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PAX 2009 sells out... er, is sold out
If you hadn't already registered for this week's Penny Arcade Expo and were hoping to snag a pass at the door, you don't want to read this tweet. If you did, you'd see the dreadful words: "It's official! PAX 2009 is completely sold out!" Oh, sorry about that -- awkward.So yes, it's official -- the PAX website has even updated with the news. We spoke with show organizers who assured us that they'd "love to let more people in," but that the venue itself has reached capacity based on the number of passes sold. (They're expecting roughly 75,000 attendees, up from last year's 58,500.)Looks like it's time to register for PAX East and start pricing airfare to Boston. Or, y'know, you could always borrow a friend's pass. We're sure they won't mind; heck, you shouldn't even ask.
XBLM Deal of the Week: Penny Arcade - Episode 2
In celebration of the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo, this week's Xbox Live Marketplace Deal of the Week is none other than Gabe & Tycho's second adventure: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode Two. Normally 1200 ($15 USD), the Hothead Games' episodic RPG has been reduced to 800 ($10 USD) in Microsoft funny-money.The sale also begs the question, "Where da heck is Penny Arcade: Episode Three?!" Hopefully Hothead Games and the guys at Penny Arcade will be able to tell us all about the next game in the series when PAX 2009 kicks off on Friday, September 4. Make sure to keep refreshing Joystiq all weekend long as a slew of our minions will be on hand for the community friendly event.Queue up the XBLM Deal of the Week: Penny Arcade - Episode 2%Gallery-31010%
Congratulations WoWathon!
After almost two weeks, the WoWathon team dinged to 80 last night to the strains of The Final Countdown.On August 1, they started their mission to raise money for the charity Child's Play by playing WoW straight from 1 to 80. They have suffered through griefers, trolls and extended maintenance -- all while streaming to the public. The team surpassed their initial goal of $5000 goal and have raised over $8000 as of this writing, all for making the lives of sick children more pleasant.There is still time to donate, if you want to congratulate them in a charitable fashion. Just go to their main website and click on the ChipIn! button before August 15th. Any contribution helps, no matter how small.I'm so proud of them (sniff) and I'm looking forward to next year's WoWathon.
Incoming Xbox Deals of the Week: Lost and Damned, Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2
How often is the Xbox Live Deal of the Week actually exciting? Not this week, at least, but it will be this month! On August 24, Microsoft will offer something pretty tempting: Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned for 1200 ($15), 5 bucks off the normal asking price for the Grand Theft Auto IV expansion. If you're the guy who bought GTA IV on 360 but hasn't picked this up yet -- and you don't want to wait for Episodes from Liberty City -- now's a great time to pick up a new set of missions to give up on halfway through the game, in favor of just doing awesome bike jumps. The announcement also reveals that a deal for Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2 is incoming, so ... you know, don't buy it yet. Also, a Halo 3 Dashboard theme that you really don't need to buy ever.
PAX 2009 Omegathon events and contenders revealed
At last, the terror-inducing gauntlet of games that participants in this year's Omegathon must navigate has been revealed by a recent press release. Listed below are the six rounds that will serve as the unforgiving battlegrounds for twenty contestants (who are named after the break) -- we can't wait to see how tournament-style Bookworm Adventures will play out. Blood will be shed, boys will become men, girls will likewise become women -- and only one will triumph with tickets to this year's Tokyo Game Show (and $5,000 in walkin' around money) clutched in their victorious paw. Round 1: Mario Kart Wii Round 2: Bookworm Adventures Round 3: Halo 3: ODST Round 4: Unnamed rhythm game (DJ Hero or The Beatles: Rock Band, perhaps?) Round 5: Connect Four Final Round: ????? %Gallery-30939%
Penny Arcade pens Tekken 6 comic
While we were already aware of some Penny Arcade / Tekken 6 cross-pollination, we didn't realize how far it went. In addition to Penny Arcade's fabled Cardboard Tube Samurai appearing in Namco's upcoming fighter, it looks like Gabe and Tycho have created a comic for the game as well. The first page of the comic is available now and we can safely say that you don't have to know anything about the Tekken storyline to enjoy it.If you're like us -- always amazed that fighting games have story lines -- that's a good thing. All you need to know is that someone made an army of kangaroos and Jin Kazama Kazuya Mishima isn't happy about it. Enjoy.
PAX exhibitors revealed, Star Wars fans should start lining up now
The Penny Arcade Expo exhibitor list is in, and it's a hefty one with nearly 100 attendees scheduled to visit the Seattle gaming convention. Gamers can expect plenty of hands-on action with the hottest (and probably not so hot) games of the year, including a slew of panels and special demonstrations.LucasArts will showcase the first stateside live demo of Star Wars: The Old Republic and sponsor a cantina for community members to meet various staff and developers. Although delayed until 2010, Splinter Cell: Conviction will also continue to be demoed for attendees, alongside Assassin's Creed 2. Plus, traditional PAX events return with another round of the indie game showcase (The PAX 10), parties to crash throughout Seattle's downtown core and two nights of music from the best in nerdcore -- a genre iTunes has yet to recognize. Fascists!PAX 2009 hits Seattle from September 4-6 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. A list of exhibitors you'll spend hours lining up to see can be found after the break.
1 vs. 100 welcomes Penny Arcade this Friday
Penny Arcade's Mike "Gabe" Krahulik has announced that he and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins will be special guests on Xbox Live's 1 vs. 100 this Friday evening. During the live show, set to begin at 7pm PT / 10pm ET, Gabe and Tycho will be online along with the usual host, Chris Cashman. Krahulik notes that the show will include some Penny Arcade related questions and players will be able to call in with questions for the webcomic creators. Also, given the timing, we're fairly certain there will be at least a little PAX talk. Who knows, with the Penny Arcade crew on deck, maybe we'll see a few episodes of Penny Arcade Adventures given away as prizes. Speaking of, might we suggest you call in and ask when we can expect Episode 3?
WoWathon for Child's Play
Have you heard about WoWathon? Three gamers have been playing WoW since August 1, broadcasting live in order to raise money for the charity, Child's Play. They are streaming live right now on Ustream and have been for 54 hours as of this writing. Starting from level 1, they have leveled their characters to 35 so far, all while responding to chatters.They are not account sharing and have the blessing of their realm's GM, for those of you who are worried about them going against the ToS.Child's Play is the charity that the guys at Penny Arcade put together to provide toys, games, books and cash to sick kids in children's hospitals. The WoWathon team's goal is to reach $5000 in fundrasing for the charity and are currently near $2300. If you wish to donate to help them reach their goal, please go to their website and click on the Chipin button. We are talking to them now, so stay tuned to WoW.com for an interview with the team.[Thank you to the many readers who have tipped us about this awesome event.]
PSA: Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 3 still in development
It's been quite a while since we last got to command Penny Arcade's Gabe and Tycho around New Arcadia, pugilizin' giant fruit f###ers and sweepin' the boardwalk clear of barbershop quartets. So long, in fact, that we nearly forgot the series was intended to be episodic (we've been told that means every four to six months in PAA's case), which resulted in a call to series developer Hothead Games.We were told by a Hothead rep this morning that, while no release date or information has yet been revealed about the game, "It [Episode 3] is still in development." Would it be fair to say we'll hear more about the game in the upcoming weeks leading up to PAX 2009? From the conversation we had this morning, we'd say that sounds mighty likely. With PAX 2009 just six short weeks away, we may not be waiting too much longer before we hear something more official.
PAX 10 announced, features an all-stars of indie gaming selection
With PAX 2009 just under two months away, the folks organizing the Penny Arcade Expo have begun gearing up for the show. How do we know, you ask? Simple: The PAX 10 was announced today, featuring a list of games we'd sorta/kinda heard of before. Since we're so cool and totally knew about all these games before anyone else did (yeah right), we're a bit nonplussed by this year's PAX 10 winners. Hell, we even have Fieldrunners running on our giant, collective iPhone right now. Seriously! Okay, fine, we only knew that one ... CarneyVale: Showtime by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Games Lab (Xbox 360) Closure by Tyler Glaiel and Jon Schubbe (PC) Fieldrunners by Subatomic Studios (iPhone/iPod touch) Liight by Studio Walljump (Wii) Machinarium by Amanita Design (PC) Osmos by Hemisphere Games (PC) Puzzle Bloom by Team Shotgun (PC) Tag: The Power of Paint by Tag Team (PC) Trino by Trinoteam (Xbox 360) What is Bothering Carl? by Story Fort (PC)
This is the 'Cardboard Tube Samurai' in Tekken 6
Picked up by way of the Gamertag Radio forums from the alleged Twitter account of Tekken 6 -- we know, we know -- it was confirmed this afternoon that the image you see above of Penny Arcade's Cardboard Tube Samurai is, in fact, the real deal. Where, you ask? Well, of course, Mike "Gabe" Krahulik's Twitter account, where he twote, "Yes this is for real. Cts costume will be in Tekken 6!" He is, of course, referring to the Cardboard Tube Samurai and probably not the cartoon time-traveling simulator we already know will include everything in the universe. Take a look after the break for the exciting Twitter snapshot where Gabe revealed the truth.
Ron Gilbert to give keynote speech at PAX 2009
We consider the creation of the SCUMM engine to be a historic event that's on par with the invention of the light bulb or the discovery of fire, so forgive any and all typos you may find within this post -- it's tough to type while squealing and flailing your arms about. A press release just landed in our inbox which revealed the keynote speaker for the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, WA -- it's Ron Gilbert, inventor of SCUMM and creator of Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games. A collaboration between this adventure game luminary and the pair of comic-producing philanthropists isn't too surprising -- after all, Gilbert did consulting work on Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. Surprising or no, we're still buying two passes to show how awesome we think this is. (No, you can't have the other one. It's symbolic.)
Children's Week Child's Play auction is live
Children's Week is here, and with it this year comes our friend Brigwyn's Child's Play auction. You can look through all of the available items in his on-site catalogue, or head on over to eBay and start bidding on whatever you like. All of the proceeds from the auction will go to help Penny Arcade's very worthy Child's Play charity, which goes to help put videogames in hospitals where sick children can play with them. Brigwyn himself has experience with their work (which he's written about over on his site), so he knows just what kind of good they can do.And of course, we'll point out our own contribution to the auction page -- we've donated a free guest spot on our podcast, the WoW Insider Show. If you've ever wanted to tell me in virtual person how wrong I am, or encourage Turpster's already oversize ego, or weigh in with us during the Meat of the Show, now's your chance. With your bid there, not only are you helping children who are going through some terrible experiences, but you might also get the chance to speak your mind about World of Warcraft right alongside us on the show. Oh, and we'll poke around our WoW Insider prize closet for some other fun stuff for you, too -- maybe loot cards, a Turpster drawing, or whatever else we've got sitting around.So please bid -- on our item or any of the others. There's also some loot cards, some items from BRK and other well-known bloggers from around the community, and lots of extremely fun one-of-a-kind WoW items (Sure, this original signed art by Cadistra of WoW, Eh? is nice, but a Hooter's t-shirt? That's Epic if we ever saw it). The bids are coming in already, so please get yours in there ASAP!
First PAX '09 details revealed
PAX is set to begin September 4 in Seattle, and today the organizers revealed some of the first details of what revelers can expect at the geek-a-palooza. The event is expecting over 60 exhibitors, including Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve, Blizzard and many others. Sony isn't currently listed and we've contacted the publisher to ask if it plans on attending.The nerd herding event will also feature performances by Freezepop, Jonathan Coulton (sing "Brookline!"), MC Frontalot, Anamanaguchi, Metroid Metal and Paul & Storm. Registration is already open, with a three-day pass costing $50. Remember, this is one the few events where having the best-looking velvet dice bag makes you cool ... don't be the guy that shows up with dice in a Ziploc bag.
European PSN releases for April 23
Plenty of content to choose from today on the European PSN Store. PS1 releases continue with two uninspiring titles, and there's another torrent of DLC to grab for all your favorite games. There are also a couple of PS3 demos to check out and PSP owners have a couple games of their own to pick up. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
First Penny Arcade Adventure brings full humor at half price this week, more April deals revealed
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Turbo HD Remix, Episode One is on sale for 800 over the next 168 hours (give or take a few). At $10, the bite-sized RPG is worth the cost of entry for fans of the genre -- enjoying the Penny Arcade comic isn't a requirement. Microsoft also makes note of some upcoming deals. Next week, starting April 13, (please make these long titles stop) Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Co-op Collection will infiltrate Xbox Marketplace for 320. The following two weeks will offer Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09's "Spyglass Hill Golf Course" and then NBA LIVE 365 at 400 and 560, respectively.%Gallery-16607%
PAX East registration is open ... only 356 days to go until show
With a little under a year to go, PAX East registration is now open. Taking place March 26-28 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, a three-day pass will cost $50, while individual day passes are $30 -- add $5 if you're planning on picking up your tickets the day of the show. So far, no exhibitors, participating hotels or schedule of events are posted. Take it from a Bostonian, you can stay in any hotel near a T stop (we should probably do a post detailing this) and make it to the convention center in under an hour. If you're planning on going to GDC, don't worry, that show takes place March 9-13 in San Francisco. It'll certainly be interesting to see how game marketing and PR treat this new high-profile East Coast gaming convention. Team Joystiq will be there in full force ... considering a third of our staff is within driving range.[Via Kotaku]
Penny Arcade creators honored by Washington State senate
Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, founders of Penny Arcade, are legendary folk heroes to much of the gaming community. For ten years, they've served as unparalleled industry commentators, strong vocabulary enthusiasts, and proponents of citrus-assaulting robots. However, these virtues recently took a backseat to their more charitable contributions to society when Penny Arcade was discussed on the floor of the Washington State senate, where legislators adopted a resolution honoring the two men for their philanthropic exploits.Senate Resoultion 8640 ennumerates the achievements of Holkins and Krahulik, such as their successful webcomic reaching its 10th anniversary, the launching of the Penny Arcade Expo, and the $4.5 million raised for improving the lives of hospitalized kids with Child's Play. While we're sure they would have preferred a law being passed in their name which mandates the death penalty for people who drop out of online games when they start losing, it's still a pretty cool gesture.[Via NeoGAF]
PSA: PAX 2009 now accepting your registration
Where can you discover the wonders of puppetry, rap with game developers, ogle cosplayers, and hang with the Luddites in a three-story annex of board games -- all while getting quality time with upcoming games? If you answered, "PAX," we salute you. If you said: Poughkeepsie, New York, we'll give you a second guess.The Penny Arcade Expo is one of our favorite gaming events, hands down. The East Coast version of PAX won't launch until 2010, so you've got one more opportunity to make the pilgrimage to the original Seattle location. Lucky for you, registration opened today! You can pick up a three-day badge for just $50, and pre-registrants are also eligible to participate in the Omegathon gaming competition. The grand prize: all-expenses-paid trip to the Tokyo Game Show and, uh, other prizes. Plus, we'll be there!
