Amidst the hubbub of PAX 07, Hothead Games revealed today that the first episode of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness will be downloadable on Xbox Live Arcade in early 2008, with future installments to follow. As previously announced, the adventure/role-playing title will first be available for PC, Mac, and Linux users some time this year. For computer users, the title will be available for download directly from a Hothead-created site. Hothead worked with Penny Arcade founders Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins as well as legendary adventure game developer Ron Gilbert to craft the title. "Mike and Jerry are just so amazingly creative. You get people like that in a room--there's so many great ideas," Gilbert said at a Hothead press conference Friday at PAX 07. Hothead showed a demo of title Friday at the press conference and again today in the exhibit hall at the expo, so expect full impressions from the Shack staff shortly. Hothead has set up a Web site for the game at Rainslick.com.

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Hugely popular gaming-oriented webcomic Penny Arcade will be showcased through Valve's Steam service, Valve announced today. Currently, Penny Arcade strips up to Wednesday's edition are accessible through a simple browser in the Steam software. Today's announcement may be indicative of a larger ongoing plan on Valve's part to expand the number of gaming-related services offered by Steam beyond its primary purpose of selling and managing digitally distributed games. Speaking to Shacknews in response to inquiries regarding today's announcement, Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi noted that Valve hopes to continue expanding Steam out to support additional types of content. Recently, the company laid out initial details for a suite of upcoming community features planned for Steam, transforming it into a social network and multiplayer matchmaking service. The introduction of those additions will likely pit the service against Microsoft's nascent Games for Window Live program. Despite being only one of numerous game download services on the market, Steam has enjoyed a particularly strong reputation among gamers. It houses games from several dozen developers and seven major publishers. There was no indication as to whether today's news implies an eventual Steam release of Hothead's Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, but such a scenario seems likely given Steam's game history.

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Veteran adventure game designer Ron Gilbert (pictured left) has teamed up with developer Hothead Games and webcomic writer/artist team Penny Arcade to work on the upcoming adventure game series Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. PAA:OTRSPOD is set to release episodically across PC, Mac OS X, and Linux. Gilbert created LucasArts' 1987 adventure game Maniac Mansion, which set the stage for point-and-click graphic adventures to come and featured nonlinear gameplay mechanics uncommon in the genre to this day. In 1990 and 1991 respectively, LucasArts released The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, created by Gilbert with co-writers Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman; the games have become Gilbert's strongest legacy. The designer then left LucasArts to found Humongous Entertainment, where he created several successful children's franchises and, at sister company Cavedog Entertainment, served as producer on Chris Taylor's celebrated strategy game Total Annihilation. In recent years, Gilbert has maintained his blog and kept a relatively low profile in the games industry, working with various developers as a consultant. "I have been a fan of Penny Arcade because I have always found their comic so funny and biting," he said. "When I first heard they were making a game and that they had chosen to weave adventure game elements into it, I knew immediately I wanted to be involved. Working with the Penny Arcade guys and the team at Hothead has been an absolute riot." "I can hardly believe it," said Penny Arcade writer Jerry "Tycho" Holkins. "The whole thing is super crazy." Image credit: Dan Lee/Idle Thumbs

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There's a Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Q&A on FiringSquad this morning, asking Hothead Games COO Joel DeYoung about the recently announced episodic game project.

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Long running video game-themed webcomic Penny Arcade today announced that Vancouver-based Hothead Games will be developing an episodic series of games based on Penny Arcade. The tone of the press release suggests that the game is likely to take a tongue in cheek attitude towards various video game cliches and conventions; the first game in the series will be "a comic adventure game" entitled Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

"We're really excited to be working with Hothead Games on our first electronic adventure," said writer Jerry Holkins, his clawed feet resting atop a huge slab of granite. "From the moment we laid eyes on them, it was clear they had the technical and creative chops to execute our grim vision. Now that we have pooled our strengths, our dark work may truly begin." Holkins then paused to eat a rat whole.

Hothead was formed in March of this year, and employs developers who have worked on games such as The Simpsons: Hit & Run and The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. "I've promised this with past games, and I stand by it: if the game sucks, I'll eat my shirt," stated Hothead president Vlad Ceraldi. Penny Arcade Adventures is being developed for PC, Mac, and Linux, with next generation console versions to follow.

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At this year's E3, there were some posters on display featuring characters clearly drawn by Mike "Gabe" Krahulik of Penny Arcade. Each character's poster was labeled with one of the well known ESRB content ratings: E (Everyone), T (Teen), M (Mature), and so on. Now, the ESRB has sent out an announcement explaining the characters. Penny Arcade created the series of characters as part of a campaign by the ESRB to remind actual gamers of the purpose of ESRB ratings. "We don't expect to ever be considered cool among gamers, but at the very least we want gamers to understand the purpose we serve," said ESRB president Patricia Vance. "After all, many of them will be parents one day, at which time we expect they will be far more appreciative of the tools we provide."

For the past several years, gamer magazines and websites have loyally and consistently supported ESRB PSA campaigns, with over 70 ads published generating 25 million impressions. However, game enthusiast publishers felt that the ESRB ads, which target parents, were somewhat disconnected to their readers and the editorial environment. The Penny Arcade campaign was developed with this expressed purpose in mind, and does not replace the existing ESRB OK to Play? ads, which will continue to appear in all non-game enthusiast media.

Only the first two ads were revealed alongside the announcement, both corresponding to the E (Everyone) rating: Sarah and The Andersons. Characters corresponding to the remaining ESRB ratings, most of which were on display at E3, will presumably be formally revealed in the near future.

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Some say that widely-visited sites such as Shacknews should cease coverage of the insane antics and ramblings of Jack Thompson, attorney-at-law and rabid detractor of Video Games, and sadly I must respectfully decline to respect those wishes. The situations that build up around this guy are just too good. So, what now? Well, last week Mr. Thompson claimed that he would donate $10,000 to charity if somebody constructed a brutal revenge murder video game based on his extremely violent specifications. Well, a team called Fighting Hellfish has done just that, crafting a mod for GTA: San Andreas entitled Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator. However, upon receipt of this news, Thompson responded that he would not be commenting on the mod, and that his so-called "Modest Proposal" (and, presumably, its promised $10,000) was intended only as satire. He notes:

"To be fair, though, you can't expect a bunch of gamers to understand the satire if they think that Jonathon Swift, the author of 'A Modest Proposal,' is the name of a new Nike running shoe..."

First off, Jack, it's "Jonathan," and the well-known piece by that legendary satirist eclipses your little charade by leaps and bounds, so don't even try it. While Swift's "modest proposal" of child cannibalization can only been seen as outrageous and purely provocative, your game design was entirely feasible--so feasible, in fact, that somebody executed it. Your offer, too, was entirely within the realms of reason. $10,000 is a lot of money, but isn't it entirely possible that charitable persons would be willing to part with thousands of dollars to serve their cause? Apparently, yes, it is entirely possible. Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the Tycho and Gabe of Penny Arcade, have stepped up to the plate and donated that $10,000 to the ESA Foundation, which supports many charities for the benefit of children. What makes the move all the more striking is that the money was donated in Thompson's name. Mr. Thompson's response goes on to claim that "God is in this battle, and I am privileged to be a foot soldier. You all should be concerned, not about me, but about Him." If God is keeping an eye on the two "sides" in this battle, Jack should start to be concerned that the opposition is making him look bad.

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