Review guides that arrive with a pre-release game aren't terribly uncommon. There's no guarantee who will end up with the packet at most places, and there's an attempt on the part of the publisher to inoculate itself from worst-case scenarios by including a picture of the game controller with every function mapped to it. They want to make sure the reviewer picks up the right thing, and doesn't attempt to play their game with a stapler or a snowglobe.

I just wanted to make a quick post and let you all know that our Fallout 3 comic wrapped up yesterday. You can now head over to the official site and read the entire storyline.

I was able to coax Gabriel into hauling in his Playstation 3, where (upon launching LittleBigPlanet) we began humanity's greatest working.

This year at PAX we featured a hand full of really awesome independent games and we called it the PAX 10. We received a ton of entries and whittling them down to 10 was not an easy task. It was however a very fun task as it involved getting a bunch of our industry friends together in one room and playing games all day. We had a system set up so that you would "check out" a game, play it and then fill out a form that asked you to score it based on all kinds of different criteria. I played a lot of games that day obviously but one of my favorites was a game called Strange Attractors 2. It's hard to explain why it's so fun. Imagine a pinball table with a metal ball and you can manipulate the gravity of the various bumpers on the table to either attract or repel the ball. Even that's not a very good explanation. 

We managed to get a LittleBigPlanet key, without the use of divination I might add, which is expressly forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:9-11. I should be clear: when I say that "we" managed to get a key, what I mean to say is that "Gabriel" got a key, which he clutched close like an evil ring, and then scuttled home to install.

The demand for a print of Wednesday's comic minus the text was so great that we really had no choice but to deliver. You can find it right here.

In my mind, when you open a casket of Gamer Grub, a single white larva the size of a football throbs inside. Because they are purchased in these little silos, I assumed it was a beverage at first, which made the prospect of their Racing Wasabi flavor (Wasabi Soy Almonds and Peanuts, Wasabi Peas, Honey Mustard Sesame Sticks, etc.) a truly horrifying concept. But, no. They're just snacks, sprayed with supplements, and then foisted on an utterly disinterested populace. The press release suggests that the product is "Designed for hungry gamers who want to continue playing games while consuming snacks," something I could probably puzzle out on my own.

People sometimes give me really awesome stuff at PAX. I get stuffed animals, sculptures,poems,pins and all kinds of other cool stuff. One of the coolest things I received at this years show was an incredible pixel art painting of Kid Icarus from a reader named Woody. I was so impressed with the workmanship that I immediately commissioned a PAC-Man piece from the artist. Well it's been about a month and I just got a picture of the finished painting this morning.

In the steel womb of our sunken laboratory, we have discovered an odd principle. You're welcome to try it for yourself. Of course, this assumes that you are old enough to become young. If you are only twelve when you begin playing Mega Man 9, please be sure that someone is there to care for the resultant fetus.

Daniel James has a presence which extends somewhat beyond the borders of his person, so that when you meet him it seems like you are having a Very Real Experience.  As a game designer and a CEO (in that order), his company Three Rings is known for putting out incredibly quirky shit.  I asked him to write a piece because I knew it would be interesting, but also because (as the purveyor of several digital worlds) he's in a unique position to discuss it. - (CW)TB

I used to see Chris Remo at virtually every industry event I attended - this was back when I attended industry events.  He was always in the same spot:  camped out low against some wall, laptop open, the perpetual newsman.  I know that the intersection of DRM and the PC gaming community is a nexus of interest to him, and I wanted to offer up a space to collect his thoughts. - (CW)TB

With his wavy locks and hard-ass goatee, Brian Crecente brings a venturesome, tremendously Zorro quality to games journalism.  As Managing Editor of Kotaku, our paths tend to cross alot.  He's good people, and I was curious what he'd have to say on this week's topic.  Turns out he's kind of a poet.  - (CW)TB  

We just did a huge restock, so a lot of stuff is ready to go.  In particular, these things may intrigue slash delight you:  

I would say that your paintings are, in general, far more honest than your digital output.  What I mean by this is that you are a liar and your "work" constitutes a suite of hostile, spiteful acts against the viewer and humanity itself.  Those who have the misfortune of viewing your ordinary work - and I believe "ordinary" is the correct term - become less human as a result.  

I've still been painting most nights and I'm learning a ton. I suppose I could try and take a class or something but I've always figured that learning by doing is the best way to go. You make a lot more mistakes but there's value in that process. This latest painting for example got completely painted over three times I think.