pax-2009
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PSA: Swine flu cases confirmed at PAX
Important note for PAX attendees only: Okay, before we get into this, you have to promise us you're not going to panic. Promise? Okay. Some people who attended PAX have been stricken by confirmed cases of swine flu. So, if you were there, and you start feeling sick (like many apparently have), don't freak out, but do go to your doctor right away. [Update: According to the CDC's latest advice, you need only go to the doctor if you're in a high risk group or have really severe symptoms. You can read all the advisement here, and thanks to Nori for setting us straight.] There's a list of flights over at Penny Arcade of those with confirmed cases so, if you attended, make sure you check that out. But whether or not yours appears there, you need to keep an eye on your health, okay? Don't freak out, just be smart. Important note for non-PAX attendees only: Okay, we're going to have to be smart about this thing if we're going to survive it. If you know someone who went to PAX, it's very sad, but they're dead now. You hear us? DEAD. We don't care if your own brother is banging down your door asking for NyQuil, you just keep telling yourself, "That must be the wind. It can't be Griffin, because he's dead." Also, invest in power armor.
Hands-on: Tony Hawk Ride
Hi. I'm Joystiq writer Griffin McElroy, and those are my feet. They're attached to my shins, which attach to a long sequence of other appendages which stop at my brain -- which at the very moment this image was taken, was likely in a confused, panicked state. It's a reflex reaction I usually turn to when placed before an alien video game peripheral, although in most cases, it quickly subsides, and is replaced with a steely determination to figure out how it works.By the time I'd reached the end of my brief hands-on session with Tony Hawk Ride, I had only just begun to deconstruct the hardware's machinations, and started determining how to deftly manipulate it in order to do sweet tricks. I was making progress in this endeavor when the demo came to a halt, but I'm still not sure my mind had completely wrapped around how I was supposed to manipulate the device. Is that indicative of the peripheral's weakness? No, I think it can be entirely chalked up to the fact that skateboarders move in mysterious ways.%Gallery-64707%
Bungie, film noir and the creation of ODST
During a panel held at PAX 2009, Bungie's CJ Cowan, Joe Staten, Lars Bakken, Michael Wu, Curtis Creamer, Marty O'Donnell and Brian Jarrard explained the creative process behind Halo 3: ODST. The panelists spent a good deal of the session discussing one of the major influences of the game: film noir. Film noir influenced nearly every aspect of the game, from the artwork and gameplay to the music and story. Halo 3: ODST borrows elements from the genre, such as dark lighting and moody music. Also in the tradition of film noir, players will be tasked with solving a mystery -- what happened to the rest of the ODST team? In addition to the film noir talk, we got to take a look at some concept art from the game, including an Elephant adapted as a waste collection vehicle (renamed the Oliphaunt) and the Covenant Engineer, which will be making its first official appearance in a Halo FPS game. We also got to see the early, hideous model of Nathan Fillion's character, Buck, which you can see above. Apparently, Fillion's agent actually cleared it to be included in the game. Thankfully, Bungie did not. Bungie also dropped the news of the Fourth Wall Studios meta-game within Halo 3: ODST at the panel, which you can read more about right here. And, finally, there was Connor. Check out images from the event in the gallery below. %Gallery-72195%
PAX 2009: Battlefield 1943 producer talks lack of DLC
We spoke with Battlefield 1943 producer Gordon Van Dyke at PAX and asked him why there hasn't been any DLC at all for the game so popular it crashed servers and broke sales records. The main reason? DICE is busy. Apparently it's working so hard on the next two Battlefield games that it doesn't have time to show BF1943 any extra love at all, which is a bit perplexing given the popularity of the title. Gordon told us, "We don't have any immediate plans right now, but it's not ruled out. There's a lot of pressure on the team for Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ... we don't want to stretch things too thin and and make something that's not up to quality. Battlefield 1943 is a huge game with a lot that we can pull from. We just want to make sure we keep our options open, and make sure that the decision we land on is what's best for everyone. We don't want to be that company that pushes out DLC just for DLC's sake." Fair enough, but we'd still like to see more maps and modes come to Battlefield 1943 like ... yesterday. Hey, hire some interns already!
PAX 2009: Red Dead Redemption lets you kill ... everything
Red Dead Redemption's promised Wild West sandbox came to life in a build shown off to attendees at PAX over the weekend. One of the first things we noticed is that you can end a life whenever you want. What kind of lives? See a bunny bouncing by? Kablam. Attacked by a wild bear? Kapow. Angry at your horse and want to put him down? Kablang. You can kill literally every living thing in the game and, in some cases, skin them and sell their hides to the furrier in town to make some dough. We doubt he deals in horse skins, however. There's more beyond the break, just mind you don't get shot.%Gallery-72189%
Hands-on: Star Trek Online
You're going to buy and subscribe to Star Trek Online if you're a Star Trek fan.I'm really sorry to be the one to break it to you. You might not possess the fungible assets required for such a commitment -- heck, you might not even like MMOs. These facts don't matter. Cryptic hasn't just made a game based on Roddenberry's magnum opus -- it has managed to create a flawlessly adapted interactive extension of the show.
Red Steel 2 director would 'love' to see series on 360, PS3
During a Q&A session following the PAX demo of Red Steel 2, creative director Jason VandenBerghe told Joystiq that he would "love" to see Red Steel arrive on other platforms. When asked about the possibilities of the new motion control options headed to PS3 and Xbox 360, VandenBerghe said, "I personally would love to see any and all consoles have more sword fighting experiences." He then added that any decision to develop the series on other consoles would be up to Ubisoft. Here's hoping Ubisoft decides to throw us more than a deluge of Rabbids once the 360 and PS3 climb aboard the motion control bandwagon.
Coming soon: The Halo 3: ODSTOST
During the Halo 3: ODST panel at PAX, Bungie revealed -- much to everyone's surprise -- that there were plans to release an official soundtrack alongside the release of ODST. According to Marty O'Donnell, over three hours of music were recorded for the game, so there should be plenty to listen to. O'Donnell also discussed the film noir influences in the soundtrack, as evidenced by the moody saxophone riffs heard in the first ViDoc released earlier this year. Sold as a two disc set from Sumthing Digital, the soundtrack is available for pre-order on Amazon and should release alongside Halo 3: ODST on September 22.
Joystiq vs. PAX '09: Day 3 & 4
Here it is, the last Joystiq vs. PAX 2009 video. We decided to roll up the footage from our third and fourth days in Seattle into one mongo video, which we've kindly embedded above. Marvel as we watch Omeganauts throw down in Halo 3: ODST, enjoy some marketing materials, head over to the Resident Evil 5 PC launch party, check out the massive console freeplay room and, finally, witness the final round of the Omegathon. So long PAX. See you in Boston!
Hands on with L4D2's Dark Carnival (and a katana!)
Left (click) 4 Large Okay so, technically, we only got our hands on a digital katana, but it was just as awesome. More awesome, in fact, because wielding a real katana against a real zombie isn't so much fun as it is terrifying. But more on that later, this preview needs a setup. We got a chance to try out the recently revealed Dark Carnival campaign in Left 4 Dead 2 and, unsurprisingly, it was a blasting, hacking, slashing good time.
PAX 2009: Hands-on and phasers locked with Star Trek Online
We stopped by Cryptic's booth at PAX 2009 for a chance to speak with the Executive Producer for Star Trek Online Craig Zinkievich, and obviously to get our hands on the game as well. Well, turns out our demands were acceptable, and we got to both play the game and prod at Craig with our incessant "questions" for your -- and of course our own -- pleasure. Cryptic's goal for Star Trek Online is to make players feel like they're inside an episode of Star Trek when they play the game. That's why they call their story-focused missions episodes, and why every one of them deals with both ground and space combat. Our hands-on experience focused on this aspect of the game, and much combat was had by, well, us.
PAX 2009: Hands-on and phasers locked with Star Trek Online part 2
Ground combat itself is much faster paced, and plays around the speed of Champions Online except with phasers, personal shields and other Star Trek geekery replacing superpowers. All ranged weapons have a basic attack and some kind of secondary, but also come with a third melee attack for those close and personal situations.
Joystiq at the Resident Evil 5 PC launch party
During the second night of PAX 2009, Capcom held a launch party for the PC version of Resident Evil 5. In edition to the swanky PC setups featuring the game, Capcom had some other Resident Evil-themed goodies, like Majini makeovers. There was also a station for printing out personal Tricell employee ID badges. See the party in pictures in the gallery below, and check out a quick video of the shindig above. %Gallery-71974%
Blizzard at PAX 2009 wrapup
PAX wrapped up over the weekend in Seattle, and from what we've heard of our friends' experiences over at Joystiq, it was a wild, wild time. Blizzard was there as expected, and it sounds like the setup was pretty awesome. They had all three playable demos up from BlizzCon, including the Starcraft II singleplayer game, the Diablo III monk class, and of course the Cataclysm Worgen and Goblin race starting areas. We hear that Blizzard had their GMs in attendance as well, and reader Aveiceae (whose pictures you can see in the gallery below) reports that she saw both Drysc and Bornakk there. She also says that Blizzard gave away some of their famous hand sanitizer throughout the show -- very important, especially at a gaming convention during swine flu season.Tisoi also has a report over on WoW LJ, including a few pictures of the setup on the convention floor, as well as a few (sneaky) screenshots of the Worgen and Goblin areas. He also got to meet Jeff "Vork" Lewis and Sandeep "Zaboo" Parikh of The Guild. Felicia Day wasn't there (she spent the weekend at Dragon*Con, where there was other WoW-related shenanigans going on), but as Sandeep reported on his Twitter, she wasn't needed, thanks to cosplayers. Sounds like a great time was had by all. Next year, PAX is headed out east -- we'll have to keep an eye out and see if Blizzard is going there as well.%Gallery-72105%
PAX 2009: Turbine tells us all about Siege of Mirkwood
This last weekend at PAX 2009 we had the opportunity to sit down with Lord of the Rings Online's executive producer Jeffrey Steefel. He gave us a sneak peek at some of the new zone and instanced content coming in Siege of Mirkwood, as well as many of the new features. So if you're skeptical or just plain curious, we think you'll be most intrigued to see what knowledge we've uncovered after venturing deep into Mirkwood and all the way into Sauron's fortress of Dol Guldur.
PAX 2009: Turbine tells us all about Siege of Mirkwood part 2
Basically, Turbine is doing everything they can to make these just as fun on the hundredth time as they are on the first. There are limitations to how often you can do some of them, because Turbine doesn't want them to become too grindy. The first time you summon your horse after getting Siege of Mirkwood, the game will prompt you to turn it into a skill.
Hands-on: The Behemoth's 'Game 3'
There's a part of me that likes examining games' sub-superficial levels -- the lingering inspiration behind the art, gameplay, story and all the rest of its aggregate components. Behemoth's Game 3 is difficult to dismantle in this manner, largely due to the fact that, even when compared to past entries in Behemoth's bizarre repertoire -- it's an unabashed labor of madness.It could also be due to the fact that the speed at which I was forced to play the Game 3 PAX demo could best be described as blistering. Still, it didn't take much time to get what the game's core components are all about: Frantic multiplayer platforming action, the likes of which you haven't seen since Super Mario Bros. 3.
Impressions: APB
It's been a long time coming, but the first gameplay of Realtime Worlds' pseudo-MMO APB has been shown to the public. PAX attendees who stopped by EA's booth were allowed to view a 15-minute long in-game video demo of the title -- just for kicks, the player/commentator for the demo was none other than Epic's Mark Rein, creator of the Unreal Engine 3 upon which the title is built. Rein, who was playing as an Enforcer, was joined by Realtime's Chris Collins, who effectively played the Crockett to Rein's Tubbs.What we saw looked less like an MMO, and more like a persistent online multiplayer cops-and-robbers game. Action isn't slow and meditated, it's fast-paced and twitchy. If you were expecting skill-filled hotbars, you're going to be disappointed -- APB is a third-person shooter, through and through.
PAX 2009: Hands-on with Torchlight
We never thought a completely new game would rise from the ashes of Mythos in just over a year, but that's exactly what Torchlight represents. We played through Torchlight for half an hour at the show, and it's a delightful action RPG that looks like a cartoon version of Diablo ... which doesn't mean it's for toddlers. There's still killing of the smashing, bashing and magical varieties throughout this thing, you know!%Gallery-72098%
PAX 2009: BioWare offers Star Wars: The Old Republic fans discount on KOTOR
We're all about MMOs at Massively (shocker), but once in a while something from our RPG past resurfaces and captures our attention again. Clearly we've got a number of Star Wars fans among our readers looking at how many people are following our Star Wars: The Old Republic coverage, and for many gamers the original Knights of the Old Republic (circa 2003) was a memorable experience. BioWare announced at PAX 2009 that they're handing out $10 doses of nostalgia by offering KOTOR downloads for PC through both Direct2Drive and Steam. Getting back to the MMO angle, there's another 25% off of that for Star Wars: The Old Republic community members who download the game from Direct2Drive. Sure, PAX attendees get their KOTOR downloads for free -- damn you, Kyle Horner! -- but seriously, it's only $10 to begin with. If you missed Knights of the Old Republic the first time around, this is as good a time as any to catch up. Check out the announcement over on the official SWTOR site and create your account before September 15th if you're really adamant about saving a few bucks.
