I was going to say that I don't know why a brand as massive as Blizzard would court the mainstream with this type of horseshit, but it's a dumb question with an obvious answer. Though I suspect there are two answers: the first one, that the mainstream has a lot of money, is relatively straightforward. The second, that there is something in the soul that cries out for recognition, for transmutation, to cease being the settled for wooden simulacrum of a boy and to instead be made real.

I think my first notes for the game that would eventually become Thornwatch are from 2011.

Gabriel's family is apparently the only force that mitigates him, because when they left last week for a few days he reverted to the creature I met twenty years ago - a kind of mad-eyed urban forager who is deeply confused about what constitutes food. Once he drank Sprite for months - I mean, like, in lieu of water - and his urine became thick and rich, like Mrs. Butterworth's. If left alone, I have no doubt that tiny crystal cities would rise from the thickest part of the puddle.

It's too much fun to depict the operation of a Fantasy Roleplaying Esports League. I mean it. I want to blow this thing out, like… do livery for every team in the league, simulate a tournament. Model the necessary and inevitable romances. Ultimately sell the property to an animation studio that produces a season anime.

When Hasbro's CEO was discussing the topic of "eSportz," I suspect he was primarily talking about the million people who watch Magic played online per month as opposed to Dungeons & Dragons, but conversation around the latter tended to dominate the social channels I frequent. That concept is too D&Delicious to pass up.

Fortnite's first Summer Skirmish faced unique challenges, but the one I can't stop thinking about was the fact that the game's quirky, slapstick vibe gets perforated a bit when the stakes increase.

We salute those who are now serving their fandom in San Diego.

The only reason I authorized this hateful, anti-Ballard propaganda is that it is deeply true.

As is known to all, but polite to reiterate, since time immemorial PAX has offered succor to the indie developer with the power of PAX 10. If I had been smart when I was naming it, maybe I would have tried to work in something about "PAX to the Tenth Power" or something. In any event: Here are your winners! Be sure to track them down at the show, and investigate this game garden curated by a phalanx of industry professionals.

We play Paladins every night. We were curious about Realm Royale at one point, which we haven't played since it launched, because we got slurped into the rest of their ecosystem somehow. Now we're in its fuckin' jaws to the extent that Gabriel is watching developer livestreams and shit.

And so, after going through all the stages of grief or whatever, young Gabriel emerged stronger and armed with talk show platitudes.

Certainly Mork has played it, and now I have as well. That is to say, The Crew 2. It's interesting. I'd love to talk about it.

It’s been a long time coming but I’m happy to announce that You can now pre-order Thornwatch and the Expansion the Dark of the Wood from the Penny Arcade store. We will be shipping them out at the end of the month on July 31st. So if you missed out on the Kickstarter, this is your chance to get your hands on a copy!

There are all these different thresholds you cross in an endeavor like this, and the newest one for Thornwatch is that preorders for Thornwatch: Eyrewood Adventures go up on the store tomorrow, July 10th. They should ship at the end of the month, after the international games have hit distribution from the Kickstarter.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing the Crew 2 over the last few days. I picked it up last week but didn’t end up giving it a try right away. I was working from home last Wednesday when I heard my boys downstairs load it up and I decided to let them have first crack at it. It took me a few hours to draw the comic and the entire time I could hear them downstairs laughing and passing the controller back and forth. By the time I came downstairs they were ready to gush about how rad this game was. I let them teach me the basics and by that evening I had purchased two more copies so the three of us could race together.

I can remember watching the stuff coming out of Nintendo a little while ago for the Pokemon: Let's Go series, the two Switchy ones that feature Pikachu and Eevee respectively. My mouth hung open a little bit. Among other things, here's what they managed to do: make the iPhone a Nintendo peripheral.