I mentioned a while ago that we were considering working with a local game store to hold some tournaments. We had heard about a place in Redmond that did that sort of thing on a regular basis called Famcom. We went to check it out though and the place was a fucking pit. Let me paint you a picture.

One, Corey from If Then Else Online wanted to thank you all for breaking his server last time, and he wanted to say that he has some bandwidth now for you to soak up. This young man made a very good impression on us at The Emerald City Comic Con, as well as the SakuraCon, so, if you wouldn't mind...

When discussing the Xbox version of Return To Castle Wolfenstein, I suggested that there were people out there running servers who had no business hosting them on their anemic connections. A human being wrote in to say that people shouldn't have to run their own Xbox Live servers. That is a separate issue, but in my opinion, it is quite a valid point.

This Thursday, a savings project that began the day I was married will come to fruition as I go from Seattle to Rome, and then Munich. I said Let's Go To Japan, and she heard Europe, but if that is the extent of the difficulties inherent in our eternal union then that's probably okay.

I'm sure Pandora Tomorrow means something to somebody, but I don't actually want to know what it means, because then the game will be over. Like Rogue Spears and Raven Shields, I prefer to think of these terms as beyond meaning. Gabriel thought people might enjoy the individual panels at a larger scale, and he was correct, at least in my case: sample vicher versions of Sam without accessories, with helmet, with glasses, and with simian. |p> I was hoping to see some of the new Splinter Cell in the UbiSoft booth at this year's E3, as my well publicized affection for the original game compels me to imagine its successor. As everyone now knows, multiplayer has now been confirmed for the title, and though one gets the impression from the press release that it will be cooperative in nature, that's basically all we know. We were trying to figure out how voice support might work in a stealth game, and it seemed like it might be interesting if the volume of your speech was detectable by AI soldiers and whatnot, necessitating low voices. Ever since I started appending voice support to my games with programs like Battlefield Commander a few years ago, I've been wondering when voice would become a real part of games, actqally integrated with the simulation. Voice recognition - as in SOCOM, let's say, where you can issue commands to your squad - is certainly welcome, but I am talking about a level of immersion somewhat beyond simulating a keyboard.

Tron is something of a fetish for me, and though all gamers in my age category may not feel a tingling downstairs when they watch it, I think it is fair to say that affection for the film - with its themes of electronic theology and geek empowerment - has maintained with very little attenuation.

You know how when we killed Jesus, he asked God to forgive us because we just didn't know any better? You need to show that brand of divine benevolence to these animals who mar gaming with their ignorance, with their sloth, and with their ineptitude.

Apparently Gamespy slammed LK2 in its review as well. Tycho will you please explain to me what is going on?

Paul Byrnes is a liar.

The Thickets are going to play at our thing?

Necrowombicon 2k3 in Vancouver (Burnaby) BC Canada "This year we have POWER!"

Three quick Penny Arcade related items.

Gabriel briefly discussed the Buddy System on Monday, and the rules for this system are uncomplicated. There are but three tenets:

I just got off the phone with Matt, producer for the title, and he told me some pretty dope shit. I was thinking about how the readers of this site allow us to lead a truly ridiculous life, and so I thought, hey, maybe they will want to know this stuff.

I just wanted to comment quickly on some of the other titles I saw at the show that really impressed me.

Let me tell you of the wonders I beheld at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.