The incredibly funny resurgence of our humble Arcade continues to surge among the larval dorks known as Pennyarcadelings, a cadre referred to in more coarse environs as The Gay Teens. We find the whole thing very sweet, and feel very tenderly toward them; it must be very strange to not know about it and then know about it all at once - how the self-publishing wave of the early internet lead the same people to found a global convention, a charity that has raised and wisely invested tens of millions of dollars into the youth, the foundation of what is called Actual Play, self-inflicted wounds and grievous exile, but then also also cameo in a Poker Game and its Remaster that somehow exhumed them from the muck. Time is quite strange and we have been exposed to a lot of it. We are almost custom-made to wear the mantle of Goofy Uncle who went to jail once and won't talk about why.

I’ve posted another time lapse of the comic drawing process. This one is for Tattooine, the Maul comic strip we posted yesterday. If you like seeing how the sausage gets made, check it out below! 

If you are into Rhythm games or Beat em Ups I highly recommend checking out Dead as Disco. It is an arcade brawler with combat reminiscent of the Batman Arkham series except that all your punches and combos can sync to the beat. 

The best Star Wars since it was acquired by The Rodent is very easy to define. On the movie side, Rogue One. I thought Solo had some hot shit in it, but I can understand if you didn't want to pull the bar down for that particular ride. Beyond that, the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, Andor, and now - just finishing its run - is Maul. It's actually that good. Some people like it even more than me, and I like it a lot.

I can appreciate that this is probably some inside baseball, but our ancient alliance with Seattle Children's Hospital through Child's Play Charity compels us to offer aid.

The only time I feel bad for not having a newer console is when Housemarque drops something. With a pedigree that goes back to the Amiga, they have developed and honed their taste to Jamon Iberico levels - I wouldn't be surprised if they let their games feed on acorns, free-range. They've perfected arcade feel, itself a kind of artisanal, out-of-time style, and now with Returnal and (from Mork tells me) Saros, they've mastered progression as well.

I think Saros is a super fun game whenever it isn’t trying to tell me whatever this story is. The bullet hell gameplay is really well done and if that’s all the game was I would probably love it, but they have layered in this inscrutable story that I find completely uninteresting and unnecessary. Jerry and I often say that something is “too grand for chicken” when trying to explain that a thing can be simple and great without needing an extra layer of gravitas. I will keep playing it, but that is how I feel about Saros.