One of the questions during a a panel at PAX had to do with the italicised line at the end of each day's post. They're almost always song lyrics, and back before we were paying for bandwidth (and before RIAA rape gangs were prowling the web) these lines used to link directly to the MP3. I maintained the practice afterward because it's sort of like a song of the day, and I like the idea that someone might be struck by a strange turn of phrase and seek out a piece of music. It also serves as a gauge of my mental state at the moment. Today's song, for example, is Stan Rodgers' incredible live version of the sea shanty "Rolling Down To Old Maui," which Pandora kicked out after about a week of tuning the station. I've listened to it about thirty times today.

Gabriel and I both are deeply invested in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I've taken the last couple nights to try to close out the brutal Stuntman: Ignition, because I won't be able to relax until I've sealed it in ultimate victory. But Metroid is always there, whispering, the Wii remote tucked there in the couch like a hatchet in a stump. It is ready for work.

You couldn't pay us to play Lair any more than we have already. The game has given me a new respect for the professional reviewer, because when a game like Lair hits their desk, they have no recourse. They must tread, as Dante did, down that scarred staircase and into the greasy throat of hell.

Gamespot is saying there's a reproducible crash in the new Tiger Woods for the 360, and that the Gamernet functionality doesn't work there either. PS3 version sounds clean. Next year, can you guys make sure you put your crash bugs into the demo, too? It would really help the consumer make an educated decision.

Last year's iteration of Tiger Woods had a fairly serious glitch in multiplayer, in that the game could not be played in multiplayer mode. Or, it worked sometimes, but there was no way to know how or when - what combination of dances and burning herbs would right this aloof mechanism. It was most likely the rush of new owners securing tee-times on simulated links, but after a week of trying to use the product without success I decided that I had better things to do than try and contextualize EA's grave miscalculations.

We never sit down with the firm intention of making another Bioshock comic - indeed, we intend the opposite - but somehow Bioshock comics continue to be written. One day, science will pierce these mysteries. Until then, you'll simply have to endure more strips regarding interactive storytelling's electronic opus.

I found a couple more really nice videos of the intro to the final round of the Omegathon. In case you missed it here's a couple different looks at it. This was easily the most elaborate thing we've ever tried to pull off at the show.

Wired has a pretty big article about Penny Arcade in it's latest issue. We've done a lot of interviews but Wired actually sent a writer named Chris Baker out to spend a few days in our office. Sort of like a geek version of Jane Goodall, He hung out with us all day and took notes while we played games and made the comic. Chris interviewed everyone here and even found time to question our wives and friends. Living with us the way he did I think he managed to get some pretty candid stuff out of Tycho and I. Things we might never have divulged during a standard interview. By the end of the week I think we all considered Chris a friend and a valuable addition to any Halo 3 team. The resulting article is a pretty complete look at our little company here as well as the most honest interview I think anyone's ever managed to get out of us. If you're interested you can read it online right here.

-Gabe out

Today's strip was actually drawn on stage at PAX on Saturday. Just like last year I had a little fun once the comic was done. I promised everyone in the theatre I'd post the PAX edit once I got home so here it is.

This is the comic that we drew - well, that Gabe drew, from my flawless transcription - upon the storied stage at PAX 2007. I'm proud of him, actually - he braved the tabletop floor in search of a game, a Gabriel first. Let me also relate with some pride that he now keeps his cards in a sealed deckbox. When he begins playing with a fully sleeved deck, know this: tears will flow.

We still think about Eye of Judgment quite a bit - sometimes I will sit in silence and think about it, or think about it while I lay dormant in my charge casket. I think about placing cards carefully on its luxurious cloth mat, smirking as distant foes are gnawed by my lizard proxies. We are overjoyed (joymax!) that they stuck with the new concept, the card thing, as opposed to the brutally sardonic original.

Rhythm games aren't my forte, but I have a lot of inbuilt experience with meter which helps me fake it until I can build genuine skill. And, as rhythm elements have crept into the entire medium, Tycho stock has been in a boom phase. It's understandable, then, that while I soar and illuminate - and Gabriel sputters, bound to earth - tensions related to my prowess have begun to burn red-hot. That is, until they cool again. These things have a way of working themselves out in the fullness of time.

It's floating around now, out there on the Wub, and it calls to you. Or maybe it does, I don't actually know. In any case, it can be got from 3D Downloads, the Fileplanets, GamersHell, or WorthDownloading. Download it from mulltiple sites simultaneously for a naughty thrill. God only knows how this would run on my Vista rig at home, but it's a Vista rig, so you can probably guess.