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The Daily Grind: What do you hope to see at this year's PAX East?
Massively will be on the ground in Boston at this year's PAX East, which officially starts on Saturday. We'll be scurrying all over convention land to check out WildStar, Landmark, EVE Valkyrie, Warlords of Draenor, Guild Wars 2, Star Citizen, The Repopulation, PlanetSide 2, Guns of Icarus, State of Decay, and Infinite Crisis, among others. A few big MMO studios won't be present, of course; I think everyone will grok why ZeniMax Online might be a bit too busy for another con just now. But big guns like Carbine and SOE and Blizzard will all be in attendance at the first gamer-centric rather than media-centric con of the year. So what are you looking forward to seeing out of PAX? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their 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 Daily Grind!
Morality play Always Sometimes Monsters launches May 21
Alongside the above trailer, developer Vagabond Dog has revealed a May 21 release date for its pixelated adventure Always Sometimes Monsters. Don't let the familiarity of chunky pixels fool you, Always Sometimes Monsters isn't a sweet, saccharine affair. Vagabond Dog describes the game as an "unconventional story-driven RPG about life, love, and the lengths that we will go to find happiness in both," but fails to mention that the "lengths" it is referring to include maudlin deathbed scenes and shotgun assassinations. Though that may seem bleak, the game is not specifically designed to be a downer. Instead, Vagabond Dog has created an open world that reacts to your character, and crafts a suitable narrative around the actions you take within the pixelated reality. "Always Sometimes Monsters is designed to reflect parts of yourself as you play and possibly give you a better understanding of who you are," said developer Justin Amirkhani. "What makes it interesting is not learning whether or not you're a monster, but reflecting on how you can change." If you just can't wait until May 21 to dig into Always Sometimes Monsters, you will get an early shot at the game at the upcoming PAX East convention, where you'll find Always Sometimes Monsters in the Indie Megabooth, at booth 787. [Image: Devolver Digital]
WildStar LEGO rocket house landing at PAX East
If the Venn diagram of your interests overlaps at "loves LEGO" and "looking forward to WildStar," then boy howdy will PAX East appeal to you. Carbine Studios has commissioned a LEGO artist (yes, that is a real thing) to create a massive 50,000-piece rocket house for PAX East's main lobby. This ship will be donated to Child's Play with $10,000 after the convention, and a smaller version of the LEGO rocket house will be given away to one fan who pre-orders WildStar while there. WildStar will be at booth #562 during the show. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
Hotline Miami 2, Hyper Light Drifter headline PAX East's Indie Megabooth
Indie Megabooth has announced its lineup of featured games for PAX East 2014, revealing that Hotline Miami 2, Hyper Light Drifter, La-Mulana 2, and other indie standouts will be on display at next month's event in Boston. Megabooth offerings include upcoming games like Die Gute Fabrik's Sportsfriends, Tiger Style's Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon, and Ronimo's Swords & Soldiers 2. Event organizers will also host the Indie Minibooth, a smaller venue that will feature a rotating lineup of games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. PAX East will be held in Boston on April 11-14. A full list of all featured games is after the break below. [Image: Indie Megabooth]
Blizzard unveils its PAX East plans
Blizzard has revealed their PAX East schedule, and for attendees of the Boston-based convention, it's going to be quite a weekend. There's something for almost every game the company makes, all to be found at booth #848 from 10am to 6pm Friday through Sunday. On offer at the booth will be: Warlords of Draenor playable demo, with updated models and the intro zone -- likely the same as we saw at BlizzCon. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft on iPad. A demo for Heroes of the Storm, featuring new Heroes that haven't yet been played anywhere outside of Blizzard. And playable time with Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition, on PlayStation 4. There's also developers standing by to talk to fans, a Heroes of the Storm presentation at the Albatross theatre on Friday, April 11 at 10:30 a.m. EDT, as well as giveaways, prizes and more! We wouldn't be surprised to see some new merchandise debuting, as has previously been the case for PAX conventions. It promises to be an exciting weekend all round!
Blizzard is going on a PAX East road trip
Blizzard is refueling the company RV and making a mix tape of John Denver and Megadeth for its upcoming cross-country trip to PAX East. The studio announced today that it will have a presence at the convention to show off Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. Blizzard will be at booth #848 from April 11th through the 13th. Hearthstone will be available to play not only on demo stations but on the iPad as well. Fans can also check out a hands-on demos of Warlords of Draenor, Diablo III for PS4, and Heroes of the Storm with new heroes. The studio won't just be confined to its booth for the duration of the weekend, as it's planning a presentation on April 11th at 10:30 a.m. EDT about Heroes of the Storm. This presentation will be livestreamed for those who can't make it.
PAX East 2014 panels bring you joy(stiq)
If you're one of the few that managed to pick up tickets to PAX East 2014 in the narrow window they were available, then your schedule of events is now available to view. The Joystiq staff will be at PAX East this year in full force, and they're even headlining the event's list of fascinating panels. If you're looking to maximize your odds at high-fiving folks like Joystiq's Managing Editor Susan Arendt, News Content Director Alexander Sliwinski or Reviews Content Director Richard Mitchell, you'll want to attend panels such as "Was I Wrong? Revisiting Controversial Reviews," "We didn't start the DLC fire, but we fed the monster. Now what?" and "Keep Your Opinion to Yourself: The Myth of the 'Objective' Game Review." We promise that not every panel will take multiple tweets to tell your friends about. When you're not attending every one of Joystiq's panels, the PAX East Indie Showcase appears to be a good destination for PAX-goers, as six mobile indie games will be on display this year. PAX East 2014 will be held in Boston on April 11 through April 13. [Image: PAX East]
Play EVE: Valkyrie on the Oculus Rift at PAX East
Ready to hop on the virtual reality hype train? Make sure you stop by the Oculus spread at this year's PAX East, as the company behind the Rift headset is partnering with CCP to bring you some hands-on time with EVE: Valkyrie. PAX East happens in Boston from April 11 through April 13. If you can't make it, don't worry because we'll be there with silly goggles on our head.
Star Citizen dogfighting module lands 'shortly after' PAX East
In his latest monthly status update, designer Chris Roberts reveals plans to grant the public access to the dogfighting component of Kickstarter success story turned space epic Star Citizen. "As I write this, the Star Citizen team is all around me hard at work on the Dogfighting Module," Roberts wrote. "We plan to premiere dogfighting at a special Citizens-only event just prior to PAX East. If all goes as planned, the Dogfighting Module itself will launch shortly after PAX and you will finally get your hands on your flight sticks!" While this is not the first taste of Star Citizen's gameplay offered to prospective players - Kickstarter backers were granted access to hangars late last year - it is the first major component of the game to make its public debut. Unfortunately, Roberts offers no information on how fleshed out this dogfighting module might be, though with PAX East scheduled for April 11 through 13, we likely won't be waiting long for a first-hand glimpse. [Image: Cloud Imperium Games]
212 devs are working on Star Citizen, dogfighting launch 'shortly after PAX'
Feel like you're not getting enough info on Star Citizen's development progress? Cloud Imperium chairman Chris Roberts has penned an epically long update that's now live on the game's website. "The concept is simple -- a high level monthly production progress report from the various teams from around the world working on Star Citizen," he writes. Those teams include a whopping 212 developers, which Roberts says is more people than typically work on a triple-A console title and which makes SC the largest space sim project in history. In terms of alpha progress, Roberts says that CIG will unveil the long-awaited dogfighting module at a special backer-only pre-PAX event. It will be playable "shortly after PAX." There's much more to the post, including updates from all of CIG's studios, so grab your favorite beverage and click through the links below to get caught up.
Wayward Souls, The Spookening headline PAX East Indie Showcase
The PAX East Indie Showcase stars six mobile games from independent studios around the world: Crowman & Wolfboy, Wither Studios LLC: US Duet, Kumobius: Australia Framed, Loveshack: Australia The Spookening, Modesty: Sweden Tiny Dice Dungeon, Springloaded: Singapore Wayward Souls, Rocketcat Games: US The Indie Showcase at PAX East is a mobile-specific sampling of games, rather than the yearly lineup of higher-profile, mainly console and PC indie games in the PAX 10 at PAX Prime. This distinction is on purpose, Penny Arcade co-founder Jerry Holkins wrote in a blog post. "It may not be apparent outside of my own mind, but the PEIS has a specific mission to promote games on mobile," he said. "PAX10 is more broad. But mobile is an especially scary place to make games right now, and I think there's good to be done thereby. Unlike a lot of games at a show like this, a lot of times you can just grab your phone out of your pocket and buy something you like right there. As magic tricks go, that's a pretty good one." [Image: Rocketcat Games]
PAX separates from Penny Arcade in co-founder's New Year resolution
Penny Arcade the comic is officially distancing itself from PAX, the yearly gaming convention held in Seattle, Boston and Melbourne. Co-creator Mike Krahulik announced the ideological split in a blog post, as part of his New Year's resolution to be less of "a bully." "You'll notice that it is no longer the Penny Arcade Expo," Krahulik writes. "It's outgrown us and it belongs to the gaming community at large now not just PA fans. Someday I expect to attend a PAX and not even be recognized. That's honestly fine with me. I don't want the material on PA or who I am to keep people from attending and enjoying PAX." Penny Arcade similarly distanced itself from the charity it started, Child's Play, when Krahulik and co-creator Jerry Holkins realized the comic's content was impeding the charity's outreach, Krahulik says. Child's Play is now its own organization that Penny Arcade supports from afar. Much of Krahulik's resolution stems from "a difficult year" where he received negative public attention for things he said on Twitter, the Penny Arcade blog and at PAX. In 2010, Penny Arcade ran a comic that made light of rape, and Krahulik and Holkins responded to outcry by selling merchandise supporting the strip – the "dickwolves" debacle. Krahulik and Holkins removed the dickwolves stuff from its stores, but on a panel at PAX Prime 2013, Krahulik said that pulling the merch was "a mistake." His statement reopened the wound.
PAX East 2014 is sold out
PAX East sold out, man. It totally sold out. We're not trying to wax poetic here; it has literally sold out. No, we are not using the new meaning of "literally" from the Oxford English Dictionary. It has completely sold out; you cannot buy any more tickets. It sold out. What did you think we meant? The convention is slated to start on April 11th of next year, but there are no longer any badges available for the event. So if you haven't already purchased one, we're sorry, but at least you'll be able to save some money. And as always, we'll be doing our best to elbow through the throngs to bring you coverage of MMO news from the show floor.
Three-day passes to PAX East 2014 sell out in minutes
Three-day passes for PAX East 2014 went on sale yesterday, and if you haven't secured one yet, it's already too late. Less than an hour after registration opened for the upcoming Penny Arcade-sponsored event, the group's initial allocation of three-day passes sold out completely. The Penny Arcade Expo and its spinoff events have grown in popularity over the last several years, leading to near-instant registration sell-outs. Three-day passes for this year's PAX Prime also sold out less than an hour after becoming available in April. As of this writing, passes for PAX East's Friday and Sunday showings are still available for purchase. Hotel reservations are available here. PAX East will take place in Boston from April 11 through 13, 2014.
PAX East 2014 tix now on sale
Save the date, PAX fans. Well, actually, save two dates. The first is April 11, 2014, which is when the next iteration of PAX East officially throws down. The second date is today, and that's when tickets officially go on sale. As of press time, three-day badges are gone, but single-day passes are still available. PAX East 2014 runs from April 11 through April 13, 2014 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
PAX East 2014 registration opens tomorrow
Hey, friends, what are you doing April 11, 2014 through April 13, 2014? If you're planning on attending PAX East 2014 in Boston during that time, you may want to get your mouse-clicking fingers ready for the event's registration, which is slated to open tomorrow. The official PAX East site says that hopeful attendees should check the site as soon as 12:00pm ET tomorrow to be there the exact moment registration opens up. Planning in advance is certainly more important for those looking to stay in Boston for the whole event; the official PAX Twitter account notes that the three-day passes sold out in one day last year.
Indie Megabooth is so popular it has to add shared spaces, more changes
Indie Megabooth has a problem. It's not something that's easy to bring up in polite conversation. Like a friend complaining that he has two dates in one night, or someone pouting because she has too much ice cream, the problem could easily be misconstrued as a humblebrag and brushed aside. But it's a serious issue. Indie Megabooth is too popular. "One of the problems we were running into, is that the amount of submissions that we have this year far exceeds what we can support," Indie Megabooth marketing mastermind Rami Ismail tells Joystiq. This is a major roadblock because Indie Megabooth's goal is to promote the full spectrum of independent games. Even though the Megabooth takes up the most space of any exhibit on the PAX East and Prime show floors, it isn't enough to give every willing developer a spot. Indie Megabooth hosts 40 - 60 developers at each show – that's larger than Sony's booth at E3 – but this year, 150 developers submitted 200 games for consideration, Ismail says. "We just don't have space for that," he says. Luckily, Indie Megabooth has a solution. Or two.
Legend of Dungeon devs' secret to saving money: Live in a tree
As a husband and wife development team, Alix Stolzer and Calvin Goble worked out a system that saw them through the first few years of crafting games: Calvin made their first two titles, Tiny Plumbers and IGF nominee Neverdaunt: 8Bit, while Alix worked a 9-5 job and provided input in her spare time. The situation was satisfactory, but eventually, Alix wanted more."While money was coming in from our games, it really wasn't enough to pay the bills," Alix told me. "We decided we'd rather reduce living costs and rough it, instead of one of us working a 'real' job. The opportunity came quickly."A friend offered them the opportunity to be his "mountain neighbor" in Vermont – meaning they would live in a mountainside forest, in a home they'd craft themselves out of trees and tarp. There, they could survive on $150 a month, plus food. Alix and Calvin seized the moment."We sold our house and used as little money as possible to build a small house-tent thing eight feet off the ground, on a platform our friend had made out of four trees," Alix said. "We spent maybe $1,000 on it, really using thrifty things like greenhouse plastic, and making our own solar panels, etc. It's an awesome adventure, but the downside is it slows down game development."The mountain, miraculously, hosted a strong cellular internet signal, and on sunny days Alix and Calvin were able to charge their laptops, one at a time, using the homemade solar panels. Cafes and the college campus in town, a half hour walk away, provided power and internet on cloudy days. Everything – food, heat, power, water – took extra time in the mountain home, Alix said, including video game programming and design.But the tree house didn't stop their game development. As the studio Robot Loves Kitty, Calvin (the Robot) and Alix (Kitty) brought their latest game, Legend of Dungeon, to PAX East, using not a lot of money and earning wild success.
MMO Family: The consequences of kids at conventions
As I wound down my time at PAX East recently, I couldn't help but notice how different this convention was compared to when I went a couple of years ago. Yes, the exhibition floor was bigger, and there were many more in attendance, but the overall feel was different as well, and part of that was the increased presence of children. We normally don't think of a video game convention as a family activity, and yet the fact that so many adults brought their children is telling. And whether you agree with it or not, there's something to be learned from the presence of kids at game conventions.
Tim Keenan's paper prototypes invade the PAX East tabletop summit
A Virus Named Tom developer Tim Keenan stepped out of his comfort zone during PAX East – literally – to set up shop in the tabletop gaming summit, with two paper prototypes of ideas for his next big project. At the end of a long row, in the heart of tabletop territory, Keenan demonstrated the mechanics behind Scavenger, a top-down, rolling tower defense game set in space, and Chess the Gathering, which played exactly how it sounds and definitely won't have that name if it enters official development.Chess the Gathering featured an iPad showing off the game's digital prototype, including a level editor. The gameplay is a spatial representation of Magic the Gathering, on a chessboard and with a myriad of creatures and "twins." For a rundown of Chess the Gathering, check out Keenan's YouTube playlist, and sign up to get an early (digital) prototype here.Keenan convinced a pair of Magic fans to play Chess the Gathering, and as we talked, they remained riveted on the rudimentary gameboard, cards and characters. When they finished, they concluded that they loved it. "If this were a board game, I would buy it," one of them said.Scavenger tells the story of a Han Solo-esque character as he travels the galaxies looting spaceships, attempting to pay off his debt to vicious collectors. It's a top-down, tower defense game where the protagonist sits in his spacecraft and sends out drones to infiltrate the victim ships. The player defends his own ship from enemies, while directing drones throughout the other ships, in search of money. See the Scavenger playlist here.Keenan has a third game in the works, an action title that he said wouldn't work well as a paper prototype. He and his wife, Holly, plan to ask the community which project sounds best, and then launch a Kickstarter to develop that game under their studio, Misfits Attic. Currently, the Misfits are working on the Vita port of A Virus Named Tom.Check out the paper prototypes for Scavenger and Chess the Gathering in the gallery below.%Gallery-184608%
