Hey Swoofers and Swoofinites! We've got a couple of new comics on the website that you should probably check out. First up is an all new Fanatic Gumbo comic! It's out a day late, due to some technical difficulties, but I don't see anyone complaining! Because, you know, if you did complain, I would be the one to hear it. Um, yeah. With that said, check the latest comic out here!

We've also got an all new Optical Overload comic out on the site! I know, right? It's pretty awesome, if I may say so myself, and it's the first ever four-panel comic that we've done, so make sure to check it out! Where might you ask? Right here ya' dummy! I especially love the part where Andrew is crying! Priceless.

In other semi-related news, DotSwoof will be at PAX Prime all weekend in Seattle! When I say DotSwoof, I really mean George, Bijan, and Elliot, which is basically DotSwoof in essence. I mean, Andrew and myself couldn't make it and winKoneR was too busy living in a whole other country, but I think we're being represented well on the West Coast. If you happen to bump into any of them, make sure to say hello and embarrass them by taking a picture with them, even if you don't want one. It'll make them feel important.

Also, we'll be releasing a boatload of PAX-themed Optical Overload comics throughout the weekend, so I highly suggest that you keep checking back on the website every once in a while starting tomorrow afternoon! We'll also have exclusive interviews and pictures from the floor in the coming week, so stay tuned for some seriously awesome stuff! Oh, and let's not forget to mention the final two episodes of that machinima we do's first season! They're pretty ballin', if I may say so myself.

Sooooooooooooo, there's an all new Optical Overload comic up on the website. Yeah. Let's just say that it's been a rough day and leave it at that. With that said, we've finally come to the end of our very first story arc in the comic and for the most part I'm fairly pleased with the outcome of it all! While I could nitpick the release order or the imperfections to death, I'll instead stand back and look upon my glorious work! You should check it out too!

On a related note, we passed the 50th strip mark for the comic not that long ago, so I would like to take a moment to thank everyone that's helped with the comic so far! Thanks goes to George Lampard, Andrew Roos, Bijan Mousavi, Elliot Wagoner, Patrick Bean, Josef Pentz, Kyle O'Rourke, Michael O'Rourke, and Captain Bilsik !

Not to mention all the people from PAX last March that lent use their image and anyone I forgot to mention! Speaking of PAX, I think we have something big planned for Optical involving PAX for this weekend. Hmm, I should probably get started on that...

I had to take a moment to stop working on today's Optical Overload comic, which will close out our LAN Party story arc as we head into PAX, to share something so awesome, you'll probably go blind! For realz. Yesterday, I posted on my Twitter that I 100 percented Batman Arkham Asylum, which if you've played the game you know is no easy feat, so I was pretty thrilled to say the least! I was so thrilled in fact, that I made 20-some screenshots of Batman Arkham City (Arkham Asylum's upcoming sequel) magically appear on the internet! Really, I'm not making this stuff up!

Joystiq claims that they appeared out of the blue on Flickr, but we all know the truth; I summoned that shit into being due to my badassery last night! Case and point, here's some brutally awesome screenshots that I stole from IGN. Hey, I'll even link them back to the original source where they're nice and fluffy and big! There's also a whole bunch more that I didn't post, so make sure to check them out! Oh and as IGN put it, "Behold, the greatest screenshots of all-time."













[via Joystiq]
[images via IGN]

First of all, here's the new Optical Overload comic. Its pretty good, blah blah blah. I have something more important to tell you guys.

Recently, George and myself have had trouble connecting our calls and we've been playing a very annoying game of phone tag. After a whole parade of shit-talking, we eventually started pointing fingers at who was to blame for these mishaps. Well somehow George morphed that into a bet over who will miss more calls from the other person over the course of a week. Here's how it went down:
  
          Bijan:  Shit. Well, I didn't know we were betting.
          George:  Oh we're betting. In fact, It's a slap bet.

Well now its on, and the outcome is guaranteed to be violent. We're probably going to end up losing count of how many calls we've both missed and just slap each other. If that happens I'll make sure to upload the video to YouTube during PAX Prime.

For those of you Bioware fans out there (that should be just about every gamer), its time to rejoice. Bioware is coming out with 2 significant DLC downloads for Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins. They're set to release on September 7th and boy do they look good.

As opposed to the previously released content, the new DLC looks like it will significantly impact the story of both games. I really wish that they did things like this more often. While the DLC released so far has been entertaining, it has felt more like a slapped on extension than a contribution to the game as a whole. It reminds me of an extra scene shown after the credits of a movie.

Out of the the games they're releasing for, the Mass Effect DLC, "Lair of the Shadowbroker", is the one I'm most interested in. After two games of cryptic references and missions, we are finally going to confront the Shadowbroker. The DLC will pick up on the mission you did with Liara T'Soni from the first game and will give you the option of resuming your relationship with Liara, assuming you did the horizontal tango with her the first time around (the first time being Mass Effect 1). I love the fact that your choices from the first game are finding their way even into this new content. Game play additions include five new achievements, additional research and an intel center.

The new content for Dragon Age: Origins seems even more significant. For those of you who played the game and pursued the Morrigan storylines, you know that the game ended on a bit of a weird note with her. The new DLC titled "Witch Hunt" will supposedly answer many of the hanging questions and could possibly serve as a set-up for the upcoming Dragon Age II. You will also be given the ability to create a new, high-level Warden.

Every once in a while I assess the world and what I see scares me. War, poverty, sickness, and people keep trying to ban video games. Then something comes a long that makes me think, "Hey, things might be moving in the right direction."

According to an article by Brainy Gamer's Michael Abbott, Portal has been added as required "reading" for the curriculum of Wabash College. That means that every student at that college is going to have to play one of the best video games ever made.

I think this is a great idea, but they're not going far enough with it. I want full recognition for video game degrees in academia, that way I can fulfill my dream of having a doctorate in Video Game History. Of course this will have its downsides too as we will inevitably be seeing professors who preach video game philosophy, yet don't actually play video games themselves. Oh well, such is life.

But just as my hopes for a brighter world are being realized, I read an article like this one about a new drug that makes people want to play less StarCraft. That would be like creating a drug that makes people want to have less sex. Wait, they have that already? NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Anyway, take a look at the new Optical Overload.