The Week in Review: PAX, Penguins, and Deus Ex

In this week’s edition, Square Enix defends Deus Ex, and George Lucas tinkers with Return of the Jedi.

Penguin Invades PAX

PAX has a pretty liberal policy towards whom it lets in through the door. Zombies, Jedi, and robots roam the halls, and this year, at least one penguin. Winston the Penguin hit PAX Prime, meeting people and making friends with his fellow attendees. The lucky bird even managed to meet the likes of Jonathan Coulton and Jennifer Hale. Best of all, he documented his entire trip, so hit the link to see the picture. (Link)

Square Enix Responds to Deus Ex Racism Accusations

While most critics agree that Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a fantastic game, some of them are less enamored with one its characters. Specifically the character of Letitia, who has been criticized as drawing on old, negative African-American stereotypes. Square Enix responded to these criticisms, saying that Human Revolution was a work of fiction, and it was not intended to portray any ethnic group in a negative light. (Link)

George Lucas Tinkers With Return of the Jedi on Blu-Ray

LucasFilm has revealed that it has added some extra dialogue to the end of Return of the Jedi. It’s only a single word, but it has geeks all over the world up in arms. In the dramatic scene where Darth Vader rediscovers his humanity while watching the Emperor blast his son with force lightning, LucasFilm has added a long drawn out “No,” not entirely dissimilar to the one heard in Revenge of the Sith. (Link)

Geek Ladies Apologize to Magic Champion

As Gizmodo intern Alyssa Bereznak probably wasn’t going to apologize for her mean-spirited article about going on a date with former Magic: The Gathering world champion Jon Finkel, the ladies of Nerd Land decided to do it for her. “If we’re going to point out when men behave like jerks,” wrote our own Susan Arendt, “it behooves us to do the same when women do it.” Hit the link to read the apology in full. (Link)

No More Shepard After Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 probably isn’t the last game in the Mass Effect series, but it is the last one with Commander Shepard in it. BioWare says that Mass effect 3 completes Shepard’s story arc, and any future game will feature new characters instead. It’s probably for the best; once you’ve saved the galaxy from giant robots, everything else seems a little underwhelming by comparison. (Link)