Penny Arcade

Guide Note:

The web comic Penny Arcade has been a favorite of gamers since it appeared online in 1998. Created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, Penny Arcade follows the video gaming misadventures of Jonathan "Gabe" Gabriel (Holkins' alter-ego) and Tycho Erasmus Brahe (Krahulik's alter-ego). The popular site gets up to 250,000 hits a day.

After almost ten years of writing about gaming, the creators of Penny Arcade decided to team up with Hothead Games to create their own game, Adventures of Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. The download-able adventure game features hobos, barber shop singers, and many of the secondary Penny Arcade characters that viewers have grown to love. It also allows players to design their own character. New episodes will be released for Xbox 360 and PC several times a year, with the first release in the spring of 2008.

In addition to the web comic and video game, Holkins and Krahulik put on the Penny Arcade Expo, a weekend-long gaming convention for all gamers—computer, console, and table top. The expo takes place every year in August at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. More than 37,000 people attended in 2007.

The busy creators of Penny Arcade also host Child's Play, a charity that has raised over $1.25 million for children's hospitals through the donations of gamers and fans.

Fast Facts:

1. Written by: Jerry Holkins
2. Illustrated by: Mike Krahulik
3. Began: November 18, 1998
4. Schedule: Monday, Wednesday and Friday
5. Spring 2008: The Penny Arcade Adventures game
6. August 29-31, 2008: Penny Arcade Expo
7. Krahulik's son is named Gabriel
8. Tycho Erasmus Brahe is named after the famous astronomer