Penny Arcade: Gamers, Geeks, Nerds, and Dorks Rejoice!

www.Pennyarcade.com is a website that hosts the web comic of the same name. Penny Arcade is created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. In these web comics, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik are personified by the characters Tycho Brahe and Jonathan Gabriel, respectively.

Most of the comic strips have to do with the video game genre, either critiquing games, companies, etc., or just with going ons in the video game industry. However, some comic strips are based on other pop culture and gamer culture subjects, like TV shows (like Lost), the Ipod, Zune, Dungeons and Dragons, and the Apple Store. When Penny Arcade's layout consists of Tycho and Gabe, it usually consists of a more sophisticated discussion started by Tycho, which Gabe, being of a more simple nature cancels in favor of a simple discussion. When it doesn't, the web comic strip is usually some sort of parody or critique of a game, developer, company, or person. For example, there is a comic strip that shows Sam Fischer (from the Splinter Cell series) being asked why he is allowed to have a danger sensor in jail.

The essence of the Penny Arcade comic is the negative critiquing of many games and companies. This is where Penny Arcade shines. They have insulted and even called out many game sites such as IGN and Gamespot, and also developers like John Romero.

The opinions of Penny Arcade are very intellectual, speaking volumes about their own intelligence, but they also tend to use vulgarities and other "unsavory" language that many may be uncomfortable with. The balance between smart and sailor is done well, and if you don't mind some oddball, vulgar topics (The most current at this writing is a three comic arch which shows Tycho bringing Gabe's phallus to a convention to rub on a television. The phallus is not connected to Gabe, in case you were wondering) then you can have a lot of fun looking at these web comics. With each new comic strip comes a blog entry, usually associating with the subject of the comic strip, but also telling news and opinions of other events, including their charity work and their World of Warcraft guild.