Usually when I heard that a brand has been spun off into some other take on the franchise I cringe instinctively. That's not exactly fair, because some of my favorite games have been born in this way: Final Fantasy Tactics is an excellent game in it's own right, thought it leveraged the most potent brand in the universe. Heroes of Might and Magic itself was a spinoff, and you'd be a fool to hold that against it.

This post isn't actually about World of Warcraft.

We got to thinking that since the show isn't 24 hours, and there are some types of games that require a little more permanence, we'd take advantage of the ballroom the Doubletree gave us so you could kind of create your own convention.

Reactions to the Xbox 360 pricing have been all over the place, most of what I've seen is bad, but at the end of the day I doubt it really matters. People buy what they want to buy, even if it places them in mortal danger.

Some kind of Horde elementary school field trip stopped in Goldshire a couple nights ago. We called their parents and sent them all home. Crazy kids.

We've got a thread going in the forum where you can kick out questions for our panels - they're all listed there, and it'll help us prepare for the event a little bit.

We picked up Geist, mostly to make comics about possession, and ended up practically affixed to it for hours.

Fruit Fucker Prime is now available in the form of a very nice 8x10 laser cell. This is one of our smaller not so limited edition prints. It looks real nice though and it’s the perfect size to put up in your cubicle, your locker or even your prison cell.

It's been two weeks since PA took root on the Dark Iron server with the intent of crushing the Horde. Hundreds of people have mailed me to tell me that playing in a PA guild and battling the Pandas has reignited their love of the game. Speaking personally I can say that I intended this mage character to be an alt, but I've haven't played my level 60 rogue in two weeks. I'm having such a fucking blast on Dark Iron it's ridiculous. Last night I grouped with players from "Cardboard Samurai" and "Annarchy" in an effort to complete some quests that were a bit high for me. It's just cool to know that you can fall in with any of these people and be confident that it's gonna be a good group.

Many gamers aren't aware that there is a place for those desperately in need of skillz, a judgement-free environment where you can invest points in the ability trees that interest you. Please call today.

I’d like to draw your attention to some new shirts over at Gameskins.com. Kiko has introduced a baby ringer version of his Jenkins Academy design. Also you can now pick up his defuse kit design in the form of a T-Shirt or a hoodie.

People often ask me how we write the comics. What the process is like. Let me lay out an average “strip day” for you.

We couldn't really say anything before it was announced, but the Penny Arcade card game from Sabertoof is a part of their "Universal Fighting System," a term which probably didn't make any sense. Well, they just announced their Soul Calibur set, so now you have a better idea what they're going for. Every set is mechanically compatible, so Gabe fighting Mitsurugi (or whatever) is entirely possible and perhaps even encouraged. Even if the idea of a PA set didn't turn your crank, there's probably some SC enthusiasts who might "dig" it.

It's just a fact that Gabriel doesn't know shit about Lakeshire, let alone the surrounding Redridge Mountains. The creatures we were after are about ten paces out of town, indeed, you can see one wave a furry paw from the hills that overlook it. Instead, we were treated to giant birds, vicious boars, baby dragons, and the war-skilled orcs of the Blood Drinker clan. What was his fucking plan, here? Was I supposed to catch them all?

If you pre-registered for PAX and you have not yet received your pass in the physical mail, please send an electronic mail to pax@penny-arcade.com .

If you pre-registered for PAX and you have not yet received your pass in the physical mail, please send an electronic mail to pax@penny-arcade.com .