They're not joining together in any visible way, and we must continue to endure their combined editorial output, so the announcement that GameSpy and IGN are merging is just like seeing Gamespy steal a furtive kiss from IGN at recess. When I read those sites, I am often struck by how little I actually want to. That sounds insulting, but I'm really trying to make a point. I don't read Car and Driver or Hot Rod or Good Housekeeping as a matter of course, but if I'm in a Dentist's office I'm going to reach over and flip through it. I have absolutely no investment in them. I read it because it's there.

Just uploaded them, you can check them out at the Child's Play site - the new stuff starts at 26.

The first two pages of our Rainbow Six comic are now live. My friends who have seen all the pages keep telling me this is the best stuff I’ve ever done. I know I’ve certainly pushed myself really hard on this project and come up with some stuff that I’m really proud of. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Tycho is really nailing the story and the dialogue. When he delivers a script as good as the one he’s making for R6 I sort of feel like the son of a bitch is trying to steal my thunder. So then I work even harder to make the visuals really kick ass. I can’t wait for you guys to see the next couple of pages.

Maybe you have already seen this but I hadn’t. This movie looks incredible.

I can’t possibly answer all the mail I’m getting regarding Child’s Play but I do want to say thank you to everyone who has supported the toy drive in one way or another. I’ll be updating the Child’s Play site again tonight with pictures of all the stuff that has been arriving today. Speaking of which I’d like to thank Ryan G., Kevin A., and Kong B. for all their help in unloading these trucks that keep showing up full of toys. It’s a lot of work and you guys really stepped up to the plate. Also I need to say a big thank you to the guys over at Rad Game Tools for their very generous donation to the toy drive. You guys are sweethearts.

We sort of have charity on the brain at the moment. Our best estimates - between toys people have purchased and money that has been donated - come to about thirty thousand dollars. I didn't use italics on those words, which pains me, but I want them to stand on their own. Thirty thousand dollars. Take a look at just what the first two days of orders look like, and you will know joy. People are taking this as partly a way to communicate our traditions to a new generation, judging from the amount of Namco Classics, Zelda Gamecube bundles, and Links To The Past they have there. We've got orders from Germany, Ireland, London, yes I know that's not a country, Australia, New Zealand... What you people are doing hardly seems possible, I think I had convinced myself that the world was a bad place where worse things happen. We need to figure out where to focus this beam next year, and soon.

I have a simple little website up now with some pictures of the toys that have arrived so far. You can see the page here.

My ticker is cool. The doctor says I am healthy, which is nice to hear. She isn’t sure what caused my chest pains but says it probably isn’t my heart. Things have been going so well with Penny Arcade recently that I just assumed something bad had to happen to me soon. I had always figured it would be some rare disease that would infect my boy parts and eventually kill me. When I started having chest pains I thought for a moment that I had been focused so much on an attack from my nether regions that I totally overlooked the possibility of my heart exploding.

The doctor told him it wasn't going to blow up or anything, which seems good.

People bought so many toys that they could not physically deliver them?

A few of you asked for something official from the Hospital regarding our toy drive. I understand that you never can be too careful. No shame in being certain that Tycho and I weren’t just going to take the toys and move to Mexico or something. Anyway here is the official letter from the Seattle Children’s Hospital:

I just wanted to make a quick post regarding the Links 2004 review over at IGN. Obviously the review is shit since it came from IGN. In fact they actually lied in part of it.

Once your heart hurts for more than twenty-four hours, it's probably time to go see somebody who knows about them. When he originally described the sensations he was experiencing, I thought he was simply feeling an emotion, something he might find disorienting. Nope, it was just the heart thing.

I would imagine that the great preponderance of you are, just now, awaking from a indistinct vision of roasted birds and heritage desserts. Was it real? And what should you see on Penny Arcade but a comic that references female genitalia with an almost harrowing specificity. I doubt this will be a template for future strips, unless in our wisdom we can find a way to make these organs evoke Deus Ex.

Wow, this is super cool!

This is from PA reader Poe regarding the LOK code mentioned above: