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Ron Gilbert working on Penny Arcade Adventures

Monkey Island cocreator chipping in for Web comic's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness game.

The caustic wit that put hapless hero Guybrush Threepwood through hell in the Secret of Monkey Island games now has the chance to subject the creators of Web comic Penny Arcade to similar suffering. Hothead Games today revealed that Ron Gilbert, the adventure-game author whose past credits also include Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken, is contributing to the development of Penny Arcade's gaming debut, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

Founded in March of 2006, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Hothead Games is working on an episodic series of games based on the adventures of Penny Arcade creators Jerry "Tycho" Holkins and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik. The company is working with Gilbert, Holkins, and Krahulik "in an intense collaborative development process," with the first game in the series set for release as a downloadable offering on home computers. Hothead has also stated its intent to bring the series to next-generation consoles, though nothing has been confirmed as yet.

54 Comments

  • Myriam_D

    Posted Aug 24, 2007 7:25 pm GMT

    Gonna go see the trailer now. What in fate's name is this insanity? O.o

  • dannyodwyer GameSpot staff member

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 3:19 am GMT

    that big shaped bush frightens and confuses me...

  • mrbass208

    Posted Jul 6, 2007 8:15 pm GMT

    Just possibly crazy enough to work.

  • Mriceguy

    Posted May 11, 2007 11:33 pm GMT

    "Look behind you! A three-headed monkey!"

  • Ir_Rana

    Posted May 11, 2007 9:29 am GMT

    What to say? The guy who made my favourite game series, teaming with the most influential gamers in order to produce a brand new "For Gamers by Gamers" game?

  • amorphis

    Posted May 10, 2007 10:40 pm GMT

    RON GILBERT IS MY GOD!!

  • kamicolo

    Posted May 10, 2007 12:57 pm GMT

    the penny arcade boys in a game, how sweet, heh

  • BigDaveyDogz

    Posted May 10, 2007 11:39 am GMT

    Sounds like a Sam & Max kind of deal. But we shall see how it plays out.

    I enjoy Penny Arcades humor!

  • bildo2020

    Posted May 10, 2007 10:51 am GMT

    They need to put Murrary from the MI series in this game!

  • Murpheus007

    Posted May 10, 2007 8:36 am GMT

    I'll try it, but I doubt I'll like it. They can't make me like it.

  • banodyne

    Posted May 10, 2007 7:49 am GMT

    Love the Penny Arcade strip and how the boys are handling their licensing carefully. (Way to go Robert!) Hopefully these will be available on Xbox Live Arcade.

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted May 10, 2007 7:23 am GMT

    Well, Ron Gilbert being involved certainly can't hurt the project.

  • sieg6529

    Posted May 10, 2007 6:22 am GMT

    scary. I love the comic, but this could be a chance for Karma to bite them on the keister, hard.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted May 10, 2007 5:25 am GMT

    wonder if they will clean up their language for a non- AO game.

  • MrGrime

    Posted May 10, 2007 3:15 am GMT

    Sounds interesting.

  • anarchicgoth

    Posted May 9, 2007 10:04 pm GMT

    not interested i like penny arcade but eh

  • zsc4

    Posted May 9, 2007 9:18 pm GMT

    Interesting, but I think I'll pass on this one.

  • GameDestroyer88

    Posted May 9, 2007 7:41 pm GMT

    Niiiice!

  • carddude

    Posted May 9, 2007 5:51 pm GMT

    Speaking of penny arcade, does anyone play UFS here?

  • Inu7

    Posted May 9, 2007 5:11 pm GMT

    topraman517 said:

    "monkey island was overhyped, but penny arcade does deserve a game"
    There was hype for Monkey Island? Well, I was born the year it(the first one) came out, so I don't know for sure, but I don't remember ever hearing about any hype surrounding this game's release. ---------------
    Born when the first Monkey Island came out, eh lad? I am glad today's youth appreciates such an awesome game.. (Man I feel like an old fart now, thanks!)

  • XManTMG

    Posted May 9, 2007 4:23 pm GMT

    RON GILBERT IS A GOD!!!!

  • CaptainSmirk

    Posted May 9, 2007 4:04 pm GMT

    any inbred moron that thinks monkey island is the least bit hyper or undeserving of its status as gaming legend, has just had too many halo enemas to think straight...

  • topraman517

    Posted May 9, 2007 4:01 pm GMT

    "monkey island was overhyped, but penny arcade does deserve a game"
    There was hype for Monkey Island? Well, I was born the year it(the first one) came out, so I don't know for sure, but I don't remember ever hearing about any hype surrounding this game's release.

  • topraman517

    Posted May 9, 2007 3:54 pm GMT

    This is just too awesome.

  • chibi-acer

    Posted May 9, 2007 3:53 pm GMT

    Ooh. As much as I love Penny Arcade, I assumed the game was going to be a total joke. Now I actually have some interest in playing it.

  • GizmoVirus

    Posted May 9, 2007 3:28 pm GMT

    Hopefully it will as good as his past games

  • usedtype

    Posted May 9, 2007 3:19 pm GMT

    "That's the second biggest monkey head I've ever seen!"

  • Mush_Mouth

    Posted May 9, 2007 3:07 pm GMT

    I have yet to ever laugh at this comic.

  • Eararaldor

    Posted May 9, 2007 3:07 pm GMT

    What would be funny is that this game comes on the PS3. Considering the amount of times they slam the console.

  • snugglebear

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:52 pm GMT

    "How appropriate, you fight like a cow." =)

  • Aerothorn

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:50 pm GMT

    Ooo, now I'm split. I love Monkey Island, but can't really stand Penny Arcade. Hmm.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:50 pm GMT

    The guy has enough experience to know how to make a good game.

  • swedishc

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:46 pm GMT

    This is great news. Just get Tim Schafer on-board and you are sitting on a goldmine. I know that Ron still has the "magic".

  • Artemis_D

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:30 pm GMT

    This makes me so happy. I am now tracking this game.

  • StrikerGold

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:26 pm GMT

    Most excellent. Good script and dialog: check. On with the gameplay.

  • cypher50

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:25 pm GMT

    "RaiKageRyu - I've seen the first gameplay videos of this game. And, it's not looking too good. Penny Arcade is just selling out thier name."

    I've only seen one video up on this (the trailer) and you can hardly decide whether the game is good or not from that. Adventure games usually aren't graphical tour de force's so if you are judging GAMEPLAY on that then that is a big mistake...

    As for the selling out part: Penny Arcade has always said this is merely fan service and that they are just having fun with characters in a way that isn't possible with the comic strip. I don't see why people feel that having a PA game is selling out...it is obvious by news like this article that Gabe & Tycho are taking measures to ensure the game is fun & full of humor so why turn on it before even giving it a try?

  • rudyHG

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:19 pm GMT

    "All right then, roll! ROLL through the gates of hell. Must you take the fun out of everything?"

    Wow, I just got very excited about this game.

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:18 pm GMT

    I've seen the first gameplay videos of this game. And, it's not looking too good. Penny Arcade is just selling out thier name.

  • ShotGunBunny

    Posted May 9, 2007 2:13 pm GMT

    Hmm, I'm not such a huge fan of PA, although I do read it. I'll just have to wait and see if these guys really know what they're talking about all the time.

  • PackersRock

    Posted May 9, 2007 1:54 pm GMT

    It'll be hilarious if this game sucks, since Penny Arcade is always coming down hard on developers for making crappy games.

    But I'm a huge PA fan so I'm hoping it's pretty good.

  • coperoco

    Posted May 9, 2007 1:52 pm GMT

    Hurray!

  • Bio_Spark

    Posted May 9, 2007 1:50 pm GMT

    My expectations for this game have just jumped a couple of noches. Carry on.

  • HaaZ

    Posted May 9, 2007 1:35 pm GMT

    maniac mansion... was... AWESOME!

  • Ikzai

    Posted May 9, 2007 1:21 pm GMT

    XD at Monkey Island being "over hyped" and saying Penny Arcade is not in the same breath. Oh wow.

  • Toadstool1969

    Posted May 9, 2007 1:10 pm GMT

    peeweeshift wrote:
    monkey island was overhyped, but penny arcade does deserve a game

    That's just crazy talk. Most likely, you've never even played the game. And, if you have, you were probably far to young to enjoy the humor. Give me a break, kid.

  • johndmes

    Posted May 9, 2007 12:57 pm GMT

    @lime05:
    Ron has repeeatedly stated he wanted to do another Monkey Island, such as th originally planned sequel to 3...but he CANNOT, since he doesn't work for LucasArts anymore, and they own the IP. He doesn'thave the money to buy it away from them, either - so there won't be a Monkey 5.

  • kinglink2

    Posted May 9, 2007 12:49 pm GMT

    HAHA, monkey island is overhyped versus penny arcade. OK buddy.

  • peeweeshift

    Posted May 9, 2007 12:41 pm GMT

    monkey island was overhyped, but penny arcade does deserve a game

  • hunter8man

    Posted May 9, 2007 12:41 pm GMT

    Oh yes, this will be sweet to see!

  • SpareJesus

    Posted May 9, 2007 12:35 pm GMT

    This is going to be fantastic. I can't wait.

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