Poking around at the 'Avatar yesterday, hungry for news, we came across a link to Engadget's verdict on the Zune. At least, the Zune as it is currently conceived - before the animal hunger and ingenuity of the open-source community penetrates it. I got the impression that Engadget was as surprised as we were to find a lot of the gadget's potential - things that seemed natural to expect, seeing as they are currently made manifest by competing devices - was sort of missing in action.

Our latest Podcast went up over the weekend. I figured many of you probably missed it, so here's Tycho's post from Saturday.

When I started reading articles about Senator Brownback's bill - the one that would require that the ESRB play through games in their entirety - I expected to agree with it in principle, but take issue with its execution. The shrill phase of the site, where I would don armor and ride under the aegis of the true gamer no matter how mild the incentive, now rests in the reliquary with Xbox Controller Jokes and Jabs At User Friendly. I had chosen a singularly poor moment to become reasonable. Upon further examination, the Senator's plan (which I think may be rightly called a machination) is the sort of thing one might forge in the fires of Mount Doom.

Welcome to the show notes for Downloadable Content 9/20/2006, "In Breach Of Warranty." The episode is available for direct download at this link, or feel free to subscribe to our iTunes compatible feed here. We have not settled on a schedule, rather, we've just begun leaving the recorder on every time we write. It's different: people can actually just walk in, and without their knowledge they've become a part of the "show." It may become more standardized as we refine our process, but I know better than to make promises on this score. I hope you enjoy it, it's been gone a lot longer than we intended. This helpful guide should help you get the most out of it.

So I decided to bring back gabeart. For right now I’m using Blogger.com but eventually I should be able to get it integrated into PA.

Gabe was instructed to find and subsequently purchase the new Little Mermaid title for Kara, whose enthusiasm for teenaged fish has not abated since the film's release in nineteen-eighty-nine. I had the opportunity to hear him call no less than twelve places yesterday in search of the product, each time with a voice carefully modulated to insist that he had absolutely no interest in such a thing. There was less and less Gabriel left with each inquiry, until finally he was making the calls via the speakerphone, sprawled out on the floor.

I had some free time today and I thought about how long it had been since I did some good old fashioned fan art. So I thought about what games I am most excited for and then I sat down and whipped this up.

Platinum Studios, whose chairman Scott Rosenberg has something of a history in the print comics industry, is now - according to the New York Times - going to dip his tip into the moist world of webcomics. The most savory quotable goes:

So I am the big two nine today. I guess I have one more year of youthful indiscretion before old age is upon me. It seems like birthdays are a good time for reflection and so I hope you’ll forgive me if this is a little mushy.

Stop whatever you're doing right now and watch this video - offered in HD for Windows Media or Quicktime. That's Level 5's White Knight Story, and I must stress for readers that Level 5 is in no way fucking around. That's how you sell us a Goddamn Playstation 3. We are almost impervious to many of the brands that define Sony's hardware: for us, Metal Gear Solid and Gran Turismo emit no will crushing pheromones. Compare that to the White Knight clip, which is a fairly comprehensive tour of my private desires.

There's a game that will be downloadable on the PS3 called "Flow" or "flOw" which I read about over at Kotaku, and in the comment thread discussing it a user threw out the links to a version playable online - it's pretty interesting.  You can click that link to play it, and you can also head over here (highly recommended) to delve into the philosophy behind it.  I think you'll be intrigued.

(CW)TB

Otherwise engaged on Wednesday, Tokyo had a head start on us - its powerful newsings daring to accrue, even as we were being sodomized at the border crossing. Much of this content was indecipherable. But we can still point and shriek, like when a monolith descends.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is impressive in many ways, as I've suggested: certainly as a technical showcase, it's nice to have in your bag. As a catalogue of Japanese aggression toward gamers, it's clear now that future generations will refer to these advanced cups as a deeply scandalous exhibit. I have seen a Goddamn ninja weave a dark circle, disappear with a burst of leaves in some strictly Hattori Hanzo type shit, and then phase back into the physical plane to haunt our mortal hoops.

So I picked up my MacBook Pro a few months back and I would not call myself a convert but I do really like it. I’ve been doing all the basic iLife stuff, like making DVD’s of Gabe’s birthday party and photocasting pictures to the family. I am getting much more comfortable with the Mac but there are still some things I don’t quite understand and so I have a couple questions for you guys.

We were getting our hands on a four gig CompactFlash for the podcast recorder when the "friendly staff" gave us an idea for a new comic. Thank you, friendly staff! May nothing ever happen to your... staff.