Keeping Up Appearances

The Penny Arcade Expo is this weekend, and I’m flying up tomorrow for another three days of being awkward and confused while surrounded by nerdcrowds. I’m actually looking forward to this one, unlike the Comic Con, because I keep hearing how PAX is the right way to do a convention. I’d actually forgotten it was a videogame convention until a friend reminded me — I’ve been to so many comic cons and Macworlds recently that I started to conflate them all. Oh yeah, videogames! I remember liking those!

Plus, I think I like Seattle, at least the three or so hours I saw of it when I went up to the Microsoft campus a few years ago. I distinctly remember being startled at how clean the air was.

I’m going to be on two panels: Writing for Video Games from 6:00PM to 7:00PM on Friday, and then Make a Scene, the Strong Bad Edition from 7:30PM to 8:30PM. I hear that the Make a Scene panel at last year’s was a lot of fun; we get audience members to record lines for the characters and then put them together in our game engine for a cutscene at the end of the panel.

So if you’re going to be in Seattle, check me out! (No seriously, check me out!) And if you’re in San Francisco, please don’t steal my stuff.

Duncan Waffle Stand-up Gotti

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TomorrowThursday I’m headed down to the San Diego Comic Con for what is likely to be another four days of me wandering around completely bewildered.

In case I’ve managed to accumulate any stalkers, I’m going to be at a panel with some other Telltale folks (and Steve Purcell!) on Saturday morning talking about Sam & Max, Strong Bad, and the mysterious unannounced Third License of Mystery:

11:30-12:30 Sam & Max, Strong Bad, and the Secrets Behind Turning Comics into Games— Sam & Max may have their roots in indy comics, but the crime-fighting duo is right at home starring in a successful series of episodic games. The cast of the popular Homestarrunner.com web cartoons are following suit this summer in Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People. Why do comics make for such great games? Telltale designers Mark Darin, Chuck Jordan, and Mike Stemmle, artist Mai Nguyen, and Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell will tell you all about the fun (and work) of bringing comics to life. Plus, get a first look at a third, completely new episodic game series! Room 4

(Which means I’ve got to miss the Hellboy panel, dammit!)

If anybody’s down there and wants to hang out, let me know. The convention gets overwhelming quickly.