Today’s Penny Arcade is a near perfect commentary on the Unity debacle.
Whole comic linked above, but here’s the one-panel that is perfect.
deleted by creator
Yeah, into shit.
I came to say the same - used to read PA regularly back in the day. It looks… different now.
I wonder what Fruit Fucker looks like these days
Member CTRL+ALT+DEL?
member VGCATS??
How about “Questionable Content”….?
Oh man I haven’t read QC in a long time, what happened?
Poor Mr. VGCats. He went from running an engaging, vivid comedic romp to… selling x-rated pictures of his characters to greasy perverts.
I don’t see a problem here
Oh yikes. I mean I agree that the first panel is solid but the other two reminded me why I stopped reading PA. So often the “punch line” is just edgelord violence or insults.
Reminds me of the Hbomberguy video that really dissects “gamer comics”.
To be fair, that’s not all the strips. That’s the one the OP chose to show.
Like I’d say going through 20-30 strips only 2-3 were like that.
edit: here’s a strip that I thought was pretty decent but isn’t like the one in the OP
https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2023/06/09/convenienteThe way this CEO operates is absolutely worthy of condemnation and viewing him through the lens of unfeeling cosmic horror is, if anything, a nicer take. But it’s fair to say that people operating at that level of wealth have become detached from and profoundly alien to normal folk.
I don’t think you’re parsing this comic fairly or engaging with its content by labeling it “edgelord violence or insults.”
Pretty much ALL of Hbomb’s substantive examples from the video are from CTRL-ALT-DEL which is like … the worst example imaginable. There’s screenshots of PA’s art, but beyond the one dumb gag about “stake me bro” he never really gets into PA’s writing. ODD, THAT. Because if you actually read Jerry Holkin’s posts, you’ll find a level of writing that puts the lie to the notion that these are idiots making cheap, derivative work. Setting aside the fact that they’ve been doing this so long that they basically defined the genre.
And as an aside, really Harris, web comic artists as targets? You’ve done it, you’ve achieved the epitome of punching down. These and other extremely sane takes from the guy that brought you an almost 2 hour long video on the goddamn Roblox “oof” sound effect.
Pretty much ALL of Hbomb’s substantive examples from the video are from CTRL-ALT-DEL which is like … the worst example imaginable.
Because it’s a video specifically about CAD (that’s why the video is literally titled “Ctrl + Alt + Del”) not webcomics in general. There are some references to other gaming comics and what they generally don’t do well but it’s preamble for why CAD is the worst. The whole point of this video is to be about Ctrl + Alt + Del and the guy behind it.
And as an aside, really Harris, web comic artists as targets?
No, it’s specifically about the CAD guy. He doesn’t talk about the other webcomic artists.
These and other extremely sane takes from the guy that brought you an almost 2 hour long video on the goddamn Roblox “oof” sound effect.
I’m curious what other “takes” you think he has if you didn’t even realize why the video called CAD primarily talks about CAD.
These and other extremely sane takes from the guy that brought you an almost 2 hour long video on the goddamn Roblox “oof” sound effect.
Or a 3 and a half hour video about how a game is just okay. If you don’t know how to edit down videos to a reasonable length, then you’re just wasting my time.
That’s disingenuous as hell. It’s about the motifs of the genre and what the game was aiming to accomplish after it’s predecessor.
And the Roblox video was only 28ish minutes. The rest of it is on Tommy “my mother’s very proud” Tallarico.
And both deserve the full 3 hours.
It’s about the motifs of the genre and what the game was aiming to accomplish after it’s predecessor.
Then perhaps he should have used a title and thumbnail that explained what the content of the video actually was going to be.
Also, this is not such a complicated topic that it takes three hours to explain. About the only long video that could justify its length is Folding Ideas’ video about NFTs, and only because it’s a very complex, very important, and, at the time, very relevant subject. Even then, some people just aren’t going to watch a two-hour video on the subject even if it is important. That’s the risk you take when you make a two-hour video.
And the Roblox video was only 28ish minutes. The rest of it is on Tommy “my mother’s very proud” Tallarico.
And both deserve the full 3 hours.
It obviously doesn’t, because then you wouldn’t be trying to justify the runtime by saying it’s only 28 minutes of real content. If the real content is only 28 minutes, then the video should also only be 28 minutes. He can rant about Tommy on a different video, and I can choose or not choose to watch it. See, that’s how YouTube works.
then you wouldn’t be trying to justify the runtime
That’s putting words in my mouth. The Roblox video is only about 28 minutes. The rest of the video the author makes very clear is about the unveiling of a pathological liar in the game industry.
It sounds like your issue is he should have picked a different title. Sure, that may have helped.
Let’s not forget the CEO of unity was also EA’s CEO during their peak scummy years. Like when they were doing what they could to discourage the used game market.
*edit: damned autocorrect messing up my typing
CEO as cosmic horror is a concept with legs. This’ll spice up my next cyberpunk campaign.
I think that would make more sense in a Shadowrun campaign.
I love that setting, but those mechanics. Ooof. Way too heavy. I actually meant the genre not the system. In reality I’ve been running The Sprawl but I’m looking for a narrative forward cyberpunk game that can accommodate urban fantasy.
There’s a Forged in the Dark game called Runners in the Shadows which looks pretty cool!
It is quite rare to see modern Penny Arcade not suck, normally it’s about the creator’s midlife crisis and how he hates Millennials for being younger than him
Can you post an example? I’ve followed it for a while and I’m honestly having a hard time thinking of a single comic like that.
I really don’t want to go through the webcomics, but I do know that 2016 was an especially bad time for this
Fair I guess. I honestly just have a hard time imagining Tycho ever doing that, he’s the opposite of someone who takes their success for granted.
Normally Tycho is the one going “Millenials bad” with Gabriel going “Money good”
Has Penny Arcade always been this hideous?
I’m so glad I’m not the only one that thinks this! I can see how and why it happened, as the art style became increasingly stylised and exaggerated over the years, but visually it’s really, really not my cup of tea. It feels like what happens when you spend all your time just drawing the same thing over and over (ie, two specific characters) to the point that they become increasingly caricaturised and distorted.
No one else I know dislikes the art, and like… I dunno, it’s a successful and well-loved comic that a lot of people enjoy. I don’t begrudge them that success. It’s just not a visual style that works for me. And it’s kind of nice to know others have noticed the same thing and it’s not just that my perception was completely off.
Yeah, it’s better to do dinosaur comic and just don’t change the art at all.
