posted by Chris on April 7, 2008 6:03 PM in Podcast
Is being called a "gamer" a bad thing? On this week's podcast, Chris, Mack and Qais look into how gamers as a group are regarded by the general populace. Are we really all just trash talking escapist sociopaths? Or is "gamer" just another flavor of geek? We discuss various arguments on both sides, also touching on this week's news from Microsoft's answer to the Wii, to analyzing Portal's main villain, to Penny Arcade's newest indie games venture.
One of the things the Seattle gaming community often boasts of is our geographical proximity to what could be called the mecca of import and classic gaming: Pink Godzilla. The light red reptilian purveyors of that which the Geekmobile breaks for (as the bumper-sticker declares) have taken one step further in the process of setting the hearts of gamers the world over aflutter.
Combining four things most gamers love: liquor, RockBand, prizes, and altruism, Pink Godzilla is kicking off their first Pinkapalooza. Pinkapalooza will be held to benefit Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity, December 19th (that's tomorrow for the slow students), at the Nectar Lounge in Fremont.
Pinkapalooza will feature local 8-bit artist Leeni, a Battle of the Bands on RockBand, and drawings for a Wii (bundled with Super Mario Galaxies), a 360 Rock Band Special Edition, a bevy of 360 games, and Jones Soda: Christmas soda packs. A paltry 10 dollars at the door will net you entry (although the event is 21+) and 2 raffle tickets for the aforementioned prizes with each additional ticket running 5 dollars a piece.
Come join the Weekly Geek crew for a little merriment for a good cause, and if altruism isn't your thing think of all the people that will inevitably clamor after your crusted hide following a public demonstration of your music simulation prowess.
posted by Amy on November 17, 2007 11:48 AM in Games
Earlier today we received an exciting press release from the Guild Wars crew. The Penny Arcade Store now offers a section devoted entirely to Guild Wars gear! Hit the jump to read the press release for yourself.
It's time once again, oh Geekkateers, to show the world that we're not all a bunch of crazy, gun wielding psychopaths just because we happen to enjoy interactive video entertainment. That's right, Child's Play 2007 has officially begun. For those of you who don't know, the crew over at Penny Arcade created a brand new charity back in 2003, where gamers donate money or buy gifts through Amazon to be donated to the Seattle Children's Hospital. Just like everything else PA has done in recent years, the event has grown exponentially and now works with a network of hospitals that spans the globe.
And this isn't one of them phony, shady, "give us some money for our huge paychecks and we might give the rest to some people in need" kind of charity. Absolutely 100% of everything that comes in goes directly to the beneficiaries of this charity. Mike and Jerry don't take even the slightest slice off the top for "administrative fees" or other crap like that.
In a world where gamers are are stereotyped as anti-social, violent, uncaring, selfish, etc., this is our chance to really prove them all wrong. But more importantly, it's a chance to participate in something wonderful and make a real difference in the lives of some children that may be facing the toughest days they will ever experience. Head on over to ChildsPlayCharity.org to find out what you can do to help your nearest children's hospital.
Check out this old article I found lying around. Originally published in 2004 on Comixpedia (now ComixTalk), it's interesting to see what still remains the same in gaming webcomics today. It's also interesting to see how horribly dry of a writer I was back then. I also like how I am constantly quoting Tycho and not even referencing the fact that I interviewed him for this. Hilarious. Enjoy.
The mere mention of video games often evokes images of a solitary white ball bouncing between two vertically moving white paddles, with that distinctive Pong sound. Maybe it evokes images of a large gorilla hurling barrels at unsuspecting Italian men instead. No matter what you think of when you think video games, it is undeniable that games as a whole have affected our culture over the last 20 years. In the late 1970s, games like Pong revolutionized arcades, and in the 1980s, Nintendo revolutionized our living rooms with Super Mario Bros. Our generation grew up with names like Atari, Nintendo and Sega. The culture of video games has boomed in the past 5 years with the recent console wars between Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. With the increase of video game fans came an increase in people writing and drawing about their favorite video hobby: enter Gaming Webcomics, a genre that is not so easily classified. What are Gaming Webcomics, what are they all about, and where are they going?<
Gaming webcomics can be defined as any webcomic (or print comic for that matter) that is based either on the hobby of playing video games, or comments on the culture surrounding video games and their players. While there are a couple of contenders out there for the "biggest" gaming comic, the first one most people think of is Penny Arcade. With an estimated fan base of over 150,000 people, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik (Tycho and Gabe, respectively) have carved their names into the annals of not only webcomic history, but nerd history as being two of the most well-known gamers around.
Since the first strip was published in 1998, Gabe and Tycho have steadily climbed to the top of the webcomic scene and helped influence gaming as a culture. Sites get "wanged" – choked with too much referral traffic – after being linked from Penny Arcade. Games have Penny Arcade cheat codes ("pnyarcade" in Star Wars Jedi Starfighter for the XBOX gives you everything in the game, you can even play with a cardboard tube in the new Legacy of Kain game, which is a Penny Arcade reference the their character Cardboard Tube Samurai).
Tycho remains ever humble when asked about this influence, stating that "...Legacy of Kain's 'Tube Reaver' mode – was both a huge surprise and a terrific honor, but it's not terribly common. We think of ourselves as having a parasitic relationship with the gaming industry, we don't think of ourselves as parallel to it like a media outlet might be. We think of ourselves as extremely fortunate fanboys who, on occasion, produce something of value to our holy pantheon." Penny Arcade has also influenced people's lives, with their recent Child's Play toy drive for the Seattle Children's Hospital, where they succeeded in putting together over $120,000 worth of toys and money.
Next in line popularity-wise would be Scott Kurtz' PvP (Player versus Player). Kurtz not only commands a large readership online, but now Image Comics prints PvP monthly. In paper form! Real Life by Greg Dean has influenced a specific video game, Final Fantasy XI: Online – Real Life readers clogged the servers in the first couple days after finding out that Greg played. All of these examples show that gaming comics have a much larger readership than your typical every day webcomic, but why? What makes gaming comics so appealing to web surfers? When asked, Tycho from Penny Arcade agreed: "…it makes sense that gamers are going to be online anyhow, and are therefore present in large numbers online."
Gaming webcomics also seem to have an odd demographic: isolated readers who do not read any other genre of webcomics. Readers of Penny Arcade may only read Penny Arcade because it talks about their favorite games, and that reader may not even be familiar with the term "webcomic". A reader of PvP may have picked up the physical comic book at their local comic shop and wanted to check out the online version. It's almost as if gaming comics are in their own little world, completely oblivious to more classic story-based strips. This is not really a bad thing, but it doesn't do anything for the current webcomic community. Gaming comics tend to link to other gaming comics, hardly ever introducing readers to new genres. Readers typically aren't usually interested in stories or comics on the web, just comics that talk about their hobby.
Gaming comics can best be classified into three basic genres: Story-based, Political Commentary, and Sprite. No, not that Sprite. Political Commentary would include comics like Penny Arcade. Penny Arcade has always been the type of comic strip that you can't read straight through: you have to stop at every strip and read the newspost that goes along with each. Usually the strip for the day is about something in the news regarding gamers, or a new game that just came out. Very rarely does Penny Arcade stray from this formula. Like all artists, however, Tycho and Gabe need to stretch every once in a while and do storylines with continuity. Penny Arcade has received a lot of criticism about this, as readers who stumble upon the site for the first time aren't really sure how to approach the comic. Some readers go to the website thinking it will be your typical comic strip read left-to-right, and see a disjointed series of inside jokes and lengthy commentaries on seemingly random subjects. Some people have accused Penny Arcade of a severe lack of humor because of this. Political humor tends to be very topical, and a reader needs to take this into account when reading strips like Penny Arcade.
Story-based comics include strips like Real Life, Mac Hall or PvP. Although they involve video games and their culture, they are not restricted to just commenting on them. PvP is about a group of people who work for a gaming magazine, offering many different storyline possibilities. Mac Hall is hardly about gaming anymore, focusing more on the relationships between characters going to college and their everyday lives. Real Life tends to be more focused, centering on one game or concept and running with it for a week or two.
The last type of gaming comic is one of the most conflicted sub-genres of webcomics ever. Sprite comics are comics that are made using "sprites" from video games. That can include characters, backgrounds, text and other elements. Some people hate sprite comics for their apparent lack of originality; creators taking screen shots from video games and putting them into a comic strip isn't exactly brilliant at first glance. Some sprite comics, such as 8-bit Theatre, have often proved haters wrong by taking characters from a single video game ( Final Fantasy for the NES ) and making them into well-fleshed out characters in consistently funny situations. Otherspritecomics are created with 100% original art. Even if a sprite comic isn't about video games, it is usually considered a gaming comic by default, just for the way it is created and what it references. <
Gaming comics continue to rise in popularity, even as gaming terms such as "l33t" and "wang" become more and more passé. KeenSpace is filled to the brim with gaming comics, and even direct rip-offs of current gaming comics (approximately 76 are listed as "Gaming" not counting the "Sprite" comics). Gaming comics seem to be sticking to their own genre, never straying, and therefore neither helping nor hindering the current webcomic community. Will they continue to exist as separate entities, or will gaming webcomics and traditional webcomics one day be walking off into the sunset holding hands?
A few possible ways might be to have already existing gaming webcomics expand into other genres, away from gaming. On this note Tycho from Penny Arcade says, "Topically, we certainly deal with videogames more than we do any other subject. Calling us a 'Gaming Comic' seems fair. We have certainly covered topics as diverse as Duck Cocks or radioactive arachnids, but videogames are our passion, and the work we do more often than not reflects that." Which shows that gaming comics can spread their wings, so to speak. Another way to bring all genres together is to have more collective events, like Comixpedia's Fright Night, and invite as many comic artists from each genre as possible. Once we all know each other, then the linking starts to occur. Then, after all of that, we can all get together in one big webcomic group hug.
To anyone who was there, or really anyone who heard about it at all, PAX was pretty friggin' rad. There's pretty much no denying it. Even Chris, who once told Robert Khoo that he thought PAX wasn't "for him," had fun there. Nearly everything was top notch and done with class and style. Good panels, great music, classic movies, entertaining guests, fun exhibits, and enjoyable events abounded. But can they hold on to the magic forever? PAX broke the mold for conventions, but will they eventually settle down back into it?
There is huge potential for PAX to become another mindless con whose only purpose is to get your money. And there is the danger of PAX becoming overrun by those who would twist it to their own ends. As much as the PA crew try to deny it, PAX is the new E3. E3 always tried to say that it was an "industry" event for media and business, but that was a sham and we all know it. They made it sound like it was super exclusive in order to tempt the average gamer into "sneaking in" one way or another. In reality, there was pretty much no standard on who was allowed into the show. And they charged an arm and a leg for anyone who wasn't media. If E3 was really just for industry professionals, there would have been no call for extravagant displays, loads of swag, and booth babes. It was there for consumers and anyone who tells you differently is a liar.
Oh man, dudes. PAX is over and it was nuts. I'll have a bigger post later and we'll of course talk about it on the show tomorrow, but I wanted to give you a few quick bullet points on my experiences:
posted by Chris on May 28, 2007 6:17 AM in Podcast
Movies and Video Game commentary galore on this week's podcast featuring Chris Furniss, The Geek and White Mage (Colette couldn't make it this week because of head explosions). Listen! As The Geek and White Mage discuss their love of Pirates! Marvel! As Chris yet again alienates the "differently-abled"! Enjoy! Imagining Vin Diesel as Kratos in a God of War movie adaptation! You will not be disappointed. Download the podcast now as an mp3, subscribe to the feed or just plain play it in your web browser!
Ok, so we weren't too impressed with the first trailer the Penny Arcade boys released for their new game, but Gabe showed us this "Official" trailer today, and boy does it look sweet. The cel shading really brings the 3d models out, and it does indeed look like a playable comic.
What I am really excited about is the create-a-character feature. A Penny Arcade stylized Mii? Yes, please. I'll take two.
If you are planning to attend the Penny Arcade Expo 2007, you probably already know from the front page of PA, but the keynote speaker at PAX07 is going to be none other than previous Weekly Geek interviewee Wil Wheaton.
Check out the full press release after the jump. Also, if you're in the mood for some more sweet Wheatony action, check out our interview with the man himself from back in the good ol' college radio days.
Man, now I'm really upset that I'll have to miss the first day of PAX due to being on a business trip for my actual job.
Aww, how we've all grown up. Being featured in Time Magazine is quite the step for hometown heroes Penny Arcade. Even if it is a piece written to explain webcomics to your grandma. In this week's Time (April 2nd issue) Lev Grossman does a fairly good job explaining how Penny Arcade started and how it has grown, even featuring a full strip. He also talks about PvP, Achewood (my favorite webcomic, in case you are interested) and Diesel Sweeties, ending on a very acerbic note from Gabe about DS being syndicated to newspapers:
"I don't know why you'd want to rush to get to that cemetery," says Krahulik. "I guess everybody wants their dad to like them, right? They feel like they need that approval. I think we represent the exact opposite of that"
While I applaud R Stevens for his tenacity and the groundbreaking he is doing for those in the webcomics field who actually want to go to dead tree format, I can see Gabe's point. The tides are changing and holding on to the past and tradition may not be the best route. Check out the full article wherever you get those things called "magazines". Also of note: check out the scan up there. Didn't know Gabe drew for PvP! Thanks, Time! Don't you have editors?
Check out some of our interviews with the subjects of this article:
posted by Chris on March 19, 2007 6:53 AM in Podcast
Frodo and The Geek are back this week to bring you all things Spartan. We're obsessed with God of War II, and 300 isn't too bad either. In this podcast episode, we talk about how movie critics are out of touch, why we won't own a PLAYSTATION 3 for a while, some crazy RPG about Chopin (the composer!), Katamari and the electric car. Best episode ever? You be the judge! Download it now or subscribe to the podcast. You know you want to.
posted by Chris on February 14, 2007 6:37 AM in Podcast
The Geek and Frodo take a trip this week to the Penny Arcade compound for an exclusive interview with Robert Khoo. Discussed are the rapid expansion of the Penny Arcade Expo, Penny Arcade's future, The Penny Arcade Video Game, Frodo pisses off Khoo and Khoo destroys Frodo's business card, and Web Directions North. Khoo also drops an exclusive, revealing more of the Penny Arcade Expo musical guest lineup (Hint, Freezepop and the OneUps are coming!) Download the show now, or subscribe!
You can check out the full podcast and chat with Robert Khoo when it gets posted a bit later today. Until then begin to salivate for the next 6 1/2 months until PAX comes along.
Yes that's right kiddies, the Penny Arcade Expo 2007 has now opened its gates for pre-registration. If you're planning to go (and you should be), if you sign up for all 3 days before March 31, you'll get 10 bucks off the price. That's 1000 Wii points! I know I'll be there. Heck, I'm even considering shelling out the dough for a regular pass instead of just going as Media so I have a chance to be entered into the Omegathon.
Oh, in case you didn't know, the Penny Arcade Expo is the annual game-o-rama conference put on by the crew over at Penny Arcade. This year, they're moving from the Meydenbauer center in Bellevue, WA to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center right smack dab in the middle of downtown Seattle. As was apparent at PAX 06, the ol' MBC just wasn't big enough any more. Way too many nerds packed into that place made it a bit uncomfortable. So now they've got over 200,000 square feet to work with. And I'm pretty damn sure they're gonna fill every last square inch of it with gaming goodness. They'll need the space, as PA business guru Robert Khoo has predicted at least 30,000 of us spazzes showing up this year. (I took that picture of the dapper Mr. Khoo on that Wikipedia link.)
I just wanted to take this time to "rekuhnize" some friends over at the Penny Arcade Forums who helped make my PAX trip possible. Current disposable income is practically nil at the moment and so now I will "give props" to some cool dudes who helped out with transportation, lodging, and sustenance for the exposition.
In no particular order, thank you to:
Rankenphile, for letting me crash in your room Friday and Saturday nights and for two breakfasts and a dinner.
Romacus, for letting me hitch a ride over the mountains
Monkeybomb, for letting me crash in your room Thursday night and for a dinner with the forum crew at Rock Bottom.
posted by Chris on August 27, 2006 6:55 PM in Podcast
After last week's craziness comes this week's calm. This week, The Geek, Frodo and White Mage welcome guest panelist Fronz from Destructoid.com.The Geek is fresh off of a PAX binge and tells us all about it, from the Minibosses to throwing a dart at Tycho's baby's head. Fun times, man. Fun times. Other things were also discussed! Such as...
posted by Chris on August 11, 2006 8:59 AM in Podcast
In 2004 (or was it 2005?) The Geek and Frodo interviewed Porkfry from Penny Arcade fame. Along with being a full-time badass, Porkfry is a game tester, and gives the rundown on how to get into the game industry, and what sort of horrors await you once you get there. Kids throwing rocks at each other was also a topic of discussion.
Guys, now that E3 is gonna be pretty much exclusive to retailers and large media outlets, it looks like the Penny Arcade Expo is poised to be the next big gamer convention.
PAX 06 is coming up at the end of this month and registration ends this Thursday, August 3, so make sure you get in and register.
posted by Chris on January 22, 2006 5:49 PM in Podcast
This week's podcast features ARGHAGYDUBAUYSDGBUSYABDSADAS...
Sorry. I tripped and fell on the keyboard. This week's podcast features The Geek, Frodo and White Mage discussing site and show changes, the Penny Arcade Expo, the forum-based suicide of a gamer, and February's new video game releases. Use the direct mp3 download here or use the buttons on the sidebar over there to subscribe!
Don't forget to preorder your Weekly Geek T-shirt!
posted by Chris on December 18, 2005 5:10 PM in Podcast
This week, The Geek, Frodo and White Mage discuss drinking your own pee, Child's Play Charity, Animal Crossing events, and the official Weekly Geek Casting Call. Download the show here or add http://www.weeklygeekshow.com/weeklygeek.rss to your favorite podcasting aggregator.
A 16-year-old Texas gamer who threatened to torture and kill antigaming pundit Jack Thompson was arrested earlier today at his high school by the Harris Country Sheriff's Office, according to Thompson, a Florida attorney.
"The specifics of the torture with which Thompson was threatened are so grotesque that they cannot be properly placed in this news release," Thompson wrote in a mass e-mail addressed to news outlets, politicians, and industry groups. "The torture was to end with the shooting of Thompson, as in this teen's favorite games."
Listen. While you and your friends may have thought it was funny to do this, and maybe you were a bit encouraged by Penny Arcade's campaign against Mr. Thompson, it is supremely NOT SMART to go through with ANYTHING. Not only did this set our cause back an immense amount, but it only fueled Thompson's craziness. All the stuff he has gone through the past couple months, being almost nearly completely discredited, all of that can be erased by this one incident. All it takes is for that crazy asshole to go on CNN and talk about how he is a victim of these horrible video games influencing children and he is back in everyone's favor.
I am just glad that our listeners aren't as retarded as this kid.
posted by Grant on October 17, 2005 12:52 PM in Rant
Just as we all susupected, self-appointed "moral" crusader Jack Thompson has backed out of his offer to donate $10, 000 to a charity of Paul Eibler's choice if someone made a violent video game to his specifications.
Someone went ahead and did it and now Jack is backpeddaling saying it was intended as satire.
Basically, he didn't realize that he's really as dumb as we all know he is and didn't think anyone would call him on his bluff. Good for you Jack, you promised to give money to charity, and it turns out you lied about it.
But wait, it gets better. Because Jack didn't come through on his promises, the nice boys down at Penny Arcade made their own donation of $10,000 to the Entertainment Software Association Foundation and even did it in Jack's name.
This is the absolute best possible response to Old Man Thompson's crazy antics.
I know this is being posted everywhere on the internet even as I'm typing this, but I just absolutely had to comment.
Jack, I know that retro stuff seems to be all the rage, but McCarthyism isn't exactly what I'd call good retro fashion.
The gaming community is going to keep calling JT on his silly nonsense every time and he'll just dig himself deeper and deeper. And we know that he isn't going to quit no matter what. So we can still expect more highlights from the comedy stylings of Jack Thompson in the future.
Confused about podcasting? Well, you don't actually NEED an iPod to listen to the show, just download it from our links and listen to it in your favorite media player. If you happen to want to listen to it on your iPod, just subscribe to our RSS feed in your favorite podcasting program (we recommend iTunes). Here are the show notes for this Monday's show!
posted by Chris on September 22, 2005 8:50 PM in Podcast
Hey everybody! The show for Friday, September 23rd is online! Download the torrent here and the normal mp3 will be on its way shortly. In this show, The Geek and Frodo discuss many things, including We Love Katamari (because we certainly do), Penny Arcade in Nintendo Power, and Frodo says "Fuck" for the first time in Weekly Geek history. DON'T MISS IT.
p.s. I apologize for the poor audio quality on The Geek's end, we are still trying to work out some technical bugs. It gets better after about 5 minutes, so don't worry.
Check out this old article I found lying around. Originally published in 2004 on Comixpedia (now 
Tycho remains ever humble when asked about this influence, stating that "...Legacy of Kain's 'Tube Reaver' mode – was both a huge surprise and a terrific honor, but it's not terribly common. We think of ourselves as having a parasitic relationship with the gaming industry, we don't think of ourselves as parallel to it like a media outlet might be. We think of ourselves as extremely fortunate fanboys who, on occasion, produce something of value to our holy pantheon." Penny Arcade has also influenced people's lives, with their recent 
Gaming comics can best be classified into three basic genres: Story-based, Political Commentary, and Sprite. No, not that Sprite. Political Commentary would include comics like Penny Arcade. Penny Arcade has always been the type of comic strip that you can't read straight through: you have to stop at every strip and read the newspost that goes along with each. Usually the strip for the day is about something in the news regarding gamers, or a new game that just came out. Very rarely does Penny Arcade stray from this formula. Like all artists, however, Tycho and Gabe need to stretch every once in a while and do storylines with continuity. Penny Arcade has received a lot of criticism about this, as readers who stumble upon the site for the first time aren't really sure how to approach the comic. Some readers go to the website thinking it will be your typical comic strip read left-to-right, and see a disjointed series of inside jokes and lengthy commentaries on seemingly random subjects. Some people have accused Penny Arcade of a severe lack of humor because of this. Political humor tends to be very topical, and a reader needs to take this into account when reading strips like Penny Arcade.
The last type of gaming comic is one of the most conflicted sub-genres of webcomics ever. Sprite comics are comics that are made using "sprites" from video games. That can include characters, backgrounds, text and other elements. Some people hate sprite comics for their apparent lack of originality; creators taking screen shots from video games and putting them into a comic strip isn't exactly brilliant at first glance. Some sprite comics, such as 
A few possible ways might be to have already existing gaming webcomics expand into other genres, away from gaming. On this note Tycho from Penny Arcade says, "Topically, we certainly deal with videogames more than we do any other subject. Calling us a 'Gaming Comic' seems fair. We have certainly covered topics as diverse as Duck Cocks or radioactive arachnids, but videogames are our passion, and the work we do more often than not reflects that." Which shows that gaming comics can spread their wings, so to speak. Another way to bring all genres together is to have more collective events, like Comixpedia's 
There is huge potential for PAX to become another mindless con whose only purpose is to get your money. And there is the danger of PAX becoming overrun by those who would twist it to their own ends. As much as the PA crew try to deny it, PAX is the new E3. E3 always tried to say that it was an "industry" event for media and business, but that was a sham and we all know it. They made it sound like it was super exclusive in order to tempt the average gamer into "sneaking in" one way or another. In reality, there was pretty much no standard on who was allowed into the show. And they charged an arm and a leg for anyone who wasn't media. If E3 was really just for industry professionals, there would have been no call for extravagant displays, loads of swag, and booth babes. It was there for consumers and anyone who tells you differently is a liar.
Yes that's right kiddies, the 
