Penny Arcade

The Proximity Of Devils And Details

Many of you have probably already obtained a copy of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, in fact, you might have even locked up your console with its overlooked game browser crash bug! Creating games and then using invites to fill them up can skirt you around the issue, but it’s a shame that a game that shows so much polish in other respects runs aground on something so fundamental. How did it happen? Well, that’s something we’ve thought about.

I have such an abundance of links that they are spilling over into the rest of my life, sometimes even blurted out in moments of intimacy. I need to divest myself of them in a way that… I have it. I’ll put them all here, utilizing the traditional linking image of my people.

When we submitted John Gabriel’s Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, we were not aware that it already had proponents in centers of higher learning. Except, when they talk about it, they call it The Impact of Anonymity on Disinhibitive Behavior Through Computer-Mediated Communication. Same thing, though.

You might recall the futuristic ultra-phone I brought to your attention recently, suggesting that I was glad there was no price associated with the machine so that I could imagine myself owning one and perhaps even speaking on it at a glamorous soiree. The bad news is that the device costs nine hundred and thirty dollars - and I’m not talking about nine hundred and thirty Yaaran Hegemony space dollars. I’m talking about wheelbarrow full of real money, and expenditure that would give pause to even the most warped consumer technology addict.

Did you know that we also ran a Spanish site of some kind? Oh, yeah - we’re all Spanish and everything.

You really can’t be without Trackmania, a game readers have foisted upon me in apparently choreographed waves. It turns out they knew best - avail yourself of their wisdom and experience, go and download the demo so that you may begin enjoying this racing game which is also a puzzle game.

The Black Mages, headed up by Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, are a rock and roll outfit which re-interprets the battle themes from the series in a way that you might find interesting. Maybe.

If you are a huge dork, and I don’t want to insult you but the odds are pretty good, you might be fascinated by this series of language graphs - it asks questions like “What do you call the little gray creature (that looks like an insect but is actually a crustacean) that rolls up into a ball when you touch it?” or “What do you call the end of a loaf of bread?”

It is a topic for which I have an endless appetite.

Just like last year, Kwip is doing the MS Walk and is seeking the donations. He gave me the impression that he was overwhelmed at your generosity last time I mentioned it, but I must admit that when you do good things for good causes my initial thought is, well, Yes. Of course they did.

(CW)TB out.

soft as a downy chick

MPxual Healing

Man, don’t tell me this stuff right now. I had basically broken up with the phone, and now you’re telling me that the phone wants to get back together.

I follow news about Windows Mobile devices in a professional capacity as well as an enthusiast, and I wanted to note that your pricing comment about the forthcoming MPx - while frequently echoed around the Internet - is not necessarily correct. Reports are that MPx will cost the *equivalent* of $900 in Germany, but often pricing in Europe differs from that in the US (you can’t just use the exchange rate between euros and dollars and assume that’s the price here). Also, and perhaps more importantly, the price of “$900” is *without subsidy* from a carrier. It’s not unusual to see discounts of $150-$200 from carriers, based on the unsubsidized cost - witness Motorola’s popular MPX-200 Smartphone which launched last fall, and went from almost $200 to $0 within a few months. Yes, this does require you to sign up for a new contract, but hey, the MPx probably won’t ship for another six to eight months anyway, so it’s likely your contract will be up by then anyway, right? ; )

My best guess, based on the general industry pricing model in the past, is that you’ll be able to get an MPx for between $500 and $600. Not cheap, but definitely competitive with existing PDA/phone offerings. And yes, it is just about the coolest device I’ve ever seen!

(CW)TB