The whole reason I wrote that other post was to link the new article about it at 1up, and I didn't even manage to do that - here you go.  In a way, I'm glad I didn't link it before - in the intervening period, a new episode of the 1up show has dropped that has a ton of interview and video material for every part of Episode 2 - including TF2 and Portal.  It's the top video on this page.  Unbelievably delicious.

(CW)TB
 

A crafty puzzle/platformer 1) from the first person perspective and 2) with a unique gameplay hook which is also 3) set in the Half-life Universe is more than I can handle mentally.  The existing materials point toward a clinical, detached, (but most importantly) truly original sense of humor, which I guess is what happens when you hire Old Man Murray to do your writin's.

Another reason I have positive associations with it are that, yeah, this team is originally from DigiPen, our local game development institute - you can check out work and games from other students here. They showed their final project to the guys at Valve, and (to hear that interview tell it) before it was even over they'd been offered jobs developing an advanced version of their concept on their in-house technology.  Valve pulls directly from the community with extraordinary frequency, a philosophy so intensely moral I can hardly articulate it. 

Episode 2 is hitting along with Team Fortress 2 and Portal, in a single purchase, and it seems crazy that I would get all of that for twenty dollars.  They haven't announced pricing yet, and I imagine that's why.  I don't want to pay more than I need to, certainly, but one of the things I like about buying things directly from Valve is that I perceive it as being humane.   I don't want them to kill themselves entertaining me, and if they suffer at my expense, then I at least want to compensate them fairly. 

(CW)TB

Before PAX I mentioned that I had drawn a few cards for the World of Warcraft CCG. I posted the Leeroy Jenkins card and mentioned I had a few more. Things got crazy when PAX hit and I forgot. I remembered this morning though that I still had those cards to show you so here’s another.

It's available almost everywhere, actually, but we have it on our own store now if you do not already posess it.  I've seen a few out there in The Retail Book Fortresses, so should you desire a copy of Epic Legends Of The Magic Sword Kings, the process will be very straightforward.  I think it turned out really well, but I wrote all of it, and I get paid when you buy it.  So I might not be the person to ask.

Trivia:  The third book is called The Warsun Prophecies, which we already announced.  The fourth book is called "Birds Are Weird."

(CW)TB

FFXII's Gambit System is, and I am not exaggerating for effect, the mechanism by which you relinquish control of the game. 

There is some really nice HD footage from PAX available over at gametrailers.com now. They have a pretty slick behind the scenes look at how the show comes together as well as an interview with Gaybe and Tykoh from Pennies Arcadez!

I don’t read game reviews. I honestly don’t see any reason to. It’s not hard to rent a game and see for yourself if it’s any good. I don’t know why I should care what number someone I don’t know and will never meet has attached to the latest game. I picked up Enchanted Arms the day it came out because I’m a fan of classic turn based RPG’s. Now there are a lot of bad games in this genre but there are also some real gems. Series like Shadow Hearts and Shin Megami Tensei are proof that the genre has grown beyond just Final Fantasy. I’m happy to say that Enchanted Arms is another of the good ones. I’ve been hooked on it since I dropped it into my 360. Robert also grabbed a copy and we have little chat sessions every morning about how awesome the game continues to be. Tycho happened to hear one of these Enchanted Arms lovefests and was actually surprised. He told us that for the most part all the reviews of the game said it’s pretty bad or at the very best only okay. I was really surprised that reviewers could have gotten this one so wrong so I hit gamerankings to see for myself. I found the Games Radar review especially bad.

Like Chromehounds - another From Software game released to critical yawns - Enchanted Arms reviews haven't really communicated the game. I'm playing it over Gabe's shoulder, so I'm not the person to do it either. Were I you, I might keep my eyes focused on the area directly beneath this post.

I've read reviews that suggest Disgaea 2 basically the original Disgaea all over again - they say that like it's a bad thing. If you still have an appetite for Nippon Ichi's take on strategy after Disgaea, La Pucelle, Phantom Brave, and Makai Kingdom, then no force on Earth could suspend your ravenous hunger anyhow. Every time we load it we giggle and make little hopping jumps. Your mileage may very, especially if you have a low ceiling.

The comic is about toes. Also, bamboo. Technically it's about the interaction between toes and bamboo.

We actually created yesterdays comic on stage at PAX. After I had finished I started doodling all over the first panel. The fans in the audience made me promise to upload this version as well as the regular comic. So here you go:

It’s taken two days but I think the nervous energy associated with PAX has finally dissipated. Hopefully those of you that attended PAX 06 will agree that the event came off pretty damn well. Obviously there were some issues with the amount of people being crammed into that space but I think we made it work. The final count for PAX 2006 was 19,323 (almost 20,000 people!) and there is no doubt that we’ve outgrown the Meydenbauer center and thankfully this was the last year we will have to deal with that. PAX 07 will be moving to the absolutely gigantic Washington State convention center in downtown Seattle. We’ll have more than triple the space and we plan on putting it to good use. I was blown away by how understanding everyone was this year. I know we had some long lines and some big crowds but I never heard anyone complain about the situation. All I heard all weekend from people was how great the show was and what a good time they were having. You guys really are awesome.

It has become the Saturday tradition to do the next strip upon the expo's stark and terrifying stage, but since Armadeaddon needed its proper epilogue it got moved out to Wednesday. Gabe was highly indulgent of audience suggestions in the final version, far more than he is to me, adding many, many things based on them being called out from the microphone - he has a version with more additions still that he'll be putting up later today. But there are things in there like the blue ball in the last panel - to say nothing of the official "Hot-Dog Fairy" merchandise! - that began as anecdotes and have now graduated to true PAX lore.

There were some truly unconscionable spelling issues with the 1.0 version of that last post. I think I got them all.  But I am afraid to look.

(CW)TB
 

Here is the final sequence of Armadeaddon, which you may think of as a kind of bonus stage. The next time poor diet or exhaustion leaves us without rejoinder to infernal continuity, panel two should provide more than enough raw material.

I just wanted to give you all a quick update from PAX. Things are pretty crazy here but I thought you all might like to see a couple pictures Kiko took yesterday.