pax-2009
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Rumor: Epic Games in talks to buy APB
Could the Gears of War folks be the knight in shining armor that doomed APB desperately needs? According to BBC, Epic Games is possibly interested in scooping up Realtime Worlds' MMO, although nothing is confirmed at this point. Realtime Worlds abruptly announced yesterday that APB was to be shut down today, sending shockwaves through the community. While Epic Games is not commenting on any possible negotiations, a spokesperson confirmed that Epic's CEO, Mark Rein, is a fan of the game. "Mark absolutely loves APB, and everyone here loved what they saw. We've got our hands full of Gears of War 3, Bullet Storm and the recently announced Project Sword. If any talks like that are going on, then they would be confidential," Dana Cowley, Epic's spokesperson, said. Rein was outspoken about his enjoyment of the game at PAX last year. Epic Games may also have a vested interest in the technology powering APB. We'll be keeping our ears to the ground on this one if anything further develops.
Flipnotes from the PAX 2009 show floor
During PAX last year, Nintendo asked any professional artists who happened to be there to create an animation in the DSiWare program Flipnote Studio. Now, the flipnotes from comic artists like Eric Jones and Christina Strain, webcomics artist Scott Kurtz, and 5TH Cell art director Edison Yan, have finally been posted in a gallery on the Flipnote Hatena site. Showing what can be done in a few minutes by a talented artist, and building on the excitement of a popular convention, makes this initiative a great promotional tool for the free app (and for the DSi in general), which is why Nintendo waited until six months after the event to release these!
Gaze onto Dol Guldur in Siege of Mirkwood
Back at PAX09, we brought you information on Lord of the Rings Online's latest expansion, Siege of Mirkwood. Unfortunately, at that time we weren't able to show any images of the breathtaking views Turbine treated us to -- at least not until now.Say hello to Dol Guldur, the fortress that served as Sauron's home back in his necromancer days in The Hobbit. It's pretty evil looking, yeah? it's also a massive vertical dungeon that -- and we can say from first-hand experience -- will astonish any fan of Gothic architecture . There are plenty more screens in the gallery, so take a look and share your thoughts.%Gallery-74262%
PAX 2009: ArenaNet offers a variety of videos for fans at home
While we've brought you all manner of tasty insights and asides into what happened at PAX 2009 this year, there's something to be said for being able to catch the panels yourself. Knowing full well that their fans were going to go completely berserk when they heard all the juicy details about Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet has gone to great lengths to make sure to record all of their panels at PAX 2009 for you to check out. How awesome is that? The topics for this year were two completely different question and answer panels on the Art of Guild Wars 2, an insightful talk with the Guild Wars Live team who currently take care of the game, and a really interesting panel on the Fall of Ascalon novel that will give us the backstory between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. So if you weren't able to make it, be sure to check out the other half of the above lore video behind the jump, then head over to ArenaNet's official video channel to enjoy the rest!
MMOs top Steam and Direct2Drive weekly charts
We told you September was going to be a crazy month for MMOs! It seems that for the week of 9/6 to 9/12, MMOs topped both the Steam and Direct2Drive sales charts. Aion: Collector's Edition was first and Champions Online second on Steam and and it was the same for D2D, except they swapped first and second positions. Fallen Earth (preorder) was third on D2D, while not for sale on Steam. The Aion: Standard Edition took tenth on Steam and fifth on D2D.It's also worth mentioning that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, while not an MMO, ranked highly for the week as well (third on Steam and fourth on D2D). BioWare announced a special $10 deal for KotOR at PAX last week for fans of their upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. People buying KotOR through D2D will receive a 25% discount on SWTOR when it releases. Speaking of D2D, you should keep your eye on their special Five Year Anniversary page because next Monday ten RPG/MMOs will be going on sale for $5.00 each!Update: Thanks for the fix, cb!
Interview: Left 4 Dead 2's Chet Faliszek
During PAX 2009, we stopped by Valve's booth to chat with Chet Faliszek, one of the leading minds behind Left 4 Dead 2. Read on for insight into the differences between Left 4 Dead and its upcoming sequel, the possibility of user-created levels on Xbox 360 and just what's possible with the L4D2 editing tools: So, you guys have talked about fleshing out the story in Left 4 Dead 2 a bit more, and having a more involved plot. How do you do that with a game like this? I think that's one of those "I'm just going to ask you to wait and see." Some of it is simply ... Left 4 Dead 1's world was at the same stage every place you went. The infection had been there for a little bit. This time we're seeing what it's like to be in a city before the infection hits. And you see different people's reaction to that, as you cross around the country, and there's some other bits we tie in with the original Left 4 Dead in Left 4 Dead 2 as well.
All Points Bulletin video podcast a first look at gameplay
It's no secret that some of us at Massively are looking forward to playing All Points Bulletin, an urban crime title on the way from Realtime Worlds. We learned a bit more about the game at PAX 2009 but we're always hoping to find out more. Fortunately, the company released a new video podcast today filmed at GamesCom 2009 in Cologne that many of our readers have been waiting for -- one with actual gameplay.The series of videos released prior to this focused on the extensive customization options All Points Bulletin will offer. Although we see quite a bit of gameface from the audience in this latest video podcast, we also see a bit more of that attention to detail emphasized in the previous video footage playing out in the mean streets of the waterfront district. Among other things, the footage shows some very detailed gun animations w. shell ejects and, unsurprisingly, a lot of polish on the look of the vehicles. The user interface is also rather unobtrusive, particularly with the clear compass to guide players. Interested in checking it out? We've got an HD video embed of APB Video Podcast 9: Viva Cologne for you after the jump.
SWTOR's Coruscant artwork and PAX video
So maybe you missed out on seeing the glorious video reveal of Coruscant at PAX this year. No worries, because BioWare's been kind enough to release a high quality copy of the video into the wilds of the internet. We've posted it after the break in case you'd like to simple jump right into it.There's more news beyond the video being available on the game's official website, though, such as a bevy of very cool concept art that should entice any Star Wars: The Old Republic fan for several minutes bare minimum -- some of us may spend longer amounts of time staring.None of this is a big reveal, but that's perfectly understandable given the team's presence at PAX last weekend. So what about next weekend? Well, next weekend they'd better deliver or else we'll have to uh- well we'll just be sad if they don't, but it'll be a really vicious sadness that sends chills down spines!
Titan demoes Fat Princess' New Pork map
Jeff Rubenstein over at PlayStation.Blog recently got a chance to check out Fat Princess' new stompin' grounds at the game's demo booth at PAX -- you'll find his video preview of the Roman-esque New Pork arena posted after the jump. The map not only possesses a visual aesthetic that stands out from the title's pre-existing levels, it's also got a neat instant-travel sewer system and a central resource hub that should lend itself to some fairly hectic skirmishes. Also discussed in the video is the upcoming content patch, which will renovate the ranking system, balance the classes a bit and make the team switching mechanic less exploitable. Not discussed are the quartet of new classes hinted at by Titan Studios last month. We want -- nay, we need ninjas in this game.
PAX attendance rises by 2k, 60,750 people geek out
After the recent announcement by the folks at Penny Arcade that PAX 2009 sold out the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, today they officially released attendance numbers for this year's Penny Arcade Expo. Speaking with Big Download, PA's Robert Khoo said 60,750 people packed into the convention center -- though he had earlier predicted "roughly 75,000" -- and that the show's organizers are looking into expansion plans for next year to accommodate more showgoers. We'd say with the unveiling of PAX East, some people may very well have stayed home in anticipation of a shorter travel distance early next year over this year's Washington-based soiree. This might help explain the relatively small attendance growth from 2008's 58,500 people to this 2009's numbers. However, Khoo said he's surprised how many people plan on attending both PAX East and next year's PAX, umm, West. We'll see you a year from now, Khoo -- with facts!
Naughty Dog 'maxed out' the PS3 with Uncharted 2
Despite the copious amount of gigglebytes and Dilithium Crystals under the hood of the PS3, it's never enough for developers. Their lot is constantly pushing envelopes and raising bars everywhere they go -- and the fine folks at Naughty Dog are no exception. During a preview of Uncharted 2 at PAX, Naughty Dog's Amy Hennig commented that the first Uncharted game only managed to utilize a third of the PS3's power, but Naughty Dog has "maxed it out" for the sequel.This is something Naughty Dog achieved by taking a lot of the processes on the main processor and shifting them onto the SPUs (which may be one of the reasons why it could never work on Xbox 360). This allowed the developers to significantly increase the quality of the animations and other aspects of the game, leaving the main processor to "focus on getting all of that richness in the backgrounds." Well, whatever that means, we're glad they did it. This game is purty.Head past the break to watch the video interview -- around the 3:37 mark is where she starts talking about the powah of the PS3.
PAX 2009: Dark mysteries of The Secret World
So, you may have heard: Funcom is taking famous myths, urban legends, pop culture, history and even things like the Rota Fortunae and blending it all into a game called The Secret World. We sat down with lead designer Martin Brusgaar and creative director Ragnar Tornquist at PAX 2009 to discuss the game and a few of its many secrets.The Secret World has a vibe unlike any other MMO or really game currently out there. Its premise is simple -- all the legends, myths and more are true. Atlantis is rising, vampires roam the night, 2012 is the beginning of a new fourth age and so on. The world is a dark, scary and magical place. Although, it's more of the first two than anything else.%Gallery-72395%
PAX 2009: Cosplaying in Seattle
In the aftermath of PAX this year, we almost forgot to post one of our favorite event pastimes: a cosplay gallery. We've been too busy slapping on facemasks and hazmat suits to quell the nerd flu outbreaks. There weren't nearly as many people dressed up as last year, but we're hoping that Tycho and Gabe add a full-on costume contest to the mix next year for PAX East or West. Did you see that Big Daddy costume we posted about? Well, that guy wasn't at PAX ... but we wish he would have been. Still, there were some impressive efforts up in Seattle this year, and you can take a gander at them in the gallery below. And yes, we've included a photo of War's horse Ruin from Darksiders, because he was a mechanical bull who just happened to be wearing a giant, killer horse skin. Cheater. Anyhow, knock yourself out in the gallery below. After all, we braved a freakin' virus to get these pictures for you.%Gallery-72343%
Hands on: Alien Breed Evolution
When I saw that Team 17's upcoming Alien Breed Evolution was playable at Microsoft's pre-PAX shindig, I leapt at the chance to try it out. As a huge fan of the Worms series, I really wanted to give Alien Breed Evolution a go. After spending a few minutes with the game -- which appeared to be the trial version of the XBLA game -- I have to admit I was disappointed. That's not to say it's bad, but it failed to elicit that instant 'click' of the Worms series. %Gallery-68333%
PAX 2009: MAG producer explains the game's original server technology
Making online, 256-player battles unfold without lag or disconnection issues is nothing short of pure techno-wizardry. However, according to producer Alan Van Slyke, who recently spoke with us at a PAX preview event, that's exactly what MAG will bring to the table thanks to a groundbreaking new form of server architecture."Before we started working on the front-end client technology, we started building the servers. We wiped the slate clean and asked 'what do we need to do to scale to these numbers to make sure it's not laggy, and make sure people can't exploit,'" Van Slyke explained. What they decided was that peer-to-peer hosting was insufficient -- instead, the MAG team created their own networking solution which would host and authenticate game data from a (presumably beefy) central server.Van Slyke couldn't reveal the specifics of the technology (the patent for which is still pending), but promised that it would reduce latency and completely eliminate connection griefing which has plagued other multiplayer shooters in the past. In addition, he said Zipper's not worried about having its servers crushed by a day-one rush of new recruits, explaining that "we've invested a lot in our server technology and our load test harnesses and the things we can do to replicate the scalability of it to ensure that it's stable and rock solid."
Snap Judgment: XNA Dream-Build-Play 2009 finalists
While nearly all of my demo appointments at PAX required me to absorb information about new games at blinding speed, the XNA Dream-Build-Play Finalists booth demo tasked me with getting a feel for six games in just under an hour. It would be difficult for me to develop any kind of deep analyses on these brief gameplay slivers -- instead, I've collected my initial, hastily acquired thoughts about the games after the jump.Here's the short version: They're all pretty fun, but Dust: An Elysian Tail is clearly the leader of the pack.
PAX 2009: We travel east with Rise of the Godslayer
Age of Conan came to PAX pretty much directly off their announcement of the Rise of the Godslayer expansion. So when we arrived at our appointment to check the game out and speak with Executive Producer Craig Morrison, you can imagine our curiosity levels were quite high.This expansion is taking players far into the eastern lands of Khitai, which is essentially a retelling of our own ancient eastern worlds. Something we were told right away is that Funcom wanted to avoid Japanese influences, as they're fairly over-saturated in videogames. Instead, they're going for a heavy focus on Korean and Chinese culture for the lands of Khitai.%Gallery-72323%
PAX 2009 interview: The Beatles: Rock Band lead designer Chris Foster
The Beatles: Rock Band drops today, along with the band's remastered albums availability on iTunes (?) and a flood of Beatles: Rock Band news. Fans will be wailing on plastic instruments all day in an effort to travel back in time and live out their fantasies of becoming musical legends. We caught up with lead designer Chris Foster at PAX, who gave up some secrets about the game (including the scrapped "forever" mode). Read on for the full interview.%Gallery-68343%
All 10 Left 4 Dead 2 melee weapons over here!
Speaking to Valve's Chet Faliszek at PAX, we asked how many melee weapons will make it into Left 4 Dead 2. At the time, Faliszek told us he wasn't sure, but he knew there were more melee weapons in Left 4 Dead 2 than there were guns in the original game. We followed up with Faliszek after the show and we can now share all ten of the game's melee weapons. Without further ado, they are: Baseball Bat Cricket Bat Crowbar Electric Guitar Fire Axe Frying Pan Katana Machete Tonfa (police baton) Chainsaw The question you have to ask yourself: Which one of these would you abandon your teammates for? Remember, a teammate constricted by a Smoker is a teammate that can't pick up that katana over there.
