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http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/25

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/11/22

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/25

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/11/22

Yes, yes they are. It's a simple case of selective enforcement. Spainards will have to download their WoW patches via P2P safe in the knowledge that Blizzard will not sue them.

That doesn't sound like a Windows problem, that sounds like an Adobe problem, or possibly a driver problem... Or possibly a Windows problem, but that wouldn't be my first assumption.

Blame where blame's due; Windows has its flaws, Office has its flaws, Microsoft has its flaws. But when comments like this are made, I envision one of two things:

• A script kiddie who thinks he's super 1337 and tinkers with stuff about which he knows nothing, then gets frustrated and blames it on Windows being broken.
• The quintessential rapid fanboy, who cares so much about loyalty to some pseudo-indie megacorp or some vague idealistic movement that anything beyond those boundaries defaults to evil/substandard.

If we use anecdotes as a metric to guage product quality, Windows is the most amazing OS ever. My seven machines at home that I use for audio/video/image editing, 3D modeling, gaming, development, and lab machines never crash... ever. My 1000+ user environments that I architect using Microsoft solutions almost never have an issue, and even less rarely an issue that is caused directly by an MS product. OTOH, my Linux box has never had all its hardware working concurrently, it crapped out when I tried to recompile my kernel, and I can't configure it the way I want. Clearly this means Linux is the paperweight, and Windows is, like, deus ex machina, right? No; it simply means that Windows is the right platform for my needs, and I know enough about it to make it work for me. And that I'm a clueless Linux n00b.

It's amazing: PA already covered this.
Clicky.

You've been on that game for two hours straight? I just DARE you to go past the boss battle, after you defeated it, without saving.

Personally, I prefer this synopsis:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/04/30

That's right. We need more money! A monthly subscription fee to play a legally addictive game is not enough. We need to completely own their lives and money.

Are you kidding? Some people seem to not even have a life that doesn't involve screaming into a mobile phone. Yay for sitting next to the guy who's just got to tell everyone in his phone book that he's on a train, across from the codependent chick wanting to do everything together with her boyfriend and god forbid that they're not in contact at every hour (actually, she sounded so obsessed, she sounded more like "stalker" than just "codependent"), and a few other such specimens which can't just shut up for at least 5 minutes of a 5 hour train trip.

Frankly, when I saw this Penny Arcade comic strip, I thought I had actually been around people like that.

What makes you think that that kinda people would stop talking in a thunderstorm? I can just see the same specimens under some crude picnic/fishing/bus/whatever shelter, screaming into the phone, "YES, I'M IN THE WOODS! CAN YOU HEAR ME? IN THE WOODS! WHAT WAS THAT? THERE'S A THUNDERSTORM HERE! CAN YOU HEAR ME? THUNDERSTORM!" Or I can just see the girl mentioned above shivering under some tree in the rain, but unwilling to stop being in contact with her boyfriend even then.

Some of them do...

And to agree with the earlier poster: Whoever's greenlighting chick films like "50 first dates" and "Phantom of the Opera" for testdriving a new medium needs a new job, preferably selling hot dogs on a street corner, to get an idea of what a market actually asks for.

Wiretapping != griefing.

G.I.F.T. is probably more accurate.

Yeah, the ads are supposed to be placed in a magazine, so that a kid who sees them would have to turn the page around to see all the words. At least thats what the guys from PA said in their corresponding post. http://www.penny-arcade.com/2006/06/07

Personally, I do think these ads should be placed in magazines that parents would read, not just the ones that kids would be reading.

Unfortunately, the ads won't be like the back page in MAD Magazine, so you can't fold Line A to Line B and get a 'hidden' picture and message.

Good points. (However, I think parent *may* have been joking.) This made me laugh when I saw it.
King Kong Spoiler Alert! http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/05/

You're probably right. Motherfucker loves Cheetos.

They are. The ESRB contacted the great guys from Penny-Arcade to come up with a new ratings awareness campaign. Here are two links below. http://www.penny-arcade.com/esrb_andersons.jpg http://www.penny-arcade.com/esrb_sarah.jpg

They are. The ESRB contacted the great guys from Penny-Arcade to come up with a new ratings awareness campaign. Here are two links below. http://www.penny-arcade.com/esrb_andersons.jpg http://www.penny-arcade.com/esrb_sarah.jpg

People who love porn would not mind DRM or any other restrictive technology - most porn lovers don't wish to have their names advertised, and a bit of money is not an issue.

I dispute the premise that shame is a bigger driver than good old customer satisfaction, unless you are talking about unusual proclivities. Going by observable evidence, I perceive that embarrassment about mainstream porn is relatively low. Yes, there are some demographic and geographic areas where this is untrue, but blue-staters under 40 (and certainly under 30) seem to be pretty calm about it.

to port of Barbie Horse Adventures.

The problem is not with people sincerely expressing unpopular views, but malicious trolls who look for ways to annoy as many people as possible. With unrestricted anonymous posts, they could, eg, automate posting thousands of garbage posts. If they do it now, hardly anyone notices, as they're not displayed by default, so few bother. Or spammers would set their robots to post stock market tips or fake Rolex ads. This is a very high traffic site, it's a high value target for defacement. In fact, one of the reasons editorial quality is so low is that much of their time is spent fending off such crap. Besides which, creating a pseudonym to post under doesn't compromise your anonymity.

Further reading: The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/05/08

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/08/28

Unfortunately for your point, these comics don't describe the letter system at all.

I disagree. Although we haven't seen the M or AO rated yet, I think the idea of the comic is to present each character for each rating. These characters (and the way they are portrayed) are supposed to present to the viewer the age group the particular rating is for, and perhaps even why.

There are explanations on the posters themselves (it was designed to be on magazines so people would turn turn the page around to read the text). E for example, has this to say:

Because the Andersons play games, there's a system in place to make sure they bring home the right ones. This is how that system works: First, Mom and Dad select games using the ratings on the box. Step two, everyone gets a controller. Step three, the kids win. This quality time is presented by the ESRB.

The ESRB ads will not make use of Penny Arcade's existing stable of characters

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/09/30

Final Fantasy, we're looking at you here.

I like the games, but the sidequests take 100's of hours of devotion each. If you want to use sidequests to increase available "completion" hours for your PR guys to throw around, fine. But at least make it fun. By the way, dodging 200 lightning bolts for Lulu's ultimate weapon was... just... I don't have words to describe my hatred for this task. It's a flippin' RPG. If I wanted to play a twitch-relex game, I'd play DOA or some other fighter... (No, I didn't get it...). But, I'd rather grind levels 1-60 on WoW than deal with FFX's monster arena.

Anyone remember "Legend of Mana" on the PS1? I do... you could get the ultimate weapons, but powering them required 20hours+ each. FAQs for this game are about as extensive as Kingdom Hearts 2.

I even took a starcraft strategy class in college--for credit!

Seems Gabe and Tycho agree with the article: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/05/05/

Regardless of what they think about the ESRB I've never met anyone who doesn't agree that a rating system is important. No one wants little kids playing games designed for adults. The ESRB isn't perfect but it's all we've got and we as gamers can either bitch about it or try and help.

I'm just a simple caveman-parent. This world of "console games" and "computer software" frightens and confuses me! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts.

Regardless of what they think about the ESRB I've never met anyone who doesn't agree that a rating system is important. No one wants little kids playing games designed for adults. The ESRB isn't perfect but it's all we've got and we as gamers can either bitch about it or try and help.

I'm just a simple caveman-parent. This world of "console games" and "computer software" frightens and confuses me! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/05/08

I submitted about the Penny Arcade efforts with the ESRB a few days ago, but the story was rejected. Enjoy.

Basically, the PA guys are working with the ESRB, drawing and trying to revamp the ESRB categories to make them clearer to everyone. It looks like a nice effort.

...because THIS could be the source of his face shooting obsession :)

Although the specific reference is to mouth shooting!!

Just a thought :)
err!
jak.

I'm shocked. Shocked!

The same is true for all consoles and all games (as long as they're actually running in real-time on the real hardware and are not just bullshots or "target renders" *cough*Killzone2*cough*)

Huh? I thought Power Rangers tried to teach kids to buy cheap plastic "swords" made in Chinese sweatshops.

Good = giving your money to $SOULLESS_CORPORATION, even if it means stealing from mom and dad
Bad = selfishly keeping your money from $SOULLESS_CORPORATION

Penny Arcade isn't exactly one of the places to find biting social commentary, but they really hit the mark on this one.

The Playstation generation. hint: it's a series of 4. hit 'next' a few times :)

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/09

Alternatively, give an inch, take a mile.

I've often wondered who was inspiration for the guy in this comic. Now I know.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/03/14

Pictures of the twins!

So, in the game you are role-playing a character who is role-playing in an MMORPG.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/05

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/10/07

If I buy just 20 games for a system at $50 a game, that comes out to be $1000.

At 50 games for each console, the PS3 only costs 11% more.

At 50 games for a console, all apparently paid for at full price (which you see fond of), you have an insane amount of disposable income, and money doesn't matter.

Meanwhile, 20 games remains a respectable personal library. Many people will pay less than full price, buying some used, getting some as gifts, getting some from friends who are tired of the game. Those 20 games will be spread out over 2 or so years, so a game purchased 2 years after the purchase of the console is effectively much cheaper because that $50 was sitting in a bank account earning a few percent interest instead of having been spent on a more expensive system. Finally, you're assuming that most Wii games are going to run $50. Given Nintendo's goals (to make the Wii mass-market in far beyond any other game console ever), this seem unlikely.

Ultimately, Sony is asking for $500 right now. (Well, when it ships) For many people this means saving up to purchase a PS3 ($500 for the low end) and a single game ($50). For that same amount of saving, someone can purchase a Wii (Let's use the pessimistic $250 estimate), a second controller so they can play with a friend (say $50), and five games (using your pessimistic $50 estimate = $250). They can swap games for controllers, so if they'd rather be able to support a four player game immediately, that still leaves them with two games. Or, if saving up $550 in a single shot is a bit much, they can buy the console and a single game ($300), then purchase more games as they save enough to purchase them.

Putting it in other terms, with the money a college student saves buying a Wii instead of a PS3 he can buy a pretty good 27" SDTV to play it on. Assuming he already has a television, he can buy a $40 DVD player and assuming he pays the ridiculous $40 per disc, 5 movies to watch on it. Or even more realistically, he can have himself 50 pints of beer at the local overpriced college bar.

Price matters. To claim that it doesn't means you're lucky enough to have no real money concerns, or you've been drinking Sony's kool-aid.

I refer you to Gabe's experience with such.

Maybe at some point [my son] becomes a teenager this is likely to change and he will make some evil PVP ganking toon and spam "lolrz" everytime he whacks a low level player. *shudder*

You do realize that, if that happens, as his parent, it's your responsibility to beat the stupid out of him, right?

http://www.ducttapefashion.com/ oh, wrong tape... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_tape It's still cheaper per bit that hd or optical, and has proven life. You're not going to see it in common computers, but for things like the internet archive, http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/07/01 Where the cost of hard drives is prohibitive because the amount of data is HUGE, it may just make sense to use tape.

Personally, I think it's because we all secretly admire how Snake manages to be cool in spite of a mullet and a little math teacher mustache.

Obligatory Penny Arcade link. I just hope it's better than Black & White. For some reason, I could never get into that game. The ideas were great, but it never jelled for me.

... Kratos will need some Anger management therapy again...