Penny Arcade On NPR 128
This morning on the NPR shuffle podcast, they included a segment about Penny Arcade. Seems only fair since NPR did Achewood a few months ago. If they just get XKCD on there, then the universe can rest.
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Penny Arcade On NPR
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"A car is just a big purse on wheels." -- Johanna Reynolds
Grats! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Grats! (Score:5, Insightful)
Posted Anonymously for Obvious Reasons. (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe I'm one of the few on Slashdot who "don't get" their cartoons. I do enjoy a few that relate to games I like. But I always thought they were a bit overhyped in the past. (The art is kind of meh IMHO. Topics sometimes too trendy.)
I respect them a lot though. They have been around like a decade. They survived the "eFront.com fiasco" and Internet Bubble. (Which took a lot of backbone.) And after that they set up a nice deal with "Child's Play" charities, conventions, etc.
Call me dumb, but I never really cared much for the comic strip. The creators however are amazing human beings.
Re:Grats! (Score:2, Insightful)
How is this model different... They have adds which bring in revenue for their site, also they sell merchandise based on their brand. So by creating a site that caters to pleasing many people they have created demand for their crap, and their popularity has became a profitable spot to advertise. That seems the same as Hasbro's 1980's money making method. Sell toys advertise by making a TV show about them and also collect advertising revenue from the TV show.
Re:Grats! (Score:3, Insightful)
Which would make sense, because most of the folks I know who read PA (myself included) were the target audience for Hasbro, Kenner, etc. in the 1980s.
M.A.S.K. ruled so much.
Re:Posted Anonymously for Obvious Reasons. (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, no humor appeals to everyone. You're allowed to dislike their comics. I'm allowed to think libertarianism would never work. You're still allowed to post. :)
The point is that they were one of the first independent internet comics that managed to make a living at their work, and have used their success for good instead of evil. Kudos to them.
Re:Someone actually listens to NPR? (Score:5, Insightful)
So I guess they are in the middle now if both sides thinks they are to far in the other direction.
I guess you could call it the middle. It seems to me all they've done was add some commentary by right-wing nutjobs to complement their traditional slate of commentary by left-wing nutjobs. You do get a wide variety of interesting viewpoints, though, so I continue to listen.
Re:Grats! (Score:3, Insightful)
How is this model different... They have adds which bring in revenue for their site, also they sell merchandise based on their brand. So by creating a site that caters to pleasing many people they have created demand for their crap, and their popularity has became a profitable spot to advertise.
Well yeah, I think that's exactly the point. Too many 'tards out there think there oughtta be a way to put up a web site, wave a magic wand (google ads), and get rich, and then complain that providing free content doesn't pay the rent. PA demonstrates that nothing about making money via the internet is substantially any different than real life.
Re:Someone actually listens to NPR? (Score:5, Insightful)
NPR has been cast as liberal by conservatives, but I find it pretty mainstream. Journalism when done correctly and honestly, gets criticized by all quarters.
The only time I had a problem with their coverage recently was when Mara Liasson started to fawn after the legacy of the Bush administration. The wool over her eyes damages her credibility.
Re:Grats! (Score:5, Insightful)
Agreed. Jerry and Mike not only know their audience but they are both fountains of talent, and their lifelong friendship gives them such a depth of knowledge about each other that they can play to each other's strengths. The result is an authentic, insightful and usually hilarious window into gamer culture and lifestyles. They've taken their wildly successful online product, which they disseminate for free, and leveraged it into not only an immensely popular (and probably highly lucrative) gamer convention but also started an eyebrow-raising global charity which has brought smiles to thousands (if not millions) of children the world over.
I think of these two people as examples of the kind of rare but wonderful success that can be found when one simply does what s/he loves, and chooses to embrace what s/he is. That mixed with healthy doses of dedication and luck can have alchemical results beyond the wildest expectations.
Toast to Jerry and Mike!
Re:Someone actually listens to NPR? (Score:3, Insightful)
Agreed. I'm middle-of-the-road politically and I would say that as a whole NPR is slightly left. I won't say the bias is willful and deliberate and diabolical and all of that, but I do believe it exists.
And when considering issues of bias, whether we're talking about left bias or right bias, it bears mentioning that often the issue of bias has as much to do with what's NOT reported as what is reported.
Re:Someone actually listens to NPR? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Someone actually listens to NPR? (Score:3, Insightful)
The bias is subtle and I imagine unintentional. It is simple things like "the Republican senator from Alaska Ted Stevens has been found guilty...." vs. "The Illinois governor has been charged with....." ....." It also shows up in story selection. Every Palin slip was replayed gleefully over and over. Biden slips were somehow never mentioned. I didn't vote for either but it was pretty clear who they liked and didn't like.
The most obvious case was when Bush was first elected and he and Clinton were at the same function. "President Clinton and Mr. Bush were at
I should mention that I listen to NPR daily and thoroughly enjoy them. I just take everything they say and run it through my bias filter. I do find it irritating when someone claims they are unbiased. In a way Rush and Hanity are more honest. They never claim to be unbiased. I find it best to get your news from a variety of sources.