Reading The Independent Games Source earlier this week brought Kenta Cho to mind, and if you've never lost hours to his sometimes gripping shooters please do yourself a favor - unless you have a project or something coming up, in which case you should avoid the link at all costs.

There can be no doubt that I "protest too much" on matters of geekery outside the boundaries of good discretion. It is only raw will that keeps me from spilling over into the dark appetites of the full-on dork - the wearing of capes, the leading of other lives, and so forth. That I perceive a distinction between my own level of nerdity relative to others is probably itself illusory, but the notion must be maintained if I am to continue behaving with a smug superiority.

The Penny Arcade assault on the Dark Iron server was pretty incredible. Please check this forum thread for the whole story.

Scott and his wife recently started a new WOW guild for fans of his comic. Everyone is aware of our long standing rivalry so as soon as I heard this news the wheels were already in motion. Then I read this on his page today:

The concerts and Omegathon games have been finalized. On Friday Night, the show look a little sumpin' like:

Our new Gabe and Tycho laser cell is now available. It’s priced at what I believe is a very reasonable $25.00 and you can get it from our online store. This particular print is not a limited edition. We thought it was important to make a run of prints like this so that everyone who wanted to own a PA laser cell could. It’s the same quality as the larger limited edition prints and even comes matted ready for framing.

I really had escaped, you know - before my relapse.

Gabe just finished the cover for this year's PAX guide, and I thought it looked cool:

I keep trying to find the truth of the matter regarding the "enhanced" video capabilities of the 2.0 PSP firmware, and I'm not sure the fullness of it actually grokked by English speakers at this time.

Kiko (a.k.a. "Keeks LaRue") let me know that he's currently rocking two new garments: not only timely Leroy Jenkins attire, but a hoodified version of an earlier classic.

(To maintain the prior analogy, "alts" can be considered children. Of course, if you're on an RP server, that's probably true both ways. Nerd.)

Like Tycho said the game really does change as you progress. Since we hit level 60 Kara and I have started no less than five alts and are playing back through the game with new characters and having a blast. The problem we ran into at 60 is that our adventures became more like a trip through some sort of fantasy casino. At 60 we’re no longer gaining XP so what that means is that now we’re after loot. Like pretty much every other Rogue I’m hungry for the Shadowcraft armor and Kara like any good Druid is hunting down her Wildheart set. So every other night we jump into a ten man raid group and we run through one of the three instances that hold these rare treasures. Like a trip to Vegas this involves a lot of finger crossing and dice rolling. Every time no matter what group we fall in with it’s exactly the same. The most effective paths through each of these dungeons has been plotted out long ago and like a ride a Disney Land we simply latch the bar and follow the rails. The same mobs are pulled in the same order and through the same rooms while the same spells are cast for roughly two or three hours.

You really have to play this game. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Until something comes out that will wrest us from WoW and Battlefield, games industry, I warn you- it's baked treats from here on out. Unless of course you want to see an illuminating meditation on pies. Because the chances of that are really very high.

There were user-created means to apply wallpapers with earlier hacks, but for those of you checking out the new firmware it might be the first time you've tried them out. I just made this one for myself, but you're welcome to it. I'd link the artist's site, but last time I did that, I'm told that the rack which hosted her equipment burst into flames.

We were talking about this the other day, and I knew it was coming soon, but I didn't figure on a week or so - you can find it here.