After seeing the many exquisite videos of Black - the "Matrix Trailer" in particular - there wasn't a lot of hand-wringing associated with our pre-order. Further induced by a playable demo given out for such orders, we returned to our Batcave equivalent to dig in and congratulate ourselves on our no doubt excellent purchase.
In our inimitable fashion, we have described to you in the past how the software they show in May at E3 is magically transmuted into the demo gamers play seven, eight, or nine months later on a coverdisc. It's a snapshot of the development cycle, tree rings or some shit, and there are sometimes very real differences between that demo and what percolates through the retail channel. You can see some things, already. There's an effect when the player reloads in the newest videos - your awareness of the gameworld is cropped down to the weapon itself - that here's no trace of here. One wonders what phase of the project this sample represents, because I can absolutely do without the game they're showing me here.
After seeing much better realized play spaces in action packed/meticulously prepared footage, the level, the gunplay, and the arsenal on offer really isn't anything to get excited about. I shot through walls and shit almost six years ago in Red Faction, so you're going to have to bring a little more than that. Are they thinking that we'll forget? I wonder if they have a level where you eat dots.
It's already a marketing triumph, with thair "gun porn" imagery having taken deep root in the gamer psyche. Based on this playable, they are simply raiding the tombs of the first person Genre Kings - wicker baskets hauled to the top of the shaft, brimming with dusty genre tropes.
After a couple nights of trying to get the new Chaos Theory co-op maps working on the 360 via emulator, I think it's time to hang it up. It crashes, reproducibly, at about sixty-five percent of the level load. It would be one thing if I could then go on to play sixty-five percent of the level, but it actually hard locks the console, forcing me to leave the couch and physically manipulate it like mankind was forced to do in the olden days. I've crafted a novel solution to the issue: I am going to play the game on the original Xbox, where I am told compatibility is almost assured. I wish that I had arrived at this plan sooner.
(CW)TB out.
and the night got deathly quiet
Tycho and I agree when it comes to the new Black demo. We both think it’s pretty boring. It’s not a bad demo, it’s just nothing special either. I’ll say that after playing the demo I can’t imagine any reason to purchase the final game. However in order to get the demo I had to pre-order the game. Those tricky bastards.
Web comic critics and misunderstood visionaries take note. With today’s cartoon I have transcended the panel! By deconstructing and re-imagining the framework of the strip I’ve created an experimental new meta-visual plane. I’m always doing stuff like that. You know deconstructing and transcending. I think that’s probably why Penny Arcade is so popular.
Just a heads up guys, Valentines Day is only a few short weeks away. I was actually just talking to your girlfriend last night on the phone. That’s not weird or anything, we just like to chat sometimes, you know girl stuff. She talked about how much she liked you and how you weren’t stuck up at all and you never lie. And I told her about what that bitch Alison did Friday and how Brian could do soooo much better than her. Anyway, before she had to go she mentioned how much she wanted one of the new Penny Arcade Heartris shirts. Oh, and a Penny Arcade book. You know, “Attack of the Bacon Robots” which will be shipping tomorrow from ThinkGeek.
Tycho and I will be at the Comic Stop tonight for a book signing. Hopefully you can swing by and say hello...and buy something. We will be there from 6pm-8pm signing books and I’ll be doing sketches. Here are the details:
January 25th | 6pm-8pm
The Comic Stop - Lynnwood
3333 184th St. SW, Suite G
Lynnwood, WA 98037
-Gabe out
(CW)TB
I got a lot of mail about the recent WOW cyber sex comic we did. Essentially asking me how much truth there was to it. I’m sad to say its pretty much 100% accurate.
Kara and I play Wow together pretty much every night after lil’ Gabe goes to sleep. She will sometimes play downstairs in the living room on her laptop while I am up in the office. Now that we’ve both reached 60 I tend to spend all my time in BattleGrounds trying to get my next rank (Knight-Champion as of Tuesday) and she is off running instance raids with all the different Penny Arcade Alliance guilds. She’s also addicted to starting alts, she must have a dozen of them just on Dark Iron alone. This is all to say that we don’t always play together and she has lots of characters whose names I don’t know.
So a few nights ago I get a tell that says something like this:
Hey I’m a big fan of the comic and I think you’re hot!
Now I’m no idiot. I know perfectly well what I look like and so I immediately realize this must be one of Kara’s alts. Who else but my wife could find my spindly build and odd features even remotely appealing? I decide to mess with her a little and I send her back a tell that says:
Are you a girl?
She responds and tells me she is and it is at this point that I say to her
Send me a picture of your boobies.
Now as soon as I hit the enter button and the message is sent I get this sinking feeling in my stomach. I think to myself “holy shit, what if this isn’t Kara. What if she’s just downstairs watching Dr. Phil or something? I just told some random PA fan to send me a picture of her boobs! This is the sort of thing that ruins a career. I’m going to be the next creepy pervert web comic artist trading photos with underage girls on the internet. Oh shits!”
Thankfully I heard a scream from downstairs and I knew that I had in fact been dealing with my betrothed. The good news was that I had not in fact solicited pornographic images from a strange girl, the bad news was that my wife thought I was trying to. It turns out that’s not the sort of thing they laugh at.
-Gabe out
