We couldn't let the Acclaim bankruptcy go without comment, though we initially let it slide thinking about the ordinary gamers who lost their jobs there. They don't have anything to do with Acclaim's malevolent Public Relations mongrels, and it wasn't they who hatched the Titty Bike genre either. Then, we remembered that we have absolutely zero social conscience and love to say mean things.

I believe that after today I will have decompressed every archive created over the course of the convention. I appreciate your being patient while I store this data.

We've talked about the Omegathon, as well as the noble Omeganauts that took part in it. We discussed the convention in general, but I had not yet mentioned the total attendance, because I didn't know: three thousand sixty, that we counted anyway, on thirteen-hundred and thirty seven pre-registrants. We hoped for two thousand. They swept in like locusts - chewing, always chewing.

I wanted to thank the industry professionals and others who sat on panels and filled the auditorium to capacity several times over. I was particularly delighted with the Pitch Your Game Ideas panel, though I understand that some people might have found the panelists dismissive. Trust this: those guys aren't any nicer to me - and when you're ready to pitch for real, you need to find a way to get those designs and your ego separated to a degree. I think I'm just used to it from working with Gabe in a creative capacity, but we've said things to each other about our ideas that - shall we say - leave no room for interpretation.

The Red vs Blue panel was pretty much wall to wall people, a fire hazard, and to be perfectly honest those guys probably deserve it. I've had a couple opportunities in the last couple months to hang out with them, and hopefully they agree that they should be back every year for PAX, so long as there is such a thing. Next year I'd like to see a store or something you could grab their DVD at, shirts, that kind of thing - people were clearly hungry for it, you could see saliva running all the way down their front. At least, I think that's why. Anyway, they were covered with spit for some reason. A Red vs Blue DVD probably wouldn't hurt.

I'm told that people enjoyed our panels, which is good, because they are an immense spiritual exertion. We can produce a facsimile of relaxation on stage, but let me assure you that speaking in that context grips us with terror. I always imagine that this is the sort of thing one gets used to, but yea, even unto five years of this that theorized state never arrives. Typically there are tables provided with microphones and whatnot, but we learned at the Ubercon that we really don't like sitting down when we are called on to operate the micaphone. It seems odd to be in repose when people come to see you, regal somehow. And, when you're already nervous, removing the capacity to move and work it out just exacerbates it.

We learned a lot this year, some of it the hard way. At any rate, the consumer E3 has now been inaugurated. Why it took two of the laziest people in the universe to get it underway is beyond me, but I have a sense that there will be a PAX long after there is a Penny Arcade.

(CW)TB out.

so gentle and so true