Gamertell

I have to admire the way Gamecock set up its booth at PAX 08.  It was enclosed with transparent plastic and in very low light, like arcades of the ‘80s.  To complete the illusion of a video arcade, players would even stand up as they played the game in arcade-style casings. 

Click through for a complete list of the games available to play…

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I had a great time at the South Peak booth, and I can honestly say that it has nothing to do with the lady in this picture.  No, she represents one of several games that South Peak has available soon including X Blades, Ninja Town, Big Bang Mini, TOW and Raven Squad.

Click through to find out more about each game…

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You’ve got to hand it to EA for creating a presence at PAX.  They had not just one but three booths on the floor, plus several others related to them.  Here are the games they had on display, some more prominently than others…

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The entrance to PAX 08 had an impressive display of Jumpgate Evolution, a new MMO space combat game made by Codemasters Online and NetDevil.  The moment I saw it, I couldn’t help but to compare it to Eve Online.  It was hard not to, as it is an MMO game with spaceships.

Of course, no one can copyright the MMO space game and Jumpgate Evolution has one great aspect that sets it apart from Eve:  Jumpgate Evolution skips through much of the boring set-up involved in most MMO games and puts you right into the action. 

When I sat down and began playing, I was on a mission to…

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Flying Labs, the developers of the MMO pirate game Pirates of the Burning Sea, had essentially the same demo of PotBS that they had at last year’s PAX (2007).  If you haven’t played this game yet, then you really should. 

Like any MMO game, you can custom build a character but the combat is a little trickier than most MMOs as you must use the number keys to attack with your sword. 

The big selling point of PotBS is the ship-to-ship fighting with cannons…

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As I write this, I am waiting in line for the keynote speaker, Ken Levine, who is not in the picture.  This picture above shows what the line to the keynote looks like from my point of view.  I would like to do my best to summarize what I have seen at PAX so far, in no particular order…

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Cryptic Studios was in a party mood on Friday night (August 29, 2008) of PAX, hosting a big shindig at Seattle’s Public Library.  Since Cryptic was celebrating the soon-to-be released Champions Online, there were superheroes present. 

I learned a lot about the Champions Online game.  At first I was wondering how it was different from City of Heroes, a game also designed by Cryptic.  I discovered that Champions Online does some things that City does not… 

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For those of you who don’t know who Ken Levine is, he is the founder and creative director of 2K Boston, and the keynote speaker for the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo. His impressive resume consists of System Shock 2, the Freedom Force series, Tribes: Vengeance and, of course, Bioshock. 

I was not certain what to expect when Ken Levine took the stage, but the last thing I was expecting was his autobiography. Not only that, he talked about his adolescence and how he “wanted to have sex with the Scarlet Witch”. (This is not an actual quote, as I am censoring how he actually phrased it.)

Levine went on to explain how his love for comic books, video games, and other science fiction made him feel like a nerd to the other kids. However, he eventually found his “Tribe” in a group who played Dungeons and Dragons. Unfortunately, as his friends grew up, they became more interested in women than dice, and his group broke apart…

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As you might know, I am here at the Penny Arcade Expo here in Seattle. I am quite excited to see the lineup, and I have had a chance to preview a brand-new, unreleased game before the Expo has even begun. Independent gaming company Hidden Path invited me to a sneak peek at their newest game: Defense Grid: The Awakening. 

What I played, I liked. Defense Grid: The Awakening is a game that is best described as “tower defense”. The basic premise is that you are at an abandoned base that is being invaded by hordes of aliens, and the only way to stop them is to raise up weapon towers to exterminate them.

Click through for more Defense Grid: The Awakening impressions…

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It appears that I’ve got a fetish for Dream Cheeky products this week.  Before it was the USB Metal Game Pad, now it is the USB Mini Controller. 

I honestly don’t know how anyone could not be attracted to this new controller with its tiny detachable steering wheel.  I’m guessing there are a…

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