X3F @ WonderCon: Overview, Pictures
Given that X3F now has a presence in the city-by-the-bay, and that the comic-book and popular culture convention WonderCon was taking place there (right across the street, in fact, from where GDC was last week), we thought we'd bring you the video game goings-on from the convention floor. While not a strictly video game event, WonderCon did see the appearance of several large publishers and a small developer. The three main companies who were there were Ubisoft, who were showing off Lost: Via Domus and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2; Capcom who showed video of Street Fighter IV and had DMC4 playable (Capcom had more, but they were on other systems) and last but definitely not least were The Behemoth who had a playable demo of Castle Crashers.
There'll be Hands-on Impressions of both Castle Crashers and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 later in the day. Till then hit the break and check the gallery to get the full story on the WonderCon video game scene.
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After wading through the human sea that was passing for the line, and entering the throng moving toward the main floor, banners from the exhibit hall were finally in view. The three main players all had booths set up near the center of the exhibit hall, and were attracting crowds throughout the day, with controllers rarely left unattended. The people who were manning these booths were of course rather tired (in conversation, most mentioned being dead on their feet after GDC) but earnest, and interested in what they had to show.
The Ubisoft booth had playable demos of Lost: Via Domus and saw the appearance of a Frag Doll, who happily talked FPS's and who played with the folks at the Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 demo. Ubi also had her give away tickets for, and later run, their prize raffle, and it's just rotten luck that we didn't win, otherwise we would've had a FanSwag give-away for you guys.
The Capcom booth had a little store set up that sold a variety of gaming-related products; everything from DMC4 "bundles" to beanies and t-shirts. DMC4 itself was playable behind a curtain, with ID being required to get in. Capcom also held a panel on Saturday with a video of Street Fighter IV and a Q&A session with the audience. Unfortunately, there was nothing major announced, with the repeating lines of "return to origin" and "opening the market" occurring ad nauseum. The video had the game looking promising though, displaying a montage of the concept art with all the revealed characters, and gameplay to go with each.
The Behemoth's booth was the most fun, as it had a playable demo of Castle Crashers and a continual crowd. X3F was able to speak to Dan Paladin, one of the creators of the original Alien Homind flash game. He was of course very tired, having come from GDC, but he was able to give us the once-over of the new build that was on hand for the event (which was in fact the GDC build, right down to the character names). The build had just added items (weapons, pick-ups) and pets (to follow and help you) and showcased the world-map for the first time. Dan was also nice enough to tell us that the game is progressing well, and that even they don't know what the specific release date is going to be.
And so there you have it readers, the quick-and-dirty overview of the video game presence at WonderCon. Don't forget that we'll have Castle Crashers and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Hands-on impressions later in the day as well.
P.S. On the walk home, we were lucky enough to catch the tail end of the Chinese New Year parade. It was awesome, despite the darkness and rain.
