Banner Characters (and winners) REVEALED! Part 3

Posted by Gary Hodges at 1:27 PM Jul 01, 2008

Well, here we are: the final day of character reveals from the Joystick Division Banner Contest, #17-23. This last block was a very stark mix of extremely easy and extremely difficult characters to identify, with nobody in between. In fact, more incorrect guesses (or blank answers) fell into this last block than any of the prior two.

Some of that is sorta-kinda my fault. But we'll get to that.

Today we also have the winners to announce, those readers among you who proved they know their gaming trivia just a little better than the average joe (or at the very least, are a little better at deciphering my drawings).

Let's finish this mammoth series up, shall we?

Banner Characters REVEALED! Part 2

Posted by Gary Hodges at 3:18 AM Jun 30, 2008

Here we go, banner characters 9 through 16 identified one-by-one... click through for the answers, with only one day to go before the winners are announced!

Banner Characters REVEALED! Part 1

Posted by Gary Hodges at 6:34 PM Jun 29, 2008

I have to say: participation in the Banner Contest was outstanding. A surprising number of readers took up the challenge of naming every character in the JD banner, and a special thanks goes out to everyone who gave it a shot!

Now that the contest has concluded, though, it’s time to reveal who’s who. Due to the number of characters in the banner, I’m not going to reveal everyone in a single post; instead we’ll reveal characters 1 through 8 today, characters 9 through 16 tomorrow, and then on Tuesday (July 1) we’ll reveal the rest of the characters, as well as the first and second place winners.

Speaking of which: I just finished the scoring this morning, and it was extremely close. Out of 46 possible “points” (23 characters, 1 point for a name plus 1 point for the game the character first appeared in), our first place winner netted 42. Two other entrants tied for second place with 40 points, one chosen over the other for entering earlier. But all the entries I got were at least above the 50% margin, which I thought was pretty good. If I hadn’t drawn the damn thing, there’re a few I never would've gotten right.

Not in the first eight, though – I would’ve nailed those, no problem. Mostly because I picked the hardest one in the batch. Let’s see who they are.

Joystick Division New Banner CONTEST

Posted by Gary Hodges at 10:57 PM Jun 21, 2008

As you may or may not have noticed, we’ve got a new banner and logo for Joystick Division. We wanted something a little more colorful, a little more playful, a little sleeker… and now we have it! Even better, it presents an opportunity for you readers to flex your videogame trivia muscles and maybe win some free stuff.

Comic Countdown to Penny Arcade game

Posted by Jonathan McNamara at 1:14 AM May 15, 2008

To help drum up even more anticipation for their highly anticipated game On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One, Penny Arcade's Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins have begun releasing pages from their comic prequel to the game.

According to Gabe's entry on the Penny Arcade Web site, this comic will be the first of four illustrating one of Gabe and Tycho's adventures as the the Startling Developments Detective Agency prior to the events in the game.

With only seven days remaining till the game's launch, you shouldn't have to wait long for the next page.

Precipice of Darkness features a 1920s style world with steam punk technology taking form most notably in the sometimes-mascot Fruit Fucker character from the comic.

Drunk and Live: The Minibosses

Posted by Jonathan McNamara at 4:37 PM Apr 15, 2008

Better than: Playing NES, but just barely.

Want to hear Shotfest 2 for yourself? Click to listen to a Minibosses podcast direct from Yucca Tap room.

Check out some pics from the event in our slide show: Shotfest 2 Featuring The Minibosses at Yucca Tap Room courtesy of Phoenix New Times.

Long have the benefits of alcohol-assisted gaming been known. There's nothing better than getting the lightning item, using it and screaming "everybody drink," whilst playing Mario Kart, for example...or is there? On Sunday, April 13 2008, Phoenix's own Minibosses decided to answer that question during Shotfest 2 at Yucca Tap Room.

The rules were simple. One shot. One song. Seeing as The Minibosses did what they did best (bringing you rocked-out versions of the 8-bit Nintendo music your subconscious can't let go of) for a few hours, it's safe to say they upped the ante and alcohol-fueled, game-related fun.

Introducing the Division

Posted by Jeff Shaw at 6:00 AM Apr 01, 2008

Geographically diverse and eclectic in terms of console preference, Village Voice Media brings you a team of video game writers with the stuff to satisfy your gaming jones. Some you know from the Game On columns; others are staff and freelancers at papers far and wide.

Let's meet them, shall we?

GARY HODGES: Gary Hodges is a freelance writer, and one half of the dynamic duo that makes up Village Voice Media’s Game On, in his own words: “The Dark Knight to Chris Ward’s Boy Wonder, but please don’t print that.”