Many webcomics have been influenced by

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

and video game culture.

Background

Webcomics frequently poke fun at video game logic, the video game industry, and stereotypical behavior of gamers. The earliest video game webcomic was ''

Polymer City Chronicles The Polymer City Chronicles (aka PCC) is a webcomic written and drawn by Chris Morrison. PCC began publishing online in March 1995 as the first video gaming webcomic on the World Wide Web,

'', which started in 1995. However, 1998's '' PvP'' is seen as the origin of the genre, influencing various webcomics following it. Low-quality video game webcomics were particularly common in the mid-2000s, often featuring author stand-ins with poor dialogue and unrealistic relationships. A common

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

in video game webcomics is to have the main characters sit on a couch, talking about the game they are playing. It is common for webcomics to exclusively use in-game art and speech bubbles, such as in

sprite comic Sprite comics are webcomics that consist primarily of computer sprites from video games. Art assets are ripped from various classic games such as '' Mega Man'' and '' Sonic the Hedgehog'', are edited and combined by amateur cartoonists, and are ...

s. The term gamics has been proposed by Nathan Ciprick in 2004 to refer to webcomics that consist entirely of video game graphics. Despite the fact that video game graphics are generally

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

ed, owners of the intellectual properties used have traditionally been tolerant.

Webcomics set in a video game world

Webcomics about video games

Webcomics inspired by video games

Other

ShiftyLook, a former subsidiary of

Namco Bandai is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...

, focused on reviving various

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

video game franchises between 2011 and 2014. The company originally did this through English language webcomics. ShiftyLook has released webcomics based on ''

Dig Dug is a maze game, maze arcade game developed by Namco in 1981 and released in 1982, distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player controls Dig Dug to defeat all enemies per stage, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them unde ...

'', '' Dragon Spirit'', ''

Klonoa ''Klonoa'' is a platform video game series created by Namco in 1997. It stars Klonoa, an anthropomorphic creature who explores dream worlds. The series includes two main games: '' Klonoa: Door to Phantomile'' (1997) for the PlayStation and '' Klo ...

'', and various other video games.

References

{{Webcomics