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It's funny. Laugh. Entertainment Games

Ask Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade 559

Posted by Zonk from the to-your-right,-jokes-about-alcoholic-appliances dept.
If you're a gamer or a fan of online comics, you've likely already heard of Penny Arcade. Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins have been writing and drawing their comic for almost exactly six years under the PA name and in that time they've grown into something of a representative voice for the gaming community. An honesty in dealing with the delays, hype, and frustrations of being a gamer has made their comic into a shared experience for dorks the world over. Recently they've been involved with their games-for-kids charity Child's Play, contract work for game-specific comics, and efforts to improve the grammar of forum posters. They've kindly agreed to answer our questions, so ask away. One question per comment, please. We'll send the best on to the gents and post their responses as soon as we have them.
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Ask Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade More

Ask Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade

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  • I'll post my question anonymously: (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:26PM (#10823795)
    Shitcock?

  • Dear Strong Bad (Score:5, Funny)

    by bperkins ( 12056 ) * on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:26PM (#10823799) Homepage Journal
    How do you type with boxing gloves on?

  • Tools (Score:4, Interesting)

    by cbrocious ( 764766 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:27PM (#10823801) Homepage
    My question is very simple: What tools do you use (both physical and digital) to create your comics?

    I'm a long-time reader and have always wondered :)

  • Advertising (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:27PM (#10823808)
    Do you pay the guy who links to your comics in almost every article posted on Slashdot? Is there are referal program I can sign up for?

  • Best comic other than PA? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by aetherspoon ( 72997 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:27PM (#10823810) Homepage
    What, in your opinion, is the best internet comic strip other than PennyArcade, and why?

  • Question One (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dgrgich ( 179442 ) * <drew@NOsPaM.grgich.org> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:28PM (#10823815)
    How long does it take for a strip to be born?

  • Time. (Score:4, Funny)

    by saintlupus ( 227599 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:28PM (#10823817)
    So, who's got the watch these days?

    --saint

  • They're representatives, all right. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Ohreally_factor ( 593551 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:28PM (#10823819) Journal
    a representative voice for the gaming community

    To say nothing of the juice machine community.
  • slashdotted?

  • How come (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stoolpigeon ( 454276 ) <bittercode@gmail> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:28PM (#10823824) Homepage Journal
    the characters in the comic don't look like you guys?

  • Your Job (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JediLuke ( 57867 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:28PM (#10823825) Homepage
    how much of your personal life does Penny-Arcade consume? On that note, great job, I love your strip.

  • Kickbacks? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Zardus ( 464755 ) <yans@yancomm.net> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:28PM (#10823829) Homepage Journal
    Over the years, your opinions on various video games have grown to be respected in internet circles, and how games are portrayed in your comic and writeups has an effect on whether or not your fans will buy them.

    Me question is: have any game designers/publishers ever approached you and offered kickbacks for positive reviews, and if so, how do you usually deal with the situation?

  • Question Three... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Bloodlent ( 797259 ) <iron_chef_sanji AT yahoo DOT com> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:29PM (#10823839)
    Were there any earlier print or web comics that influenced you?

  • FruitFucker 2000... (Score:5, Funny)

    by stevens ( 84346 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:29PM (#10823844) Homepage
    Please list the meds used to come up with that one.

  • The Obvious Question: The Future (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Ledneh ( 673693 ) <ledneh AT radix-lecti DOT net> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:29PM (#10823846) Homepage
    No doubt it's nearly impossible to predict where technology is going to go in the far future, but perhaps the near future (say, within five years or so) is somewhat more predictable. Where do you two see gaming in general going within the next five years? MMO's becoming even more mainstream? Some kind of VR control schema becoming usable? Heck, nothing really changing at all?

  • First gaming webcomic (Score:5, Interesting)

    by genessy ( 587377 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:30PM (#10823852)
    Was Penny Arcade the first, regularly produced gaming webcomic? I read approximately 20 webcomics on a daily basis, and many of them are dedicated to gaming humor or frustration. Were you guys the first, and if so or if not, who or what inspired you?

  • A Question (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sagara Sozou ( 726002 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:30PM (#10823853) Homepage
    How do you feel about becoming a big name, one of the things you dispise most? How do you feel about becoming something you have stated hatred to? This is not meant as a flamebait and I await an answer.

  • Question Two (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dgrgich ( 179442 ) * <drew@NOsPaM.grgich.org> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:30PM (#10823857)
    A question for both of you: Name the console and three of its games that you would take to that mythical desert isle.

  • Gabe and Tycho: (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mcc ( 14761 ) <amcclure@purdue.edu> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:31PM (#10823861) Homepage
    Just curious: Are there any webcomics you read?

  • The Fruit Fucker 2000 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by MoeMoe ( 659154 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:31PM (#10823866)
    What was your inspiration for creating the Fruit Fucker 2000?

    Please dont answer grass, hash, or shrooms...
    • And on that note, How do you wang your wang when you wang a comic? Oh...wait, I mean, how do you come up with your ideas for comics in general? Besides, you know, playing wangs. Err...video games.

  • Domesitification ... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SuperRob ( 31516 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:32PM (#10823871) Homepage
    Jerry's bought a house, Mike's had a baby boy. How has becoming bona-fide adults changed your lives, and do you find your priorities changing away from drawing comics and playing games.

    Bonus Question: What advice would you give to geeks looking to in some way ensare geek grrls?

    • Re:Domesitification ... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Skyshadow ( 508 ) * on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:50PM (#10824098) Homepage
      I was thinking about asking them something like this (except for the pathetic how-do-I-meet-women bit at the end), but then I realized that these guys do PA for a living. It's a lot easier to find a few hours to play games when you're not spending 8 hours a day filling out TPS reports. Trust me -- I tried it a few years back on a non-voluntary basis.

      I'd be more interested to hear about how getting older has affected their views on the games themselves. I'm roughly the same age and frankly I find myself less and less tolerant of the BS that surrounds gaming, particularly in terms of online play.

      I mean, there are always losers playing any online game, but the ubiquity of online gaming across both platforms and titles and innovations like the Xbox Live! headphone have lifted these guys out of their little troll caves and brought them out into the open to a degree where even a fairly unique and exciting online game like Pandora Tomorrow quickly became not worth my time. Listening to a stoned 15 year-old ramble on about his personal worldview or try to be shocking just to piss off his teammates just isn't my idea of fun anymore (hint to the 15 year olds out there: I've actually heard words like "cunt" and "jew" enough times and in enough variations that it's just not very interesting anymore. Sorry to pop your bubble).

      So gaming has devolded into either being stuck playing one of the few basic offline games (Quake clones, Warcraft clones, Tekken clones, GTA clones, etc. Oh, and minesweeper) or dealing with the combined stupidity of the internet.

      I know they've done comics about this sort of thing, but apparently they don't find it obnoxious enough to keep them offline for any real length of time.

      • Re:Domesitification ... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by nzgeek ( 232346 ) * on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:26PM (#10824490) Homepage Journal
        Amen brother.

        There's nothing like kids and a mortgage to make you a more discerning game player. I swore that I'd never 'grow up' and stop playing games, but no one ever told me how much fun you can have making and growing babies. Nowadays I'm lucky if I get a couple of hour-long online gaming sessions in each week - hence my preference for the speed and ease of playing online using XBox Live.

        Don't get me wrong, I'm not some wife-harried, tired old fuck, it's just that interacting directly with humans seems to hold more interest for me these days. Plus molding an almost 1-year-old into a functioning individual (not to mention playing RL games with cool toys), is a heck of a lot more fun than pwning fools in Halo 2.

        I'm really interested to see how the whole industry matures as 'hardcore' computer gamers hit 40, 50 and 60. Shit, I'll be looking for interesting games to play when I'm retired in 25-30 years - will there be a new peak of gamers when we all retire? Will the studios rely on tweenies to constantly fill the gap, or will they direct development at that emerging market?

    • The secret... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Lendrick ( 314723 )
      I'm not Gabe or Tycho, but here's a hint for college-aged geek guys: Female medical students.

      I myself am a computer nerd. My fiancee is a med student. Her four best female med student friends consistently date computer nerds. Also, this isn't a case of two groups of people... none of us guys knew each other until we met through our girlfriends. Go figure.

  • Halo and Bungie (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SilentChris ( 452960 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:33PM (#10823887) Homepage
    You guys absolutely roasted the original Halo, then gradually grew to like it. You've said you've met with Bungie since then. Were the meetings amicable?

    • Re:Halo and Bungie (Score:3, Informative)

      by Dracolytch ( 714699 )
      I believe they've addressed that in the news postings in the last month or so, and said that the meetings were pleasant (Even though they weren't sure they really deserved it).

      ~D

  • Collaboration... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by kayser_soze ( 54474 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:34PM (#10823902)
    How far does the collaboration between you two go?

    Does Tycho usually come up with the text/idea for the comic, then Gabe does the art as a separate process or is it more of a collaborative venture?

    Also I stronly suspect that your ideas are born of late night mescalin and tequila induced "adventures". Am I correct?

    [C]

    • Re:Collaboration... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Speare ( 84249 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:14PM (#10824381) Homepage Journal

      Does Tycho usually come up with the text/idea for the comic, then Gabe does the art as a separate process or is it more of a collaborative venture?

      Hm, this sounds familiar.

      • Fan waiting for a signed comic: So you draw this?

      • Artist: I ink it and I m also the colorist. The guy next to me draws it. But we both came up with the characters, ...

        Fan: What's that mean, you ink it?

        Artist: Well. It means that Holden draws the pictures in pencil, and then he gives it to me to go over in ink.

        Fan: So you just trace!

        Artist: It's not tracing. I add depth and shading to give the image more definition. Only then does the drawing really take shape.

        Fan: You go over what he draws with a pen--that's tracing.

        Artist: Not really. Next!

        Fan (to Kid): Hey man. If somebody draws something and then you draw the same thing right on top of it, not going out-side the designated original art what do call that?

        Kid: I don't know. Tracing?

      Now all we need is Jay and Silent Bob to come in and straighten it all out.

  • Rise of the Megapublishers (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CarrionBird ( 589738 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:35PM (#10823908) Journal
    Do you think that the industry is doomed to be under the thumb of less than a handful of publishers, buying up every promising studio?(and keeping the cost of promotion so high that small guys could never keep up)

    Or is there a chance for a new wave if independent developers breaking free from the EAs of the world?

    P.S. I loved the Headcrabs expression in the second panel! Brilliant!

  • New books. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by taeric ( 204033 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:35PM (#10823918)
    Are there any plans for a new collection of your works?

  • Favourite console/platform? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by oberondarksoul ( 723118 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:36PM (#10823925) Homepage
    Over the years Penny Arcade's been running, you've poked fun at just about every machine to have been launched or speculated at. But which machine was your absolute favourite? If you had to pick just one platform, which would it be, and why?

  • Favourite comic? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ecliptik ( 160746 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:36PM (#10823926) Homepage

    Out of all the comics you've done, which one is your all time top favourite, and why?

    Obviously, this is for both of you.

  • Life outside of games (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hng_rval ( 631871 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:36PM (#10823927)
    How do you spend your free time outside of gaming?

    And on that note, what do you and your spouses do for fun (outside of the apartment)?

  • Your looks real life vs. comic (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:37PM (#10823939)
    Why did you choose to use animated personas that look nothing like you do in real life?

  • Merchandising Gone Crazy? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by grum ( 92363 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:37PM (#10823943) Homepage
    What is the craziest merchandising idea that you have (or a company has) come up with, regarding your PA characters? Plush dolls? Pez dispensers?

  • Why? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bionic_Baboon ( 684462 ) <professortorcoolguy AT gmail DOT com> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:38PM (#10823957)
    How did you decide to start writing Penny Arcade?

  • Do you feel the pressure to self-censor? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Drunken_Jackass ( 325938 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:39PM (#10823958) Homepage
    As you get older and as PA's popularity increases to more of a mainstream level (thanks to the great job you did on last year's Childplay), are you starting to feel the pressures of self-censorship? I mean, how many news anchors could reference the good work you do with Childsplay without giving a "Within that site, there be fruitfuckers" warning?

    Are you becoming too popular to maintain your riske side?

  • Response from the industry (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Phixxr ( 794883 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:39PM (#10823964)
    Do you find that you receive a positive or negative response from the gaming industry? Or does this more depend on the reviews you give of their games?

    -Phixxr

  • Favourite (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JWG ( 665579 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:40PM (#10823971)
    Which one of your comics is your personal favourite?

  • Honesty vs. Staying in Business (Score:5, Interesting)

    by t1nman33 ( 248342 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:40PM (#10823973) Homepage
    One of the things that makes PA so valuable to me is that it shoots from the hip, the heart, and the gut. You guys are perfectly happy being fanboys for games that you love, while skewering those you hate.

    I know PA isn't journalism, but it's not Nintendo Power either. That said, how do you balance your desire to be honest with the needs of running a business?

  • Tetris. (Score:5, Funny)

    by DarkHelmet ( 120004 ) * <mark&seventhcycle,net> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:41PM (#10823976) Homepage

    Are there any plans for the Tetris Movie [penny-arcade.com] coming out soon?

    If so, do you get royalties for it?

  • Difficulty of making a living via online comics? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Zeddicus_Z ( 214454 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:41PM (#10823978) Homepage
    Guys,

    At the last SAGE-AU [sage-au.org.au] conference in Brisbane we had J.D. Frazer ("Illiad") as guest of honor.

    At dinner J.D. spoke of the difficulties he faced in the early years attempting to make a living from comics - the insanely difficult process of being "sydicated" into newspapers, working out a revenue model for a web-based comic when he realised syndication was too restrictive, and generally attempting to make a living doing something he loved.

    With PA and UF being roughly as popular as each other these days and thus (hopefully!) both providing decent incomes, I'd like to hear how you guys coped with "the early years" and how you faced some of what seem to be the common difficulties such as the syndication process, creating a viable revenue model and dealing with early set backs.

  • Quitting your day jobs (Score:5, Interesting)

    by szquirrel ( 140575 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:41PM (#10823982) Homepage
    I understand Penny Arcade is now the sole source of full-time employment for both of you. Presumably this wasn't always so and you both had "real" jobs to pay the bills. At what point did each of you cease to labor for The Man and start devoting your time exclusively to Penny Arcade?

  • ROMs (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MacGod ( 320762 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:42PM (#10823987)
    How do you guys feel about the downloading of ROMs for older systems (NES, Genesis, SNES etc)? I'm not talking about piracy of modern games, just long-since-discontinued systems. Given that Nintendo (for example) will not be making any money off of the original Super Mario 3 any more, do you think it's acceptable to download that game, so it can be played on a computer?

  • East Coast Disrespect? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Apreche ( 239272 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:42PM (#10823992) Homepage Journal
    How come you guys disrespect your east coast readers so much? I mean, you cancelled on our Otakon and you only came here once ever. At a very bad time to a not easy to get to convention. Then you have PAX, which is like the best thing ever, all the way on the other side of the country.

    What will you do to make up for the lack of love for the east coast? If I don't like your answer I'm going to come to PAX2 with water from the Atlantic Ocean and drench both of you with it. Seriously, watch out.

  • Regarding Bungie (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Grey Ninja ( 739021 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:43PM (#10824001) Homepage Journal
    In a newspost by Tycho, which I cannot seem to find anymore, Tycho mentioned that your original reviews of Halo, in which playing the game was akin to crucifying your genitilia, was sort of embarassing upon actually meeting the Bungie crew.

    So what I am curious about, is that it seems to me as if as your friendship with the developers increases, it becomes more difficult to express your true viewpoints of the games that you review. Since Microsoft and Bungie treat Penny Arcade with such high regard, it's very difficult to produce the comics of old that genuinely criticized the console and its games.

    To what extent does Penny Arcade plan to take this? I realize that it would not be on any gamers to-do list to pass up a chance at exclusive happenings going on in your area... but I also know from news posts of old that Penny-Arcade does not ever wish to "sell out", and just repeat blindly the big kudos to every popular game out there. (Such as IGN or Gamespy). Is there any thought given to a situation like this?

  • Fruit Fucker (Score:4, Funny)

    by jockeys ( 753885 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:44PM (#10824003) Journal
    Do any of your readers report being aroused by the Fruit Fucker? Has anyone written in about the delightfully erotic noises it makes when assaulting fruits? I ask because a... uh... friend of mine is like this, and he... uh... is curious is anyone else is similarly afflicted... I mean affected.

  • Separation of comics and web commentary? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Junks Jerzey ( 54586 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:44PM (#10824005)
    Penny Arcade is funny, but I found myself somewhat turned off to it after reading your game industry commentary for a while. Initially this was simply because while I thought PA was well-done and witty, the associated commentary from the authors was less so. Then it got to where I was disagreeing with you enough that I lost interest in the comic. It's kinda like finding out someone in a band whose music you like has some personal habits or beliefs that put you off. It shouldn't affect what you think of the music, but it naturally does. Do you see the commentary as an integral part of your web presence?

  • Natalie Portman (Score:3, Funny)

    by Peale ( 9155 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:44PM (#10824009) Homepage Journal
    How has the news that Natalie [imdb.com] is going to appear nude in the upcoming film, "Closer" [imdb.com] affected you? Be specific.

  • High quality large format artwork? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by deacon ( 40533 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:45PM (#10824021) Journal
    Where can I buy a high quality poster of

    http://mail.rochester.edu/~dr002j/pics/contraband_ comic.jpg [rochester.edu] Strawberry Shortcake?

    Perhaps the best artwork ever on PA, and the best supressed non-porn artwork anywhere.

  • Popularity backlash (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Dracolytch ( 714699 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:45PM (#10824029) Homepage
    Do you get somewhat frustrated at attacks on your motivations for child's play? I mean... Your encouraging us to give toys to sick children for chrissake!

    ~D

  • My question is... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Dewrf ( 553486 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:45PM (#10824031)
    What is the weirdest thing that has happend or that you recived cence you started penny-arcade? -Jay

  • Making a living (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Cyn ( 50070 ) <cyn.cyn@org> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:46PM (#10824042) Homepage
    How the heck are you guys making a living! You clearly get the opportunity to try a heck of a lot of games, and you spend time drawing your comic - writing your editorials - going to conventions - and drawing more stuff (I've noticed you've drawn comics for a number of games, in addition to the desktops/etc.).

    Where's the money coming from, certainly not just web advertisements... If you have professional careers, how has your head not exploded among it all?

    (troll) Is it just corporate knockbacks? (/troll)

  • Strawberry Shortcake (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:46PM (#10824044)
    A little while back, PA had a run-in with American Greetings over the use of the copyrighted and trademarked likeness of Strawberry Shortcake in what was obviously a (protected) work of parody.

    American Greetings got called Nazis, but American McGee's Strawberry Shortcake is still missing from the PA archives.

    What are the reprecussions of the Strawberry Shortcake debacle? If you had it to do over again, either the strip, or your interactions with American Greetings, would you have done anything different?

  • Penny-Arcade Imitators. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Maul ( 83993 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:46PM (#10824050) Journal
    Anyone who has surfed enough web comics knows that there are a quite a few comics that seem to be PA Wannabes in some fashion. What do you guys really feel about people who blatantly copy the the style or look/feel of your comic? Does it piss you off, or do you simply accept imitators as a price of being one of the most popular comics online?

    Oh, and on a totally separate note, there have been some jabs thrown between you guys and Scott Kurtz. Is it all in good fun, or is is there actually some sort of animocity going on?

  • Question for Gabe (Score:4, Interesting)

    by GeneralCern ( 653651 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:47PM (#10824062)
    I discovered Penny-Arcade around the time of the infamous strawberry shortcake debacle. As I went through the old strips gradually working my way towards present day I noticed a huge increase in the quality of the artwork. So here is my question: What would you attribute the noticeable improvement in art and design to? Just the fact that you are doing this everyday and getting better at it? Or did you pursue some formal education?

  • What ever happened to The Bench? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Alzheimers ( 467217 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:48PM (#10824077)
    When I first started reading PA, it was a comic strip about Gabe and a Squirrel sitting on a bench. After that, there was the worlds first taste of the conflict between Red Vs. Blue (although I think they were Tribes characters, not Halo).

    What was the motivation to change to the now familiar format of Gabe vs Tycho at home and at play? Was it art imitating life, or just a natural progression from simple strips to more complex storylines (the dreaded Continuity!)?
    • It's always been the "now familiar format of Gabe vs. Tycho at home and at play." The Bench strips you saw were a Sunday-only thing that eventually turned into its own online community that eventually imploded.

  • Trends? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Intocabile ( 532593 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:48PM (#10824079)
    Are there any current gaming trends that you wish would lose momentum and disappear.

    Are there any trends you hope take hold in the future.

  • Replies (Score:5, Interesting)

    by digitac ( 24581 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:49PM (#10824086) Homepage
    Would you please reply to these questions in the form of PA comic strips? Thanks.

  • Relations with other comic creators (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TWX ( 665546 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:53PM (#10824131)
    Having seen numerous Penny Arcade comics poking at other comics, have you had any odd personal interaction with the creators of those comics? What's the weirdest thing to happen as a part of your lampooning, aside from Carlton Cards' reaction?

  • Serious question (Score:5, Interesting)

    by merlin_jim ( 302773 ) <{James.McCracken} {at} {stratapult.com}> on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:56PM (#10824167)
    Ok I know this is probably the kind of question you answer all day long, but I thought I'd ask anyways as I'm sure there are members of the slashdot community that are interested in the answer:

    What's it take to get you to look at my indie / small design team game? I've always enjoyed your "game round up" posts and wondered how the little guy gets in, or is this an invitation only kind of event? And I'm not trying to infer that you would make a dishonest review with this following question, only that I understand your time is probably stretched thin, so... What kind of bribe is required to ensure coverage? Bottles of liquor, prostitutes, free hardware?

  • PAX 2? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by focitrixilous P ( 690813 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @05:58PM (#10824196) Journal
    I had grand dreams of going to the geek collective that was the Penny Arcade Expo, but was sadly unable. Any plans to hold another one, and if so, will it still be in the Seattle area or might you pick a different city?

    And if so, do you have any powers? Do you use them for good, or for awesome?

  • Webcomic success? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Rimbo ( 139781 ) <rimbosity@sbcglo[ ].net ['bal' in gap]> on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:00PM (#10824227) Homepage Journal
    Y'all have managed to do what certain syndicated cartoonists still think is impossible: Turn a web-only strip into a money-maker. So imagine you're talking to someone who is just starting out:

    1. What do you feel are the key elements to having a successful web comic?

    2. Do you feel that the barrier to entry is higher, lower or about the same today as they were when you started?

  • Alter-ego names? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ShallowThroat ( 667311 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:04PM (#10824281)
    As the wikipedia article on Penny Arcade [wikipedia.org], your characters/alter-egos full names are Tycho Brahe, after (so we assume) the danish astronomer, and Jonathan Gabriel, who'se only reference I can find in google is a gay male porn star (no, I'm not joking, google "Johnathan Gabriel" [google.com] yourself)

    Although there are probably a million better questions that could be asked, I'm pretty interested by this little bit of trivia, so I would like to know: How did you come up with these names, and why?

  • Question for Tycho (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Captain Splendid ( 673276 ) <capsplendid@@@gmail...com> on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:06PM (#10824299) Homepage Journal
    Despite the fact that you've mentioned a few times that your aspirations don't go much beyond PA, is there any chance your unique writing style may be found elsewhere in the future? Is that even a remote consideration for you?

    On a related note, what kind of offers have you received from mainstream (and not-so-mainstream) publications?

  • will you make fun of us? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by arcanumas ( 646807 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:09PM (#10824328) Homepage
    If you were to depict a typical Slashdoter in your comic, how would that character be? (not only physically)

  • The Ladies... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by delta_avi_delta ( 813412 ) <dave.murphy@g m a i l.com> on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:20PM (#10824442)
    Guys, we know that Gabe and Tycho look nothing like you, but how close is the resemblance between your signigicant others and their cartoon representations, and do they like themselves in strip?

  • A Question on Advertising and Standards (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Chambers81 ( 613839 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:25PM (#10824478)
    In the past it has been asserted that the ads run on your site are only ones for games that you approve of. Have you found that game companies come to you with offers that you have to refuse because the games are not good enough? With houses and kids and other real life expenses, do you think your model of advertising only what you believe in will continue to provide you with the income necessary to support the increasing family of Penny Arcade? Keep it up guys, and make some trips out to the East Coast!

  • On making it big - (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Japong ( 793982 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:26PM (#10824488)

    There's no question that you guys are funny and talented, however I'm sure that there are lots of other comics out there that you've seen that have been in your leaque in terms of quality and content, yet never seem to reach the same popularity.

    What would be the most important thing - outside of actual comic and newspost quality - to creating a popular web comic? Were there any specific promotional avenues you took that made Penny Arcade into the success that it is?

  • Who are you? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by kid-noodle ( 669957 ) <jono AT nanosheep DOT net> on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:28PM (#10824516) Homepage
    Specifically, who's going to be replying to these questions - Gabe & Tycho, or Mike & Jerry?

    For that matter - how significant is the difference between them?

  • An Animated Penny Arcade (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Altima(BoB) ( 602987 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:41PM (#10824621)
    Have you ever considered trying an animated form of Penny Arcade? It seems that your brand of humor makes particular use of precise timing, and while you tend to be successfull at conveying that through comic strip panels, the formula could translate to animation quite well.

    As an animation student myself, I of course have no particular stake in the matter :)

  • Bubble? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Schnapple ( 262314 ) <tomkiddNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Monday November 15, 2004 @06:50PM (#10824703) Homepage
    From the outside looking in, it seems like your site and your livelihood is derived much from web advertisements and such. I know there's more to it than that and I know you do other things (art for GameSpy, etc.) but I recall at one point, right about the time you did Club PA, that you were resigning yourself to having to go get regular jobs. It looks like that didn't happen (or need to) and for the most part your livelihood has survived the dot-com web advertisement bubble.

    Do you see what you're doing now as something which can be sustained for a long time? Do you have any contingency plans?

  • Returning the worship (Score:5, Interesting)

    by InfinityWpi ( 175421 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @07:00PM (#10824794)
    You guys love games. How did it make you feel to find that Cardboard Tube Samurai got a reference in Hitman: Contracts? Have you found any other PA references in games, manuals, etc that you weren't expecting? How's it feel?

  • Penny Arcade and Child's Play (Score:3, Interesting)

    by {tele}machus_*1 ( 117577 ) * on Monday November 15, 2004 @07:01PM (#10824796) Journal
    To what lengths do you go to keep PA and Child's Play separate? Have any of the hospitals looked at Penny Arcade and questioned whether they should get involved with Child's Play?

  • Final question, I swear (Score:5, Interesting)

    by {tele}machus_*1 ( 117577 ) * on Monday November 15, 2004 @07:10PM (#10824881) Journal
    In the recent article about Penny Arcade in the Seattle Times (I think it was the Seattle Times), you made mention that you did not plan on doing PA "forever". Then, on a news post on the PA site, Tycho tried to make it clear that you are not just "grooming PA to sell it to some big company" (quotes, but I'm paraphrasing). How would you classify your business: drawing comics and ads for games companies or publishing a regular web comic? At what point does the independent ad agency bit conflict with or replace the webcomic?

  • What now? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by SansTinfoilHat ( 759207 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @07:14PM (#10824913)
    You've dominated the mindshare of many a gamer, you've started a very successful charitable endeavor and you've started what can be considered a successful gaming con.

    What is next? Write a book? Columns in a major magazine? A Penny Arcade cartoon?

    btw, Props to you for keeping politics off your site. It has turned me away from so many others. I come to PA to read about games, and you understand that. Thanks.

  • Phantom (Score:4, Funny)

    by Lord_Dweomer ( 648696 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @07:31PM (#10825048) Homepage
    Give three reasons why you think the Phantom game console will be successful.

  • I apologize for the crass nature of the question!

    But you guys are living what is essentially the dream life of a gamer - using your writing talents and artistic talents to make a living talking about games. Millions of schlubs all over the world run websites; but you guys managed to produce a website that's better than 99.9999% or more of them and make money doing it. It's not an understatement to say that you're quite an inspiration to those of us who would love to make a living doing that sort of thing. So I can't help but be a little curious about exactly what kinds of financial success it's brought.

    (And whether you answer the question or not... I wish you more success in the future both with loved ones and your business)

  • Rivalries (Score:5, Interesting)

    by twoallbeefpatties ( 615632 ) on Monday November 15, 2004 @09:08PM (#10825784)
    The half-serious version:
    Despite having nearly gotten into virtual fisticuffs with Scott Kurtz, amongst other artists, you guys still seem to maintain quite a bit of respect for each other. Do you view the little rivalries as "side quests" for your bigger endeavors, as serious competition, or as just a way to use some of those great insults you've been sitting around thinking about?

    The more humorous version:
    How many different other webcomics and/or their artists can you insult in a single sentence?

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