They gave me a chance to write The Merch into the fiction, and I didn't pass on it - it actually woks, in a weird way, and bears within it a dark secret. In any event, they're running a referral thingy you can use to get a Merch pet.

Brian wanted me to mention a few new items from the mercantile wing, and I'm only too happy to do so. One may receive $5 off any poster simply by leveraging this powerful code: L2P2011. Good 'til the end of month, perfect for covering up that scored portion of the wall or door you've been practicing on with your ninja stars. There are also SHIRTS! Plural.

Every now and then, Dominion - the new gametype for League of Legends - pops up in the matchmaker. If you hear that this has happened, you want to be in there. The queue might be, like, forty minutes. Log in, and then do some laundry. Sand a neighbor's deck. Then, come back and see where this genre goes next.

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As a generality, a game's "writer" has a task similar to a composer for film: they "score" the game, a game that is already in various stages of completion, using language.

There's a Facebook distillation of Fourth Edition Dungeons and/or Dragons that could be much, much worse than it is. That may seem like it's not a compliment, but given the grotesqueries that have writhed beneath that tarnished banner the improvement is almost incalculable.

This isn't just true of the Vita, of course, this battery stuff; if anyone actually played their 3DS for any length of time, I suspect they'd come away similarly despondent, pressing buttons which don't do anything and looking at a screen which is connected to nothing.

Gabriel and Kara have been investing themselves in Crimson Alliance, investing of themselves and perhaps even of their holdings. They will even farm old levels, trying to use the game's combo system to secure incredible virtual wealth. It's got the hooks in, apparently.

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Back during PAX East I was checking out the table top area and saw a group of guys around an incredible Warmachine Table. It turns out these guys called themselves At-Large gamers and making bad ass tables was their hobby. I was so impressed by their work that I asked if I could commission them to build a table for my group. They agreed and we started kicking around ideas.

You probably remember Berenstain Bears quite well, assuming you endured a larval state and did not simply emerge from your father's head, fully formed, like Athena. Well, they're still making them: they're still making most of those things. They're still making Goofus and Gallant for Chrissakes, except now Goofus retreats into his hoodie with his iPod while Gallant helps his mom with Powerpoint. But these Bears, man! They're still bearing it all the way up.

Brenna's leg has decided that it no longer wants to be a leg, rather, it wants to merely ride around attached to her body while generating infinite pain. This means that the only games I've been able to play are Club Penguin, and... that's it, just Club Penguin, which is only one game. I could go deep on Club Penguin - as deep, perhaps, as the sub in Aqua Grabber after you get all the Cream Soda barrels and the coral opens up and you get the Amethyst from the blowfish - but I won't. I may punish you with it at some point. But not today.

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I’m a big fan of the Uncharted games and so I was very excited when they came to us about doing a poster. It is a pre-order bonus and you can find all the details about how to get one over on the Playstation Blog. I’d like to thank Naughty Dog for giving me the opportunity to put my spin on their characters.

PATV has been growing like crazy lately. We are super excited to announce our newest addition Extra Credits! This is a great show that examines the art of making games in a funny and insightful way. The show has been around for a while but its found a new home here on Penny Arcade and we couldn't be happier. Go check it out!

We spent the morning peeling Resistance 3, but like all people with an Internet connection we were also quite curious about Game with The Trailer.