I was surprised to learn that games that are not Titanfall keep coming out. I grabbed Strider which had come out while I was gone. I also pulled down the FFXIV PS4 beta and I managed to get my hands on a code for Thief which actually won’t come out until tomorrow. I gave each of them a few hours this weekend.
I’m doing a second game night at Snapdoodle toys in Kenmore. This one will be Saturday March 15th from 4 to 8pm. I’ll be playing Tsuro of the Seas this time. Tsuro is a fun game that has you laying tiles down on a board to build and then navigate complex mazes. Tsuro of the Seas is the sequel and adds some fun new elements. Seeing as Gabe and I recently started playing Magic the Gathering there’s a good chance we will also bring our decks. We are novices though so you’ll need go easy on us.
It may not be apparent outside of my own mind, but the "PEIS" has a specific mission to promote games on mobile. PAX10 is more broad. But mobile is an especially scary place to make games right now, and I think there's good to be done thereby. Unlike a lot of games at a show like this, a lot of times you can just grab your phone out of your pocket and buy something you like right there. As magic tricks go, that's a pretty good one. This year's impulse purchases include:
Because he had to spend the week in Spokane, a haunted demiplane universally understood to be a cultural strip-mine, he thought he would "try" Magic to pass the time. "Try" it.
One of the "Stretch Groals" for the DLC Kickstarter was that Kris Straub (of Kris Straub fame) would animate some of them. The first installment of this sacred pact is now delivered. He's on the hook for another one of these, but... wow. I really liked this one. I'm starting to wonder if it should be a thing.
Tycho recently got back into Magic the Gathering and at the time I gave him a fair amount of crap for it. This was a game we played in Junior High. Kids with shoe boxes full of cards would congregate outside the band room during lunch and play on the floor. I knew it was still going strong but for some reason I hadn’t given it much thought in years.
We launched Club PA with the new site design and the response has been incredible. We honestly can’t thank you guys enough for the support. We have gotten a ton of great feedback on Club PA and it seems like people really dig all the extra content. There are a couple stand out elements that seem to be the biggest hit amongst the Club members.
Talking with Kenneth, our Server Dude Cyber-Warlock Person, his fantasy for Titanfall is what you might call a "Reverse Dust" which sounds like a skateboard trick. The purpose of Dust 514 (multiplayer shooter) is to embroider the heretofore largely theoretical elsewheres of EVE Online (multiplayer treachery engine). But the realities of their Heinlein-derived "weaponized orbital factory that shoots warbots" are something long to manage logistically! I want to make sure the breakrooms are constantly topped-off snackwise. Just imagine the spreadsheets.
I’m in Spokane this week to visit family and get some work done on my tattoo. Coming over here isn’t my favorite thing in the world but I brought plenty of stuff to do. I’m playing Spell Quest on my iPad, Muramasa Rebirth on my Vita, and Loadout on my Surface Pro. With all that at my fingertips I’ve hardly had to interact with human beings at all!
Even if I don't grab a specific bundle, I always watch the video which accompanies the bundle. It's, like... a thing. I like the syncopation of DRM Free and Helps Chari-Tee, both as they are presented verbally but also that these are two things to value. This one has Antichamber, Swapper, and Monaco, any one of which would be worth a multiple of the average; it's also got Austin Wintory's fucking piano shit from Monaco, and more besides. It's a bruising, vicious bundle, and should you forego it, I will be forced to mutter ineffectually under my breath.
It's true, everybody is talking about Titanfall. Today's strip is about Titanfall. It's entirely possible that Wednesday's comic is also about Titanfall (it's about Titanfall). I can help you understand: it is because games are almost never as good as you want them to be.
The official page just got updated, but I can tell you here also: Alex Rigopulos (CEO and Co-Founder of Harmonix[!!!]) will be kicking off the show. The bands are announced in there too, but I wanted to call out Bit Brigade (WOW) and The Doubleclicks, who have just three days left on their Kickstarter.
While we waited for the Titanfall Beta to accrete, we talked about our Valentine's Day plans. Or, I should say that he talked about his plans. I have a very hard time with things like that. It's no excuse, or it is an excuse, but not one that bears any kind of explicatory power and will not result in any kind of authentic amelioration. I freeze up to this day when it comes to any kind of scheduled romantic overture. You can get married, have two children, and still experience "first-date" style paralytic events!
We were sorta going over all the stuff we've been occupying ourselves with, trying to figure out which one of them might present a handle or might be transmuted into jpeg form - Loadout maybe, we've been playing that. Then I mentioned that I had, inexplicably, decided to become a Planeswalker or whatever. That's when he took the opportunity to card-shame, but I know absolutely every Goddamned thing about him. The ordnance lobbed in the strip was delivered because it would be effective; it's by no means the largest payload I have. There are profundities within profundities.
We have had a bunch of requests for a co-op game that Tycho and I can play together during a stream. So today we will fire up the Lego Movie Video game. Look for us to start around 2:00 pm PST.
The new site hit last night and we've been following all the feedback. The site is new and will get plenty of updates and tweaks as time goes on so if you’re not digging it, I would urge you do be patient and see how things shake out. With that said, you can always bookmark the http://www.penny-arcade.com/news page for a more familiar experience. This page gives you all the newsposts with full text and you’re just one click away from the comic strip.