A selection of sizzling links.

I am of the opinion that Neverwinter Nights is something of a big deal, so if you don't want to read about Neverwinter Nights, you're going to have to go somewhere else. We do have a new strip as well, but it's also about Neverwinter Nights, if only tangentially.

Penny Arcade cult member Fatrick is setting up the con this year. Here is the latest word from him about how it’s gonna go down:

I was able to get my hands on an early copy of Nintendo's new horror game for the cube, Eternal Darkness yesterday. I am only about five hours into it but I wanted to give you all some quick impressions of the game so far since I know many of you have been waiting for this title for a while.

A few people have been telling me they can't access the site, and it was all pretty funny until I couldn't get in there to put up the new strip. We had everything all lined up to work the Neverwinter angle today, but then we started talking about freshwater lobsters. See, Gabe ordered some "cap kits" (I have no idea) from Louisiana, which is so far away I can't be sure if it's real or not, but anyhow it got me thinking about these crawdad things, which are also called crayfish, and are sometimes called crawfish, also (on occasion) referred to as mudbugs. In fact, I think that any word currently in circulation might also mean "crawdad."

I have always been interested in Japan. I don't think you can play videogames and not imagine yourself someday making a pilgrimage to that most holy of island nations. I was never weird about it though. I'm not one of those guys who sits around all day and draws pictures of sad girls with robot shit in their hair. The whole place just seems very magical to me. So when I play a game like Zettai Zetsumei Toshi it's almost like a little mini vacation. The same thing happened when we played Shenmue. These games have you moving through a relatively modern day Japan in all its bizarre glory. You get to see convenience stores and parks and whatnot. It's all so strange and cool. Half of the fun for me in a game like Zettai is just seeing Japan and imagining what it must be like to live there. I wonder if Japanese kids are playing Grand Theft Auto three and imaging what it must be like to live in the US. Hmmmm.

Although I was hot for the Land of the Rising Fun concept, I've definitely thought of it as a Gabe thing. An excuse to make his Neo fetish a more demonstrable facet of the site, perhaps. Maybe it is an attempt to kill me dead by writing an entire article without using a single comma. Fair enough. Really, anything that keeps him off the street and out of the public eye meets with my most vigorous applause.

After Wednesday's Wonder Twins adventures, we thought we'd do more comics that would be incomprehensible to half our readers. Evidence of the phenomenon seen in today's strip - and I don't mean the phenomenon where Gabe implies I might be a girl - is ubiquitous, unless you don't watch movies or read comics or play with toys or see anything at all ever. It was the new He-Man in particular that started our conversation about it, but there's another big Transformers push as well, along with other stuff I'm sure. I don't even have to look, I know it's there. For everything else we used to like, it's only a matter of time. It's a shame that their vile (but welcome!) machinations are limited only to toys and other merchandise, as it might be nice to recoup my optimism and potential while they're fucking around in the eighties. I mean, if they are taking requests, Marie from Bible Camp was pretty rad. Just see what you can do, I guess.

As I mentioned before our SWG interview is now online. I want to take a minute and thank Hayden and Rich for sitting down with us and answering our questions. I would also like to direct you all to go out and grab a copy of the new Jango Fett comic book. It is a four part series and it's written by none other than Mister Hayden Blackman. After the interview I asked him if he was into any expanded universe stuff. Well not only is he into it, he fucking writes the shit. So go pick up number one at your local comic book shop. I have it here in front of me and it was a damn good read.

Just a quick update to let you know that our Star Wars Galaxies interview is now up at Amazon. You can see it right here.

I've queued several very angry mp3s from my subversive "Rap" folder, and I've devoured the most recent The Onion update. In case you were wondering, if something is projected onto a screen, played from a compact disc, or read from a page - i.e., if it is visible, audible, or legible - there's a good chance The Onion probably doesn't like it. And that's fine, I'd always been worried that we'd never have a Pitchfork for everything else.

Just a quick note to let you know that part one of my Neo-Geo feature is up in our Land of the Rising Fun section. I kick things off with a look at the history of SNK and the multitude of systems available to the Neo enthusiast.

This video has, no doubt, made the rounds to a hard disk near you - but here's a copy for those still groggy from cryosleep.

• Kizombe!: A few days ago, I don't know how many, I was talking about this bizarre Nigerian money scam, which appears to be their nation's largest export. I was sent this excellent link, detailing the time a woman actually wrote them back.

• Arcane: I think that the concept intrigues me more than this specific implementation, but whatever. Arcane is an episodic, online graphic adventure which draws heavily on the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. In my heart of hearts, since this was on the "The WB" site, I hoped it was a precursor to some kind of Cthulhu animated series. I have an active imagination.

• Nasubi: There might be better places to get this information, but this will probably work. Apparently, a Japanese man was tricked into becoming a national celebrity. Worth reading.

• Mechwarrior 4 Co-Op: Blessed are the crafty. I guess I thought this project was designed to convert the maps that came with the original into a multiplayer friendly format, when in actuality they had to recreate each map, populate it with the correct bastards, and then write their own scripts to make it work right. My hat is off to them, which is no mean feat. I had to run to the store, actually get a hat, then take it off, etc.

• Facing The Music: An utterly riveting article about the modern music industry that I saw mentioned on Ars. Covers music piracy, industry ineptitude, espouses a few possible theories, it's delicious. The book publishing industry comparisons are especially stimulating.

Shit, sorry guys. I finished the post, and then I didn't bother uploading it.

Lots of people are mailing me and asking about the side quests in Lost Kingdoms. Some of you have even gone so far as to call me a "God damned liar". You have to talk to Gurd people. You know, the old chick that runs the card shop. Talk to her every time you go to the shop. Sometimes she will ask if you want to hear an interesting story. Say YES! She will then tell you a story about something going on in another area that you might be interested in checking out. When you go back to the map, that area will appear. I have already played five side quests and each one of them is great. It’s also a good way to get some very rare cards. I have some friends at Nintendo that are apparently playing the game as well. My plan is to head over there this week with my memory card and give the two player battle mode a shot. I’ll let you know how it goes.