[PA Comic] Friday, May 9, 2014 - Real Science

Dog

[PA Comic] Friday, May 9, 2014 - Real Science

Real Science

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/05/09

Read the full story here

Sonic_mna

It looks like a titillating mix of Pokemon and a coin pusher arcade game ... intriguing

TheCanMan

The middle panel made me laugh and it'll probably pop into my head a few more times throughout the day and it'll make me start snickering for no apparent reason.

peacekeeper

TheCanMan wrote: »

The middle panel made me laugh and it'll probably pop into my head a few more times throughout the day and it'll make me start snickering for no apparent reason.

i was doing exactly this all night around my friends, that fuckin middle panel!

joshofalltrades

AntonNUL

Joshofalltrades wins by default.

Gyral

The middle panel is pretty much a softball lob to all the comic editors on the boards.

Peter Ebel

This and the My Diiiiiiiiiiiick panel best be seen together.

Artereis

I think puppies are needed somewhere in that diagram.

Inquisitor

Sega has tons of games like these in arcades in Japan, coin pushing games with elaborate digital game aspects to them. There is a Monster Hunter one that seems very popular.

I never expected them to make a digital phone version of them though.

I am sure it will print money.

xellas84

This game is about 95% identical to another phone app game called Puzzles and Dragons. The only, and I mean ONLY difference is that PAD uses an orb matching system similar (but infinitely superior) to Bejeweled instead of a randomized coin pusher. Other than that, the friend system, the monster system, fusion/evolution system, stamina system... all of that is essentially identical. Oh, and it's FAR more stable too (I gave up on Dragon Coins after the 5th time the game crashed after clearing a level, giving me no rewards and still taking the stamina).

If you enjoyed this game even remotely, you are doing yourself a disservice to not look into Puzzles and Dragons.

DrCongo

Except if, like me, you get fed up with the orb matching system and it just starts feeling like work. No more P&D for me (for now at least), but Dragon Coins seems to be scratching an itch...

emimonster

I feel like Xellas84 is a crack dealer standing outside a rehab clinic, but he's right. Puzzle and Dragons has had this locked down for over a year with all sorts of metagame strategies that go way beyond just orb pattern recognition. www.puzzledragonx.com But as Jerry said, DON'T DO IT.
Now excuse me, I'm going to sit here and wait in this corner until D3 publishes a non-F2P PuzzleQuest.

forty

I have zero games installed on my phone, but this one has me seriously interested in looking into changing that situation, solely because those coin pusher games in arcades were my favorite redemption games of all time. OF ALL TIME!

Isn't P&D just Puzzle Quest with an endless Pokemon metagame grind over it?

Showsni

I spent about £9 in ten ps on one of those coin pushers to win a £10 note once. Totally worth it! They are my favourite arcade game. The 2p ones are probably best, as you can play for longer with the same amount of money. I used to just hover around them, waiting for a lucky fall or a machine to appear to be in a good state before pouncing on it...

YoungFrey

Showsni wrote: »

I spent about £9 in ten ps on one of those coin pushers to win a £10 note once. Totally worth it! They are my favourite arcade game. The 2p ones are probably best, as you can play for longer with the same amount of money. I used to just hover around them, waiting for a lucky fall or a machine to appear to be in a good state before pouncing on it...

I wonder if those machines are rigged like claw machines are. Like they push a variable distance, and push a bit less far with each coin you drop. If there wasn't some trick, wouldn't it become a zero sum at some point?

abotkin

YoungFrey wrote: »

Showsni wrote: »

I spent about £9 in ten ps on one of those coin pushers to win a £10 note once. Totally worth it! They are my favourite arcade game. The 2p ones are probably best, as you can play for longer with the same amount of money. I used to just hover around them, waiting for a lucky fall or a machine to appear to be in a good state before pouncing on it...

I wonder if those machines are rigged like claw machines are. Like they push a variable distance, and push a bit less far with each coin you drop. If there wasn't some trick, wouldn't it become a zero sum at some point?

They have open sides, so a not insignificant amount fall off into the ether, thus giving the house its cut.

My wife loves those machines and I enjoy them a fair amount also. I'm trying out Dragon Coins now and having fun with it. It's a nice change of pace after having been burnt out on PAD before.

forty

Sad news, anyone who might still be playing this game: it's shutting down.

Poor Tycho's prostate.

Gaslight

I... I have no memory whatsoever of this comic.