I refer, of course, to the contest Gabriel posted about earlier - hit up that page for info, choose your frame, and then enter a comic for a chance to win a ticket to any PAX. Not a bad deal. We have received several hundred replies so far, here is a grab bag from the available frames:

I don't know how you're supposed to "review" Super Smash Brothers for the 3DS. It may be impossible. Or unnecessary. I don't know which. We made a comic about the genuinely bizarre ecosystem they've rendered here, a brutal place where sentients are reduced to mere calories.

It's October (holy crap, it's October!) which means Kiko is well into Pumpkin Spice Latte season, and it also means Halloween fast approaches! Last year Mike had a costume contest for Eyrewood themed submissions and they were all amazing. We decided this year it would be cool to open it up to all of Penny Arcade, so dig out that Cardboard Tube, start crafting that Automata mask - we're having a PA Costume contest! Send photos of your Penny Arcade costume and we'll pick our favorites, send out some prizes and post a gallery on the site.

I've seen a lot of people ask for the first panel from today's comic minus Tycho's stupid words. So here you go:

I spent last night playing Shadow of Mordor and I’m really digging it. I have to call out the tutorial as being especially well done. Any game like this has to teach you how to swing a sword and stuff but this one puts a great spin on it. You “learn” to sword fight by teaching your son how to fight. Talion is talking to his son while they spar about the importance of countering an attack and all the while you are the one learning these mechanics. Then when it comes time to teach you how to sneak around the game asks you to sneak up on your wife and give her a kiss. It’s such a clever beautiful little moment that I could not help but smile. In so many games the tutorial is just wasted space but here it’s used not only to teach you about the mechanics, but to teach you about Talion.

We were at Cold Stone Creamery, a realm of some reknown in our clan, and after an extended discussion of Tinder every one of the glossy lures on their walls inherited an erotic context. I don't entirely know how a "Tinder for Cakes" would work exactly, but I don't care, it doesn't matter, and not having it is what's holding back our evolution as a species.

You can watch our entire Shadow of Mordor stream right here. As you can see we had a lot of fun playing this one. I was especially impressed with the Nemesis system. It made the game feel incredibly alive. Anyway, it's out now so if what we're playing looks like fun you can just go grab it.

We're running a contest this week and you could win PAX passes to one of our upcoming shows! It's a fill-in-the-word-balloons contest using the following 3 strips:

Gotham is just a weird show.

I played a lot of games this weekend. I got an early code for the new Smash Bros. on 3DS and had a hard time putting it down. I’ve always enjoyed Smash although I’ve never been especially good at it. I can’t believe how good this portable version looks and plays. I burned through some of the single player content and unlocked five or six new characters. Then I decided to try out the online play. The only people playing right now are in Japan but still my games were incredibly smooth. There’s so much stuff packed into this game that sometimes it can be hard deciding how/what to play. That’s honestly the worst thing I can think to say about it.

Lust for League of Legends has reached such a boil now that I can hit our voice server virtually any time I want to and get a game going. Except last night, for some reason. It was almost midnight by the time anyone popped in, and I was genuinely surprised to hear a voice when they did because I'd forgotten I was even connected. I am always hoping this will be the night my computer achieves sentience. Alas.

We have a really cool PA Presents live stream coming up this Monday. We will be playing Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor! It will be a day before it hits stores and you can watch it all right here on my Twitch channel. Tycho and I will be joined by a few of the developers so they can field questions as we run through a bit of the game. I’ve been looking forward to this one and I’m really excited to check it out. It will happen on Monday the 29th at 2:30 Pacific time right here on my Twitch page.

As Tycho mentioned yesterday, we are both playing the new Theatrhythm: Curtain Call for 3DS. He lamented the lack of a cooperative multiplayer mode but I have to say the new competitive multi is ridiculously fun. I had been avoiding it because while I enjoy rhythm games, I’m not especially good at them. So the idea of playing against another person was a bit intimidating. I gave it a shot though and once I started I was hooked. You play a Battle Music Sequence (BMS) against another person and you’re trying to get the higher score in order to win. However as you’re playing you can inflict all sorts of crazy status effects on your opponent. These really mix up the gameplay in some fun ways.

Blizzard cancelled "Titan" apparently, whatever it was; I have faithful crows at practically every level of their organization and I was never able to get much. Then again, I suppose I never really turned the screws. I was fine not knowing. They should have put a timer up! That always seems to yoke the reptilian substructures of my brain.

I got an early copy of the new Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes last week. It actually hits stores tomorrow so I thought I’d share my impressions of the game so far. I’m playing the PS4 version although I’m not sure how much that matters.

We were invited by NASA to see the SpaceX launch with our sons, though the weather didn't cooperate while we were there and it had to launch the next day. The trip was rad, though. A trip whose core purpose did not occur still managed to be rad. So, imagine how rad it must have been. We brought Van (who does PA: The Series) over with us; I think there's still something good there.