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Finally, Decide-o-tron features Joystiq editors' top picks
Ever wondered what your favorite video game journalists would classify as their favorite (semi-recent) games and, if so, which order they would be placed from one to ten? Us too! And the same evidently goes for the chaps at Penny Arcade, whose Decide-o-tron iOS app offers just such insight. The Decide-o-tron is a database app, used to catalog the games you have (Library), the games you want (Wishlist), and the games you don't know you want yet. That's where the Celebrity Lists feature comes in. You can see both Justin and I's top three games above, but where does WarioWare: Twisted land and on whose list? And what about Evidence: The Last Ritual? There's only one way to find out, and it's at that Source link just below for the fair market price of $0.
Child's Play 2011 starts annual drive, trying for $2 million in donations
Halloween has passed us by, which means the season of charity is here, and Child's Play has started up its yearly drive for donations. Child's Play, started by the fine folks at Penny Arcade, is dedicated to providing sick children in hospitals all over the world with video games and toys to play while they recover, and has raised nearly $9 million in money and donations since it was founded in 2003. This year, Child's Play is aiming for at least $2 million in donations, in part through a slew of events during the next two months, including the annual Desert Bus for Hope marathon later this month, and a Charity Dinner and Auction on December 8 up in Seattle. The group has picked up $450,000 in donations this year already, putting it well on the way towards its final goal. You'll probably have a few other opportunities to donate over the next few months, but if you would like to jump in and help the kids out now, Child's Play accepts checks, Paypal donations, or you can even text in your donation by sending "GAMERS" to 50555. So go ahead -- even if the bells haven't started ringing in your neighborhood just yet, take this chance to give a little bit to those in need.
Firefall adds pets for you to cuddle... and kill
Just in case you thought Firefall was going to be nothing but guns, ammo, and models toting guns and ammo, Red 5 wants us to know that there's a softer side to the game for those who love fluff. Talking with Shacknews, Mark Kern revealed that the shooter MMO will include a pet system for grizzled combat veterans who can't bear to leave the base without the security of Rygel and Princess Pebbles. Of course, this being a red-blooded shooter, Firefall's pet system can't stop with extended grooming and cuddles. "We had had to do little things to actually make it interesting," Kern explained. "Not only can you get a pet, but we're thinking that there's actually an item you can buy in the store to load your gun with special ammunition so you actually shoot the other guy's pet." Red 5 will be hosting an upcoming promotion starting on Wednesday called Crystite Challenge that will give fans a chance to get into the beta and unlock a Penny Arcade "The Merch" pet. "The Merch is awesome because he's all about merchandising and he fits with our item-based theme," Kern said. Firefall is currently in beta and gearing up for a December launch. Curious onlookers would do well to check out Massively's hands-on impressions of the title from PAX.
Ms. 'Splosion Man challenge round two features Fruit 'Friend'
Listen, Penny Arcade's Fruit F**cker certainly isn't a "friend" to fruit, though we can understand the need to tone down the juicing robot's vile moniker for more tender audiences. It turns out he's not a friend to Ms. 'Splosion Man either, as he now appears in a new challenge level for Twisted Pixel's latest 'sploderific opus. The challenge level is available now -- handily offered without needing a special download -- and is littered with 9 of the little buggers. The challenge level is open until September 11, and the three players who walk away with the highest scores will receive a prize pack filled with Twisted Pixel and Penny Arcade goodies. We're not sure if said prize packs include a Fruit "Friend," but you might want to hide your produce just in case.%Gallery-132733%
PAX Prime attendance grows to 70,000
Hey, PAX East? Sit down, we gotta talk. You know how we made a big deal about your 69,500 attendees earlier this year? Well, we don't want you to freak out, but your older brother PAX Prime has surpassed that figure, establishing the record for most attendees at a PAX. Look, don't be down, PAX East. We're a growing family with a third kid on the way, but there will be plenty of opportunity for you to prove yourself again. Chin up!
Seen@PAX: Jerry Holkins just dances
Snicker all you want at this footage we captured of Penny Arcade godfather Jerry Holkins playing Just Dance 3 on stage at PAX, the fact of the matter is this: The guy's got moves. Also, is that Quail Man at his side? Trick question, we were there: It's totally Quail Man.
Penny Arcade Expo planning on branching out to third city
Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik -- the pair of minds behind Penny Arcade, which is the comic behind the major gaming convention that's happening right now -- have confirmed that PAX will soon find a home in a third location somewhere on the planet. "Yeah, there's going to be a third PAX," Krahulik explained in an interview with us earlier today. "Believe it," Holkins added. We do! The duo said they have a city in mind, but didn't divulge which one it is -- a shame, because there are a lot of cities to guess from. During last year's PAX Press Q&A, they hinted that a third PAX might come together, perhaps in an overseas locale they'd like to visit. Any international readers have a hometown they'd like to see wholly and completely overrun by gamingkind?
Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3 still alive, Zeboyd at the helm
After its abrupt cancellation last year, Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 3 has risen from the ashes with developer Zeboyd Games taking control of the project. The studio is best known for its Xbox Live Indie Games and PC releases, Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death 7.RPGamer reports that, given the retro nature of Zeboyd's titles, Penny Arcade Episode 3 will take on a similar graphical style (think: the 16-bit Final Fantasy games); Alex Mauer will be providing the soundtrack. This marks the first game in the series not developed by Hothead, which left the project last year and went on to develop DeathSpank.Episode 3 is set to be released in 2012 on "as many systems" as possible. More information will be revealed at PAX East next year ... but that won't stop us from harassing Gabe and Tycho for information all weekend.
Decide-o-tron app from Penny Arcade will help you decide which games to buy
With so many different games and platforms out there, deciding what to play is a tough task. We sympathize, we really do -- and now the Penny Arcade guys are looking to take some of the guess work out of the whole thing with a new iOS app. The app will be free of charge when it launches next month and will suggest games based on your preferences. It'll also feature wishlists you can share and "play lists" of notable online and gaming personalities, beginning with Penny Arcade's Gabe and Tycho themselves, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Hit the jump for the full press release. There's also a website you can check out, if that's more your speed.
PvP and Penny Arcade bring you to The Trenches
Webcomics are a dime a dozen, but when doodling kingpins Scott Kurtz (of PvP fame) and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins (of Penny Arcade fame) team up on a new project, you can bet we're gonna take notice. Enter: The Trenches. The Trenches is new (like, new new), so there's only one strip as of right now, and seeks to catalog "the tribulations of software testing with the precision tools of 'the office comedy.'" On top of each comic, the trio will publish stories from actual testers in the trenches -- anonymously, of course. The first story involves an individual who had to test Ken Griffey, Jr's Winning Run for the SNES. Yup, it's as bad as it sounds. The Trenches will be updated on the Penny Arcade off-days, every Tuesday and Thursday.
Mike 'Gabe' Krahulik speaks his mind about SWTOR
Sometimes being a celebrity in the gaming world has its perks. Take Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade, for example. People instantly recognize him, they want his opinion on everything, and he can get in on any beta he wants. All right, that last bit was a stretch, but he did get into game testing for Star Wars: The Old Republic. And after much begging, the marketing team at BioWare gave "Gabe" the chance to publicly sound off about TOR. Guess what? He loved it. Based on a statement he made in the Penny Arcade blog, Krahulik believes that this Star Wars MMO lives up to its expectations, unlike another Star Wars MMO from the past. Specifically, he compares questing in The Old Republic to questing in other MMOs: "Turning the quests into an interactive experience makes me care a lot more about them. A quest is still a chance to get XP, money and loot but it's also an opportunity to advance your character towards the dark or light side based on your decisions. In most MMO's taking quests is what you do so that you can go play. In SW:TOR, taking quests is playing." To catch his full 1200-word write-up on The Old Republic, jump over to the Penny Arcade blog. Find out whether he feels the game is "Star Wars-y" enough and what he thinks of his "shimmering blue glory."
Enter to win a ticket to BlizzCon 2011 by donating to Child's Play
If you missed your chance to purchase a ticket to BlizzCon 2011 last month, there's still a way to get yourself in the door if you're feeling charitable. Looking For Group: BlizzCon, a networking site for organizing groups and meetups at BlizzCon 2011, is giving away one ticket to a random member of its website who makes a charitable donation to Child's Play. Child's Play, if you don't recall, is a charity created by the authors of Penny Arcade to give toys and games to kids in children's hospitals. To enter, all you have to do is join LFG: BlizzCon (it's free) and make a donation to Child's Play by June 30, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. CST. The donation can be for any amount, small or large. To read the complete rules on how to donate for the contest, check out the official contest page.
Penny Arcade's 'New Kid' strip to be adapted to film by Paramount
We knew it would only be a matter of time before one of Penny Arcade's imaginative one-offs got noticed by the cinematic powers that be. We might have placed our bets on The Lookouts or Automata -- as it so happens, though, the gaming comic's strip which caught the eye of Paramount Studios was "The New Kid," a one-page tale about a boy who's settling into his adolescent life on an orbiting starcraft. Paramount, which was met with success with its utterly wonderful animated film Rango, has enlisted the help of Book of Eli writer Gary Whitta to adapt the strip to a full-length animated feature. We're excited to see what he comes up with -- and ever-hopeful that somebody somewhere gives some similar attention to Automata. (Please?)
PSA: PAX Prime 3-day passes are almost gone
Guys, we so desperately want to hang out with you in Seattle. We want to take you on a tour of our favorite Starbucks locations. We want to go to the top of the Space Needle with you, and point out our favorite Starbucks locations. We want to take you to the birthplace of grunge and flannel -- but we can't do that if you don't get a PAX Prime 2011 pass. According to the event's Twitter feed, PAX passes are quickly becoming a scarce commodity -- in a tweet this morning, organizers reported, "We are nearly out of 3 day passes for PAX Prime 2011, less than 1k remain." Sure, if those are gone, you can still buy the one-day passes piecemeal; but we're really going to need all 72 hours to show you our favorite Seattle hotspots. Like the Puget Sound! It's so pugety this time of year.
PAX Prime registration open, developers get their own PAX Dev event
Whether you're a video gaming enthusiast or a member of the industry which sustains itself upon the monies of video gaming enthusiasts, you'd better start getting ready for next Penny Arcade Expo. Not only did registration for PAX Prime 2011 open up earlier today, but an all new event called PAX Dev was announced, catering to the interests of game developers in the two days preceding the weekend of August 26, when the main, Seattle-based convention takes place. The new event's site explains its mission statement, saying, "We're shooting for a small (750-ish), intimate setting where digital and pen/paper game developers alike can focus on their craft." As much as we'd love to get all up in that to learn about the deepest brain-thoughts of our favorite developers, the site explicitly states, "No press." That's too bad for us, but shouldn't be a problem for JoySoft, our new spin-off development studio, which is staffed entirely by people who look exactly like us, only with conspicuous-looking mustaches.
PAX East 2011: Cryptozoic Entertainment's big year
It's been almost exactly a year since it was announced that Cryptozoic Entertainment, a new company founded by former employees of Blizzard Entertainment, Upper Deck, and DC Comics, would be taking over the license for the WoW Trading Card Game from Upper Deck. With no other products under the company's belt, players were understandably skeptical that a startup would be able to develop the TCG effectively, but looking at the actual talent behind the company rather than the age of the company told a different story. Cory Jones, one of the company's founders, was the director of global business development and licensing at Blizzard, for example, and John Nee was DC Comics' head of business development. Couple that with designers and other employees who came over from other successful card games and companies, and you have a dynamite combination. I caught up with Ben Cichoski, head designer for the WoW TCG, at PAX East. WoW Insider: It's been a pretty busy year for you guys. What do you consider the company's biggest accomplishment so far?
Take a JPEG tour through the PAX East 2011 show floor
If you're not kicking it Good Will Hunting-style in Boston for the Easternmost, 2011-most edition of the Penny Arcade Expo, we can easily take you there through the magic of internet. Check out the gallery below to see some of the biggest productions on this year's main expo hall, from the gigantic Child of Eden preview display, to the equally gigantic Pikachu, hovering mere feet above attendees' heads, patiently waiting for his moment to strike.%Gallery-118906%
Monday Night Combat update adds Cardboard Samurai outfit, All-Star ratings
Just because you weren't able to make the Bostonian pilgrimage for PAX East doesn't mean you'll be left out of the festivities entirely. Uber Entertainment has launched an update for the PC version of Monday Night Combat which unlocks a decidedly Penny-Arcadey outfit for the game's Assassin archetype: the garments of the honorable Cardboard Tube Samurai. There's also a new All-Star ranking system, which should let you know exactly how you stack up against the game's other frequent Bullseye-busters. Check out all the new features, as well as a trailer for the CTS outfit, posted after the jump!
PAX East schedule revealed, cancel your Friday plans
Attending PAX East this year? You'll probably want to start strategizing your route through the maze of panels, speeches and presentations that'll take place over the weekend of March 11, using the recently revealed event schedule as your guide -- one event in particular is unmissable.
PAX organizers surveying about European expansion
Could PAX be heading across the pond? Obnoxious WWII-era names for the Atlantic Ocean aside, a recent survey from PAX organizers Reed Exhibitions heavily suggest that plans are being made to do just that. Among the three pages of standard survey questions are such giveaways as, "If we brought PAX to the UK, would you attend?" and "If we decide to hold a PAX UK, where would you prefer to see it take place?" Notably, the "where would you prefer to see it take place?" question offers a handful of London-based locations, as well as "Outside London" and "Other" options -- unfortunately, "somewhere that doesn't rain all the time" isn't a choice. But hey, we're just kidding Londoners. We'd love another reason to visit your continent! When we asked the folks at Penny Arcade what they had to say about it, biz dude Robert Khoo told us, "We're just trying to see if people would be interested." He further noted that "it's not anything we're ready to act on in the near future." How about if we ask real nice? Maybe in an English accent?
