People have been asking when we are going to start updating Land of the Rising Fun again. Honestly there just hasn't been a lot of Import news to cover. That has all changed now though. Gungrave, Mario Sunshine and Beach Spikers all just hit Japan and the holly Ikaruga is set to drop in the near future. The import scene is really starting to cook and we are trying our damndest to get in on some of the action. As soon as we start getting some of these titles in you can bet your ass we'll be covering them here. I also got quite a bit of mail after my Neo-Geo reviews from people wanting to know where they can get their own home cart system. Well the guys at the Videogame depot just got a batch of them. If you want the best 2D fighting game ever made to go along with your new Neo-Geo, and you make poor money management decisions then I'd recommend picking up a copy of Mark of the Wolves while you're there.

Are we going to import Super Mario Sunshine, even though it'll be out in the US in just thirty days? Hell yes.

How is everyone? Good, I hope. Would anyone else like to level a spurious allegation against us? I do so relish it. However, please ensure that your equipment can manage our Mongol horde!

I've never heard of Metal Ice comics before today, but apparently we've been stealing his shit. And really, we would have to be, because shit is all they have over there.

The last time we heard about Acclaim's Adventures in Marketing, they were trying to put ads on tombstones. At least, they said they were, and that's virtually all it took to activate the scandal-friendly media. In a recent, milder, more nonsensical ploy, a young man lines up fifty days in advance to get Turok of all things, thereby setting a world record. There's so much wrong with this that it is difficult to ascertain which element is the wrongest.

We played a bunch of games today and each time we fell victim to the “Hero Rush”. Nothing makes you feel more like a retard than having your base destroyed by a hero and some ghouls a couple minutes into the game. Here is one of the more miserable replays I saved. As embarrassing as it is I am showing you this because I would like some advice. Those of you out there who use this tactic, how could someone beat it? Since everyone seems to be using this now I really want to know what we can to counter it. Thanks.

I agree with Batjew about the matching service. From what I understand (and I could be totally wrong here) its first goal is to match you with someone of similar skill level. Barring that, its second goal is to match you with someone within 30 seconds. I think that Blizzard should implement a system that allows you to see who you are going to be paired up with and cancel out of it if it’s someone much higher than you. They should also give you the option of turning off the thirty second timer. I would rather it search for a few minutes to find another player close my skill level than drop me into a game with Keyser fucking Soze. Of course that still doesn’t solve the problem of people creating new accounts just to appear as lower level players.

The new pen for my tablet arrived today from Wacom and it totally fixed my problem. Thanks to everyone who wrote in to help me on this one. It turns out that those of you who suggested my pen was just boned had it right.

I like to play videogames quite a bit. Contrary to popular belief though, I do not often go absolutely crazy over a game. There have been a few titles recently that have made me forget about things like eating and sleeping though. Warcraft 3 is one of those games. When I am awake I am playing it, when I am asleep I am dreaming about it. Even right now as I type this post I am thinking about how I could improve my NE build order. When I do take a break to eat something I eat it in front of the computer while reading message boards for NE strategy. Not since the lord God almighty himself sent us REZ have I been this totally consumed by a game.

The newest comic is available here - one of the servers isn't syncing up at the moment, so just try again a little later if you don't get the juice. Also, Gabe's tablet is still screwed up, so you get the pencil treatment today. His new pen should arrive in a few hours, God willing and creek don't rise, and hopefully it's that and not the whole pad. I like today's illustrations, maybe we can get him to upload some larger versions.

You forget that I have actually spent time with you Batjew and I know for a fact that you hate people even more than I do.

Bullshit!

I don’t know anything about vengeance but I know my brade thirsts quite a bit. It’s never really clear on what exactly it’s thirsting for but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the thirstiest brade I’ve ever seen. I’m talking, deep down body thirst.

The main issue that I always have is that my brade routinely seeks vengeance. I don't know if this is just my brade, or it's a problem with brades in general, but I do think that I might do better if it sought something else every once in a while.

More news on the next Necrowombicon straight from Fatrick himself: