About four years ago - in the legendary Apartment 26, before there was any Penny Arcade to reference it - Gabe started to get EGM. I don't mean that he started to get it because he subscribed to it or some shit - I'm saying that all of the sudden, unannounced and uninvited, EGM started coming to the house. Sort of weird, but not Rod Serling territory. He continued to get it for the rest of that year, and when he moved out because I did the Marriage Thing, I was looking forward to keeping the magical EGM subscription for myself.
Except it followed him.
He's moved two more times since then. Once across town, once across the state. Never fills out any forms. Every now and then, they send him a little note that says "Seriously - this time, no more EGM," and it's bullshit because no-one can stop Gabe getting EGM any more than they can abridge any other physical law. They are inextricable, like an orange and the color orange. He gets EGM because he can't not get it.
Gabe and Monkey gabed and monkeyed practically all day Friday, and the results of that clash can be viewed here. I couldn't care less. I'm playing the game that came in the box, and I'm enjoying it. I don't know if Raven's prior experience with (the underrated) third-person action/adventure Heretic II came in handy at all, but I have half a mind to compare the names in my manuals. Something in one of Gabe's epic rants caught my eye, though - it sounded like someone offered to get a mod (like the one he described) started using the Unreal Tournament engine. Gabe suggested that, with much of the work required already built in to Jedi Outcast, any planned mod should take advantage of the fact. It's sound advice, but it goes deeper than that: the likelyhood of your Star Wars mod getting Foxed seems terribly high. That may turn out to be the best thing about Jedi Knight II - that the mods people have been itching to make, utilizing the recognized wealth of Star Wars IP, can now (seemingly) operate under official auspices.
I hate April Fool's Day. People dick around with me every ten minutes on average, there's no Goddamn shortage of it that needs to be rectified via a holiday explicitly for shitheads. Human beings are fundamentally monstrous, duplicitous skullfuckers, and setting aside time to encourage the fact strikes me as poor strategy. Lots of places are going to tell you shit today, is it true, is it not true, etc. I only mention that stupid AFD because I want to make sure you know when something is on the up and up: The GIA is closing down. I'm not making that up, and neither are they. Many current staffers are moving forward with the blessing of their forebears, setting up a new site called GameForms (I don't know what that means). Like Slow News Day, right, only minus the shameful implosion.
My brother-in-law is in town for a week or so, and if these first three days are any bellwether of the next four, we're going to spend the entire stretch indoors playing racing games. Monkey got the ball rolling with Project Gotham a ways back, and since then I've found myself really drawn to the genre - who knows if I'll ever graduate to Gran Turismo 3, but the ones I have for the Xbox I consider necessary. Gotham I've already spoken about - as the heir to the Ridge Racer estate, it rewards precision and metes out unalloyed retribution for anything else. When he and I play it, we tend not to race head-to-head - focusing our efforts instead on defeating the machine. The newer of the two racing games, Rallisport Challenge, is the one we actually compete in. The controls are a little more accessible, the pace a bit more frantic, so it seems to lend itself to this sort of duty. Also, the graphics on Rallisport are incredible, even on a system where you can get used to things looking bad-ass. Who knows why I'm even going into it - if you have an Xbox, you probably own one or both of these already. I guess I'm just surprised by the level of enjoyment. I had to tell somebody.
The winner of the Embarrass Yourself contest claimed her Dungeon Siege-y victory with a massive, seventy megabyte video opus dense with degrading content. Batjew pointed me toward a utility to grab individual frames out, because no way on Earth am I going to host that shit here. I'm in the process of pulling out the choicest bits - including, but limited to, when she breaks her arm - and if it doesn't get posted in the interim, I'll just save it for Wednesday. The main thing is that her prize went out, thanks and praise be to Gas Powered and Microsoft for letting us do it.
(CW)TB out.
i know the trouble with the public places
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is being beta tested right this minute in southern California. The Madman as usual has the full scoop at his web site along with a couple images. I can remember having a conversation with Tycho about MvC3 a few months ago. We were talking about what new characters we would like to see added on both sides. One of the ones we both agreed on was Dante from Devil May Cry and I'll be damned if he isn't in there. The only logical explanation is that Capcom has placed listening devises throughout my apartment. I plan on spending the rest of the day shouting into the light fixtures that I think there should be a new Mega Man game for the Gamecube. To get you into the mood for MvC3 why not take a peak at the amazing new MvC2 combo video available at Gamecombos.com?
In other 2D news SNK vs. Capcom has been officialy announced for the Neo Geo MVS system. This rumor has floated around the Neo scene for well over a year now. I honestly never gave it to much credit but now that I see it's true I couldn't be happier. With at least three new games coming out for the Neo in the near future it would seem the thirteen year old system is experiencing something of a revival. Playmore, who secured the rights to many of the popular SNK properties, is apparently determined to keep the system alive. This means that games like Samurai Showdown 5 and Mark of the Wolves 2 might be real possibilities now. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Gamespot has some videos available showing off some of Sega's new offerings for the Gamecube. They aren't very good quality but they are still worth checking out. Of especial interest is the PSO video. Not only do we get a glimpse at one of the new levels but we also get to see what looks like a brand new menu system. Very interesting…if you are a complete dork like me that is.
The Club Penny Arcade page has been updated for April. We are kicking off this month with part two of our special behind the scenes look at the making of PA. If that sounds like something you might be interested in why not join?
A few people have sent me e-mails telling me how surprised they were by Penny Arcade Year one. I guess many of them assumed it was simply a collection of our first year of cartoons. While it does indeed contain each and every comic from that period it also has commentary by Tycho and I for each one. We went back strip by strip and talked about the things that were going on in the industry at the time, what the hell we were thinking, or just insulted each other. Since the news archive doesn't go back that far our commentary should shed some light on what a lot of those first year comics were about. So if you haven't already be sure and pick one up.
Arush entertainment has been kind enough to support Penny Arcade this month by advertising with us. Please be sure and check out their latest game Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. Any fan of blowing shit up should really enjoy it.
-Gabe out
-Gabe out
