While I wasn’t there for the inception of PAX, I have gone for the past few years. From humble beginnings, PAX has grown, yet each year has brought an awesome experience no matter the size. The PAX 10 and the good natured “nerdosity” of everyone there being what I remember most fondly.

The days leading to PAX weekend moved very fast and then suddenly it was upon me. My friends and I were excited heading up I-5 Friday morning. Everything was at a fever pitch as soon as noon hit, when members of the press were let in two hours early to the Exhibition Hall. With me being the only one of the writers lucky enough to get a press badge here at Blinky’s, I felt a little intimidated by the huge walls and booths that littered the Hall’s floor. While it certainly had a steady flow of people through the walkways (PAX staff, Exhibitors and Press), it was excessively roomy and quiet. And the perfect time to ask questions and demo games that were just sitting there, waiting to be played.

The Xbox 360 booth offered demos of games ranging from Viva Pinata: TIP and Infinite Undiscovery, to latest and future releases of their arcade games. Viva 2 picks up were the other left off, with an increase in Pinatas, plants to grow, accessories , minigames, functional co-op play, and now with downloadable cards.

Nintendo offered prominently the new Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wario Land: Shake It and Wii Music (which, I must say, got kinda old after a few days walking by the booth and hearing nothing but poor renditions of the Zelda and Mario theme). Later, they offered me and my friends Wii-mote mint gum tins as swag for playing their games. I must say that the new Wario game for the Wii is gorgeous. Not only does it have beautiful 2D animations but the controls are intuitive and the gameplay is fun. And of course, our anti-hero, Wario, is as greedy and smelling of garlic as ever. I would recommend this game to any Wii owner.

I did a demo of Hudson’s Deca Sports, Bomberman Blast, and Fishing Master World Tour. They also had Alien Crush Returns. All of them were rather amusing and entertaining. Deca Sports had a good line up of games that you don’t see on Wii Sports. Curling (which was surprisingly fun), archery, ice skating, and badminton to name a few. If you like Wii Sports, this is a great addition to your collection. Fishing Master had many places to fish around the world from the Amazon to Tokyo Bay with about as many fish and sea life to catch as well. Apart from the cheesy story, it is a relatively deep fishing game and one of the better ones out there to try. Bomberman featured classic Bomberman action with an online twist. The Wii version will have online 8-player multiplayer and the ability to play as your Mii with numerous battlefields and options.

The PAX 10 was amazing this year. Audio Surf and Schizoid along with The Maw were my personal favorites but, don’t let that discount all the rest. Here’s a list of descriptions for each from a previous article. With Audio Surf, players hook in their MP3 player and the game generates a racing/obstacle course according to the beat of the song playing. It has a neon, vector style reminiscent of Rez. Schizoid is a co-op game where you and your friend play different colored galactic bugs while helping eachother and eating enemies at the same time as solving puzzles. Teamwork is a must in this game. The Maw is a 3D platformer with a cute but hungry, giant, alien pet that you can control with your main characters leash. The humor throughout makes for a entertaining and pleasing game.

As the days wore on, the lines appeared…, from Blizzard’s Starcraft II to the new 4 player co-op zombie extravaganza Left 4 Dead. Fallout 3 had their retro Streamliner trailer hooked up outside their booth which was probably one of the coolest booth setups yet. They also had their demo on Saturday which filled up every seat and they still had people waiting to take a peak outside but were not able to get in. Free swag was passed out by everyone imaginable at this convention, and much of it (as it turns out) is worth a lot to the people who sell on ebay.

Be that as it may, I think the gossip heard around the Con for a couple years now may be too accurate to admit: We have a new E3 on our hands. PA has already admitted that PAX has already grown so large, that in about a couple of years, there will be an East Coast US PAX, separated from it’s originator here on the West Coast. What will happen to an already bulging convention? Only time (and Gabe and Tycho) can tell.

-Asura

I recieved another press release via Flash Fire Communications today in an email. Let’s hear it for the winners of PAX 10!

PAX 10 INDEPENDENT GAMES SHOWCASE WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Top submissions to be displayed at Penny Arcade Expo Aug. 29 - 31

SEATTLE - July 9, 2008 - After sifting through over 80 submissions from a wealth of genres and gameplay hybrids from ‘exploratory puzzle’ to tactical to rhythm/action, The PAX 10 panel of industry experts selected the ten best submissions in terms of gameplay and “fun factor” for inclusion in The PAX 10. Penny Arcade was pleased to announce today The PAX 10 winners to be displayed at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle Aug. 29-31, 2008.

The PAX 10 are (in alphabetical order):

• The Amazing Brain Train by Grubby Games (puzzle/strategy)
• Audio Surf by Dylan Fitterer (rhythm/action)
• Chronotron by Scarybug Games (puzzle/platformer)
• Impulse by a team of Rochester Institute of Technology students (puzzle)
• The Maw by Twisted Pixel Games (action/adventure)
• Polarity by a team of Carnegie Mellon University students (platformer/puzzle)
• Project Aftermath by Games Faction (tactical/action)
• Schizoid by Torpex Games (action/strategy)
• Strange Attractors 2 by Ominous Development (puzzle/strategy)
• Sushi Bar Samurai by Molly Rocket (exploratory puzzle)

Announced earlier this year in cooperation with the DigiPen Institute of Technology, The PAX 10 is a games showcase open to independent developers worldwide. The winners will be shown in the PAX Exhibit Hall alongside over 70 other exhibitors - including top publishers like Activision, EA and Ubisoft - allowing those publishers, attendees and media to view their home-grown potential. Attendees will have the opportunity to vote on the exhibited games, honoring one of The PAX 10 with the “Audience Choice Award,” to be announced on www.penny-arcade.com following this year’s expo.

“The variety and caliber of the titles blew us away,” says Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade. “Narrowing down the group was a challenging process for the judges, but we’re incredibly proud to have these ten games as our kickoff showcase and can’t wait to see them on the show floor.”

I recently received an email from the communications people over at PAX. Here is what it reads, enjoy the details.

PENNY ARCADE REVEALS PAX 2008 EXHIBITORS AND FIRST PROGRAMMING DETAILS

Headliners include Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Activision and Ubisoft

SEATTLE - June 26, 2008 - The organizers of the fifth annual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) today announced key details of the upcoming gaming festival, to be held Aug. 29-31, 2008 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle.

This year’s exhibit floor will offer PAX attendees hands-on time with highly anticipated games and products from more exhibitors than ever, including Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Activision and Ubisoft (see below for a complete exhibitor list). In addition to seeing a massive number of pre-release games on its show floor, attendees can expect a bevy of panels, the Omegathon gaming competition, tournaments, and more. First details of PAX 2008 programming include:

• The ECTO-1, of Ghostbusters fame, will be on display for all three days of PAX
• The PAX 10 independent games showcase, to thrill and delight you
• Two nights of music that will almost certainly change your life

“We nearly doubled our exhibition hall and added another 80,000 square feet of content overall, so the show is going to be pretty amazing this year,” says Penny Arcade’s Robert Khoo. “You should come. I think you would like it.”

Complete List of PAX 2008 Exhibitors:

- 1up.com
- 2K Games
- Activision
- Antec, Inc.
- Astro Gaming
-The Behemoth
- Bethesda
- Bioware
- Blizzard
- Brawndo
- Bungie
- CCP/Whitewolf
- CDV
- clubNAMCO.com
- Cogswell Polytechnical College
- Cryptic Studios
- D3P
- Destineer
- Dolby
- EA Mythic
- ECA (Entertainment Consumer’s Association)
- Electronic Arts
- Fantasy Flight Games
- Flying Frog Productions
- Flying Lab Software
- Foundation 9 Entertainment
- Game Publishers Association
- Gamecock
- GameTrailers
- Garage Games
- Guildhall at SMU
- Harmonix
- Hothead Games
- Hudson
- Indiecade
- Intel
- ITT Tech
- Klei Entertainment
- Media-blasters NYC
- Mega64
- Meteor Games
- Microsoft XNA
- Microsoft
- Midway
- Namco Bandai
- NCsoft
- Nintendo
- Nokia
- Patriot Memory
- Pegasus Publishing
- Pink Godzilla
- Plantronics
- Privateer Press
- Razer
- Rockstar
- Roosterteeth.com
- Sierra/Vivendi
- Sony
- SouthPeak Games
- Stardock
- Sumo Lounge
- Telltale
- THQ
- Tinderbox Entertainment
- Tritton Technologies
- Turbine
- Ubisoft
- Udon Entertainment / Oni Press
- Upper Deck
- Vivox
- Wizards of the Coast
- Zenimax

For those of you who are fans of the Persona series, this should be right up your alley. Although the prices seem to vary from about $58-78 US dollars depending on the figure, these are still top notch quality as the pictures show. Just one more figure to add to your already bloated computer desk collection.

From left to right are Elizabeth and Aya, and are 22cm (8.6 inches) and 25cm (9.8 inches) tall respectively. Images are from Kotaku.

Ever since the 360 got it’s exclusive Halo song on Guitar Hero, people have been wondering if there would be any feedback from the PS3. Here it is my friends, be prepared to swing around that dang guitar to decapitate those Medusas with bloody vengeance. I give you, “The End Begins (To Rock)”

This journal post off of Deviantart’s own $lolly is from a little more than a week ago. The source of this story is unknown but the link to the article is here:

http://lolly.deviantart.com/journal/18290879/#journal

Definitely worth a laugh. Enjoy.

If you are a gamer, there are moments in your gaming life that you can really recall as being cool, heartfelt, humorous, frustrating, evil or absolutely awesome. I intend to have some of those thoughts put forward into digital form for all to see. Even though all of us have fond gaming memories, those of us that have played the same games share a special camaraderie. Enjoy the nostalgia!

Hungry Monster (Hand Held)

I bet you haven’t played this! It’s Bandai’s 1981 Pac Man clone “Pack Monster” licensed to Radio Shack and sold as Hungry Monster in 1983! Seen here in this link: Handheld Museum Link Jeez, that was a mouthful.

Full of memories! My dad has a box full of old handhelds like this stashed in his house. Not all of them work but this one did, and I played it for hours. Resulting in looping the score over and over again. Let me tell you this game gets really hard, so you have to come up with a few ways to cheap the game. Like, for example, staying INSIDE the warp zone for as long as you could possibly want until the coast is clear, but sometimes THAT doesn’t even work…the enemies move too fast. I still have this around somewhere. It brings back fuzzy memories every time.

Super Mario Bros. 1/ Duck Hunt (NES)

When my dad bought me a NES, this is the game that came with it. A dual game cartridge that had a little shooter on it called Duck Hunt. Being I believe only about 5 or 6 at the time, my motor skills for gaming were…well, not the best. I can remember that same night I got the system and played Mario, I was stuck in between those two long block “towers” at the beginning of the second level. “It’s too tall! I can’t jump over it!” One of my dad’s friend’s did that part for me. When I think about it now, it’s embarrassing. I will admit that this was the first video game I ever beat. And believe me, it was one of the happier moments in my gaming history. One never truly forgets the first game they beat after so much blood, sweat and tears. My mom wouldn’t hear the end of it until the next day.

“… I beat Bowser… OMG I beat the game! I finally saved the princess! Not some damn overgrown mushroom.”

Then there was Duck Hunt. I was really better at the clay disc shooter than the ducks. Besides, that dog ALWAYS pissed me off when I missed. I tried to shoot him in the face millions of times but to no avail. Luckily I could always switch to Mario to ease the pain. F*** you dog.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)

I can hear the hardcore nerds yelling now, “It was originally Doki Doki Panic!1!! blah blah blah…”. Well, ‘ya know what? I don’t care. I NEVER played that.

Mario 2 was one of those games that just made me play it for months. Messing with the mechanics of the game after running through it for hours was fun. You learned every little trick with every character. And I think everyone played as the Princess, you could skip so many obstacles with her. I can remember that 8-bit music. Good stuff that.

Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

Ahh, beautiful 2D sprites, animations and great style with every different world. I absolutely loved and giggled about world 4 (giant world) while world 7 (the pipe maze) frustrated me and my brother to no end. “You’ve got to be kidding me! I have to run non stop and reach every star at exactly the right moment before my invincibility ends and reach the end of the level while treading over invincible enemies otherwise I die?!” Some of you may know what level I’m talking about. And while we’re at it, how about those random grabbing hands pulling you into mini levels on world 8? Damnit…

However, I did perfect the run and jump method of getting the star every time at the end of the level. I had 99 lives at every other time, while losing them promptly on some damn jumping level in the last world. Also, damn you Nintendo and your damn dungeon maze level!!! I think you might know this one as well.

I remember learning about the secret of the white blocks from a magazine that my brother told me about. At the same time every little kid with a shred of Nintendo loyalty learned the trick from some movie called The Wizard… :-p

Vegas Dream (NES)

One of those games you could continue to play forever if you wanted. A casino “simulator” if you will, with black jack, keno, slots and roulette all in one. It even had the stereotypical Las Vegas interactions with people who were trying to scam you out of your money, or gold diggers trying to marry you. Ahh, those were the days. I would play with my brother and we would create gross names for our personas. “Mr. BJ” and Ms. Boobs” were a couple, I think. All the while giggling like some little kids. Who am I kidding? I was the kid, my brother was in his twenties. I think he still makes jokes like that even now, lol.

I can remember back when people would play this game at my house like it was an addiction. Especially with my mom. I would often wake up to her playing the damn slots and then a little bit of black jack. One time she played it so much, I pressed the reset button on her to get her to stop. Hah! She was pissed, but she stopped. It’s called an addiction and I didn’t get grounded for it. It is just a game after all. Note for the wise: Don’t ever try this same trick with someone playing WoW in the middle of a instance. It just doesn’t work out the same way.

Well, that’s all for this episode. Join me next time for a few other games in my continuing series of Gaming Moments.

I’d love to hear some gaming stories from anyone else here. Post away.

-Asura

Okay, it’s official people, the gov’ment intends on infiltrating our MMORPG’s. Starting with WoW, the “Reynard project” will:

“…begin by profiling online gaming behavior, then potentially move on to its ultimate goal of ‘automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world’.”

I don’t know about you guys, but just because I may act like an a**hole online doesn’t mean you have to automatically assume I’m a terrorist. It’s scary what their ultimate goal might mean to online games. I don’t want to have to feel like my every move is being watched and judged by the long arm of the law. And to “automatically” assume anything, seems to be what the government is good at now-a-days.

Also, where the hell did they get that cheesy screenshot?

To read more, click on this link: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/nations-spies-w.html

‘Ya know those movies that have hints of post apocalyptic futures, a dictatorship government, giant bugs and ladies with three boobs? Oh wait, that’s Starship Troopers and Total Recall…

Ok, well, just imagine a time when we have the Department of Homeland Security pushing congress for a universal ID. Imagine just ONE place where they would have all the info that would be on the ID (makes it very handy for any hackers or con artists to focus their efforts). That time seems to coming, my friends. And DHS wants all states to comply by 2011.

More…”Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure driver’s licenses in the next six years under ambitious post-9/11 security rules to be unveiled Friday by federal officials.”

This is the first paragraph of the article and the announcement made by federal officials. Is anyone worried yet about the emboldened words? Seems to be always brought up, huh?

There’s a bunch of little things to the new REAL ID system that seem uncomfortably ambitious by the government. However, there are some details that are not brought up in the article. What about state ID’s? They mention driver’s licenses being the main ID involved but where does that put the people who can’t drive or just need an ID? And in one of the last paragraphs of the article, the wording is somewhat confusing in that it sounds like it states that people with passports would be told to “get a driver’s license”. Does this mean “as well” or “instead of” a passport? Either way, it doesn’t sound efficient yet.

Oh yeah, they mention the 50+ exemption for the first few years of the ID implementation: “…the risk of someone in that age group being a terrorist, illegal immigrant or con artist is much less.” So, they don’t have to update their ID yet. Say what?! I would like to know where they get these statistics/observations… And the ACLU wants a word in as well.

Anyways, if you want to know more about what’s going on, click on the source link below. I would suggest keeping an ear open in the future, in case you ever want to fly somewhere again.

Source: NPR and the Associated Press

If you haven’t heard already, you will. Another bombshell the last couple of days has been the announcement by Namco Bandai releasing the profiles for the two secret characters in the upcoming Soul Calibur 4. Specifically, Darth Vader for the PS3 version and Yoda for the XBox 360. Either you’ll love it or hate it. And from what I can tell from 1-Up.com’s user comments, it seems like this is the next big hit since the exclusive characters (Link-Gamecube, Spawn-XBox, and Heihachi-PS2) from Soul Calibur 2. Give it up for your favorite Star Wars persona!

Here’s a link to the newest trailer for Soul Calibur 4 hosted by 1-Up.com: Star Wars Goodness!

So, are so Sith or Jedi?
Source: 1-Up.com