Ten years ago Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik began a small webcomic a small by the name of Penny Arcade. First published on the site looneygames, then in its own space, Penny Arcade soon became the go to site for satirical commentary on the world of videogames. Now, ten years later, the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), a gaming convention held in (and around) Seattle, WA, seems to be the go to site for actual gamers.

Over 58,500 people attended PAX this past weekend, a good 13,000 more than initially predicted, and nearly 20,000 more than last year. With ticket prices ranging between $30 (single day pass) and $50 (three day pass), it's fair to say Jerry and Mike have been more than successful with their little online venture. It also suggests to me that E3 made a mistake in closing off its expo to the general public.

While the news of a packed house is quite exciting for the Penny Arcade team, and for those of us who wish good things for the Penny Arcade team, the 13,000 people beyond what was predicted, led to several complaints of overcrowding. Of course, in true Penny Arcade form, the team has promised to fix such problems for next year's PAX, which should be the last uber-crowded event, as PAX Boston will open up in 2010, diverting some of the traffic east of the Mississippi to Beantown.

Tuesday - September 2, 2008

We are beginning work on the LB Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Walkthrough and Strategy Guide for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game.

Per usual, you can check in on our growing guide as it's being written. Enjoy!

Game Guide: LB Mercenaries 2 Game Guide



Update: For those who need Mercs 2 help beyond the current scope of the walkthrough, please post your questions in our Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Help Thread in our forums.

Wednesday - September 3, 2008

Major Nelson has confirmed the the rumored North American Xbox 360 price cuts are no longer rumor. As of September 5th (Friday), you'll be able to pick up a beautiful new Xbox at one of the following prices:

Xbox 360 Arcade $199 (256MB)
Xbox 360 $299 (60GB)
Xbox 360 Elite $399 (120GB)

Here's a Business Week article to which Major Nelson points explaining their thoughts on this latest round of pricing. And, since Major Nelson is pointing it out, I'd imagine it's close to Microsoft's actual thoughts on this latest round of pricing.

Thursday - September 4, 2008

CVG recently got its hands on Europe's PlayTV digital recorder, and wrote an in-depth review of the PS3 peripheral. Amid the glowing response is this little nugget:

Or, brilliantly, you can export videos to your PS3's XMB menu as MPEG-4 video (despite rumours suggesting the feature had been removed). From there you can use it like a normal file - watch it on your PS3, put it on PC, transfer it to your PSP... whatever you like.

You can access PlayTV from your PSP via Remote Play, too, allowing you to watch live TV or stored videos through your portable.

Is it possible that Sony, the team that stealthily slipped its digital rights management software onto so many PCs to protect music copyright, is now allowing people to freely record and distribute video? Perhaps it would make more sense if Sony wasn't itself a major video distributor...

Crazy.

Links:
CVG review
Via Wonderlandblog

Friday - September 5, 2008

Reporting earnings for its third fiscal quarter yesterday, GTA publisher Take-Two Interactive made two big announcements. First, the company announced sales for GTAIV have reached the 10 million mark. For those keeping track, that's an additional 1.5 million copies since the company's last report on May 31st.

The second Take-Two tidbit should be exciting for DS gamers, as it was also announced that GTA: Chinatown Wars, the first GTA title to hit the Nintendo handheld, will be released sometime in the first quarter of the company's 2009 fiscal year. For those who don't speak Take-Two fiscal, that means we'll see the game anywhere from November 1, 2008 to January 31, 2009.

If you're wondering if the DS title will be in stores for Holiday '08, there's no guarantee. However, I'd say that if they miss it, they'll miss the first quarter altogether and use it for a second quarter profit boost.

Links: GameSpot article
LB GTAIV Walkthrough and Strategy Guide

Tuesday - September 9, 2008

A couple weeks ago we all received the tragic news that the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was being pushed back in the movie theaters from Holiday '08 to Summer '09. At the time, we didn't know what that would mean for EA's videogame, slated to be released alongside the movie (although we had our suspicions).

Yesterday we received confirmation that the game would also be pushed back to Summer '09. Today, we hear that this move will cut out $120 million from EA's projected revenue for the current fiscal year.

Ouch...right? Well, it sounds worse than it is. EA is certainly going to survive this hit, as it barely put a dent in the $4.9 billion the company is expected to bring in this year (and, yes, that number reflects the $120 million loss).

Can you believe videogames are now such a huge industry that a company like EA can simply brush off a $120 million loss? These publishers are now solidly working with billions of dollars. BILLIONS. And we spend how much on videogames? I think these people are in cahoots with the oil industry. I really do.

Links:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film delayed
EA's Harry Potter delay zaps $120M (Gamespot)
LB's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Walkthrough and Strategy Guide

Wednesday - September 10, 2008

While I'm more than willing to admit LittleBigPlanet looks very, very pretty, and that this promo-video, disguised as a nature documentary on the elusive Sackboy, is quite clever, the game just isn't doing it for me. I respect it. I understand why others will love it. However, it's just not my bag.

I am hoping this is a joke site. My optimistic side says it has to be. My pessimistic side (fueled by watching an election that is darn close to giving us another 8 years of George W. Bush policies) says it's probably real.

Here's the introductory post:

Yesterday I found out about a new game called Spore when my son asked me to buy it for him. It looked innocent enough at first and has “E for Everyone” ESRB rating. But don’t be mislead, apparently “everyone” means everyone they want to teach evolution to.

This entire game is propaganda aimed directly at our children to teach them evolution instead of creationism, or “intelligent design” ...

Where does one start? You know, I'm not going to. All I'm going to say is that those who think their children are so fragile that they're going to walk away from a videogame with beliefs that are different from your family's beliefs, then your child shouldn't be playing videogames. And neither should you.

Thursday - September 11, 2008

Before Stephen became a Republican blowhard, he was a sensitive artist with the band Stephen and the Colberts. Now, Rock Band gamers can download S and the C's most popular single, Charlene for for free.

In case you missed the group's work, check it out here:

Friday - September 12, 2008

Now I know why Sarah Palin is suing the federal gov't over making polar bears an endangered species. They're terrorists!!!

Thank God we have her, able to look into the eyes of the bears and see them for the islamo-fascist-eco-terrorists that they are. I mean, for Christsakes, they carry dynamite and run on two legs. There must be some sort of training program in Afghanistan!

Or, so it goes in the new flash game, Polar Palin.

It's embedded above...

Thank God.

Tuesday - September 16, 2008

As my friend Howie states, "Someone somewhere got paid to create a mutually beneficial relationship between baseball and Star Wars." Indeed.

Major League Baseball and LucasArts have teamed up to offer a non sequitur of a site where you can vote on which MLB player most resembles a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed character.

While you can criticize the "wtf?" factor of it, you do have to revel in the awesomeness of baseball and Star Wars on the same page.

View the site

Thursday - September 18, 2008

We are beginning work on the LB Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (TFU) Walkthrough and Strategy Guide for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PC versions of the game.

Per usual, you can check in on our growing guide as it's being written. Enjoy!

Game Guide: LB Star Wars: TFU Game Guide



Update: For those who need Star Wars: TFU help beyond the current scope of the walkthrough, please post your questions in our Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Help Thread in our forums.

Wednesday - September 24, 2008

We are beginning work on the LB LEGO Batman: The Videogame Walkthrough and Strategy Guide for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PC versions of the game.

Per usual, you can check in on our growing guide as it's being written. Enjoy!

Game Guide: LB LEGO Batman Game Guide



Update: For those who need LEGO Batman help beyond the current scope of the walkthrough, please post your questions in our LEGO Batman Help Thread in our forums.

Tuesday - September 30, 2008

OK, I know it's old news by now, but we've been really, really, really busy. Anyway, JACK THOMPSON HAS BEEN DISBARRED! Hahahahahahahahaha!

Mark Methenitis, Joystiq's Law of the Game attorney/blogger, says of the news, "While I know a lot of people in the industry truly dislike Jack, I hope people show a bit of respect for a man who has just lost his livelihood. I also hope people realize that this doesn't mean we've heard the last from Jack. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start his own nonprofit group to continue to advance his viewpoint."

I am an extremely compassionate person. In fact, I'm probably compassionate to a fault. But, all I can think of to say to Mr. Thompson right now is, "Suck it, Jack". This man has proven to be little more than an ambulance chaser and a fame seeker. He used families of victims of horrific crimes and said, "Videogames did this". Then, he went on to sue and/or threaten to sue anyone who dared speak out against his perverted view of gamers.

Mr. Thompson did this to himself. He is a mean man and he was disbarred because he broke the law...several times. I'm not going to show respect for someone who clearly has so little respect for me. So, good luck, Jack. I'm sure we'll see you again, but, at least we'll be able to laugh at you and your disbarment when we do.

Special thanks to NickT for pointing out that we had missed this very important story.

Just thought I'd drop a note to let you all know we have completed work on the LB Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (TFU) Walkthrough and Strategy Guide for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC versions of the game.

This guide clearly walks you through each level of the game, provides spectacular boss strategies, includes ALL Bonus Objectives and ALL Holocrons. In other words, if you're looking for 100% SW: TFU completion, this is the guide for you!

Game Guide: LB Star Wars: TFU Game Guide