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On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Awesome
Runefox wrote to point out that the boys at Penny Arcade have passed around the first trailer for their upcoming episodic PC game. Kotaku is link/hosting a flash version of the trailer, and a high quality one is on GameTrailers. As Runefox says: "While almost all can agree that the graphics, as they are now, will give small children nightmares, so, too, can most everyone agree that the Fruit F***ker is simply awesome." Earlier this week Gabe put up a post with more information on the game, and owns up to maybe having put out the trailer 'too soon'. "We were worried though that people might think this was going to be a 2D game if that's all they saw. So we decided at the last minute to attach some of the 3D work we've got. It's extremely early and it's missing some effects like cell shading and a few others.In retrospect we probably should have held of showing it but we were excited and we jumped the gun a bit. We still have a lot of work to do in order to really define the look of the game." The best tidbit: You'll be able to make your own PA-style character to fight alongside the boys. Good form.
I have known about this game as soon as it was announced, but I still have no idea what platforms it will be available on. Based purely on that lack of info, I would guess that it's only playable on a PC.
Is it just me, or do you hate it when people say "Is it just me..."?
can most everyone agree that the Fruit F***ker is simply awesome.
So awesome, the editors have to add an extra *. And leave out the question mark.
As a disclaimer I am a PA fanboy. But how you got that there is nothing worth buying from that trailer, I have no idea. It was just a few clips of character animations, no gameplay at all.
Gabe has stated the game will be adventure/RPGish. You'll be playing the role of an original character that you create at the start of the game. During the adventure you'll be joined by the various cast of PA.
For the $20 they'll be asking, I'll check it out.
Actually, I rather like the artistic style of the game. The environment seems a mix of Sam'n'Max crossed with Zelda. Cartoony, but well drawn and believable while not trying to push the "realism" button too much (like many games do nowadays).
Of course that says nothing of the gameplay or plot, but I'll keep an eye on this one to see what the reviews say about that.
It's very interesting to see Penny Arcade on the "other side of the fence", so to speak ... on the side of being a game developer, rather than just talking about them. You can definitely see this influencing some of their comments and blogs, for example their recent article on the controversial Denis Dyack / Too Human podcast. Dyack was on the EGM show lambasting one of the writers for calling last year's E3 demo "terrible". While he sounded quite insane and childish at times ("I'm telling you my game is awesome, you just have to believe me!"), he did make some interesting points regarding the state of media/press in the industry, especially when it comes to the notion of previewing really early builds of games.
At first, I was surprised to PA have such a calm response to Dyack's outburst. Other bloggers have said rather unpolite words to Dyack. But it makes sense, particularly because PA was probably in the middle of trying to make a similar decision. Should we show this early trailer of the game, or not? When it's "your baby", it does become quite personal if someone does criticize it really harshly.
-- jchenx
As a disclaimer I am a PA fanboy. But how you got that there is nothing worth buying from that trailer, I have no idea. It was just a few clips of character animations, no gameplay at all.
I don't know. Maybe that's exactly why he feels there is nothing worth buying. I like PA, but games made from comics, cartoons, and movies have a bad track record. PA does get overly self indulgent at times (Cardboard Tube Samurai), and that title does not inspire confidence that the game will feature the quick wit of most comics rather than the self-importance of the news posts.
I think it could be good, but I also think it could be awful. I haven't seen anything good yet.
Yeah, I can't say that I'm excited at all to play a videogame about or by a couple of dorks who have an occasionally humorous and often dumb digital comic strip. I would rank any such product up there with online flash games by Kraft like "cheesier macaroni blaster".
I'm sure they're nice enough guys. But fuck, it's just a god damn comic strip. Why not make a Slashdot video game? Slashdot is something I actually check out on a regular basis. I can't remember the last time I went out of my way to read an online comic strip. Might have been during a long boring weekend at the office a year or so ago...
Penny Arcade is for people who don't get Megatokyo.
Yeah, nothing sounds more exciting than playing a couple of gamer dorks who live together in their 30s in an RPG. The only thing I can imagine coming even close would be a Pogo sidescroller or a Calvin & Hobbes RTS.
There won't be any. They're going with speech bubbles, not voice overs.
If forums teach us anything, it is that logic and critical thinking should be required courses in the public schools.
They're not doing voice overs for that reason. They're leaving dialogue as bubble text (can't find the link to the forum post at the moment).
As Gabe and Tycho are often proponents of the 2d / Oldschool style of gaming, I had hoped their game would be 2d or at least pseudo-2d like Paper Mario. The intro looks great, the 3d stuff just doesn't do it for me at all, and it was a big letdown to see that come on screen. It looks like someone through together Penny-Arcade inspired Quake 3 models. Hopefully the end game will look more like the 2d art we've come to love. That said, I'll reserve judgment until it's finished, and buy it either way because I like what they do (making me laugh Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - and ChildsPlay) and wish to support them.
No need, it's stated by Gabe on the Penny Arcade home page: penny-arcade.com, Ctrl+F, "voice"
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
"I think it could be good, but I also think it could be awful. I haven't seen anything good yet."
Exactly.
I have faith that the game will be good, but there isn't any scientific evidence to back this up yet, just the fact that I like PA. But fortunately, like any game, such faith doesn't cost any money and reviews will be out once the game becomes available.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
You could argue that PA should be able to tell if they do make a bad game, and then decide not to ship it
That said, I give them enormous kudos for going on this venture and wish them the best. But I'm not going to hold them up to the same high standards you guys seem to be. Do I want a game that I have fun with? Sure! But "best adventure game of all time" is a lot to ask for
-- jchenx
... who is this 'Penny' girl?
And can she be turned to stone in this game?
-- "Oh. This guy again."
Megatokyo is for people who don't get laid.
No but she can be turned into clay with copper eyes.
Whether or not there is some sort of god, I'm not supposed to say/god is a word and the argument ends there-Smog
Best tidbit? I disagree: Mac compatibility is the best tidbit.
Finally, an awesome mac game. That's not WOW.
I'm fairly certain that neither the Tycho/Gabe nor the Mike/Jerry duos live together or have for a quite a while. All four people are married. Besides, we wouldn't be playing gamer dorks. We'd be playing someone else. They would be film noir style characters anyway. Not actual Tycho and Gabe.
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Drink deeply or not at all."
It's important to keep in mind that Gabe and Tycho (Mike and Jerry) are not actually writing a single line of code for the game. They are helping guide the creation of the game, but they really aren't development studio, and as such, they aren't really developing the title.
They are obviously going to have a good deal of input during the process, but to say "let's see how good a game they can make" is a bit silly.
It would be like saying that J.K. Rowling makes crappy movies if you don't like the Harry Potter series. While she very well may make crappy movies, she really didn't make the Harry Potter movies.
I've been a PA reader and a PVPonline reader for a couple of years now. Kurtz dropped his game references long ago, except for his occasional mentioning of WOW. His characters run a gaming mag - yet they never mention games anymore..(?).
Tycho and Gabe still do a lot of game references - but recently, its been console only.. and I was saddened to se no mentioning of the one most acclaimed PC games of recent time ( winning PC game of the year 2006 at Gamespot and doing exceptionally well in most reviews): Company of Heroes. That game has changed the RTS genre.. and should be reason enough for people to get back in front of their monitors and realize that gaming is not all Zelda, Tekken and Final fantasy.
I felt more intune with the PA crew, back in their Tribes days - but i still admire and respect them. I just wish they're metion some pc games, now and again (other than WOW).
Their gametrailer looks sweet.
- Mad, ingenous - they've both left you puzzled -
And if you'd prefer to play the trailer from mplayer, get the flv here: http://trailers.gametrailers.com/gt_fanmovies/um_1 001887-78768-PAteaserMASTER-1174019034.flv
Yeah! I've been playing the Calvinball RTS on my non-deterministic Turing machine and it's awesome.
By right of the rule of my superiority, I declare that we are fighting, and the first one to claim victory in this conversation wins! I win!
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