8/31/2011 PAX recap
Here's my quick hit recap at what I saw at PAX. Lots of good stuff this year. Tried to mention some things other outfits wouldn't.
- Sol Exodus: Nice wing commander genre coming back. Will watch this one. http://solexodus.com/media/videos/
- Bloodrayne: Looks way better than anyone could have hoped and the gameplay is fluid and beautiful. Suprising! http://www.psnstores.com/2011/08/pax-prime-hands-on-bloodrayne-betrayal/
- Retro City Rampage: Must get this game.. 8bit Grand Theft Auto and a bazillion other shout outs to other old school games. Website is awesome! http://www.retrocityrampage.com
- Geek chick table: this thing rocks! Spendy though. Total rich nerds dream, and the wife would actually like it. Check it out at the bottom of the list: http://geek-news.mtv.com/2011/08/31/the-hottest-new-tabletop-games-of-pax-prime-2011/
- Starcraft 2 1 on 1 with LZ gamer (example vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phf081G65u4)
- Oni press booth, got scott pilgrim poster signed by creator Brian Lee O'Malley! Had to carry it around all day, made it without much damage though. Looks like they are extras from these links: http://radiomaru.com/2011/07/14/exclusive-limited-prints-for-san-diego-comic-con/ http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/07/16/bryan-lee-omalley-japanese-scott-pilgrim-posters-comic-con/
- Rage - Much prettier in person than the online videos which weren't impressive to me.
- Mass effect 3 - Saw a demo performed by a dude on the podium where your attacking a baddy in a mech suit. Looked fab but there were still framerate issues. Looked smoother overall though than the previous 2.
- Gears 3 - I dare say no one can still match the graphics of GOW. I was watching some players do some multi and they were running around as these alien critters. The fact that they were FAST made me all the more impressed as the frame rate was still smooth. I was used to the game being so slow that it was a great comparison to how good that dev team is.
- Firefall - Ads ads ads everywhere! In the bathrooms, on the escalators, pervasive. I guess the online buzz is really good but this didnt impress me in the slightest. Looks team fortressy with a giant bionic suit look that is ripped straight out of tron/portal/mass effect/et al.
- Thunderstone - Physical card game that plays a lot like Dominion but fighting monsters in a dungeon. Once we got the mechanics down it was really fun. Totally would play it again, trying different strategies like you would in a RPG. (Only magic users? Emphasize the theif to mess with the other players?) Checking the link: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/53953/thunderstone it seems they have a billion expansions already like Dominion so get out your wallet.
- Power grid - Physical board game that plays a lot like ticket to ride, but worse. You bid on power cards and place pieces on the board, and connect cities together and such. Problem is, by the time you start colliding with other players cities the game near over.
- Paul and Storm/jon coulton concert - P&S were actually quite fun at the Paramount. They had the crowd really participate. Lots of good laughs. I especially liked their Johnny song about fireworks. Way hey boom and up she goes! JoCo was boring, and I left early.
- Fez - AGI style graphics (to me different than 8bit, think kings quest instead of super mario) on crack. The rotation element made it look real sexy.
- Just dance 3, competition for dance central, but Jump On It is the worst song ever, even when someone in Boba Fett cosplay is dancing to it.
- Rocksmith - Neat simple concept: use a dongle to hook up your real guitar and play songs the real way. Unfortunately, what looked like a 15 minute line was actually an hour, as they went totally hands on with people who came in to play. Having some semblence of skill would be helpful to speed it up a bit as most looked totally clueless. Good news though, I posted the highest score the guy saw on the Duck shooting minigame. Also played Radioheads High and Dry and worked on a few chords.. Coulda done it on a harder difficulty but it was neat to see the chords swooping in to hit. Probably will buy this as its sorta like interactive tablature.
- Battleblock theater - I think this ones too high concept to give any comments to, as I didnt really know how to play it and got frusterated and stuck. Art was classic Behemoth though and looked really polished. I bet with some practice on the controls it'll be badass.
- Goldeneye - Nothing new that would make me choose this game over any other shooter.
There ya go, was meant to be posted like 2 weeks ago but busy busy busy. Let me know what you think!
