Nerds Uniting

penny arcade is a nerdcomic. if i need to tell you this, if you did not already know, then sit down. it's time to learn.

nerd was an appelation that once was entirely derogatory. this has changed in the last few years, and it's interesting, having lived on both sides of that flux.

it's easy to point at the internet as the key source of this change, but that's not what this is about, here.

this is about gamer ascendance.

penny arcade started in 1998, when the internet was still in growing pains. a webcomic that focused on video games, it managed both hilarity and social insight, especially making fun of popular media's constant potshots at video games and gamers.

i'm personally still not sure if penny arcade itself was one of the key catalysts of the new nerd paradigm, or if it's the benchmark, but it serves a vital function. the misadventures of gabe and tycho, the creator's (mike krahulik and jerry holkin's alter ego's, respectively) are utterly hilarious, and wildly popular (y'know, on the internet, where important things happen.)

the vast popularity and network that these two men have become the focus of has morphed. their canny business sense and genuine love of games and gamers of all ilk has been turned to a variety of ends. PAX, or Penny Arcade Expo, is one such event, and the Child's Play, a charity devoted to helping sick children, is another.

now, at their website, they launch a new venture into the collective consciousness of the world. Penny Arcade TV has been born, and seems to be chugging along. This webseries is something of a reality show, showing the behind the scenes in mike and jerry's lives, and especially into the makings of PAX.

You don't have to play the games that they make comics about (although it helps) to enjoy the comics. you don't even have to be a nerd. but in this day and age, why wouldn't you want to be?