I’ve been reading Penny Arcade for as long as I can remember, so when I decided to review a media source that I felt was both alternative and revolutionary to the modern gaming industry it wasn’t until I actually went to investigate the site itself that I realized how perfect it was for the assignment; aside from perhaps choosing PvP Online there is no better way to showcase the raw power of the media as there can be with this simple online comic.
The first comic ever released by the duo of Tycho and Gabe appeared in 1998 on http://www.penny-arcade.com/ featuring a short three panel joke revolving around downloading times. It would be the start of a long road not only for the two gamers, but also for the gaming industry in general. When you take a look at a typical entertainment medium you find that there are generally multiple outlets to showcase it, but what we take for granted is the time and risk that as involved in attempting to generate a community. In our more modern gaming generation concepts such as web comics are normal, in fact its not spectacular or unique to have one. However there was a point in time when few to no such comics existed, when the only sort of panel that ever was readable were either in your Sunday newspaper or political next to long winded articles about important figures screwing up in some way. It would take years for people to really catch on and see the importance in web comics, and even today their existence is taken for granted.
Penny-arcade is a source of biased information about games in a time and place where we’ve come to no longer trust our reviewers. This is not to say that they’re perfect, nor that they’re experts in gaming and should have their word taken as gold, however this is to say that we can always expect them to give an honest review. Viewers are given a humorous comic related to the gaming (and sometimes the real world too) but in addition are given links that will direct you to the sources that provided the comic, as well as other information they find pertinent or interesting. For an industry that relies mainly on word of mouth this sort of press is critical, and something they give on a near regular basis. You don’t need to like them or agree with them to understand that they’ve made their point and it (or at least their comic version) will reverberate throughout an entire community.
And here would lie the critical part: what defines the gaming community? After all, if their targeted audience is simply people who play videogames its really hard to gain a sense of population or financial strength. Most of the time people consider gamers to be young teenagers and that conception isn’t entirely incorrect, however as more time goes on a smaller and smaller gap is starting to form. Take for example the Wii which sold 24.45 million units worldwide since its creation (774,123 units compared to 232,421 in a single month in Japan). With approximately six billion people currently on the planet earth that means that close to .4% of the earth and growing owns this single product. By aggressively advertising to not only the young child in every household, but also to the mother, father, and grandparents targeting an entire family, not just a single age demographic is where Nintendo has succeeded in a way that no other gaming developer has currently be able to secure victory. And as the general audience of a gaming console grows so does the demand for knowledge about not only the product but its competitors grows, after all what American today purchases an item without first considering product alternatives? Penny-Arcade has captured a market that most advertisers would kill for, one that is receptive, active and willing to participate in a community they feel they connected with. And in fact, this is something that has already been taken advantage of in a positive light.
Child’s Play, Penny-Arcades organizational charity was created in 2003 in order to give aid to children who less fortunate during the holiday season. Featuring the help of 100,000 ‘gamers’, 45 hospitals around the globe, and the medium of a single comic website as their means of communication over one million three hundred dollars worth of game related toys (including videogames, systems, and cash donations) were collected and distributed throughout the world. And its not as if major corporations have failed to recognize this sort of community driven importance, as many donate themselves to funds such as Child's Play as well as maintain written contact with the authors of the site. In fact it’s the start of these communities that has really pushed other major retailers to become much more intimate with their gamers demand for accurate and unbiased information. Playstations news portion of the site offers disclaimer that proudly tells visitors that they’re keeping a promise to us by releasing articles written by private media companies in the game industry. The best sources, simply for us.
The fact of the matter is that mainstream media requires smaller run independents to keep buying and enjoying their products in order to survive, but in the gaming industry its taken one step further. Word of mouth can crush a game even if its presale (copies of the product purchased or put on hold before release) is strong, which is why honest reviewers are so valuable. They keep companies in check and begging for good reviews just the same as they keep the sites that bring them the criticism they need running for as long as possible. It forces companies to behave better and reminds them that their advertisement heavy tilted reviewers are slowly losing power to people who genuinely understand not only how the gaming industry functions but also what’s expected of its consumers. This isn't something that a lot of reviewers can claim they have power over, yet it’s a fact that Penny Arcade doesn’t even bother addressing. They just do what they want, and so far its turned out just fine.
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