delivering a completely new epic storyline and swashbuckling flair that is unfolding across five monthly episodes, which are available for download on Tellale’™s website, http://www.telltalegames.com. Wii users can also download episodes individually from the Wii Shop Channel.

The Monkey Island celebration continued when LucasArts published The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, a completely re-imagined version of the first game in the series that adds updated high definition graphics, a re-mastered musical score, and full voiceover to the classic adventure game.  The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is available on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PC via Steam and Direct2Drive, and iPhone and iPod touch through Apple’™s App Store.
Arrrgggh!