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• Drugs Will Make You Less Effective in Online Gaming

  Remember when anti-drug organizations would persuade young people to stay away from pot because it would make them video game-playing losers? Well, times have changed and Above the Influence is now targeting those losers, claiming that they'll be losers among losers if they smoke pot. Read More... Posted Mar 06 2009, 07:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with no comments Filed under: 1up, penny arcade, cole stryker, drugs, above the influence

• Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li Is Not For Critics

  There's a famous Penny Arcade strip—the very same strip that first introduces the quaint and chaotic cartoon duo Catsby and Twisp—that begins with Tycho making some remark about how Kevin Smith had decided that his film “Jersey Girls” was “not for critics.” Gabe responds, “Wow, I didn't know you could even do that.” Seems you can. The latest film to shut out critics is “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.” That is to say, there won't be an exclusive screening for Ebert and his kin. If they want to review Chun-Li's searing soul-search, they'll have to get in line for tickets and popcorn with the rest of us mortal slobs. Chances are they won't. But hey, no reviews mean that we'll go into the film with clear heads, right? Yes and no. “The Cutscene,” a Variety blog, confirms what even the most optimistic Chun-Li fans know deep in their hearts: [I]n 95% of cases, not screening a movie is the studio's way of admitting critics are sure to hate it -- usually because it's bad, occassionally because it's a genre, like horror, that critics rarely appreciate. Read More... Posted Feb 20 2009, 12:23 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with no comments Filed under: street fighter, resident evil, penny arcade, game movies, nadia oxford, resident evil degeneration, the legend of chun-li

• Resident Evil 5: If You're not Offended, Then You're a Racist?

  Take a moment to go check out today's Penny Arcade comic. In the accompanying newsletter Penny Arcade's Tycho sums up his thoughts on a preview build of the upcoming Resident Evil 5: It's more or less exactly what we want out of a Resident Evil game, but it's impossible for us to play it without the metanarrative of race providing a grim context for our every in-game action. It's clear when playing it that they've added a few caucasoids to the mix, and also what looks like zombie version of Saddam Hussein, but it's hard to tell what they're doing there. Playing the game does nothing to dilute the imagery people have found objectionable, the trailer wasn't out of context in any way - in fact I would say quite plainly that they go much farther than you might believe possible. It won't be hard to find an authentic, devoted racist on Xbox Live to play as Chris - but is the game somehow less racist if I join someone else's game as co-op partner Sheva Alomar? I hope so. It's sort of like those Magic Eye pictures. You can't see it, you can't see it, and then bam. All you can see is the genocide. Read More... Posted Feb 18 2009, 03:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: penny arcade, cole stryker, resident evil 5, racism

• Me & D&D

  A recent story arc on Penny Arcade got me thinking about video gamers' relationship with tabletop RPGs—particularly my own relationship with tabletop RPGs. Admittedly, there isn't much of a relationship there. I know that, as an awkward geek girl, I'm obligated to latch Dungeons & Dragons and let Satan infiltrate my soul through my level one halfling, but I just never felt the burn, so to speak. Pencils, numbers, graph paper...I wanted no part of such shackles when I was one foot out of math class. I'm actually glad Penny Arcade explores Gabe and Tycho's game-related hobbies outside of the digital breed. It pleases me further that they torment one another about the nerdiness of their chosen vices, going as far as to attempt to ruin each others' experiences (“Your party stands before the Cave of Tits”). The world in general assumes that geeks attend one big weekly Lodge meeting, and, squatting in the haze given off by antibiotic inhalers, we draw in equal sustenance from card games, tabletop RPGs, video games, bad sci-fi movies and They Might Be Giants CDs. It's just not so. Read More... Posted Jan 09 2009, 11:45 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: penny arcade, nadia oxford, dungeons and dragons, hobbies, tsr, tabletop rpgs

• The Death of Death

  While we were on break, Ludwig Kietzmann over at Joystiq raised an interesting question about the nature of games, elaborating on a point made earlier this month by Penny Arcade's Tycho here. The basic idea is that death in games is an outmoded convention that often makes games frustrating for no reason other than because that's the way it's always been done. Prince of Persia is the game that has raised these questions. Basically, Prince of Persia provides you with a cute sidekick that rescues you when you're about to die. From what I understand, it's relatively easy to complete the game without dying. It's a seamless, spawnless jaunt through a wonderland begging to be discovered through your character's physics-defying acrobatics. So why are people complaining? Read More... Posted Jan 02 2009, 02:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: penny arcade, prince of persia, ubisoft, joystiq, cole stryker, death

• Final Reminder: Funde Razor Tonight

  I feel like I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t remind everyone that tonight, December 10th, is that magical time of year known as Funde Razor. Allow me to explain—once a year in December, the gamers of America’s major metropolitan areas gather for a night of rhythm action and charity auctioning, with all the proceeds going to brighten the lives of sick children through Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play. Okay, so it’s really just an excuse to drink a lot of beer and sing Eye of the Tiger in public, which is something I do pretty much every weekend anyway. But it’s a really good excuse, what with the helping children and spirit of the holidays and all. And there’s stuff to win in contests and raffles, from Castlevania whips to signed games and typically awesome grand prizes. While this year’s grand prizes haven’t been announced, last year you had the chance to win a gigantic Weighted Companion Cube plush toy. By the end of the night it was only humped by two or three really drunk guys, so that’s a pretty good deal. A picture of last year's prize is after jump. Read More... Posted Dec 10 2008, 12:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments Filed under: penny arcade, portal, charity, joe keiser, funde razor, child's play, denver, san francisco, new york city

• Boys Will Be Boys and Anonymous Will Be Anonymous

  When I stop and think about sociology as applied to Internet gaming communities, my insides cringe but I still have to laugh. If someone is displeased with an opinion column in a newspaper, they might write a brusque response intended for publication in the Letters to the Editor. When a games writer publishes a widely-read blog post about the annoyance of wait times or games that require excessive patching, the best they can hope for from commentors is to not have "your mom" and "goat fellatio" in the same sentence. I read an article today that was published through N4G.com. It drew riffraff to the original site like bugs to a food spill. One comment in particular made me think about why anyone would take the time and effort to register themselves as "suck my dick" just so they could leave a comment that says "suck my dick." You really just have to roll your eyes, and, if you're immature like myself, giggle over the absurdity. But at the same time it's kind of troubling. I know not everyone acts like orangutans in the vast online gaming community; you people who read and comment on 61 FPS are like the family I was deprived of when I was harvested out of a bottle and raised in the art of space war. Still, I wonder what drives someone to add "stupid" and "moron" and worse to otherwise welcome criticisms. Read More... Posted Oct 30 2008, 07:51 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: penny arcade, swearing, nadia oxford, the kids are all right, criticism, greater internet fuckwad theory

• Whatcha Listening To: The Protomen (And So Should You)

  [The Protomen] have just released a demo off of their upcoming album, a song called "Breaking Out," and it's so incredibly high concept that it should collapse: Mega Man as viewed through the lens of Rock Americana? How could they possibly have succeeded in this? And, having succeeded, what task could possibly thwart them? --Tycho, Penny Arcade Overclocked Game Remixes and other video game covers take up a significant amount of real estate in my iPod. Some Remix artists have even tried adding lyrics to their songs, and to be honest, I feel kind of embarrassed when I listen to them, even if they're done in the name of self-parody. Even when I was Disney-aged, I never liked it when characters burst into song. Having my video game heroes serenade me makes me flush. It's a little different with Hyadain's stuff, since it's so silly and over the top to begin with, but English language attempts at character exploration through song just...never reaches me. Then I heard there existed a Mega Man rock opera. A serious business Mega Man rock opera. And when a good friend of mine recommended it, I thought, "Oh God, this is going to be death." Read More... Posted Sep 15 2008, 04:38 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: penny arcade, mega man, game music, nadia oxford, demo, the protomen, rock opera, overclocked remix

• How Deep Are You Into Fandom?

  Being an introvert, mildly clausterphobic and mostly useless, I do not participate in conventions very often. But every year I schlep down to Otakon in Baltimore and enjoy myself with many good friends, only half of which are imaginary. I eat sushi, I indulge in anime and manga and I talk to Peter Beagle, the bestest author in the whole wide world (for the non-book snobs among us, he wrote The Last Unicorn). E3 is more of a press-related event now, but during its heydey it could definitely be considered the king of gamers' conventions. E for All and Penny Arcade's PAX are even more accessible than E3 ever was, bringing nerd culture to the west coast for a couple of intense weekends. Conventions are truly unique experiences: they bring together food, friends and gobs of people who share similar interests. Conventions stir up emotions you'll never experience elsewhere and they usually stir up unique diseases as well. I remember at E3 2006 I caught a horrific case of laryngitis, an affliction I've never dealt with before. It was a lot of fun because I was working a part-time retail job at the time and my voice horrified customers and I got sent home. Read More... Posted Aug 05 2008, 03:29 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: penny arcade, e3, fans, e for all, otakon, pax, conventions, fandom

• Penny Arcade Sums Up E3

  Penny Arcade is pretty good at expressing its game-related displeasure without resorting to millions of words. Abracadabra: Gabe and Tycho have done it once again, summing up this year's impotent E3 in a manner that made me laugh out loud in a very quiet library (it's air-conditioned in here, unlike my apartment). Applause all around. How are you doing with this year's E3, anyway? I can't say I've met too many people who are thrilled with what's being offered; the Chosen Ones for the Big Three are mostly going up on stage to talk about sales and statistics. Big titles? Shocking drama? Aside from the news about Square-Enix jumping from the deck of the S.S. Sony Exclusive, 2008's E3 has been a lullaby. On the other hand, we knew E3 had become the bloated whore of a digital Babylon by the time it finally deflated in 2006. E3 is no longer about glitz and thumping music and booth babes in spaghetti-strap Ubisoft tops. It is supposed to be about statistics and numbers and other dry matters. Just because Nintendo didn't reveal anything particularly interesting this year doesn't mean we'll be waiting another year for something worthwhile; there's no reason for companies to save their big announcements for E3 anymore. It'll take some getting used to, but eventually we'll all be comfortable with that fact. Read More... Posted Jul 16 2008, 10:00 AM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, penny arcade, webcomics, e3, reggie fils aime, gabe, tycho, statistics

• Yahtzee and the Webcomics Plague

  Yahtzee, possibly the only game reviewer capable of out-talking a five-year-old with a new Poekmon game, recently made clear his feelings about gaming webcomics. To give you the five-cent summary, Yahtzee believes that video game webcomics are the putrid nesting grounds of wannabes and hacks. What do you think, class? Personally, while I have no love for the webcomic that served as the primary target for Mr Yahtzee's rant (Ctrl+Alt+Del), I bear little ill will to webcomics in general. There's a popular opinion going around this here Internets stating that only kings and God should be allowed to produce creative work because humanity is generally not very good at anything. I don't think that's the case. Read More... Posted Jul 03 2008, 10:35 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: penny arcade, yahtzee, zero punctuation, webcomics, art, rant, writing, creativity, ctrl+alt+del, internet

• Webcomic Watch: Eegra

  Videogame-themed webcomics are a mixed (and dizzyingly numerous) bunch; for every Penny Arcade, there're a few hundred semi-comedic fan-fictions stapled together from sprite sheets and MS Paint doodles. It's always a relief to find something with some genuine craft put into it. The relatively new Eegra's got craft in spades — artist Patrick Alexander deploys an impressive range of visual styles — but it's also got a glorious mix of old-timey wordplay and visual grotesquerie. Read More... Posted May 23 2008, 01:00 PM by Peter Smith with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: pac-man, peter smith, penny arcade, mario, patrick alexander, soul calibur, webcomics, eegra

• Brainy Gamer Asks the Ever-Present Question: Can’t We All Just Get Along?

  While admitting this risks damaging my “cred”, I do not game that much online. Indeed, my experience with online multi-player is limited to only a handful of games like Mario Kart DS (which I quickly abandoned due to rather egregious cheating) and a very brief stint in World of Warcraft (once I got to more populated areas of the game, my aging G4 PowerBook just couldn’t keep up. I got lucky.) That said, like so many others, I’ve played a lot of Halo 3 online. In general, the random people I’ve played with have been alright; not offensive but not people I’ll become bosom buddies with. Playing online is like hanging out with any group of strangers: it’s civil and awkward. On heavily populated nights though, when Microsoft’s servers strain under the weight of hundreds of thousands of players, that’s when you get a taste of the horrific behavior that keep many people from playing online at all. Racist, moronic, misogynistic rambling from a multitude of pubescent men with no sense of irony, humor, or decorum. No description, no recording can do it justice, you have to experience this sort of dumb hostility yourself to truly understand it. Though you don’t have to play online to witness it at work in the community. Just look at the Kotaku comments section during last year’s Resident Evil 5 debacle. Angela from Lesbian Gamers and Michael from Brainy Gamer have written up an essay that succinctly states the problem and elegantly asks what’s to be done about it if discourse on games is going to grow. Read More... Posted May 14 2008, 11:00 AM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, lesbian gamers, penny arcade, world of warcraft, level up, brainy gamer, mario kart, halo 3, ngai croal