Penny Arcade

Because I spend so much time thinking about Theranos, I must have thought that Gabe did as well, even though that's not how thinking works and every moment of our union would have indicated otherwise. For my part, I think about it a lot. He couldn't believe what he was watching, which is the correct response - to be utterly dumbfounded by it. I would say that Scientology and Theranos are two of my bugaboos, real molecules of fear, because in either case they are about people that have…

The first roleplaying game I ever got Mike to play - this was back in high school, so at a much less amenable point of orientation toward the Table - was Mage: The Ascension. Yes, that's correct. I started a neophyte player with a game about the interplay of philosophy, belief, and magic, which is to say, I pushed him head-first into the deep-end of an empty pool. That's kinda my move. Mage is the little brother of Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse, which you might…

I stopped playing mobile games that weren't by Nintendo when it became clear that most games on phones don't actually function under the circumstances you want them most, or when I do at least, which is on planes. I've had this policy for a while now and I've been well served by it. Even games you wouldn't think would necessarily be stymied by a lack of data join this dark fraternity of useless lures. I didn't really give a shit about Apple Arcade at first; like I said Wednesday, this is…

I definitely can't keep track of this kind of shit anymore, and I don't think it's only because my advanced age has converted the tender parts of my brain into porous bone. I think it's because increasingly what's required to Open The Seals of a beta is indistinguishable from some morally tenuous blood ritual. The shortcut, invariably, is whatever subscription service the publisher happens to be offering now. If you have worked in IT at all you've seen centralization and decentralization…