Sometimes I am exposed to the larger culture. I'm rarely improved by the process.

Pax East is just a few weeks away and Robert has asked me to share some last minute info with you all.

It was a lot of fun watching this story mutate as the day progressed, warping in its essential shape, culminating in something like justice. A brigand has tasted his own medicine, and it is bitter.

Our book tour kicks off tomorrow here in Seattle at the University Book Store. From there we make our way to California. You'll be able to purchase our new Anniversary book at any of our signings (And we hope that you will) or you can just come say hi. This is our first book with our new publisher Random House and they are the ones that set up this book tour. This is also the first time we've done something like this and we really don't want to look like jack asses. So if you could come out to these signings we'd really appreciate it. Here is the complete list again:

We have invented an incredible new game. It is called, simply, The Game.

I called the expansion "Awakenings," as opposed to Awakening, which is the actual name.  It seems to me like they're missing an opportunity to give greater value to the customer, but if they're content (for whatever reason) to deliver a single awakening when they could have offered more that's between them and their conscience. 

I loved Dragon Age, and I loved making a comic for Dragon Age.

It is Friday and that means PATV has been updated with a brand new Blamimation!

Alright. So, Ubisoft's new DRM. Supports unlimited installs and Cloud-based save data. Requires absolutely unbroken access to their master servers, or the product ceases to function. I can boil it right down for you:

I just wanted to post a reminder here about our book tour. Starting next week we'll be hitting up the west coast promoting our new book, The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11½ Anniversary Edition. Here's a complete list of all the locations.

I don't mean to turn PA into an episode of Kids say the darnedest things but some of you might appreciate this. I was playing Star Wars with my son the other night when he said something funny. Little Gabe is obsessed with Star Wars and so much of our play time involves reenacting the movies. On this particular occasion he was playing the role of the emperor while I was Luke Skywalker. He had seated himself in my computer chair and when he spun around to face me I saw that he had placed a toy Lightsaber on the arm rest. He patted it gently and said "You want this don't you?" I could not help but laugh at how ridiculous the scene was. This bothered him and he told me not to laugh at him because he was the emperor and he was evil. "Yes I know." I told him and tried to get my act together but his little angry eyes underneath the hood of his Mickey Mouse sweatshirt made me laugh even more. "I'm bad." he said and as if to prove it told me "I litter!"

An old friend.

This is something that was brought to me as a legitimate avenue of concern.

The thrilling conclusion to the Ping pong match against Bungie is now up on PATV.

Gabe and I are beginning our descent into Rapture more or less simultaneously, so there's plenty to discuss. I'm still feeling my way around, seeking out the game's throughline. Gabriel loves it whenever there isn't shooting, and there is really quite a lot of shooting, which complicates things. What we both agree on is that Bioshock - and Rapture itself - are much, much broader subjects than the "gonzo shooters" which have thus far defined its chronology.

Ever since Gabriel posted the destinations for our book tour, there has been a steady stream of aggression amassing in his inbox regarding perceived slights towards specific cities or even broad regions.  We don't harbor animosity of any kind for particular geographies, we are not thus constructed; these decisions have everything to do with the limitations of your physical universe and your unrelenting temporal schema.  For me, every new place is a broad matrix of unmet people and unhad snacks, two quantities for which I have an endless enthusiasm. I won't presume to speak for Gabriel, who is more reticent than I when it comes these things, but for my part there is almost nowhere I don't want to go.