I bought Jak II and Max Payne 2 on the same day. To me they represent two very different ways of creating a sequel to a popular game.

I was desperate for information about Max Payne 2, so I called Gabe the moment they would let me turn my cell phone back on. He's already bored, finds the action listless and repetitive, and really, really wants Max Payne to Shut Up. I grabbed it just to see for myself. Who knows what that reflex is - to see another man disgusted by something, and say to yourself, "I want some of that."

Holy fuck, Jak II is fucking great!

I got a lot of people sending me mail and asking if I would share my grandfather's thoughts on the Call of Duty Demo. To be honest it was always my intention to do so. In fact Tycho and I are working on an article that will include the interview I did with my Grandpa along with some commentary from Tycho and I. I will tell you that my conversation with him has made me look at these games in different way. I think it's a very important article and I want to make sure we do it right. So it may not show up on the website until next week sometime.

Necrophilia? Maybe that's going too far? I'm actually being quite charitable. Kevin Anderson has a body of work that exists outside Dune which I've heard is pretty good. Brian Herbert has a famous dad. Together, they have conspired on a book that descends below the rankest Small Wonder fan fiction, diluting the Dune Universe down to one or two parts per million. The book itself is condescending garbage, and while it holds forth the shape and form of genuine Dune books that structure is animated with the broad, explicit motions of a puppet show. It's clear that they read the original books, by which I mean plundered - raiding them, as tombs are raided.

Tycho mentioned our Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon comic is up now. Well the cover along with the first page anyway. I think the plan is to release a page a week from now on. I know that for many of you the page loads in a new window that does not allow you to scroll down and see the entire image. That should be fixed here pretty soon.

I had great time in Spokane this weekend. Thanks to all the people who came out and saw me at Merlyn’s. I got there a little early and bought some Batman comics. I intended to sit there alone for an hour reading comic books while my parents and grandparents shopped downtown. Instead I ended up spending three hours there drawing sketches, signing autographs and chatting about videogames. So thanks to everyone, I hope you guys had as good a time as I did.

Despite any ribbing we may have given the series, we're both pretty big Resident Evil fans - solved each one, and lined up happily to buy them again when the fancy versions arrived for the Cube. We're even excited about Resident Evil Outbreak, a multiplayer variation on the game. But when we imagine the sorts of conversations one might have with strangers while playing it, it becomes difficult to maintain that enthusiasm.

Gabe's heading out of town, going back over to Spokane to work on an article for Penny Arcade. He also wanted me to mention that he'll be hanging out at Merlyn's on Saturday, in case you were bored, which seems all too likely there. Spokane is a test market for eight or ten varieties of misery at any given time, the more potent depressions and existential crises that infect our nation and even the world start out in Spokane while they are tuned for maximum efficacy.

I tracked down their website here - when I left Spokane, it was about the only place you could really get dork stuff anymore.

Okay it looks like we’ll go ahead and have a little PA meet and greet in Spokane this weekend. I’ll stop by Merlyn’s comics and games at 19 West Main Street on Saturday at 1:00 pm. I’ll hang out as long as there are people there who want sketches or stuff signed. So if you live in the area come on down to Merlyn’s this weekend and bring all your friends. I couldn’t get a hold of my buddy who runs the joint but I’m sure he will be okay with it. I’ll try and bring some cool Penny Arcade stuff to give away if I can.

Half Life fans rejoice, Kiko has seen fit to bless us with a new design. Head on over to Gameskins to get your hands on his latest masterpiece.

The Cardboard Showdown website has been update with some pictures of their upcoming Penny Arcade MOD. I gotta say these guys are doing an amazing job. This month’s update shows off some of the character models and they totally blew me away. I told Tycho, this is exactly how I picture the PA universe in 3D. It’s like these sons of bitches are in my head or something because everything they’re doing is exactly how I would want to see it done. I can’t wait for this bad boy to get released.

Mainly for Gabe, but here's an article and a bunch of screens GamesDomain put up from the new Links. Won't be long now, it drops in about a month.

They aren't advertising with us anymore, but the Rubies guys gave me some kind of a code that is like a coupon for their game. Apparently, entering the referral code "FIVEFINGER" will guve you the first month for five dollars, that's after the ten day trial. So if you were thinking "I'd try that, but only if the first month were five dollars," boy do I have an offer for you.

The Playstation 2 version and the PC version connect to the same servers, which is pretty cool. Playing on the PC, Gabe asked someone for help on how to heal himself - and the felpful traveller told him to press the square button. After a fruitless search for this key he realized what had actually occurred.