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Made in Phoenix: Indie Game Demo Night starts the party on Saturday
Phoenicians can get down with some independent games, a live DJ, food and drinks this Saturday with Made in Phoenix: Indie Game Demo Night, from 7PM - 10PM PT at the Game CoLab headquarters. Game CoLab is a collaborative (get it?) workspace for indie developers in Phoenix, and founders Joseph Darnell and Ben Reichert just opened its doors on May 1. Indie Game Demo Night is Game CoLab's opportunity to introduce local game developers to the public, while providing feedback to the game creators and having a bit of fun, Darnell tells Joystiq. Game CoLab so far has 20 members, 12 of whom work out of the space downtown, and it's closely aligned with the local IGDA chapter, Darnell says. "They want to see the CoLab succeed, since the idea behind it is to provide a more constant support for the game dev community here in the Valley," he says. Indie Game Demo Night will feature music by Adventureface, and it's open for RSVPs on Meetup. The party and Game CoLab offer fresh examples of an expanding, public indie scene across the nation, joining established groups in Boston, Massachusetts, Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, California, to name a few. [Image credit: Sam Mort]
IGDA defines new rules for future industry parties after GDC 'mistake'
During the week of GDC, the International Game Developers Association threw a party that featured underdressed, dancing women as part of the entertainment, prompting two IGDA members to resign and Executive Director Kate Edwards to issue a statement of regret.Today, Edwards defined a new set of regulations for future IGDA gatherings, starting with the goal to cut back on "parties" and instead offer more "networking events.""Building a community and providing networking opportunities are part of our core mission, and we want to create activities that provide that opportunity, and to do that in a way that will be appropriate and enjoyable for everyone," Edwards wrote.If a specific IGDA chapter wishes to throw a party, it may, but the organization still expects "chapters to uphold the IGDA's values of inclusion and diversity, regardless of the type of event and locale." Edwards said the IGDA will be vigilant when dealing with partners in the future, to provide "comprehensive oversight" of the entire event: The dancing women at this year's GDC party were courtesy of party sponsor YetiZen, which said it hired "avid gamers, who happened to be models." YetiZen said the IGDA approved all aspects of the party, including the dancers.Edwards outlined a set of actions for IGDA members to uphold while at other industry events, including a "walk out and talk out" policy for any party with content "contrary to the IGDA ideals, regardless of the potential value of being present.""Our humanity makes us prone to mistakes, but that does not diminish our resolve to be a force of change," Edwards concludes. "I hope the IGDA membership will rise to the challenge, and keep working together to help our industry reflect the reality of our diversity, whether it's at events, in the workplace or in the games we create." Read her full missive here.
The Elder Scrolls Online invites fans to a PAX party
You, yes you, are cordially invited to attend one of the least exclusive but most festive shindigs at PAX East this weekend. The Elder Scrolls Online team is throwing a party on Saturday evening for any and all who show up (on a first-come, first-served basis, of course) at the Castle Meeting Space in downtown Boston. Starting at 6:00 p.m. EST, the party includes Tamriel-inspired foods, music, contests, and the opportunity to play TESO in person. The event is open to anyone 13 and older, so you don't have to be attending PAX to get an advance peek at one of the hottest upcoming MMOs!
PAX East 2013 party list
PAX East is in a few short days and so are the all-important parties. SideQuesting has put together a mega list of gatherings and get-togethers going on around the convention.Many of the parties require tickets or RSVPs... er, RSVPing? In many cases you'll have to sign up and say your party monster self is coming.Remember, it's Boston in March and it's expected to be near or below freezing every night. Dress appropriately if you plan on party hopping. Trust. [Javier Brosch via Shutterstock]2013
Star Trek Online posts third anniversary details
As you may have heard on our latest Massively Speaking podcast, Star Trek Online is on the verge of celebrating its third anniversary -- and the developers want to make sure that it's one that players won't soon forget. Cryptic Content Designer Charles Gray has the skinny on what Starfleet and KDF captains can expect in the coming days. The ever-popular Q will show up to throw parties in Spacedock and Qo'noS from January 31st through February 14th. If you're willing to help Q out with a little assignment, he's supposed to reward you handsomely in return. The big news is of the new featured episode that will be rewarding a souped-up version of the Ambassador Class or Kamarag Class starship if it's completed during the event. The episode centers around a strange anomaly that has connections with Tholian experiments and the 24th century. Time travel in Star Trek? Whoduthunk it! Cryptic says that it will deliver specs on the new ships soon.
Richard Garriott throws end-of-the-world party, world survives in style
If you've got the means and know-how to throw the world's best apocalyptic party, would there be anything from stopping you doing it? Nothing got in the way of Portalarium's Richard Garriott when he wanted to create one of the most cool- and insane-sounding end-of-the-world bashes on December 21st in Austin, Texas. "We thought this date shouldn't pass without an interactive soiree," Garriott explained. The creator of Ultima Online is famous for throwing strange elaborate parties, including a Titanic get-together where he sunk the boat with the party-goers on it. Garriott created a 30-foot Mayan pyramid as the centerpiece of the event. Around the pyramid were four apocalypse-themed tents, including an alien tent with a Sputnik replica and a hedonism display with naked zebra ladies prancing about. The $1,000-plus door charge for the party went toward the X Prize Foundation.
The Mog Log: Parties and roles in Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy XIV's party setup already makes a bold step away from normal conventions. Where most games these days top out with parties of four or five players, a full party in Eorzea is eight people with according benefits. It's definitely a game of numbers. This offers some unique drawbacks and advantages all at once. The drawbacks are implied just by the sheer size: It's harder to get three strangers to work with you as part of a team; it's harder still to gather up seven without one person dragging you down through a combination of cluelessness and hapless malice. But considering the pre-relaunch game offered a lot of content that could be done solo or in ad hoc groups of varying sides, perhaps this won't be such an issue in the long run. So let's talk about the potential advantages. I think the game is uniquely poised to deliver on this front simply because having more people in the party allows you to do things that more modern games don't have the space for -- things that Final Fantasy XI was quite good at doing in party composition, as it happens.
PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale brings the party to iam8bit this week
Los Angeles' trendy video game art house iam8bit is hosting a one-night event for PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, with the final release code playable for the first time in public. The event is dubbed the LA Beatdown, and it takes place on Wednesday, October 24 from 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. at this location.LA Beatdown is completely free to enter and includes the following goodies: the game playable on a 25-foot widescreen; exclusive, one-time-print t-shirts and posters with art by Boneface for the first 500 attendees (check out the design above); a museum-style exhibit featuring characteristic items from each Battle Royale character; a photo stage with props from the game; and complimentary alcoholic beverages for those 21 and older. Vizzi food truck will be parked outside as well.Entrance is first-come, first-serve, so if you're in the LA area start planning for a thumpin' hump day now.
Meet WoW Insider tonight and get some swag
What are you doing tonight? Does it involve standing in a line, waiting patiently to get your gaming mitts on a hot new edition of Mists of Pandaria? If so, we might have a treat for you. You can find our intrepid team of WoW Insider writers at these outstanding fine gaming retailers. You should come by and say hello, perhaps win fabulous prizes (provided by our good pals Blizzard, to boot)! Or, mostly, come by and say hello. Joe Perez at Amherst, New York: GameStop at 1593 Niagara Falls Blvd Frostheim at Richfield, Minnesota: Best Buy at 1000 West 78th St. Anne Stickney at Grand Junction, Colorado: GameStop at 2536 Rimrock Avenue And of course, you'll find more than a few of us at the official Irvine opening! We hope to see you tonight! Edit: Frostheim's location has changed! It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Black Prophecy schedules shutdown party
Black Prophecy is counting down the days until its execution, and chances are the governor is not going to call. With the shutdown of the space MMO scheduled for September 26th, Reakktor Media announced that it will be throwing a Shutdown Party the night before on the 25th. The studio urged players to "hang out with old friends and the Black Prophecy GMs as we see this ship off on its final voyage" during the fiesta. The party will feature PvP fights and in-game prizes, although those prizes will be short-lived. The celebration will take place next Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. EST on the EU servers and 9:00 p.m. on the NA one. The shutdown will happen at 3:00 a.m. on the following morning.
Dress up like XCOM's Thin Man, skip the lines at 2K's PAX booth
The lines at PAX Prime can be the show's biggest pain. It's all open to the public, so playing a much-anticipated game like XCOM: Enemy Unknown can have you standing around for ages. Fortunately, the folks at 2K have cooked up a cheat to help you out: Just dress up as the game's Thin Man character and you'll get a VIP badge when you show off your costume at the show.That badge will grant you access to play XCOM and Borderlands 2 without waiting, plus you'll be able to duck into the XCOM panel on Saturday. You can see what the Thin Man looks like above, and study some concept art on the official blog post, if you need it.If you don't want to wear a costume but still want some quality hands-on time with Borderlands 2 (and some Joystiq staffers), be sure to stop by the PAX party tomorrow night. The bar is open there no matter who you're dressed as.
Attract Mode and Fangamer host all-ages video game art show Saturday night at PAX
If you're in Seattle this week – perhaps for PAX Prime – then your Thursday night plans have been taken care of. You'll be at Joystiq's Borderlands 2 party, and you'd better say hi when you see us there. But PAX goes for four days, you say – what about the rest of the weekend? We'll cover Saturday for you as well: "Videogame collective" Attract Mode and videogame apparel site Fangamer are teaming up to hold a great big live art and game show, starting at 7pm on Saturday, September 1 in Seattle.Cumulo Nimblers, Capy's Super Time Force, and Eric Zimmerman's Metagame will all be there and playable, 8-bit artist Danimal Cannon and hip-hop gamer MegaRan (he's good) will provide the tunes, and the whole show will be drenched in some of the best video-game related artwork you'll find (and which you can see examples of in the gallery below). It'll be a rad time indeed; it's an all ages show that's open to the public, and admission is $5.The event starts at 7pm and goes until 11 on Saturday September 1, and you can find it at the 1927 Events space, at 1927 3rd Ave. in Seattle. As for your Friday and Sunday nights at PAX, well, you'll have to find your own party space for those.%Gallery-163481%
Leaderboard: Raid vs. small group content
When it comes to partying up in MMOs, it seems like everyone has his or her own preference for what size is ideal. While I've dipped my toes into the waters of raiding, I found it far too chilly and impersonal for my temperament. Yet while I prefer small group instance runs, I'm not blind to the fact that raiding remains immensely popular among part of the population. Small group content offers a more intimate setting for you and a few friends (or strangers with potty mouths) to tackle an instance. Because there are so few of you, each player needs to pull his or her own weight and become a hero. These runs tend to be less stressful and far more accessible to the game's population. On the other hand, raids offer the most challenging content in the game. A raid requires all involved to be geared up, skilled, and knowledgeable in the ways of fight patterns. Participating in one can feel downright epic, especially when you consider that you can see content that many players will never witness. So let's put it to a vote! Which do you prefer: raid or small group content?
RuneScape throwing the Queen a royal celebration on June 2nd
Royalty is coming to RuneScape on June 2nd, as Jagex is celebrating the Queen of England's Diamond Jubilee (that's 60 years on the throne, if you're wondering). Players in the game will be invited to join in a massive block party that will include sampling British cuisine, solving clues, petting the Queen's Corgis, and collecting numerous treasures scattered throughout the Royal city of Varrock. There's even a giant Queen Black Dragon to be defeated, but be warned: She's one of the toughest mobs in the game. This celebration is partially in response to the honor (honour) that the Queen gave the studio in April of this year, as Jagex was granted the Queen's Award for Innovation in Enterprise. "We thought it was only appropriate to return our appreciation and admiration by immortalising the Queen's monumental 60-year achievement by providing an online platform for hundreds of millions of people around the world to come together," said CEO Mark Gerhard. "Friends and family will share in the fun and celebrations of this very special day celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, by hosting what may be the first, but certainly will be the world's largest, virtual street party." If you're wondering if the Queen will be there, well, Jagex did extend an invitation. You can watch the Jubilee Celebration trailer after the jump. [Source: Jagex press release]
When Vikings Attack brings cel-shaded crowd control to PS3 and Vita
You're always in a hurry to learn the controls of a new game in the bustle and din of a press event. You might pick a few things up from a tutorial card resting near the screen, from a patient developer stationed nearby, or through one of those loading screens that can barely contain a controller and 29 labels, bursting out of it like informative tentacles. When Vikings Attack, a new party game for PlayStation 3 and Vita, stood out at recent Sony press event because it's filled with clutter, yet wrapped in the simplicity of two-button play.Presented with vibrant, cel-shaded aplomb, When Vikings Attack is essentially a game of crowd-versus-crowd control. You maneuver a cluster of portly citizens, brought together in the face of an inexplicable, anachronistic viking invasion of 1970s England. The number of people in your crowd is an indicator of your speed, health and strength, and more able bodies can lift larger and heavier objects.That's right: the secret to thwarting the Norsemen of the apocalypse is to pick up the manufactured detritus of civilization, such as benches, cars, ambulances and phone booths, and hurl it at incoming streams of invaders. It's a bit like bowling, with mismatched, costumed people for pins, and balls coming in every shape, size and seriously you can throw everything at everyone.%Gallery-156287%
Five top tips for your first few days of Diablo III
Diablo III officially launched at midnight last night, opening the floodgates on what is possibly the most pre-ordered PC game in history. It's been almost 12 years since the previous game in the series launched, and it's still going to this day. Whether you've played previous games, have taken part in the Diablo III beta or are taking your first steps into Sanctuary today, everyone starts with a clean slate. In this article, I give my top five tips for spending your first few days wisely in Diablo III. #5 - Spend most of your time on one character It seems like a bit of a no-brainer to initially focus on one character, but in Diablo III's case, there's a special reason to do it. You'll likely finish normal mode around level 20-30, and until then, you'll get a new skill almost every level. It's only when you've completed normal mode and moved on to nightmare that the challenge really starts and you will have picked out an effective set of skills. Your last active skill unlocks at level 30, and from then on you'll gain a combination of two to three runes or passive skills every level until you hit the level cap at 60. Read on for four more tips you should keep in mind as you start playing Diablo III.
Spain's Falles celebration invades Apple Store
I would probably describe Apple Stores as "busy," "happening," or maybe even "populated," but I wouldn't have ever described them as "boisterous" .. until I saw the videos below. These two videos are via ifoAppleStore and were recorded at the Apple Store Calle Colón in Valencia, where the local celebration of Falles, to commemorate St. Joseph, has spilled over into the iPhones and iPads. As you can see, a band takes up residence right there in the MacBook section, and while some of the customers look a little frazzled, it does look like a great time. Kudos to the employees for clapping along, too -- I used to work in retail, and I know that as fun as it would be to have live music playing, it would make my job of helping customers and securing the store just that much tougher. But they handle it as well as expected, given that the festival is basically a continuous party over the better part of a week. Viva el iPhone!
Pathfinder Online will let players run the kingdom
If you've played the Pathfinder tabletop game that Pathfinder Online is based upon, you know that you need to have grouping. After all, the former is all about bands of adventurers exploring the wilds. So it's fitting that the most recent developer blog is all about the game's methods of managing groups and playing in different numbers. And this isn't just a matter of parties or solo play -- at the high end, players can be running entire kingdoms as a social unit. Solo play is meant to be somewhat discouraged, as the blog notes it will be a much more difficult road for a dedicated lone wolf. Parties will be the next step up, holding an undetermined number of players (the working target has about 24 players at the high end). Above those are chartered companies, settlements, and as mentioned, entire new player-run kingdoms. It's going to produce some interesting dynamics to have player organizations in such abundance, but the developers seem to have some confidence in their initial designs.
Nintendo launches Rhythm Heaven Fever with a party at iam8bit
Los Angeles' iam8bit gallery played host to Nintendo last night, as the two companies launched Rhythm Heaven Fever with a full scale party. There were plenty of demos of the game on display, live painting by artists Yoskay Yamamoto and Mari Inukai, a live DJ spinning tunes, and a few photo booths where players could dress up and pose, or even dance for a video running on Nintendo's own site.The event was a lot of fun, and you can pretend you were able to be there by browsing through the gallery below. iam8bit always does a great job with these events, and co-founder Jon Gibson promised us there's lots more on the way: He's currently working hard on the leetUP event that iam8bit is co-hosting at the beginning of next month, and says VIP tickets for that one have sold out already. We'll be in attendance, so stay tuned for more.%Gallery-147121%
New York planetarium to host 200-player space game tonight (video)
Got plans for this evening? Cancel them now, and do everything you can to sneak into New York's Museum of Natural History. Because tonight, the museum's planetarium will play host to a 200-person space game, courtesy of Brooklyn's Babycastles arcade. It's all part of the museum's "Cosmic Cocktails and Space Arcade" evening -- an event that seems tailor made for anyone interested in cosmology, humans, and/or hallucinogens. The showcase of the soiree is the Space Cruiser game, which promises to turn the ceiling of the Rose Center for Earth and Space into a "living, breathing, space ship where participants navigate around a beautiful fictitious universe." With the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt assuming the tripartite role of ship captain-navigator-narrator, the game apparently begins with the birth of the universe, before transporting visitors across new galaxies and through time-bending wormholes. The ship launches at 6:30 PM tonight, but unfortunately, tickets are already sold out. Head past the break, though, for a rather "duuuude"-inducing video.
