John Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 I myself am not much of a webcomic fan. I've got a few that I read periodically, and that's pretty much it. However, I very recently became aware that Penny Arcade (the biggest name in gaming comics, and probably even webcomics [i]total) [/i]recently sealed the deal to - you listening to this? - [b]gain exclusive rights to write comics about the electronic entertainment industry[/b]. Here's how one of the authors put it on the PA main page: [QUOTE]One can hardly keep up with the level of consolidation and treachery in the industry anymore. My interest lies more in what these companies produce, so by and large I'm content just let them slink around in the dark and kill each other. Product, not production. To cite just one example, I'm interested in fruit - but not botany or agriculture. So there you have it. Eventually, it's not going to be the kind of thing I can avoid, because I'm going to walk into an Electronic Arts retail location here in a couple years and purchase a white box with the word "Game" on it, and that's going to be the industry. EA just snapped up DICE, as [url="http://www.gamegossip.com/comment.php?id=11694"][color=#0000ff]I'm sure you saw[/color][/url]. Before that was the much ballyhooed NFL thing, to which Take Two responded by securing MLB exclusivity, [url="http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/24/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm"][color=#0000ff]of a sort[/color][/url] - and their recent acquisition of Sega's Visual Concepts sports studio will gird their loins for the coming battle. It's madness. I don't even have time to jot down an ironic comment on the state of things before the constituent [i]things[/i] have been entirely reconfigured. That, more than anything else, is why we sought to secure "[url="http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2005-01-26"][color=#0000ff]rights in perpetuity[/color][/url] to any and all humorous comic interpretations and/or situations arising or inferred from the electronic entertainment industry and/or the products thereof." The fact of the matter is that with strips like [url="http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/"][color=#0000ff]Ctrl-Alt-Del[/color][/url], [url="http://www.vgcats.com/"][color=#0000ff]VG Cats[/color][/url], [url="http://www.pvponline.com/"][color=#0000ff]PvP[/color][/url], and that ****** [url="http://www.reallifecomics.com/"][color=#0000ff]Greg Dean[/color][/url] (congratulations on the engagement!) nipping at our heels - and the black day of the single, hydra-headed Ultrapublisher ever hastening - the air's getting a little thin. You might be wondering what recourse is available to you, the disenfranchised web auteur. Honestly? Dig a hole and die in it. I have crafted these bleak circumstances, and I have set them upon you like dogs. Your exertions will only make you more delicious to them. They will find you cast in blue light, huddled in the subdirectory where you shiver with your .gifs, and they will end you.[/QUOTE]As I understand it, the authors of PA have always had egos of incomparable size, and have always been pretty much some of the biggest ***holes in the webcomic community. But at least they [i]kinda[/i] tried to hide it before, whereas now that their position in webcomicry is secured (as if it wasn't before), they let all pretense fall and let their intentions be known. What's worse is, they were already getting paid incredibly hefty sums by game companies just to write a comic about a particular game. They were making some crazy money just by drawing pictures and writing punchlines for an hour or two. However, now they feel that they must screw everyone else out of the deal, readers and all, even though some of these authors write their comics [i]for a living[/i]. So people like Tim Buckley, of Ctrl+Alt+Del, are getting ****** over to keep PA's pockets overflowing. I'd like to go more in-depth with this, but there probably needs to be some material left to the conversation. So on that note, take it away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semjaza Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 [spoiler]You do realize that this is a joke parodizing EA's recent acquistions and such? It's just a parallel to the comic they just put out saying the same things. Posts on other comic sites are just jokes in relation to this as well (ex: [url]http://www.cad-forums.com/showthread.php?t=30304[/url]). You cannot copyright something like that. It's like Time getting the rights to be the only news magazine in the world or Fox News being the only channel that can talk about politics. This is presented so seriously that I can't even tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Once I know I can just take away these spoiler tags...[/spoiler] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron Samedi Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 [size=1][spoiler]Upon reading Tony's comment, all I have to say is this: :p[/spoiler][/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 27, 2005 Author Share Posted January 27, 2005 Eh-- <_< >_> [i]Of course[/i] I knew it was a joke. Do you really think I'm that stupid? Geez. I mean, come on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron Samedi Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 [size=1]Let's pretend you didn't spread the very same news in numerous mO's [your own included]. ;)[/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 27, 2005 Author Share Posted January 27, 2005 Numerous? I really don't recall. *signals the mods* Hey, look! A helpless thread producing no discussion. Do your thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panda Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 Poor little thread died a horrible death. Let's put it to rest. RIP. -Panda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 [color=#334366]I hate to add insult to injury, but this is also in the wrong forum. It really belongs in either Play It or PC/Mac. Poor Who. V_V Edit: Erm, I came here to close the thread but noticed Panda had closed it at the same time. So it had to be re-closed. Oops, sorry about that.[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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