They’re certainly referencing Polygon (at least), though the Polygon Doom review wasn’t up yet when the comic was created, and it’s ultimately a pretty unremarkable review.
tryte
3302
I don’t understand what’s happening in this strip, and I’m at least marginally familiar with the kerfuffle over the Doom reviewer being “bad”.
I’m assuming (from context of the strip) that Doom wasn’t sent out in advance for reviewers. Often that’s a sign of a bad game; publishers would rather not have a bunch of negative reviews going up on day one. So the surprise here is that Doom is great, and then the question is why not send out copies for reviews if the game would be great?
The conclusion is that Doom is such a “retro” shooter, and the style of reviewing is changing a lot these days, so even a good game like Doom might get a lousy review because one of those dreaded millennials could seize onto some minor facet of the game and turn it into a political/social justice/whatever think piece.
tryte
3304
Ah, thank you for the clarification; I’ve gone from confusion to active, intense dislike, but at least I understand why.
I just read the Polygon review, bracing myself because I was expecting to be told how Doom is a problematic manifestation of white privilege, but it was surprisingly normal. I don’t know what PA is complaining about.
Well, again, the joke was about Polygon specifically, not that particular review, which came out after the comic. They were merely extrapolating a prediction based on all prior evidence :)
This one got a chuckle out of me.
The last one was amusing:
Ah, pre-head-bulge Tycho. I miss those days
There’s a period around, eh, I’m gonna say 2005 where I think the art more or less peaked for me. Maybe as late as 2007. Their archives are frustratingly annoying to use.
I know this is digging an old thread back up but I’ve seen some comments over the last few months about unfunny PA strips and I had to think to myself, well what’s the last one I saw that really made me laugh? And it’s going back a ways but I still think this Professor Layton strip is the funniest:
RichVR
3313
Gabe’s hair. What the fuck? Eventually it will just be a three black panels with word balloons.
But why is the hair so big, though. That’s the important thing. How someone dares to use non-realistic proportions in a cartoon. Is there anything that is still sacred, anymore?
What the fuck are the teeth in his lower jaw doing? Devouring his lip?
RichVR
3318
How someone dares to use non-realistic proportions in a cartoon. Is there anything that is still sacred, anymore? ;)
I get that cartoons don’t have to look realistic (otherwise Calvin would have a serious medical problem) but Tycho’s head tumor still bugs me.
