Tag: penny arcade

Naomi Novik should send Penny Arcade a fruit basket.

See, this is why Tycho has his big honking website, minions, and probably volcano lair, and I don’t*:

I spent the entire return trip from St. Louis – floor to ceiling, beginning to end – reading a book called His Majesty’s Dragon. That shouldn’t be a good book, His Majesty’s Dragon. It should be a flimsy, invertebrate creature, ill-bred and scrabbling. It is (in truth) a pitch-perfect tale of empire, where His Majesty’s Aerial Corps protects England on the backs of dragons. Again: this should not be good. The book I just described could go wrong in so many ways. I would have written this book very badly. Naomi Novik did not, and the world is the better for it.

…he has a knack for summing up stuff like this. His Majesty’s Dragon could have been horrifically bad; and the way that they marketed it (they released at least the first two books in the series simultaneously) was not exactly reassuring. But the series has been saved by both a knowledge of the time period and its sensibilities, as well as a willingness to portray such sensibilities both accurately and sympathetically. The combination can be a bit rare occurrence in historical fiction.

so… yeah.  What Tycho said.

Moe Lane

*Which is fine.  Oh, I wouldn’t say no to a volcano lair, if I got offered one; but they don’t offer them through Amaz… huh.  I didn’t actually check.

:checking:

Nope, although ‘supervillain lair’ pulled in some odd stuff.

PA had me at ‘murdered by angels.’

You probably don’t want Penny Arcade referring to your skateboard-sized, skateboard-shaped controller for your new skateboard game in such a fashion:

It never once occurred to me that you could sell what they did, for the price they did, and not be murdered by angels.

I also want to know what ‘asco‘ means in this context.  Although I’m guessing that most of the critics would reply that American Society of Clinical Oncology works surprisingly well.

Moe Lane

And you thought *political* discussions were heated.

From what I can see of the video game community, this from Penny Arcade looks about right:

It is not a mischaracterization to say that conversations with the hardcore PC community about software theft follow these tenets:

– There is no piracy.
– To the extent that piracy exists, which it doesn’t, it’s your fault.
– If you try to protect your game, we’ll steal it as a matter of principle.

It’s like, who wouldn’t want to bend over backward in their service? You need to know it, because nobody else is going to tell you: you guys sound like Goddamned subway vagrants. Of course when you speak exclusively to each other, it all sounds so reasonable. It’ll be reasonable when you all board the bus, and the songs you sing en route to excoriate your enemies will be forceful, but within reason; and when you douse yourself with gasoline and immolate yourself in front of the offices of Infinity Ward, one assumes this will be reasonable also.

We will now pause while the very people who should be reading this and taking it to heart instead write heated comments for semi-automatic spamming; with only the best (read: most unhinged) passed around for delicious private mockery. And, heck, maybe we’ll get a couple of people defending pirating games, too.

Moe Lane

A Penny Arcade Automata video. Sort of.

You may remember that the guys at Penny Arcade were trying to decide on one of two (technically three, but the first two were the popular ones) filler comics minseries to run during an upcoming convention. They settled the issue by handing off one of them to guest artists, and they’ll be doing the other themselves. Meanwhile, somebody else has created the below, much to PA’s delight (printed language warning).

Mostly a soundtrack. Not really noir, but good.

‘Automata.’

Penny Arcade can stop asking what people want. If they have an idea like this ready to go:

The second concept is Automata, nineteen-twenties crime fiction which unfolds in a time where “machine intellect” has been outlawed. It wasn’t always, certainly, and the problem of what to do with the existing “stock” of fully sentient, mechanical citizens endures. Detective Regal and his stenophone Carl Swangee traverse the margin where these worlds overlap.

…then they can just get on with it, and they can save the third one for later. Don’t get me wrong; Lookouts looks like it’d be fun. But to hell with fun; I want mechanical men noir, dammit.

Moe Lane

PS: Let me put it this way: I would buy this.

No, Tycho, they never get any better…

…and most of the people that are making you aghast are probably legally able to vote. Frankly, if YouTube, gaming, and/or online newspaper comment threads didn’t exist naturally we’d in the political ‘sphere would have to subsidize them… because I remember what life was like before the really messed-up people had those places to go.

It wasn’t pretty.

Moe Lane

PS: I can’t really have a public opinion on the entire trachea thing.

PPS: Child’s Play rocks.

PPPS: Gratuitous Penny Arcade link.