Site Analysis of www.penny-arcade.com Penny-Arcade is the homepage for a widely popular web comic created by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins known as “Tycho” or “Gabe” as a result of their illustrated alter egos. The website boasts a very simple layout which immediately directs users to what becomes effectively Mike and Jerry’s blog. There is evidence of modularity near the bottom of the page in which visitors can browse through different comics the duo have created. There is also evidence of this in the “Archive” portion of the site where you can search for comics by keyword or view a drop down menu to browse comics by title. The list of links on the topmost portion of the site gives us more links that augment the streamlined nature of the site itself. The darker Gray/Blue color scheme is simple and masculine enough to appeal to most anybody, but generally Penny-Arcade caters to large amounts of gamers. The site itself is an homage to video gaming everywhere, a majority of their comics deal with gaming in some way or other pop culture happenings. In a sense penny-arcade becomes Mike and Jerry’s pedestal for their opinions of things going on in their world – their world being quite concerned with video games. As mentioned before the main page is relatively simple directing us to an entry made by either “Tycho” or “Gabe” that comments on the news of the gaming world. They also comment on other aspects of the gaming world that do not include games themselves, but things that include – Law that involves gaming and specific game developers and policies they have to name a few. A wide variety of people look to this site for their gaming fix, info on Jack Thompson and his battle against violence in video games, and things going on outside the gaming world that could be possibly interesting. So what at first glance appears to be a simple web comic becomes a hub of information for a large group of people all interested in the same things. But while it remains a source of information it is also a source of commentary and a means of dissecting many of the issues they discuss. Friends of mine may read an entry and discuss opinions for days as many of our days included at least once a mention of “hey, did you see that new penny-arcade.” I can only assume that this is the same case for many other gamers that visit the site frequently. Penny-Arcade becomes a place to get news on an area of media and entertainment that isn’t given attention in other mainstream media, which furthers a societal shift from more conventional forms of information i.e Newspapers, radio, and television, to web based information sites like digg.com and other blogs. While this may help to fuel the datasmog that continues to cloud us with vast amounts of information that we cannot process, but the appearance of all these new outlets gives any web user a chance to choose where they receive information including what kind of information they want to look for. This site effectively blends many aspects of media – comics, blogs, and it even includes a forum for visitor interaction and community building. Mike and Jerry apparently frequent the boards and take part in the discussions they build in the blog, taking part in the community of gamers they strive to serve. Penny-Arcade not only serves its purpose as a valve of a specific source of information but also as a springboard but can also lead a visitor to many different areas of a variety of news and media.