Reader meetup
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We're having reader meetups tonight in NYC and San Francisco!
You know us, we like to hang out with you, the readers, every chance we get. So let's make that happen tonight in New York City, at the Barcade in Manhattan's East Village, and in San Francisco at the Public House. All you need to do is bring cash for drinks, food and any arcade games you'd like to play. Oh, and we'll have plenty of time for ugly-selfie contests, because why not. You'll find the necessary the details below -- or you could RSVP via Facebook pages for each event (San Francisco and New York).
Join WoW Insider at Wowhead's annual BlizzCon party
Our good friends at Wowhead are taking the helm of this year's annual BlizzCon party at the Anabella Hotel, but WoW Insider will be in attendance as always! The party will take place the evening of November 6 at 7 p.m. at the aforementioned Anabella Hotel in Anaheim. It's sure to be an exciting year full of swag -- and this year, even more. Straight from Wowhead new features this year include: Substantially increased capacity, adding the Anabella Hotel interior to the usual patio and pool WoW Parody Artist Silver Letomi will provide entertainment alongside our usual hosts Cosplayers and the return of the photo booth for selfie-snapping opportunities (and non-selfie pictures if you are so inclined) If you're in Anaheim, you'd be crazy not to join us Thursday night. If you aren't in Anaheim, there will be a livestream of the event if you'd like to watch from home. And speaking of livestream, Wowhead is currently giving away four BlizzCon Virtual Tickets over on their site. Hop to it!
Announcing WoW Insider and Wowhead's Reader Meetup at BlizzCon 2013
Once again, Wowhead and WoW Insider will be teaming up for our BlizzCon Reader Meetup at the Anabella Hotel's Tangerine Grill & Patio. Taking place Thursday, Nov. 7, and with well over 2,000 attendees every single year, there's no better place to spend your evening before BlizzCon's opening day. Drinks? Yes. Prizes? Absolutely. If you're unable to attend in person, don't worry! The Gamebreaker.tv team, including our Olivia Grace, will be joining us again this year to livestream the entire event. We have a long list of VIP guests, special giveaways, and more we can't wait to tell you about. Those details will follow in the coming weeks. Come join us and kick off BlizzCon with your friends at WoW Insider, Wowhead, and Gamebreaker! What: WoW Insider and Wowhead's Annual BlizzCon Reader Meetup livestreamed by Gamebreaker.tv Where: The patio and the poolside of the Tangerine Grill & Patio at the Anabella hotel When: Thursday, Nov. 7, starting at 5 p.m. Additional info: You can be under 21 and still attend. Shoes and shirt required. Pants, too. You do not need a BlizzCon pass to attend.
Get your ticket for Engadget's Seattle reader meetup!
Will you look at the calendar? It's already October. That means it's nearly time for Engadget to descend upon the Emerald City as part of the Seattle Interactive Conference. We'll be holding a meetup the first night of the show, with a handful of our editors on hand to talk gadgets, interact with readers and giveaway some cool prizes from some of the top companies in the industry. If you're around the 206 on October 29th, we'd love to have you. You can make sure you'll be added to the list by signing up for tickets here. And maybe if you ask real nice, maybe we'll celebrate Halloween early by forcing Terrence to wear a costume -- we're open for suggestions. Oh, and if you're interested in sponsoring the event, there's still time. Just drop us a line at drop us a line at sponsors [at] engadget [dot] com, and for more information on SIC, check out the source link below.
Encrypted Text: Rogue news from BlizzCon 2011
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. I love BlizzCon. I am a long-time fan of each of Blizzard's Big Three games, and I am eagerly awaiting next year's triple release of Diablo 3 paired with the StarCraft and WoW expansions. Channeling my rogue reflexes, I conquered the BlizzCon ticket boss again this year, so I had the opportunity to visit BlizzCon in person. While in Anaheim, I tried out a Pandaren monk, crushed some cowards in a Diablo PVP match, and shredded a batch of zerglings before losing to so many banelings. To all of those who I met at the WoW Insider Reader Meetup and on the convention floor, it was great to meet you! I have been collecting my notes on what we learned at BlizzCon about the future of rogues, but I am realizing that there's not much news. We're losing access to ranged weapons, but we will be able to simply throw our melee weapons with Throw and Fan of Knives. The revamp of the talent system affects everyone, and there's no use diving into the new trees since they're not even close to being finalized. Pandaren rogues will be available in Mists of Pandaria, but that's not really exciting information, is it?
BlizzCon 2011: Reader meetup recap
This year's reader meetup was our best yet. We hit venue capacity of 2,200 attendees within the first hour of the event, blowing away last year's attendance record by a wide margin. A little over two hours into the six hour event, over 3,000 attendees walked through the doors. After that, we lost count. We only brought 3,000 wrist bands to hand out at the door. Every single one of us at WoW Insider, Wowhead, and Gamebreaker.tv had an absolutely wonderful time meeting and greeting our fans. We gave away countless prizes, drank endless drinks (as you can tell from our attendees' Twitter accounts), and had a generally great time. As we do every year, the moment BlizzCon comes to a close, we're going to buckle down and get to work on next year's event. Your feedback is absolutely welcome. If you didn't get to attend and our livestream last night simply wasn't enough for you, below is our gallery of the reader meetup. %Gallery-137254% The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!
Live from the WoW Insider and Wowhead Reader Meet-up!
The annual WoW Insider reader meet-up should be on in just a few short moments! This year we've teamed up with Wowhead, Members of ZAM Network, TankSpot and WoW Interface to bring you the biggest and best meet-up we've ever done. For all those of us who couldn't make it to BlizzCon this year, don't worry: Gamebreaker.tv will be livestreaming the event with professional lighting, mics, and cameras, and Gary Gannon, Josh Allen (better known as Lore), and Mike B. will co-host with Mike Sacco and Anne Stickney. As always, you can expect a number of special guests, interviews, and prize giveaways, viewer questions answered over the stream, and possibly the sight of a few staffers passed out in the bushes if we're lucky. The online chat for the event is just past the cut!
Breakfast Topic: What are your plans for BlizzCon this year?
Oh, BlizzCon. Every year you sell out in a ridiculously short period of time, dump players in lines the size of small countries, tease us with small glimpses of future content, titillate us with some daring cosplay, and make us rage about hunters' minimum range and recent paladin nerfs in front of tens of thousands of people. We wouldn't have it any other way. And where is your place in this cosmic dance, dear readers? Are you on your way to the Blizzard mecca today? Or, like me, are you watching the live stream? None of the above? Remember -- if you're going, we'd love to see you at the Reader Meetup we're co-hosting with Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv! If you're not going, check back with the site anyway around 5 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. Eastern), because Gamebreaker.tv will be streaming the party. %Poll-70032% Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
The Reader Meetup details you've been waiting for
The convention starts this Friday, but the real party begins Thursday night. The BlizzCon 2011 WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and livecast by Gamebreaker.tv, starts at 5 p.m. Pacific at the Anabella Hotel patio. Yes, Dan, we know that, you say. You've already told us this. True -- but now I can finally announce the details. The guests Felicia Day? But of course! Plus others from the cast of The Guild will be on hand. Members of TankSpot and WoW Interface as well as Wowhead will be in attendance. Other special guests we have confirmed include Amy Brady of the Frag Dolls, actress Michele Morrow, machinimator extraordinaire Oxhorn, and Learn2raid's Kinesthesia. That's just a few of the many WoW celebrities we have lined up for the evening. Many of these guests will be talking at the microphone with our hosts for the evening, Mat McCurley and Fox Van Allen. You will also get a chance to meet many of our guests at a special meet-and-greet area at the party. The giveaways What's a party without a few party favors? Our good friends at Cryptozoic are coming with 1,500 booster packs of the latest WoW TCG. And guild hosting site Enjin has 1,500 vouchers for two months of premium service to give away. Plus, there's more from Steelseries, AstroGaming, The Guild, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab -- even Dungeons & Dragons loot from Wizards of the Coast. Wizards has also generously donated three full sets of Magic: The Gathering foil M12 cards in limited edition boxes, each with limited edition sleeves and limited edition deck protectors. Handing out many of these prizes will be the lovely ladies of the Apotheosis Agency who helped us out last year, as well. Did we mention the drinks? Monster Energy is giving away cans of Monster Energy and Peach Tea during the meetup for free. All you need to do is ask one of the many servers or bartenders at the party. Looking for something a bit stronger? Alliance- and Horde-themed cocktails await your pleasure, if you are 21 or over. Wristbands will be handed out at the door after your valid I.D. is checked. If you don't have a valid I.D., you can still come in -- just no alcohol for you. The livecast Can't make it? No problem. Gamebreaker.tv will be livecasting the meetup with Gary Gannon, Josh Allen (aka Lore), and Mike B., as well as our own Mike Sacco and Anne Stickney. They will have exclusive interviews with many of the VIP guests and provide commentary on the event as it unfolds. The livestream will be simulcast on WoW Insider, Wowhead, and Gamebreaker's site. If you're on the go, you can follow it on your mobile phone using the Justin.tv app. What more needs to be said? Let's get this party started! The details What: WoW Insider's 4th Annual BlizzCon Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv Where: The patio and the poolside of the Tangerine Grill & Patio at the Anabella Hotel When: Thursday, Oct. 20, starting at 5 p.m. Pacific Additional info: You can be under 21 and still attend. Shoes and shirt are required. You do not need a BlizzCon pass to attend. You can RSVP on our Facebook Event page. There will be a valet charge if you park at the hotel. %Gallery-105834% Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Announcing the BlizzCon 2011 WoW Insider Reader Meetup co-hosted by Wowhead
[Update: More details.] What's BlizzCon without the WoW Insider Reader Meetup? Last year, we rocked with Anabella with over 2,000 attendees. The drinks flowed, the swag flew and someone ended up in the pool. Oops. How do we top last year's event? By holding an even bigger one than ever before! And we're doing that with the help of our friends at Wowhead. The Wowhead team will be cohosting the event with us including Members of ZAM Network, TankSpot and WoW Interface. We're very excited to have them with us to make this the go-to party of BlizzCon 2011. And for those of you who can't make it to Anaheim this year, we have a special treat for you, too. Last year we brought you a 3-hour+ livestream of the event as it happened via webcam. This year, we're doing the same -- but thanks to our friends at Gamebreaker.tv, we'll have better lights, cameras, mics and streaming capabilities than ever before. Mike Sacco and Anne Stickney return to hosting duties throughout the night joined by Gamebreaker's Gary Gannon, Josh Allen AKA Lore, and Mike B. Mat McCurley will be returning as MC for the evening at the main stage with his trademark humor and, of course, a box full of swag to give away. He will be assisted by our very own Fox Van Allen, who needs no introduction (as he will talk endlessly about himself if you just ask). We have a long list of VIP guests, special giveaways, and more we can't wait to tell you about. Those details will follow in the next few weeks. Come join us and kick off BlizzCon with your friends at WoW Insider and Wowhead! What: WoW Insider's 4th Annual BlizzCon Reader Meetup cohosted by Wowhead Where: The patio and the poolside of the Tangerine Grill & Patio at the Anabella hotel When: Thursday, Oct. 20, starting at 5 p.m. Additional info: You can be under 21 and still attend. Shoes and shirt required. You do not need a BlizzCon pass to attend. You can RSVP on our Facebook Event page. %Gallery-105834%
Live from the Engadget reader meetup in NYC
Are you in New York City? We sure are, and we want you to join us! Right now! We'll be at Guastavino's, located just under the Queensboro Bridge at 59th Street in Manhattan, until 10:30pm. Plenty of Engadget editors are on hand, along with our friends from Joystiq and TUAW, so be sure to swing on by if you're in the neighborhood. We're walking around with the latest gadgets, and may even have some for you to take home. Can't make it to the party? We have our cameras and laptops in tow, and we'll be adding photos and text throughout the night. Jump past the break to join in on the fun!
Zoom in on these SpyParty Joystiq E3 meetup stats
Playing SpyParty at the Joystiq E3 2011 reader meetup may have been a lot of fun, but it was also serious business. As it turns out, attendees were not only having a good time; they were helping SpyParty developer Chris Hecker collect some important data. During our roughly three hour shindig, only 10 spies were shot during the 35 games that were completed. This confirms our long-held suspicion that Joystiq readers are indeed a crafty bunch. Hecker also tracked the location and direction of the sniper's laser sight, though he notes he doesn't quite know what to do with the data just yet. At the very least, it looks like the snipers were a busy bunch. Pore over lots more data over at the SpyParty site.
Relive the Joystiq E3 2011 meetup through this video
Max Paolucci (thankfully) took some video of the Joystiq E3 meetup, both as evidence it actually happened (that whole week was a blur) and as a kindness to those unable to physically attend. It suffices to say that we love Max dearly.
Reminder: LA reader meetup is now! Come for games, free hugs
E3 2011 is doner than done ... it's donerer. We've got a reader meetup going on now in downtown Los Angeles, and it'd be awesome if you could join us. We've also got developer folks here with games. Be part of the first members of the public to play Dance Central 2 and check out the magic of Retro City Rampage, along with others. Again, it's for the 21+ crowd (sorry! we know it's wrong!), so come drop by, we'll be here until 9:00PM. Head past the break for the entire list of games and details of the event location. Looking forward to meeting you. XOXO, Joystiq.
Reminder: LA reader meetup is tonight! Come play great games and accept our hugs!
E3 2011 has officially wrapped, folks. And though we've still got a mess of content to blow out over the coming days, we wanted to remind you that we've got a reader meetup tonight in downtown Los Angeles, and we'd be really upset if you weren't there. Like, many, many tears. The most tears. You know who else will be disappointed? The cadre of great game developers we've got coming by with their great games. From the just announced Dance Central sequel to the retro gaming menagerie of Retro City Rampage, you could be seriously missing out. So hey, if you're in the Los Angeles area this evening, you're over 21 (sorry! seriously! we know it's super lame!), and you want to play a bunch of great video games while hanging out with the editors of Joystiq, we'd suggest clearing the hours of 5:30 to 9:00PM. Head past the break for the entire list of games and details of the event location. We, we, we so excited!
E3 reader meetup: SpyParty
Perhaps you've been hiding in the bathroom, terrified that a sniper will spot you? We can't think of any other reason you wouldn't have heard of Chris Hecker's SpyParty otherwise. But in the off chance that you don't know what it's about, SpyParty is a two-player game where one player controls a sniper and the other a spy. While the sniper seeks out the spy (to murder him, naturalmente), the spy attempts to complete a variety of tasks without being spotted. Moreover, the game is being developed by just one man -- the aforementioned Chris Hecker. And Hecker, along with a handful of other developers, will be on-hand at our E3 2011 meetup this Friday evening, SpyParty in-tow, so you can tell him yourself how incredibly impressed you are with his unique game. Last month, Hecker announced his game -- like Minecraft before it -- will enter a paid beta in the near future. Given his presence at Friday night's event, Hecker answered a handful of questions we had about his game's upcoming beta.
E3 reader meetup: Monaco
Monaco is basically the game version of the film Heat ... basically. Four co-op players control one class each, working together towards pulling off a successful heist. As you can see in the gameplay demo after the break, Monaco employs an interpretation of a top-down view for gameplay, with pixelated characters navigating perils toward the eventual thievery. If the unique premise doesn't do it for you, the gorgeous graphical style should. Remember Loaded (and Re-Loaded) for PlayStation 1? That's okay, most people don't, but that's the nearest it gets in terms of graphical similarity -- and that was 16 years ago. It's worth noting that Monaco isn't anywhere near as brutally violent/gory as Loaded, they just both feature a beautiful top-down art style. Anyway, developer Pocketwatch Games is bringing Monaco to our E3 2011 Reader Meetup Extravaganza this coming Friday evening for attendees to play, and we think you'd be a fool to miss it. In preparation for the event, Pocketwatch Games kindly sent over new images, which we've dropped into the gallery below. Pocketwatch dev Andy Schatz notes that since maps are "generated dynamically from the level data," folks will be able to create levels with the same complexity as the devs themselves, "or whatever they want." However, we get the feeling that our levels won't look quite as good as Pocketwatch's.%Gallery-125352%
E3 2011 reader meetup: Retro City Rampage
Between now and next Friday, when we'll be holding our semi-annual E3 reader meetup, Joystiq will be putting the spotlight on each of the games folks will be able to go hands-on with. First up is VBlank Entertainment's long in-development XBLA/WiiWare title, Retro City Rampage. Born out of VBlank Entertainment founder Brian Provinciano's urge to craft an 8-bit demake of Grand Theft Auto 3, Retro City Rampage was originally known as "Grand Theftendo." The ambitious project eventually took on a life of its own, evolving into a full-blown WiiWare title, and finally blooming to XBLA. As huge fans of 8-bit games and, uh, games in general, RCR hits all the right notes with us. The concept is essentially an elaborate homage to the history of video gaming, mixing all of the game mechanics that come along with that -- a pastiche of gaming history's tropes, memorable moments, and go-to themes, if you will (peep our reference-filled preview for a taste). We'll have the game (and its developer!) on-hand at next Friday's E3 reader meetup for you to check out, but in the meantime VBlank's sent over some new screens of RCR's Chinatown area, as well as revealing a new character: "The Great Gamedini." Mr. Gamedini is described as a magician whose wish will be your command ... should you be able to find the right codes. As VBlank tells it, "his dog ate his codebook." Blasted dogs! Take a peek at both the new area and new character in our exclusive gallery below.%Gallery-125316%
Come hang out with Joystiq (and play a bunch of great games!) at our E3 2011 reader meetup
We love you, Los Angeles, you know that. Sure, it's been awhile since we last hung out, but we wanna make that up to you. And not just any boring old dinner-and-a-movie kinda thing either, a full blown party! Next Friday, June 10, Joystiq will take over the La Cita bar in downtown LA between 5:30 and 9:00PM PST for a game-filled, giveaway-packed reader meetup. As our staff will be all up in your city for the duration of next week, we took the liberty of renting out a bar for a few hours so you -- our best friends -- could hang out, talk about the week's big news, play a bunch of great games, and take all the game swag that's been piling up in our domiciles. Chris Hecker will be swinging through with SpyParty, as will Andy Schatz with Monaco, to name just a few of the games/game devs at the event. And how about a chance to play Harmonix' next project before anyone else? 'Cause that'll totally be there too. Unfortunately, for our friends under 21, the event space is restricted to those of us with legal access to alcohol. We're really sorry and we still love you! It was, as they say, out of our hands. An extra big thank you to all of our participants! SpyParty, Chris Hecker (@SpyParty) Nidhogg, Mark Essen (@Messhof) Unannounced Project, Ska Studios (@SkaStudios) Monaco, Pocketwatch Games (@MonacoIsMine) Retro City Rampage, Brian Provinciano (@RetroCR) Q.U.B.E., Toxic Games (@qubegame) Unannounced Project, Harmonix (@Harmonix) Still with us? Head past the break for details, and make sure to RSVP on our Facebook event page so we know how many of you to expect!
Panasonic GF2 crashes the Engadget reader meetup, collects a gallery of memories / sample images
Our reader meetup this past Friday in San Francisco was infiltrated by a somewhat unusual assailant, Panasonic's GF2 Micro Four Thirds shooter. Sporting a new, significantly thinner, pancake lens primed at 14mm with a maximum F2.5 aperture, this eminently portable camera managed to sneak into the building while concealed inside one of our editors' jacket pockets. As we've said before, the major difference between the GF2 and the GF1 for us is that the new model really feels like a compact point-and-shoot, to the point of making us forget that it has a DSLR-sized sensor within it. We've put together the following galleries, which were mostly shot in the fully automatic mode, to give you a taste of how Panasonic's latest handles the challenges of a poorly lit nighttime scene, on the one hand, and a gorgeous sunny day, on the other. Enjoy! %Gallery-117921% %Gallery-117923%
