Apparently there's a new Tribes game in the wings, but the days where news like that would have gotten a free pass around here are over. The only thing Vivendi's thrall race Sierra could do to get me back in the fold now would be to license Tribes out to a third party I actually trusted. It is my secret hope that the release of any new Tribes title will stir up that ancient enmity between ourselves and the vile TribalWar, as I look back with fondness on our original conflict. When you say smart things that engage the mind and then your opponent says ridiculous, idiotic things that make people dumber just for hearing them, well, everything is right with the world.

If you don't like Equilibrium I'd say you are just too fancy for your own good. That's understandable though, I mean every one is fancy about something. Tycho won't read a book if the author's name is bigger than the title. I think Thomas Kinkade is a fucking hack. If all the moms between the ages of forty and sixty were to disappear tomorrow the man would never sell another print. I am sure that everyone feels like they are an expert on something and that only the best of that thing will suffice. The problem is that most people who review things are the very people who seem to have the most hang ups about that thing. This makes their reviews worthless to the rest of us who simply enjoy watching movies or reading books. So Mr. Moviereviewerman, you think Equilibrium had a "derivative, punch-the-keyboard plot." You think it was "crude, but occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, merely for its sheer ridiculousness." You think that a movie like Equilibrium is just too far below your standards. Well I bet you twenty bucks you have a painting in your house that you bought because it matched your couch, how fucking pedestrian.

Two new pieces from people who makes games today, the first from Morgan Jaffit (who has been with us before) and the second from Chris Stewart, on the recently completed Treasure Planet: Battle At Procyon. Take a look.

It is safe to say that we were both pleasantly surprised by the movie Equilibrium. Perhaps him more than me, but I'm still just learning to enjoy movies that don't have French titles.

Okay it's about 6:00 pm and I am going to reset the voting, keeping the top three contenders. Some people wanted pictures of the characters so I have added little thumbnails of each. Oh, and if Samus wins it will be a pic of her without her helmet;)

December is going to be a crazy month for me as I am sure it will be for many of you. It just seems like there is so much shit I have to get done in December. Our good friend Stephen is coming to visit this month. He is flying all the way from London to spend a few days here. I always enjoy hanging out with Stephen because I learn new words like Bollocks and Quid. We also treat him like he is from a third world country whenever he is here. We turn on the faucet and explain how in the US we have luxuries like running water. Then he makes a face like he is thinking about killing us. Its a little game we play.

I am satisfied that this speaks for itself.

I gotta crack out a Penny Arcade Christmas card today but I wanted to talk to you about advertising first.

Gabe's affection for straight-up action is slowly creeping into my own tastes, a failing for which I will have to answer to God.

I'm getting my stuff together for the MOP LAN Party this weekend, and when loading the CD's into my CD case it seemed to me such a motley connection of weird crap. I don't even know how half of this got in here, but it's such a messed up cross section of the last six years that I had to post it. Some of these things are shameful, but I'll leave that for you to determine.

I'm as shocked as anybody, but Gabe is completely into Asheron's Call 2. I invariably must play a game like this by myself until I find a somebody to crew with, but it's actually him that suggested it. Having never played a game of this kind, he couldn't understand the fairly random distribution of loot gained by victorious combat - i.e., what is this Rat Man doing with a lute? There are, of course, many possibilities - though only one seems truly plausible.

It looks like we have the same incentive to pre-order the new Zelda that they did in Japan - that Zelda 64/Ura Zelda bonus disc. If you don't know what I mean, give this link a little clickeroo.

My nightly MechAssault partner, Kiko of Gameskins.com fame has just informed me that Penny Arcade shirts are back in stock. If you have been dying to get your hands on either a Wang Fu or a Shut your Pie Hole shirt now is your chance. I know it sounds cliché but you should get them while they last. Wang Fu especially has a way of disappearing with a quickness.

I get press releases all the time, but I usually don't post them because I don't find the content terribly interesting. This stuff warrants mention.

I'm also crazy about Acronyms, and to it warms my heart to present to you the Penny Arcade Internet Notification Tool. With us posting more here, and at odd times, this tray utility will let you know when we put something up. Feel free to grab a copy, and if you like it, please let its author Neil know that you love him.

When I professed my nearly psychotic fascination with HBO series shows like Oz or The Sopranos, many people wrote in to suggest that Band of Brothers was not to be missed. It's out on DVD now, I honestly don't know when it came out, but I hope it was recent or else I'm telling you something you already know. The Boxed Set is a very nice little production, though almost overwhelming in expense when purchased at retail - renting each of the five DVDs or queueing them up on Netflix or whatever is probably the more sensible approach. I've only just seen the first one, and it left me so satisfied I wanted to take a nap.