Desperate times call for desperate measures, thought it appears that even a dark round of Retail Roulette may have its sweet rewards. I have things that I'm looking forward to long term, like Stardock's new Galactic Civilizations or Heroes of Might and Magic V. But Battlefield 2 and World of Warcraft together amount to single game that monopolizes every moment past nine p.m., Pacific Standard Time.

It has always been the case that I will play games that reside in the Massive genre until I start to crave something more twitch, moving then to squad based shooters or what have you, and then ultimately back. But here we have a case where the MMO has action-packed, round-based multiplayer, and the FPS has full stat tracking, ranks you earn, and unlockable abilities. I'm essentially powerless to resist it, and I've become a kind of plaything myself for these two games. The moment I begin to crave something slightly different, it turns out I've already got just the thing installed on my hard drive already, the icon practically leaping in the tray.

The only thing I've been able to fit in aside from it is Meteos, which has become a kind of pervasive fluid that other games are suspended in, and Splinter Cell's co-op mode, which will get its own entire post sometime this week. There's supposed to be new levels hitting for it in the next week or so, and trying to get it wrapped up before they drop has been one of the most positive gaming experiences this year. Well, by and large. We'll get to it later.

Any time a person mentions Penny Arcade on their website, it is as though I see the Penny Arcade logo projected onto the clouds - recently, it was invoked by Matt from MacHall, and I leered over a tall building to investigate. He'd like to know why I haven't played or mentioned Psychonauts.

When I stopped playing Psychonauts, I had just arrived at the lake. Not a real lake, mind you, but the lake in the game. I have played it, just not as much as I'd like, and in my mind I always imagined that a period of relative release tranquility like this would be a good time to resume endeavors. The reason that I stopped playing was the collection elements, a category which I am including Cobwebs in. This should not be construed as a critique of the game, it is just something specific about me, because Gabe devoured the game as I understand it. Kara tells me that when he finished the game, he proceeded to simply play with the case itself for a period of no less than two weeks. He was reluctant to let go of those good times.

No, the reason I couldn't play it (and most games which do this) is that when there are tiny doo-dads scattered about that may or may not be absolutely critical for game progression, I become very tense. I can't relax knowing that doo-dads exist out there, under some log, and even when I find one that doesn't relax me, because it makes me think that there's some other thing out there I'm not determined enough to find, which makes me catalog my deficits as a person, and you can see how a whole Saturday could be spent in this way.

I was so ashamed that couldn't surmount this fundamental brain problem that, as you can see, I never mentioned it. That I could not reveal more of the story, which I desperately enjoyed, is not something I am particularly proud of.

(CW)TB out.

and olly olly oxenfrees

This is just a note to let everyone know that the new CTS print goes on sale July 26th at 9:00pm Pacific time. It will be available through our online store over at Thinkgeek. We made 750 of these prints and 500 of them were reserved for online sales. Each of these prints is signed and includes a small metal medallion etched with the PA logo and your prints number out of 750. Every print comes with a certificate of authenticity and is already matted and ready for framing.

The response to these at Comic Con was pretty intense. If you’d like to get one I recommend moving quickly. For the record our last limited edition print sold out in less than eight hours. We’ve increased the print run this time but I’m guessing we’re looking at a similar situation.

Quite a few people asked us when the next CTS story might appear. We tend to bring him out about once a year. The last story we did was back in July of 04 so it seems like it’s about time to bring him back. Tycho and I have some ideas we’re kicking around. Don’t be surprised if you see some samurai action sometime in the next couple weeks.

-Gabe out :o:

MC Frontalot is playing one final show in New York on Saturday. Here’s a link to the show flyer with all the important info.

-Gabe out :o:

I've been calling the randomly selected contestants in the Omegathon, who are called Omeganauts, and I've been having to find other people on the list because maybe twenty or so people have turned down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I understand that the competition for our second Omega Collection is fierce, and that you may not believe you have the constitution to face these challenges.

Allow me to tempt your base nature, then, with these images of the prize: the ultimate collection of NES paraphenalia.

Behold:

Your phone may ring today. It may be me on the other end. What will be your reply?

(CW)TB