OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2006

DANIEL YULE
COLUMNIST

Penny Arcade (PA) is more than just
a webcomic. PA is the expression of the
entire gaming culture. Contained with-
in its maniacal drawings and expletive
laden dialog is the collective thoughts
of the video gamers’ subconscious. Ty-
cho Brahe's exaggerated intellectualism
and Jonathan “Gabe” Gabriel's ADD in-
duced enthusiasm are the end points on

the gradient of video game geekery, and

the combination manages to encompass
everyone in between. ‘This is reflected in
the fact that Penny Arcade is one of, if
not the most popular webcomic on the
internet.

PA was not always so lofty. Indeed,
their reason for starting a webcomic was
that they lost a comic contest, Under-
standable, considering their first few
years of webcomics were hardly good
enough to be noticed in the glut of com-
ics available now. Penny Arcades main
reason for success can be summed up in
Jerry's own words, which he in turn took
from Michael Buonauro: “If you want
to be a success in webcomics, start in
1998.” At this, Penny Arcade succeeded
extremely well, making their debut Nov-
ember 18, 1998, when competition was
very scatce. A typical comic from PAs
youth would run like this: “Look at this
game! It sure is good/bad!” “Clever in-
sult!” As it grew, it added a new type of
comic: “Bizarre statement.’ “Even more
bizarre statement.’ “Absurdist com-
ment.’ These two styles of comic have
persisted to the modern comic, and rep-
resent most of the comics in the canon.

Arcade:

Not Just Lame Gaming Jokes

_and illustrated the Entertainment Soft-

The artwork for the early comics is ex-
tremely simple, compared to the beauti-
fully sophisticated artwork that Mike
Krahulik regularly draws now. |
Today, PA is possibly the slickest web-

comic on the internet: ‘They've been | :

doing it for 8 years, and it shows. The
artwork, as mentioned above, is simply
gorgeous, and Jerty Holkin'’s writing is
a joy to read. His newsposts are often’
touted as“better than the comic.’ This
is simply not the case. Although they
certainly add a lot to the comic, and in
some cases are very helpful with under-
standing it, it is wholly possible to read
through the archives and enjoy the com-
ic immensely, That said, Holkins’ posts -
are brilliantly written, filled with insight
and very funny. If you're-reading the
comic, it is well worth your while to give
the newspost a read,

PA‘s influence is far reaching. Simply
by linking to a site, they can so flood it
with visitors that it goes down, a process
they call“wanging.’ A bitter war against
Miami attorney Jack Thompson, among
many others, garners a lot of publicity
for both sides, Their influence, however,
is not limited strictly to the confines of
the internet. They've lent their talents
to numerous video game companies for
promotional comics, and recently wrote

ware Ratings Board's promotional cam-
paign. Furthermore, they've gone on to
create the world’s largest gaming con-
vention, PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) and
the Child's Play charity which gave over
$600 000 to children’s hospitals across
the continent in the last year alone. As
representatives of the gaming subculture,
Holkins and Krahulik have succeeded
admirably, both as role models and as
ambassadors to the outside world,

I have yet to meet someone who reads
webcomics at all who has not read some
Penny Arcade. PA is such a titan in the
webcomic world that it has become a ne-
cessary part of the culture. PA is both a
response to and the guiding star of the
gaming world, It is impossible to be a
gamer and be unaffected by Penny Ar-
cade, as they even influence the gaming
companies themselves. PA is the gaming
webcomic, and if you're into either gam-
ing or webcomics, it is a necessary read.
If you do not understand gamers, there
is no better explanation than Penny Ar-
cade. If gaming culture does not make
sense to you after reading PA, you're
probably Amish.

Knock Vader's Block Off

HAAKON SULLIVAN
STAFF WRITER

When I heard about Lego Star Wars
for the first time, I thought that it would
bea game reserved for kids. When I
saw the screenshots for Lego Star Wars
II though, the Star Wars fan inside
me gave me the urge to buy this game.
After ten minutes of playing this game
I quickly realized that for the first time

‘a game company (in this case Traveler's

Tales Games) made an ESRB rated “E”
game actually fun for all ages.

When you start a new game, you im-
mediately begin in the Mos Eisley can-
tina which becomes your HQ, Here you
can buy upgrades, unlock characters, se-
lect missions to play, or just start an old
fashioned Star Wars bar brawl. There
are sixteen main missions with a story
or free play mode and bonus missions
which will challenge your skill.

The gameplay is split between fighting
on foot or in an air/space missions. The
foot missions involve much problem

solving to continue on in the level and -
much destruction of the various objects

or enemies. Each character has its own
talent which makes it stand out from the
rest and sometimes gives you a chuckle.
You can also drive vehicles which results
in Stormtrooper blasting fun. The space
missions are difficult and occasionally
tedious, making you want to finish the
mission only to progress to the next
level. You can unlock new ships how-
ever, which allows the space battles to be

played in various ways.

The story of the original Star Wars
trilogy is well told in the cutscenes
which are comprised of grunting Lego
figures gesturing to objects and flash-
ing facial expressions. The game is full
of slapstick humor ranging from the
funny (Luke hitting a Jawa while park-
ing a speeder) to the just plain weird
(The Beach Trooper: a Stormtrooper in
a Speedo). Another humorous aspect is
the ability to create you own Lego fig-
ure using the parts from the other Lego
figures you have unlocked, The zaniest
combinations can be made here from
Luke Three-Pio to Princess Chewie.

This game can be played with one or
two players but this game is much more
entertaining with two players as it is
easier to cooperate with another person
than the game's AI when you stumble

upon some of the games puzzles. For
example, when I played by myself it was
hard to coordinate with the AI to pull
two levers at the same time. When you
do play with another player however,
tensions can run hot between the two of
you as you accidentally push the other
player off the edge with the force or acci-
dentally shoot him/her in the crossfire.
Also, the second player can-drop in and
out easily,

On the PS2 the “blocky” graph-
ics arent exactly’ stunning and at some
points the graphics are unstable. How-
ever, the music is excellent as the game
stayed true with John Williams’ epic
score giving you a feeling almost similar
to that when you watch the Star Wars
movie. Except of course, you're watching
a Lego Chewbacca pop the arms off of a
Lego Stormtrooper.

When you see Lego Star Wars’ ESRB
rating of “E’, don't immediately call it
a kids game and strike it off you list of
games to play. This game really is for all
ages and will give anyone a good mix of
slapstick humor and solid gameplay, I
would recommend this game to any Star
Wars fan or to anyone who is playing
video games for the first time.

Knitting Fact Through Fiction

MISHA WARBANSKI
THE LINK (CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY)

What do a cab driver, a PR executive
and a bandana-clad activist have in com-

mon? In North of 9/11, the new novel -

by David Bernans, what might appear
to be very separate lives converge as the
World Trade Centre comes crashing
down on Sept. 11, 2001.

Sarah, a womens studies major, finds
her family and upbringing at odds with
her activist ideals. Her corporate-lad-
der-climbing father becomes even more
unbearable, thanks to his overt racism,
in the post-9-11 climate. Het activ-
ist friend, an Arab cab driver, feels the
heightened racism firsthand. He helps

Sarah concoct a plan to rock the corpor-

ate world. :
“September 11 was really a water-

shed moment for politics in Canada
and around the world,’ said Bernans.
“In Canada and Quebec the ideological
assault of the ‘right’ was not as intense
as in the U.S., but it was still intense
for people involved with Solidarity for
Palestinian Human Rights, racism in
general and people involved in political
activism.’

Set in Montreal, the book has a“non-
fiction narrative that forms the back-
drop for a fictional plotline,’ according
to Bernans.

“You have different groups represent-
ed by different characters in the novel —
immigrants from more or less privileged
backgrounds,’ Bernans explained.

The character Betty, for example, was
involved in the 1969 computer riots
and directly affected by racism. On the
other hand, Sarah, a non-immigrant, is
an outspoken supporter of Palestinian
human rights, but is “asking existential
questions about where do I fit in?”

For Bernans, 9-11 was both personal
and political. “I lived through this time
-and I saw all these wrongs being done,’
said Bernans, But for his purposes, he
said that a novel seemed more appropri-
ate than a non-fiction. “It was such a sur-
real time, but also such a short period of
time as well. I was trying to bear witness
to all these wrongs. You cant go back
and right those wrongs, but you can at
least make people think about them.’

In the book Bernans also puts the
events into larger context. While head-
lines are calling the event the worst
form of terrorism on U.S. soil, he recalls
the days of slavery and looks to South
America for another infamous Sept. 11
— the 1973 U.S. military-backed coup
in Chile.

North of 9/11 is available online from
rabble.ca. For more information about
the book, check out www.cumuluspress,
com,