Nothing like a bit of good news to end the year with a bang, eh? The Child's Play charity movement run by Penny Arcade has reportedly exceeded its projected million-dollar mark for this December. Details on this big news are available in the full article.

If the above title does not invoke images of the famed web comic by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, then you obviously need to catch up on things a bit.

Now, for the readers who do know what we're talking about, Electronic Gaming Monthly hinted that Penny Arcade video game may land at Xbox Live Arcade in their September 2007 issue. But it appears that EGM got a little too excited and predicted the possibility earlier than planned.

The game was supposedly in development by Hothead Games, who later clarified that they were definitely planning to land the game in one or all of the next-gen systems. Other than this, they have yet to confirm any other details. The game is reportedly supposed to be some port of the PC-only Penny Arcade Adventures Episode One: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

Stick around in case we pick up more info. Crackers, and here I was hoping VG Cats gets the privilege...

To anyone who has ever wanted to go to college for the sake of gaming, listen up since this may be your chance to do just that.

During this year's Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), the creators of the widely-popular online comic Penny Arcade, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, have announced that they are offering a $10,000 college scholarship which will be awarded at PAX 2007.

The said scholarship will be awarded to a student who plans to attend an accredited college or university with the intention of entering the game industry later on.

To qualify for the scholarship, the aspirant must apply for it by submitting a two-page essay on how he or she will fit in the game industry as well as two letters of recommendation. Applicants must also have a GPA of 3.3 or higher and all applications must be in by February 1, 2007. All applications will then be examined and considered during the period between February and August. The winner will be selected based on service, leadership, character as well as financial need.

Full guidelines regarding the scholarship are in the full version of this article, so be sure to check that out since this may be the chance that you have been waiting for. With that said and done, we bid "Good luck!" to all applicants! Make PA proud and give back to the gaming community!

And by the way... Gabe and Tycho, you're our heroes!


Click on Full Article for the complete guidelines.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has tapped the web comic Penny Arcade to handle their new ad campaign. This move aims to make gamers become more aware of the ratings and to see its importance in the gaming community. If you aren't familiar with the Penny Arcade comics, it is written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik.

The strip regularly features Holkin and Krahulik's alter egos-- Tycho Brahe (Holkins) and Jonathan "Gabe" Gabriel (Krahulik). The two characters spend much of their time playing and commenting on computer and video games, forming the basis of the humor in the strip.

According to Krahulik, "until now (the ESRB's) advertising has been focused on trying to educate adults about the ESRB. That's obviously an important task, but they wanted this new message to be directed at gamers -- that is to say directed at us."

He also added that "they wanted a campaign that would communicate to gamers why the ESRB is important even if they don't think it directly affects them." When asked why the duo decided to accept the gig, 'Gabe' said "we much prefer the ESRB to government regulation and let's all be honest here, that's the alternative." Choosing the lesser of the two 'evils' I suppose (just kidding).

The ads were partially presented at E3 and according to Krahulik, the ad campaigns were warmly received. The ads will appear in gaming mags and websites in the near future. Let's just see if this ads seriously affects the gaming community.