pax-east-2010
Latest
Breach thief placed on pre-trial probation, must stay off Xbox Live
Justin May, the man accused of attempting to steal Atomic Games' unreleased title Breach during PAX East, was placed on pre-trial probation in Boston Municipal Court yesterday. Suffolk County District Attorney Press Secretary Jake Wark informed Joystiq that the conditions of the probation are that May "stay in school, not reoffend, stay off of Xbox Live web sites, and forfeit his computer, which was seized at the time of his arrest." If May follows the conditions, his case will be dismissed after 18 months. If not, he'll be "put back on track for trial." May was arrested last March when he attempted to steal Breach from the PAX East show floor. He then skipped bail and eventually agreed to show up for court in May, with the latest hearing set for yesterday. We've contacted Atomic Games for comment on the outcome. Update: Atomic Games' president Peter Tamte's statement after the break.
The Daily Grind: Got cons?
So the New York Comic Con is in full swing, and the fact that it's here already reminds us of just how many game-related cons there are scattered throughout the calendar year. Whether it's NYCC, Dragon Con, E3, GDC, or the various flavors of PAX, there always seems to be something just around the corner that calls for hotel reservations and airline tickets. More often than not, the next convention on the circuit sneaks right up on us before we manage to shake the jet lag from the last one. While we'd like nothing better than to shirk responsibilities and tour the world of gaming and pop culture conventions for a year, work must occasionally intrude, and most of us have to pick and choose our events. What about you Massively readers? Did you attend NYCC this weekend, and are you a regular on the gaming convention circuit? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of our readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's The Daily Grind!
CCP releases new EVE trailer, reveals new contest
While most of the MMORPG fans at PAX are focused on headline-hogs like Guild Wars 2 and The Old Republic, EVE Online is making its share of noise, first with a new expansion announcement followed by the unveiling of a new game trailer titled Causality. CCP Games has also revealed a new contest called the Universal Glory Sweepstakes. Despite stiff genre competition, the Icelandic development firm shows no signs of slowing down development on its landmark space sandbox, and players now have the opportunity to win computer hardware and EVE merchandise including a complete gaming system and a year's subscription to the game. The contest runs through October 3rd, and the entry form requires you to answer a couple of questions posed about the new Causality trailer. Check it out after the cut or at the official contest website.
Accused PAX East 'Breach' thief shows up for court
Justin May, the 20-year-old man accused of trying to steal Atomic Games' Breach off the PAX East show floor, finally showed up in court today -- after previously skipping bail and eventually agreeing to appear for arraignment. Assistant District Attorney Kate Clayman briefly recited the facts of the case in Boston Municipal Court this morning and the judge released May on his own recognizance. No monetary bail was set. Suffolk County District Attorney Press Secretary Jake Wark told Joystiq that May will return to court with his defense attorney on June 27 to file a motion to dismiss the case. According to Atomic Games' complaint filed with Boston police, the company placed the value of Breach "in excess of $6 million." We're currently following up with Atomic Games and the District Attorney's office to find out how events are expected to proceed from here. Update: Comment from Atomic and the DA's office after the break. %Gallery-88941%
Joystiq Podcast PAX East 2010 edition
Here it is, the moment that at least a couple of you have waited for: Get Ready for Love: The Joystiq Podcast LIVE straight from PAX East, now available for your home listening pleasure. We hope you'll still be able to get the effect the attendees enjoyed even if you're just listening at home. If it helps you to visualize, know that all three of us were (as anyone present can attest) extremely muscle-bound, tan and almost offensively shirtless. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast in iTunes [Zune] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace [RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Hosts: Christopher Grant (@chrisgrant), Justin McElroy (@justinmcelroy),and Ludwig Kietzmann (@LudwigK) For fans: Joystiq Podcast Facebook group New to the show?: Listen to Episode Zero The Do It Line!: 1-(877)-JOYSTIQ %Gallery-89159%
City of Heroes hosting a live Q&A with developers
If you missed out on PAX East, you missed the chance to twist the ear of the development team for City of Heroes. (And other things, probably.) Or, at least, you missed your chance for a little while. Because the team is giving the fans another shot at connecting with them live, even if it's not in person. Using the forumspring.me tool, which has been steadily growing in popularity over the past several months, players will be able to ask questions of the development team and have them answered in more-or-less real time. The actual session will take place on April 23rd between 4 and 5 PM PST (7-8 PM EST). Melissa Bianco, Matt Miller, David Nakayama, and Jesse Caceres will all be in attendance, the same team from the PAX East panel and the brain trust behind the newest content additions. If you can't or don't want to take part in the actual questioning, the highlights will be addressed on the game's official Facebook fan page. It's an excellent chance for City of Heroes players to get answers to their most urgent questions, so mark the date on your calendar.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Question and answers go retro
It's time to head back in time, back through the many views and opinion of the past month, and see where we've gone with questions from far and wide. And as long as we're going back in time, why can't City of Heroes go back with us? Seriously, where's the time-travel arc where everyone has to team up with their Silver Age counterpart in bell-bottoms and bad hair? We've long been missing that from the game, and now that I have the time to think clearly it's a problem which should be immediately addressed. Of course, we do have that new Doppleganger system coming up. It could happen. Also, questions should probably be answered before I deviate too far. Zsazsa piped up with an obvious question about the PAX information: "Was anything said about new maps located in space for level 50 characters?" Possibly? When talking with the inimitable Miss Bianco, she mentioned that there were new maps we haven't yet seen... emphasis on those of us in the playerbase. It's very possible that there are, in fact, maps set in space which will be used for the Incarnate system (which requires level 50 and Going Rogue to be playable, so there you go). But as it's implied here that they already exist, wouldn't we have seen them by now?
Hands-on: Monday Night Combat
Why are so many good online shooters hitting XBLA? Monday Night Combat is Uber Entertainment's upcoming arena shooter, made exclusively for XBLA. Like Lead & Gold, it evokes a Team Fortress 2 vibe, thanks largely to its cartoon graphics and focus on squad-based play. Yet, it manages to have a unique flavor of its own, thanks to its satisfying close quarters combat, and original tower defense-inspired gameplay. Monday Night Combat was one of the most populated booths at PAX East, an impressive feat considering the high-profile competition offered by the bigger publishers. Perhaps the long lines could be attributed to Gabe and Tycho's glowing endorsement of the game at their first Q&A panel. Or, it might be because the game is, put simply, fun. I jumped into a round and chose the Assassin class. I've always preferred speed and stealth over gunplay, and this class was perfectly suited to my play style. Like the Scout class from TF2, this character is very agile, and can jump long distances. The Assassin has the special ability to cloak for a brief period of time, and can also launch smoke grenades. The cloak isn't infallible, as players will notice a shimmer where you're located; however, in the middle of a frantic firefight, it'll be relatively easy to sneak up behind a player and brutally stab him in the back.
Hands-on: The Silver Lining (the game Activison doesn't want you to play)
Here's the real reason Activision doesn't want you to play this fan-made sequel to the legendary King's Quest series: It caught a whiff of money. Rather than working out a deal with with the developer, Activision sent it a cease and desist, even after a deal had been worked out with Vivendi Universal games that would allow the game to be distributed for free (as long as King's Quest was taken out of the title).But the game does indeed exist. At least, one episode out of a proposed five does, although the developers are no longer actively working on it due to Activision's legal saber-rattling. I played it at PAX on a laptop belonging to one of the developers, and I'm desperately hoping that this will make its way into the wild so you can play it for yourself. If the developers are able to buy the license from Activision, that might actually happen. The Silver Lining might not have the words "King's Quest" in the title, but the heart of that series definitely beats in this game.%Gallery-89156%
Alleged PAX East 'Breach' thief agrees to appear May 19 in Mass. court
Justin May, the man who allegedly attempted to steal Atomic Games' Breach at PAX East, has agreed to appear for arraignment in Boston Municipal Court on May 19, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. May was originally supposed to show up for his arraignment on Tuesday, March 30, but apparently decided he had more important things to do. May is accused of attempting to steal Breach, which Atomic Games values "in excess of $6 million." According to Suffolk Country District Attorney Press Secretary Jake Wark, May faces a maximum of five years for each of the the two theft charges and fines. We're currently following up to find out if he faces any additional charges for not showing up in court this week. A representative for Atomic Games tells Joystiq, "Atomic Games is happy to see justice being served. We hope the court understands the severity of the crime. This is a theft that impacts not just our company, but all developers who want to share our games with the public at large shows, such as PAX." Update: When asked if May would face any additional charges for skipping bail, press secretary Wark told us, "No, no additional charges at this point. He actually contacted the court upon learning of the default warrant and made arrangements to postpone the court date. Given that he and his whereabouts are known to authorities, that he has no criminal record, and that he affirmatively contacted the court, his request was granted. At the end of the day here, we aren't exactly dealing with John Dillinger, you know?"
Interview: Skate 3's Chris "Cuz" Perry
At PAX East, we managed to bend the ear of Chris "Cuz" Perry, one of the Skate series' producers -- you know, the dude from those developer diary videos? Yeah, him. He was rocking the Skate 3 booth, showing off the game, so we did what we do best: cornered him and started firing off questions. See what he had to say below! Could you tell us what your name and position is? My full name is Chris Perry and I'm a producer on Skate. You guys really kept up support for Skate 2 through DLC long after the game came out. Is that something you plan to do with Skate 3? Official policy is that we can't talk about that, but it sounds like it's a good idea! %Gallery-77563%
Turbine on renting vs. owning in the MMO market
While we had the opportunity to chat with Turbine Entertainment about the upcoming plans and changes for Dungeons & Dragons Online, our sister site WoW.com was at PAX East as well. Since Turbine doesn't run World of Warcraft (however often Lord of the Rings Online might get compared to it), the discussion there went in a different direction. Much of the numbers side is well-known to the larger MMO community, but the interesting part is the discussion of renting content versus owning it. Subscription MMOs fall into the former category, while Dungeons & Dragons Online is the latter. As design director Ian Currie put it, while DDO has an option to subscribe, you can stop doing so at any time and retain everything you bought. You can enjoy the full leveling game without paying anything. Your character is undeniably yous, no matter how much or little you pay. By contrast, in a subscription game -- such as Turbine's own Lord of the Rings Online -- your character is yours only so long as you continue to pay the monthly fee. As digital goods and the culture of MMOs becomes more and more ingrained in the popular mind, expect to see more discussion on this topic. After all, people see their characters in MMOs as their property -- even if that's not technically true.
Hands-on: The Dishwasher Vampire Smile (XBLA)
Like a lot of people, I purchased The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai when it launched during Microsoft's 'Days of Arcade' promotion in April 2009. But for some reason I didn't play the game as much as I thought I would. Perhaps it was its punishing difficulty or the swarm of releases that chewed through my time but once the game was safely in my digital collection, I abandoned it. After getting time to play two levels of the game's sequel at the Ska Studios booth at PAX East 2010, I'm looking forward to wiping the virtual dust off the original and play it as I patiently wait for The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile. %Gallery-86333%
Hands-on: Immerz KOR-FX
I feel like I need to issue a few caveats right up front. A convention center floor is a terrible place to demo new technology like the Immerz KOR-FX vest. It's a device that's supposed to immerse (hence the branding) you in a game by turning sound into vibration, neither of which are in short supply in a room packed with beautiful, nerdy humanity. So, keeping all that in mind, here's my review: It's kind of neat, I guess. What's that, you want more? Oh fine.
Status update: Six Days in Fallujah, with Atomic Games president Peter Tamte
When it was first announced in April 2009, Six Days in Fallujah, from developer Atomic Games, raised more than a few eyebrows. Peace groups, veterans and some families of killed American soldiers lambasted the studio and its then publishing partner Konami for turning the unpopular war into an interactive entertainment experience. Taking place within a six-day span during the gruesome November 2004 campaign of Operation Phantom Fury, Six Days in Fallujah attempts to tell the true stories of multiple veterans who experienced the ordeal and, according to Atomic, several of them collaborated with the developer to help create the title. Speaking with Joystiq during PAX East 2010, Atomic president Peter Tamte offered a lengthy update on the game's development progress. He addressed in detail its tone and the potential controversies inherent in its subject matter. November 2004 is still considered the most brutal single month of the Iraq War in terms of US casualties, and there are questions about how Six Days in Fallujah will handle the deaths of real people. The game not only has a responsibility to be respectful, it has a responsibility to be truthful. %Gallery-49389%
Interview: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands' Michael McIntyre
Positioned as a new sequel to fan favorite Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Ubisoft Montreal's Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a clear return to tradition. It diverges from 2008's cel-shaded scurrier in more ways than one: platforming is more difficult; the time rewind is back; and the adventure is entirely linear. Though the game showed promise at PAX East 2010, we couldn't help but ask Level Design Director Michael McIntyre what this familiar entry means for fans and the franchise. Joystiq: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands -- how is that being positioned to fans of 2008's game? Is it an apology? Michael McIntyre: Oh, not at all. Actually, this project was started before that game even released, so we had no idea how that game was going to be received. We knew that the PoP 2008 was a daring take on the Prince of Persia franchise. but we knew that there would be people that definitely liked it and we just weren't certain what fans of Sands of Time would take it, even though we knew it was quite different from Sands of Time. So, there was already an early plan to do a Sands of Time-type game, not at the same time but it was already in progress. %Gallery-80265%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Meet the PAX press
Compared to the other two City of Heroes events that I took part in at PAX East, the meet and greet almost seems like an afterthought from a news standpoint. And it's fair to say that no new information could be teased from the development team, mostly because they were far too busy laughing and chatting with fans. Not that any of the fans seemed too keen on asking big questions anyhow. It was, all in all, a big chance for everyone to relax, talk about what the state of the game was, and be pestered by me in the form of Mr. Not-So-Mild-Mannered Reporter. And it was a fun time, with a lot of different opinions and a very relaxed atmosphere. However much of an afterthought it might have been from the perspective of hard news, it was a great time for the fans, and that's what the column is really all about, right? So check on past the break for some of the highlights from the evening, not to mention my global handle. (Because people asked there and I blanked under pressure. Plus there wasn't room on the nametag.)
PAX East 2010: Turbine on renting vs. owning in the MMO market
Blizzard's presence at PAX East 2010 was even smaller than I was expecting, with two or so Community reps there to oversee the StarCraft II tournaments going on. Boston-based Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine, though, had a very large demo area which saw a lot of traffic over the course of the three-day event. Con-goers could stop by and demo LotRO, as well as Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited, and hobnob with the Community reps and developers present. With the WoW-specific news at the event registering somewhere between "literally nothing" and "nearly nothing" on the newsy scale, I decided to stop by Turbine and ask them a few questions about their MMOs. I ended up speaking with their Design Director, Ian Currie. "I'm from WoW.com," I said, "so obviously I don't normally do a lot of reporting on your games. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever even played DDO, and I've only played a little bit of LotRO." Currie smiled and said "You really don't know what you're missing, then, do you!" "Apparently not," I acquiesced, "but maybe you can help fill in the blanks."
PAX East: Podcasting (f)or PR
If you're interested at all in starting up a podcast or want to know more about what goes into creating one, the PAX East panel hosted by Gamers With Jobs' Julian Murdoch and attended by podcasting professionals Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, Insomniac Games' James Stevenson, Irrational Games' Ken Levine and Shawn Elliott, and EA's Jeff Green is a pretty enlightening listen We were anxious to hear what the group had to say on the subject of using podcasts for promotion -- and we recorded it because, well, you might be interested too! For the full, unedited (and very NSFW) audio, click on the play button below. Highlights include outlining the value in podcasting, being on the front lines of PR when something bad goes down and answering questions on how to get a podcast off the ground and cultivating an audience. Feel free to give a listen below.
Breach thief jumps bail, currently playing Modern Warfare 2 [update]
An arrest warrant has been issued for 20-year-old Justin D. May, the alleged thief of the Breach code at PAX East, after he failed to show up in a Boston court today. May posted $200 cash bail at the Boston Police station following his arrest and was ordered to appear for arraignment this morning. He was charged with larceny over $250 and "trade secret, buy/sell/receive stolen." As for May's potential punishment, especially now that he has fled, Suffolk Country District Attorney Press Secretary Jake Wark told Joystiq, "Both charges carry maximum five-year prison terms, though there are monetary fines as potential sentences. Neither offense carries a minimum term. Being a fugitive from justice carries a potential penalty in most states, but only in the jurisdiction to which a defendant flees. For the moment, he is only in default and not facing any enhanced penalties." According to the Boston Police report, May's attempted theft of Breach was valued at over $6 million dollars. May's current whereabouts are unknown, but we do have his Gamertag, which shows that wherever he is at the moment, he's playing Modern Warfare 2. Update 2: Added details about prison terms and fines. The person using May's Gamertag signed off after we contacted them. Update: The police report can be found after the break.
