Penny Arcade

Battleborn just went free-to-play-but-not-really-it's-just-a-perpetual-free-trial-and-alternative-business-model-which-I-can't-meaningfully-distinguish-from-f2p, or something, and maybe that'll work for them. Games go free with varying levels of success; Star Wars: the Old Republic is often hailed as an optimal example, though it's starting to become clear to me that many of my friends are super into ESO. Retail launch for these service-product chimaerae looks more and more like the the…

We started doing it for PAX Aus with some cool, unique stuff you can throw into your cart with your tickets, and we have some items we're trying out for PAX Prime I Mean West: First up, we're working with the crew over at Level Up Dice again to make a custom set of metal six-siders with case! $38, shipping is included. There's also a blankie, based on the street banners outside the show. $38, shipping is included. The scarf is back, also, with a heartwarming missive that stands in…

This didn't happen to us; it happened to one of our crew. Specifically, our Engineer. I don't know what time it was where he lives, but whatever it showed on mortal clocks it wasn't time to be yelling at invisible people at his house - a fact made clear by the powerful mic he was using, which allowed us to hear absolutely everything going on in this couple's intimate conflict. Near the end, I saw him look up, and to the left, bending his head toward an invisible, angry woman, and ask for…

Kiko asked me if Star Trek: Bridge Crew was VR's "Killer App." I could hear the quotation marks around Killer App; he was trying to create a kind of ironic gully around the term. But he also really wanted to know if it was the Killer App. I'll tell you what I told him. Most VR games, for many resons, are single player experiences. We've gone into why a couple times; what I understand from those trying to plough up this space is that the current rate of hardware adoption alone makes a…