Penny Arcade
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Penny Arcade crew kicking off new book tour February 23
Between the thrice-weekly comic, the quad-monthly PATV episodes and the bi-yearly conventions, we find ourselves pretty saturated in Penny Arcade's artistic outings. Still, there are a few places in our lives where we could use some more of Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins' irreverent brand of jest -- like, for instance, our coffee table. That gap will soon be filled by the duo's new book, The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11½ Anniversary Edition -- a tome which covers the history of the comic, the Penny Arcade Expo and the annual Child's Play charity. The book is due out February 23 -- at which point its creators will kick off a national book tour. Check past the jump to see if they're making a stop in your town!
Penny Arcade: The (WoW) Appocalypse
We (and the rest of the geek world) loves ourselves some Penny Arcade, and today's comic is worth mentioning given its commentary on Blizzard's latest plans for a premium iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad auction house and armory application. First it starts with a simple auction house app, then a rogue app, and then the iHeal. Yes, there's an app for that. So for your required geek reading today, you must go read their blog post, then read the comic, and then pass it along to ten friends or guildmates. After that you can call yourself a nerd, but not before. For more comics, check out our weekly roundup -- Sunday Morning Funnies.
Penny Arcade to be honored by Game Developers Choice Awards
To the far, far outside observer, a comic strip which frequently features a tiny robot who commits sex crimes against citrus fruits wouldn't seem like the most altruistic venture. We know the truth, however -- that Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik and Robert Khoo have been putting a generous, entertaining face on the gaming industry for over a decade. For this, the three men will soon receive a special honor during the Game Developers Choice Awards -- the "Ambassador Award." Man, that sounds prestigious as hell. According to a press release announcing Penny Arcade's decoration, the award is given to folks who have "helped the game industry advance to a better place, either through facilitating a better game community from within, or by reaching outside the industry to be an advocate for video games and help further our art." Yes, Penny Arcade has done both of those things, while still finding time to make hilarious comics about sentient juicers.
Sunday Morning Funnies: We're long
This week's list is huge. Massive. You have to click through the break to even see it! But I warn you: before you do, you might want to make some preparations. Cancel whatever you have scheduled today. Make a pot of coffee. Do some stretches; long bouts of sitting are unhealthy. Feed the cats. Let the dog out. Seriously, this list is big. It's unruly! P.S. I tried to get you guys a good Long Cat picture but I failed you all. Maybe next time? Yes. Next time. In a related note, I have a distaste for the new way to search through the icanhascheezburger site. Ready? Set. Go!
Child's Play charity raises more than $1.7 million in 2009
Though the guys over at Penny Arcade would probably find more eloquent ways to articulate this piece of news, we'd like to simply say: Holy crap, you guys. The annual Child's Play charity drive raised over $1.7 million in donations in 2009. Despite the fact that everyone lost their jobs, and the stock market ate all our monies, you still found a way to dig deep and give games to sick kids. This is us high-fiving you. (Smack!) To learn more about the charity, check out the latest episode of PATV. Not only does it give a nice history of the foundation, it also does a great job of showing you where your donations end up.
Massively's interview with Linden Lab's Catherine Smith, in Amsterdam
You might recall that, back in September, Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon and the Lab's director of Marketing and Communications Catherine Smith took a trip to Amsterdam, where it was revealed that they were seeking space for a new marketing headquarters for Linden Lab. Well, the new office isn't open yet – that's coming in January – but Ms Smith has already relocated to Amsterdam, which actually made her a bit easier to catch up with for a talk about the new digs and new initiatives.
PSA: PAX East early bird special ends tomorrow, need more 'enforcers'
Attention East Coasters: The chaps at Penny Arcade have miscalculated the size and scale of the first-annual PAX East event and have announced a need for more volunteers -- aka "Enforcers." While the name would suggest selected individuals would be granted the ability to bust skulls with full immunity, "Enforcers" are tasked with helping the event run as smoothly as possible (while wearing the same shirt for three days). Also, for those interested in attending the event -- and let's face it, you are -- early registration ends on December 31, 2009. So, if you're keen on saving money and know that a Boston trip in March 2010 is in your future, make sure to get your paperwork in before the clock strikes midnight.
15 Minutes of Fame: Making Child's Play of WoW
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Kristin Lindsay makes child's play of WoW. In fact, she makes child's play of gaming in general and even of her work. That's because Child's Play, the charitable organization that brings games, books and cash to sick kids in children's hospitals across North America, is her work. As project manager at Child's Play, Kristin helps the organization raise millions of dollars worth of toys and cash for children's hospitals and put a positive face on gamers and gaming. Child's Play was created by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of the online comic strip Penny Arcade. This year, the group has raised $1,302,367, shooting to surpass last year's $1.5 million total. We dove into a niche in Kristin's busy season to visit with her about her WoW habit, her work with Child's Play and how we WoW players can help Child's Play achieve a record-breaking year for hospitalized kids.
Last week of Hearts, Hands and Voices
Azeroth United, the internet media community for all things World of Warcraft, has been holding a charity drive for Child's Play since November 1st. Hearts, Hands, and Voices has already surpassed their initial goal of $5000 and is now hoping to reach twice that by their end date of December 13th. Sunday, our very own Mike Schramm played Rock Band for 9 hours -- until his fingers hurt -- to raise money for the drive. Also, you can blame Syrana for all your troubles on Twitter and help raise money for the charity, just by tweeting. If you wish to join in on the fun and support this Penny Arcade-run charity, please donate by clicking on the ChipIn link at the main HHV site, or any of the supporting sites. ChipIn was the same service that the WoWathon players used to also raise money for the hospitalized children who are the recipients of Child's Play's funds, toys, games, etc. The donations from this service go directly to the charity. Hearts, Hands and Voices have drawings for donating $10 or $20 that include some really cool things like ThinkGeek gear or a Warcraft Stein. Please go check out the goodies you could win just for a small donation to a great cause. And if you don't, well, I blame Syrana.
Child's Play raises over $1 million so far
It was announced today that the Child's Play charity has raised over $1 million so far this year. The charity, created by Penny Arcade to aid children in hospitals all over the world, has already raised a total of $1,010,680.28. Said Child's Play project manager Kristin Lindsay, "With so may people out of work, we've been amazed at the huge response this year." The charity hopes to surpass $1.4 million by year's end, which would be on par with what it brought in during 2008. Several events for Child's Play have been planned or have already taken place this year. Notably, the Desert Bus for Hope marathon pulled in over $130,000 in November, while Harmonix will be throwing the Ümloud Rock Band night fundraiser on December 9. Readers can find out more about Child's Play at the official website.
Magic: The Gathering Tactics to have PC/PS3 connectivity
Relations between Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley and the guys from Penny Arcade have clearly improved since the Donut Debacle of 2006. Smedley recently took a moment to talk to Jerry "Tycho" Holkins about Magic: The Gathering Tactics, revealing a few savory tidbits about the title -- the most delightful of which being the fact that the PS3 and PC versions of the game will be interconnected, allowing a player to use his account (and all his meticulously crafted decks) on both platforms. Basically, if you've got a laptop, a PS3 and an unslakable hunger for thin, rectangular artifacts imbued with immeasurable power, then your social life and work ethic are about to be assaulted on all sides. Good luck with that!
Guild Wars 2 art book to not be included in the collector's edition
If you've been keeping your eye on that very gorgeous artbook that's currently residing in the Guild Wars 2 store/Penny Arcade store but have been holding off on your purchase, you might want to reconsider. ArenaNet has recently confirmed, via Twitter, that the art book in the Penny Arcade store will not be coming with the Guild Wars 2 collector's edition box.So if you were really looking forward to this artbook, looks like you're going to have to put down the 30 dollars and pick it up separately. On the bright side, it's a hardbound 128 page book of what looks to be some really beautiful art.As to what will be included in the collector's edition, well, your guess is as good as ours right now. ArenaNet is being tight lipped on those features, and it looks like we're just going to have to wait.
Samwise does guest strip for Penny Arcade
The webcomics community seems like a pretty cool bunch, specially when they all pitch in and help each other out. One of my favorite webcomics, PvP Online, often features guest artists to fill in for creator Scott Kurtz when he's away at some convention or just down with some bad bug. Just recently, he coralled the immensely talented Ramón Pérez, the genius behind Kukuburi, to do a guest strip while he was down with the flu.That's nice, you say, but what's this got to do with World of Warcraft? Well, see, Gabe from Penny Arcade (aka creator Mike Krahulik's alter ego) apparently picked up some kind of bad bug during their PAX or Penny Arcade Expo, and some well-known comic folks such as Bill Amend and Kris Straub stepped in to help. The highlight is that World of Warcraft's art director, Samwise Didier, the man largely responsible for the look and feel of many of Blizzard's games also pitched in his contribution.It has nothing to do with our favorite game, but it's freaking Samwise doing a freaking Penny Arcade strip! I mean, I don't really have to explain why I'm posting this, right? One of our favorite WoW icons doing a guest strip on one of our favorite webcomics (that occasionally tackles WoW) is so full of win it almost makes Saurfang cry. These sort of crossovers are so cool, you almost wish these webcomic creators would get sick more often. Ok, not really, but you know what I mean.
SWTOR's Coruscant artwork and PAX video
So maybe you missed out on seeing the glorious video reveal of Coruscant at PAX this year. No worries, because BioWare's been kind enough to release a high quality copy of the video into the wilds of the internet. We've posted it after the break in case you'd like to simple jump right into it.There's more news beyond the video being available on the game's official website, though, such as a bevy of very cool concept art that should entice any Star Wars: The Old Republic fan for several minutes bare minimum -- some of us may spend longer amounts of time staring.None of this is a big reveal, but that's perfectly understandable given the team's presence at PAX last weekend. So what about next weekend? Well, next weekend they'd better deliver or else we'll have to uh- well we'll just be sad if they don't, but it'll be a really vicious sadness that sends chills down spines!
PAX attendance rises by 2k, 60,750 people geek out
After the recent announcement by the folks at Penny Arcade that PAX 2009 sold out the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, today they officially released attendance numbers for this year's Penny Arcade Expo. Speaking with Big Download, PA's Robert Khoo said 60,750 people packed into the convention center -- though he had earlier predicted "roughly 75,000" -- and that the show's organizers are looking into expansion plans for next year to accommodate more showgoers. We'd say with the unveiling of PAX East, some people may very well have stayed home in anticipation of a shorter travel distance early next year over this year's Washington-based soiree. This might help explain the relatively small attendance growth from 2008's 58,500 people to this 2009's numbers. However, Khoo said he's surprised how many people plan on attending both PAX East and next year's PAX, umm, West. We'll see you a year from now, Khoo -- with facts!
PAX 2009: Penny Arcade worked on collectible ping-pong card game
At long last, the two culturally distinct worlds of ping-pong and trading card games have been fused into one aggregate superhobby. During the Penny Arcade Media Q&A Panel at PAX, the comic's illustrator, Mike Krahulik, explained, "We've been tinkering with a Paint the Line card game -- that has been quite a bit of fun in the office, so we'll see how that goes." For non-readers, Paint the Line was a series of strips the duo did in 2008 which tells the story of a global ping-pong power struggle. It's also a story of love and killer whales. There's a lot going on in there.For those who aren't immediately turned on by this notion, Krahulik added, "Ping-pong played in CCG is surprisingly interesting." Draw one backhand swipe! Tap one ping energy! Discard one pong.
Penny Arcade Adventures Ep. 3 announcement not coming at PAX
Those who were hoping to hear savory details about Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3 during the Penny Arcade Expo (how appropriate!) are about to have said hopes dashed upon the rocks. During our recent interview with the comic's creators, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, we learned that no news regarding the game will come during the duo's Seattle-based gaming community event.There's a reason for the game's non-appearance during PAX -- but Holkins and Krahulik were tight-lipped about what that reason is. Krahulik teased, "When you hear the announcement, you'll be like 'oooooh.' It'll make sense." Holkins articulately added, "You'll feel vigor in all of your limbs." We're fairly certain that's a good thing.
Joystiq is at PAX 2009
Joystiq has invaded the city known for Starbucks, Kurt Cobain, the Space Needle and, most importantly, the Penny Arcade Expo 2009! We hit the ground running last night with a pre-PAX Activision event (they aren't officially at the show), and got our hands on some games -- we'll tell you more later. Stay tuned for a lot more as we march through the halls, pausing only to record silly videos. %Gallery-71780%
Penny Arcade's Dragon Age: Origins comic debuts
Having wisely decided against creating a fantasy epic set within the span of just a few hours, BioWare's Dragon Age is ripe for exploration in all forms of media. With Dragon Age: Origins set to arrive this November, the RPG maestros have drafted the internet's Penny Arcade to provide a new comic for the game's official website.You can read the first part of "Witch Hunt" over here. For the full Dragon Age experience, marketers recommend you do so with an inappropriate Marilyn Manson track screeching in the background.
Penny Arcade gear available for your 360 Avatar
Even if you can't make it out to Seattle for the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend, you can show some solidarity with the new selection of Penny Arcade gear that's now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for a buck per shirt. In addition to the stars' trademark looks, you'll also find some clothing inspired by the strip's secondary characters. Also, just FYI, we came up with a pretty hilarious gag about PAX standing for Penny Arcade eXploitation that we weren't able to work in. All apologies. [Thanks, Jimmcq]
