At long last, the two culturally distinct worlds of ping-pong and trading card games have been fused into one aggregate superhobby. During the Penny Arcade Media Q&A Panel at
PAX, the comic's illustrator, Mike Krahulik, explained, "We've been tinkering with a
Paint the Line card game -- that has been quite a bit of fun in the office, so we'll see how that goes." For non-readers,
Paint the Line was a series of strips the duo did in 2008 which tells the story of a global ping-pong power struggle. It's also a story of
love and killer whales. There's a lot going on in there.
For those who aren't immediately turned on by this notion, Krahulik added, "Ping-pong played in CCG is surprisingly interesting." Draw one backhand swipe! Tap one
ping energy! Discard one
pong.
{ Sep 6th 2009 at 12:00PM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MowDownJoe @ Sep 6th 2009 12:09PM
Now, that's a strange concept. I'd have to see it for myself.
Kyattsuai @ Sep 6th 2009 12:30PM
This officially trumps "makers of Grand Theft Auto" as most bizarre source for a ping pong game.
gLitterbug @ Sep 6th 2009 1:46PM
Along with being the most bizarre Ping-Pong game itself as well.
copa @ Sep 6th 2009 12:56PM
Uh oh. It actually sounds like Gabe and Tycho are playing Jump The Shark.
gLitterbug @ Sep 6th 2009 12:59PM
how so?
MowDownJoe @ Sep 6th 2009 1:01PM
People throw around the phrase "Jump the Shark" too much nowadays. Anything even remotely bad happens in a series, and "oh, that's its Shark-Jumping moment".
Shadsy @ Sep 6th 2009 1:50PM
Yeah, no one seems to get the original meaning. It's the point at
which, directly quoting Wikipedia, "the plot veers off into absurd
story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations," "loses its
original appeal," and things "are typically deemed to have passed
their peak."
As opposed to the other definition of "man that sucks."
The minute Penny Arcade reveals all the characters are lobsters, and
they release a playset of lobster toys, then you can come back.
gLitterbug @ Sep 6th 2009 2:15PM
Actually, if you think about the level of absurdity that Penny Arcade has displayed over the years, nothing short of turning boring and normal would make it jump the shark. I really can't see how this is a shocking revelation to anyone. Surprise yes, but how can anyone who actually follows Penny Arcade at least sporadically be taken aback due to this?
Shagittarius @ Sep 6th 2009 5:10PM
Penny Arcade will never jump the shark its already absurdly shitty.
fiendishdrwu @ Sep 6th 2009 1:07PM
I wonder how many dump trucks full of money pull up to their houses on a daily basis.
Courtney @ Sep 6th 2009 2:05PM
That sounds awesome! I'm not one for CCG games per se, but I love stuff like Munchkins and Killer Bunnies. I could see something weird like this working if it was like one of those two games.
Ameen @ Sep 7th 2009 11:31AM
I loved that story, man who can't get enough of the weird scenarios in which they were placed. Loved Tycho's "love-that's-worth-dying" strip.
"Sir, He said..
Paint the Line..."
While I loved that story arc. I can't believe that they want to milk that into a card game, it sounds just too "Capitalistic" of them.
Last but not least, this news just makes me feel if I've grown more than Nine-feet apart from Penny-Arcade.
Cena @ Sep 7th 2009 2:54PM
Penny Arcade: Paint the Line better be the new Penny Arcade set in the Universal Fighting System CCG.
Fantasy Flight Games, MAKE IT HAPPEN.
r4 ds @ Oct 15th 2009 2:12AM
r4 ds: Ping pong on cards will just be fine.....The ping pong players aren't that famous....so this is a nice way to make the game & players famous.....