PAX Prime 2010

[draconic74]

So, the Penny Arcade Expo is over here in Seattle. For those of you who missed it (lawlz, all of you!) I'll cover some of the more interesting things. The rest you can probably find on Inside Gaming on Machinima.com's youtube channel. I'll try to break this up so it isn't just TL;DR.


So, first off, Duke Nukem Forever is real. Our wonderful developers at Gearbox (known mostly for Borderlands, but to us for the computer port of Halo) have taken over the decade-plus long project and finally are pumping out real, physical content. It is unfortunate their booth was covered, and unless you were determined, bored or patient you probably didn't want to sit through the 2-hour line.
----------------------------------------------

Same can be said about Portal 2. That line probably almost wrapped around the booth twice. And Brink had such a long line they actually put up signs telling you how long you would be waiting at any given point. Good thing their monitors were on display, so those not patient enough still got a good look.
----------------------------------------------

Luckily, the lines for Reach (both multiplayer and Firefight) were much smaller, probably due to Reach's imminent release. Firefight blows every other similar gametype away, no question. And I spent large amounts of time setting up for assassinations on grunts, jackals and elites just to see the awesome kills at work. I just wish they could combine Bumper Jumper and Recon so I can use the Armor Ability and Melee from the bumpers. I don't like hitting B for that anymore.

Also, I got massacred on my first MP run, then almost massacred everyone on my second time through the line. I wish I could have gone through a third, especially when I thought of some things to test out, but the line was extremely long on the last day. I really, really want to know if Holograms can be stuck with plasma grenades. Imagine the possibilities... Also, Holograms are freakin' awesome. You will LOVE them.
----------------------------------------------

Medal of Honor was meh to me, it's like BFBC2 but with some spawn issues and annoying interface.
----------------------------------------------

Rock Band 3 is just Rock Band, but of course with the new stuff. Didn't get to try out the Pro Guitar (maybe that's a good thing...)
----------------------------------------------

Monday Night Combat is way, way too much fun. I must have played at least 10 games. There were few people in the line, which was good. Truly a fun game. You must check out the demo (play multiplayer...) if you get the chance.
----------------------------------------------

Ok, Mortal Kombat is back. And by back I mean BACK. As in, "JESUS HE JUST SMASHED THAT GUYS RIBCAGE IN AND THEN FINISHED HIM OFF BY SLICING THE GUY INTO PEICES AND HOLDING HIS HEAD AS A TROPHY". It's gruesome, yes. But the Fatalities are just beautiful, in a disgusting, horribly awful way. I'm sure you can find footage. I just wish people would stop using Scorpion. He seems overpowered and his Fatality gets lame after 7 straight games.
----------------------------------------------

Fallout is Fallout. Not much to say, but I saw an M16, a new laser rifle (might've been a rail gun), and some weird auto-grenade launcher built from scrap. And lots of desert.
----------------------------------------------

I think I covered everything, so here is the last part. [note: emotional(?) story coming up]

I found a booth with the game "The Ball", which is a puzzle game not unlike the Companion Cube level in Portal, but with a giant ball that you keep through the whole game, and no portals (maybe later in the game). There were people playing, so I went and found another interesting game on the computers near it. If you have heard of Dwarf Fortress, imagine that but on one level and very very simplified.

Your digger dwarfs dig on their own, which sometimes leads to caves of treasure, minerals, enemies, water or lava. Then you have to fix (or prevent it in the first place) that problem. You have a base and you attempt to keep it from going down or getting drowned by liquid. It is very hectic, as your base spawns diggers every so often, and each works by himself. Sometimes they dig into something and you don't notice the warning until you realize half your tunnels are flooded. Whoops...

Anyways, I was there for a long time, and the developers were amazed at how big a base I had made and stuff. They were fine with me hogging the computer, and had seen people coming by asking questions, which I had been answering. Also, these are the guys who made Killing Floor. On the hour every hour they were giving away stuff, including 20 copies of the game, and I was so into the game I totally forgot about it. I ended up in the back, and almost snagged a free game, but it got hit back into the middle of the crowd. Oh well, at least I got a week-long trial they were giving out to everyone.

Finally The Ball was open. I spent a long time playing and, like with the dwarf game, they were fine that I hogged it for so long. I spent almost one and a half hours playing The Ball, and one of the guys wanted to know if I was going to play the whole thing. Apparently their PAX build was the full game. He said it took the devs about 6 hours. Even a fast-thinking player would probably take a few more than that.

Man that game was fun. Just as with the Companion Cube in Portal, you start getting attached to the Ball and start playing around with it a bit sometimes. It's very odd. Anyway, the guy wanted to know if I had gotten a copy of Killing Floor. I told I had missed the chance, and he was nice enough to just give me a copy just because I was more or less advertising the games for him at his booth. What an awesome day.

[/end story]
----------------------------------------------

Also, I got an exclusive Noble Six avatar award helmet. I don't know how long the exclusivity will last, as the Noble Six helmet seems like something that everyone should have a shot at. Now if I buy the Noble Six armor... Nah... I like my ODST shirt. I'll wait for Reach's avatar awards.


HEY, LISTEN
Oh, btw. For anyone with Steam and a comp that can run Killing Floor, I still have the code for a week-long trial, and it also seems I have two guest passes for the game on Steam. I don't know how long those last, but they expire Oct 5.

Ugh, even in preview I don't want to read the whole thing. It really is tl;dr.

[kiddten]

I have a computer that can run killing floor, I'm also one of your steam friends. If you want I can take one of those passes of your hands

[TaxiService]

i read all of that! yayy!! XD thank you for informing us, man!

[Devious]

Hey drac, are ya going to one of the Seattle midnight launches? Bungie is going to be there signing free T-shirts.

[tokage]

Noooo, I meesed this.

[draconic74]

Hey drac, are ya going to one of the Seattle midnight launches? Bungie is going to be there signing free T-shirts.

No

College starts on the 9th, so I'll actually be in Bellingham when the game launches. And without an Xbox, too... Although I assume at least one out of the fifty people on my floor has an Xbox and the sense to buy Reach.

Oh, a bit more stuff. I saw the Rooster Teeth booth as well, but it was tucked in a corner and I didn't hang around for long. Got to see Geoff, at least. I also got a PAX 2010 shirt and this shirt. But without that awesomeness scribbled in silver pen.

Bunnies, would you rather take the guest pass or week-long trial? I don't know how long the passes last. And Tokage, it will be here again next year. Same time, same place. Might be even bigger though. Every year PAX grows by thousands of people and they keep increasing the badge count. On top of that, there is also a PAX East now, so you people in Boston have fun this coming Spring.

PS: http://hawtymcbloggy.com/2010/09/06/bun ... t-pax-2010

[kiddten]

Guest pass please and thank you.