Today in Joystiq: December 27, 2007

by Ross Miller { Dec 27th 2007 at 11:59PM }

Joystiq reader James has a wonderful sister Katherine who knitted him the above presents. Obvious on the left is the Weighted Companion Cube. Our friend on the right, who hasn't promised not to stab you, is the Fighter from Final Fantasy I ... wait, are those sword-chucks? That must be from 8-bit theater! Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Off the Grid: Long-distance gaming
Today's most bizarre self-grenade video: Halo 3 'epic suicide'
X3F Week in Review: December 21, 2007 - December 27, 2007

News
Sega taking Phantasy Star Online offline in Japan
Midway looks to Hollywood tie-ins in 2008
Devil May Cry 4 Xbox 360 bundle hits Japan in January
GameFly's year-end used game sale
Star Ocean IV trailer comes courtesy Star Ocean PSP disc
Amazon sold 17 Wiis a second (while in stock)

Rumors & Speculation
Nasdaq: Atari could be delisted, market value too low

Culture & Community
How-To: Build a MAME cabinet, a video in 5 parts
NPR covers 2007's games that got away
BioShock, Portal, and friends as grocery cart warnings
The best thing you'll see today: LEGO Portal
Forget Putin: Gaming icons Photoshopped as Persons of the Year

Tags: 8-bit-theater, dailyrecap, final-fantasy, half-life, knit, knitting, nuklear-power, portal, sword-chucks, the-orange-box, valve

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

roxxxo @ Dec 28th 2007 12:13AM

two-fisted monkey style!

Neebs @ Dec 28th 2007 12:28AM

I like swords.

ViagraFiend @ Dec 28th 2007 9:56AM

It looks like he's holding an E-Meter. Maybe he's being audited to find out his Thetan level. :|

Yuzu Bergamot @ Dec 31st 2007 7:19PM

Welcome to Corneria. :O

Regulus Tera @ Dec 28th 2007 12:38AM

I'm kind of sad you chose one of the first comics to link to the sword-chucks. Brian's writing has improved a lot since 2001, and the Kary arc (in which the sword-chucks make their definitive appearance) is one of the highlights of the comic.

All in all, I love 8-bit Theater.

roxxxo @ Dec 28th 2007 2:07AM

the early comics were the best

that shit got real boring by comic 150 or so. they had still done almost nothing and the writer got wordier and wordier

Regulus Tera @ Dec 28th 2007 5:41AM

I totally disagree. There's only so much you can do with sprites, and what Brian did was make the comic more cleverly written than just “Fighter likes swords & Black Mage stabs”. Yes, they're still quite one-dimensional, but that's the whole point -the ones saving the world are the least capable to do so.

I would say the fact that it got wordier was for the best. Brian's strength has always been his writing, which has become marvelous with the years. Case in point, the Dragoon saga, which is just hilarious.

You should definitely check his other comic, Atomic Robo, and his book, Nuklear Age, which has some pacing problems similar to the beginning of 8-bit, but which is very rewarding if you stay through the end.