Maybe I am still spicy after my trip to Spokane but I feel like Acquisitions Inc. probably should have been mentioned at least once in an NPR article about the resurgence of D&D and the rise of live play. 

-Gabe Out

I was delighted to see that Gabe was still cranked up enough about the Gundam Card Game, whatever it may be called, to do an actual review for the site. Now: we may have to consider that he is just trying to get more cards by being naturally influent. I hope so. I won't be able to have any of those cards, no fucking way, but I might be able to seize the little shreds of booster foil and make an attractive nest.

Both of my boys are currently gripped by a Magic the Gathering madness that is fun to watch from a safe distance. I’ve played a few rounds of standard with them but when they ask why I don’t seem to like MTG as much as them I have to explain that I’ve played this game in some form for like thirty years, and I have never been good at it. I love this for them though. 

I checked out the demo for SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance this morning and HOLY SHIT! Do yourself a favor and get this demo now. I played it on the PS5 and it was absolutely stunning. Also, you hit people SO FUCKING HARD in this game! Seriously just go get it right now if you like awesome video games! 
You can find it on Steam here

And here's a link to the Playstation Store listing

New gadgets provide Gabir with Vitamin G, a vital nutrient. His most recent supplement has been a new watch, a category I've been considering because it turns out that they're still a pretty good idea. But modern watches are wrist computers and I just don't need them to do as much shit as they are always doing. I don't wanna mine crypto or some shit. I just want the old Pebble I lost at a con a million years ago.

Because my first Gen Con was sure to be fraught with a passel of first times, mercantile temptations, eldritch beasts, and various crushings by crowds, I was understandably intimidated preemptively. Luckily, I have a powerful ally - maybe not as powerful as the Living Force, but certainly Gabe has been here one time more than I have. In this kindness, he has revealéd all. Do I feel better? Hard to say!!!

My original route to Gen " " Con went from Seattle to Dallas to Indianapolis, because the razorwinds that defend my destination - birthéd by Zepherion when man still swung from branches - make direct flights impossible. But my father-in-law sustained an injury that turned his shoulder into beef jerky, which made replacing a water heater a Herculean task. So, I went over to help. This necessitated an alteration to the trip, which now goes from Spokane to Portland, Oregon to Phoenix to Indianapolis. This is all to say that I now live in the sky.

There's no way for me to write this post that doesn't make me incandescently angry.  I'll try again tomorrow.  Here's the strip.

I never crossed paths with the Stop Killing Games petition until somebody tried to make the case that it was bad. That strike me as quite bold, but as this person is currently in the process of being dismantled by the Internet equivalent of wild dogs I won't pile on anymore than is absolutely required. I get very sweaty and shaky whenever these weapons are deployed, I abhor their use, but man. Way to literally die on a hill, I guess.

Lego already had us dialed in, so launching an onslaught like a Soundwave - let alone a Soundwave with a talky bit is the kind of virulent attack that kills the host too soon, necessitating a Lego coffin. It's rude, but also kind of awesome, like The Sex Pistols.

I have seen a lot of stuff made with DK Artist, a potent sculpting tool from Nintendo that, surprisingly, comes with a full copy of Donkey Kong Bananza. It's a surprising state of affairs - but if you make yourself a vessel for possibility, if you exfoliate your heart, you'll find that wonders are everywhere.

I remember when they were revealing all the Switch 2 stuff, and how it wasn't launching with a Mario game, and then they announced this Donkey Kong stuff and it was a whole thing. Then it came out that the Super Mario Odyssey team was making it. Okay, tell me more.

Discord keeps adding delighters and sparklitos and all kinds of things they want me to do, use, or buy. I'm not certain we've achieved true enshittification but there is a lot of shit on there now and it's wigglin' 25/8.

I recorded another timelapse of the comic creation and this time I remembered to turn it on before I started! Here’s a look at today’s comic strip from start to finish. Again, if you set the play back speed to 0.25 you approach something like real time but it’s important to note that it only records when I make a stroke so you don’t have all my pauses. While I’m drawing I’m also watching a show, pausing to think about what I’m gonna draw, talking with my kids as they come in and out, messing up and getting mad at myself, eating some lunch, and all that good stuff. This might make it look like I sit down and power through a comic without hesitation and with supreme confidence but I assure you that is not the case unless I am drawing live on stage at PAX. 

Gabriel buying the new old Tony Hawk game on PC of all places must be considered my final victory over the man. Nought remains now but to choose a new nemesis - or even nemeses! Good luck trying to replace a hobgoblin like the Mork with a single foe. It's either gonna have to be a team of people, like with a shared Gcal or something, or I'm gonna have to war with a timeless concept like "hunger" just to get the same high.

I’ve been messing around with the tools Clip Studio has for recording your work. I forgot to turn it on until I had finished my first sketch pass but I do have a recording of today’s strip getting made. If you like to see how the sausage gets made here is a quick little timelapse that shows how a Penny Arcade strip comes together.