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PAX 2008 hands-on: WipEout HD
It's been a long time coming, but WipEout HD is, we're assured, almost with us. Now improved and 100% epilepsy free, the game was available to play on the PAX show floor at Sony's booth. With idle hands leading to all sorts of terrible things, it seemed only right that we put them to work on something constructive by taking a futuristic hover car for a test drive.It's easy to forget just how pretty WipEout HD is, seeing as the last time we saw it was at Leipzig 2007. The art style is so strong and works so well in HD -- we saw it draw many people passing by to stop and watch. Screenshots are one thing, but the game in motion is a joy to behold. Even whilst close up to the screen, the game looked sharp, with aliasing being almost imperceptible on some levels. Though, having said that, it was more visible on other levels, but never was it a distraction from WipEout HD's overall visual quality. %Gallery-17035%
PAX 2008: Meet the Fallout 3 Vault-boy puppet dance troupe
While waiting for the (much-delayed) final Omegathon to start last night, over a dozen Vault-boy puppets (of Fallout 3 fame) congregated to show off their grooving and shaking skills to a crowd of bemused onlookers. It's really what made the cheesy music infinitely more anti-meh. Check out their moves in the video above, as well as in our Omegathon gallery.%Gallery-30939%
PAX 2008: Omegathon finale crowns Geko, Gabe as winners
Within 15 minutes, it was all over. After Tycho and Gabe revealed this year's final PAX 2008 Omegathon challenge, 1987's Vs Excite Bike, finalists Fallout (blue rider) and Geko (red rider) went at each other with all they had. Unfortunately, the close competition didn't last, as Geko won every round to become this year's best Omeganaut, winning an expenses-paid trip to Tokyo Game Show in October.Following Geko's winning victory, Tycho and Gabe picked up the Famicon controllers to challenge each other as the blue and red riders, respectively. The race was once again painted red, as Tycho kept overheating his bike and crashing after the ramps. He managed a victory in the 3rd round after knocking down Gabe twice in a row, but every other round went to Gabe and red rider, giving the Penny Arcade co-creator a two-win streak after his 5-2 Halo 3 victory last year. After the race was over, Tycho and Gabe stood up to thank the crowd, who promptly began to shuffle out and away from the now-concluded convention. Geko took the stage one final time, plush Marissa's bunny in tow, to talk to the few who stayed behind.Stay tuned, we'll have more on the pre-Omegathon "puppet troupe" later today. Gallery quick-jump: Pre-Omegathon line and various pipe cleaner art The puppet troupe Omegathon! The End %Gallery-30939%
PAX08: Interviewing Champion Online's writer, John Layman
Amidst the rather large -- but also surprisingly polite -- crowd surrounding the Cryptic Studios booth, we were able to talk with the writer for Champions Online, John Layman. Discussions revolved around the breadth and depth of content within the game's zones and the possibilities of space-based zones lying in wait for higher level characters. Two words to get you excited: interplanetary threats. We also learned about John's fondness for sprinkling lots of homages throughout the game. Overall, it was a fun trip into the mind of a man who really loves zombies, pajamas and nerdy in-jokes that future players of Champions Online will be able to find some humor from.%Gallery-30683%
PAX08: Day three impressions
Day three is now behind us, marking the end of PAX 2008. Sunday showed a crowd of gamers just as strong as the first two days, and there is no doubt that the attendance numbers from this year blew away last year's figures. As far as panels for this last day, there was an interesting mix of MMO development-type panels with a particularly interesting one called "MMO and Virtual World Business Models" that we will be reviewing in more depth later. Plus, who could forget the intriguing "How to Get Your Girlfriend into Gaming" panel?So now we look forward to the future of this mega expo. If next year's PAX grows as much as the previous years have progressed, they're going to need a larger booth floor, no doubt about it. As this blogger sifts through the bags of free swag and begins the recovery process, you can look forward to more coverage of interviews with Jon Radoff of GamerDNA, Jeffrey Steefel of Turbine on Mines of Moria, Dane Caruthers of NCsoft on Tabula Rasa, Adam Powell and Aaron Matthew of Meteor Games on Twin Skies and much much more!%Gallery-30683%
PAX 2008 Hands-on: Left 4 Dead (X360)
An immediate sense of tension washes over you when you realize a swarm of Olympic Dash worthy zombies are soon headed your way. Picking up the controller for Left 4 Dead -- the first time it's been playable for the Xbox 360 -- was as exciting as you'd expect it to be. Having never played the game before I quickly remembered all the praise lobbed at it from other writers within the network from other industry events. This experience however was extra special as two of my team members were fellow Joystiq writers Jem Alexander and Dustin Burg. How did the Xbox 360 version feel with a team of people I'd actually play with when it ships later this year? Jump in to find out more.%Gallery-22771%
PAX08: WAR's Jeff Hickman on patches, open beta and content rumors
After our interview with both Paul Barnett and Jeff Hickman at PAX08, we talked some more with Jeff about various subjects regarding the upcoming open beta and subsequent launch of Warhammer Online. It was a incredibly casual and open discussion on topics that are usually met with fiery bile depending on what part of the internet you happen to be at any given moment. One particular question we asked revolved around the choice to limit players in the open beta to level 20 out of the 40 total in the game. The move has of course spawned some skeptics of the existence of higher level content. Find out exactly what Jeff had to say about that below the cut.%Gallery-30683%
PS3 Fanboy go-nuts for doughnuts at the PlayStation Blog PAX meetup
Click to satisfy appetite. Like PlayStation? Like doughnuts? PS3 Fanboy loves both, so a PlayStation Blog PAX meetup at a local doughnut cafe in Seattle seemed like a match made in heaven. Check out the PS3 Fanboy photo gallery from the event, which shows off the many attendees, competitive WipEout Pulse players (one of whom won a MGS4 PS3) and swag. Did we mention there were many free and tasty doughnuts as well? Gallery: PlayStation Blog PAX 2008 meetup
PAX 2008: Dragon Age: Origins, now with blood and ceilings
The Dragon Age: Origins booth at PAX08 has been surrounded all weekend by both walls and people lining up to get inside. So when PAX opened for the third and final day this morning, we bolted straight to the game booth and avoided the nasty line. By joining in with the first group of the day to see the game demoed live. It didn't take very long for the room to fill up and once the doors close, we were elbow-to-elbow with what turned out to be some pretty enthusiastic BioWare fans.%Gallery-30910%
PAX 2008 hands-on: Need for Speed Undercover, rollcage edition
From the depths of the M.C. Escher nightmare of Dead Space we slid into the sweet embrace of a high-octane car. Need for Speed: Undercover knew that it needed to impress people with something besides picture-pretty cars racing along at high speed through city streets, so it wrapped itself inside a glorious steel gaming cage. A gaming cage that looked like something they'd use to teach driver's ed out of in the future. Find out all about this must-have, but can't-buy gaming accessory after the break.%Gallery-30062%
PAX08: WAR's Paul Barnett and Jeff Hickman interviewed, page two
Massively: In the last three to eight months it's just been update, after update, after update. Massively: And there's been a lot of communication of the updates. Massively: Yeah.
PAX08: WAR's Paul Barnett and Jeff Hickman interviewed, page three
Massively: This one's for all the Warhammer lore fans. Tomb Kings or Vampire Counts? If you had your pick- Massively: Tabletop, let's say...
PAX 2008 hands-on: Mirror's Edge, even edgier with an audience
Our first stop on the whirlwind tour of EA's heavy hitters was with our favorite running, jumping, sliding, wall-climbing, Faith. Mirror's Edge continues to impress, and we were lucky enough to get a few minutes on a kiosk with her. However, the best thing about it isn't in the game, it was the cheering crowd behind us. Head behind the break to get the full skinny on our PAX experience this data-running hottie.%Gallery-17126%
PAX 2008: Cosplay, day three
click above to enter the gallery Day three and our the final lookg at our collection of people embracing nerd culture to the fullest extent. We're continually impressed by what we've seen here so far with the cosplayers, in both selection and execution. And don't forget, if you come without a costume, you can always make one out of whatever they're handing out. Be sure to keep checking out our general PAX 2008 showfloor gallery, which shows you every square foot of what PAX was all about.%Gallery-30788%%Gallery-30778%
Joystiq talks with Telltale about Wii and the future
No, they aren't predicting the apocalypse or anything, but their future on the Wii seems almost certain. When asked if SBCG4AP sold more on the PC or Wii, they were quick to note that performance on Nintendo's system beat the PC. How was it to work with Nintendo? "Working with Nintendo's been pretty good," commented designer Mark Darin. "All the help that Nintendo's been giving us and allowing us the opportunity to be on WiiWare has been great for our company and great for getting titles like SBCG4AP out there to a new audience who maybe isn't used to Adventure games. It's been a great partnership with Nintendo so far." Telltale also goes on to talk about the system's hardware and what challenges that presented, as well as Sam & Max on the console. So be sure to read the full interview over at Joystiq.
PAX 2008: And the final Omegathon challenge is ... Vs Excite Bike!
Vs Excite Bike! We think it's a fitting end to this year's Penny Arcade Expo. We can now present you the final Omegathon 2008 lineup: Round 1: Peggle Round 2: Boom Blox Round 3: Geometry Wars Round 4: Rock Band (Our guess is Rock Band 2) Round 5: Jenga (let me show you my moves!) Final Round: Vs Excite Bike We'll have more on the final round once it's over, so stay tuned. %Gallery-30778%
PAX 2008: Count all the pretty pieces in the tabletop gaming gallery
One of the best things about PAX is that it's not just all about video games. There are legions of people who still enjoy doing it old school, and that includes board games, tabletoppers, and RPGs. We witnessed people playing everything from the massive, sprawling, plastic-fest of Twilight Imperium to the simple wordplay of Apples to Apples. Heck, even the final elimination round of the Omegathon was a Jenga showdown.Check out the gallery below that's filled with people who still love how a pair of dice feels in their hands. To those about to roll, we salute you.%Gallery-30902%
PAX 2008: Omeganaut shows us his special Jenga move
Ben Gray, aka MNC Dover from Monday Night Crew, was eliminated from the Omegathon on Saturday, but they were nice enough to let him pass along his words of wisdom, and his ultra-secret Jenga move. If you want to know how to get a leg up on the competition, check out the video above.One thing's for sure, if you use this move you'll never get invited to play Jenga ever again. Which might be exactly what you're looking for.
G4TV interviews Jumpgate Evolution dev, exhibits lots of footage
G4TV interviewed Publishing Producer Michael Rowland about Jumpgate Evolution at PAX this weekend. You can watch the video of the interview right now. Mixed in with the questions and answers are a lot of gameplay video clips.The clips are the most attractive part of the video, but the interview is helpful too. Rowland suggested that the combat has a "more FPS feel" than the "turn-based" combat of other MMOs. He also said that players will be able to level up just by engaging in PvP with opposing factions. There will be three factions in all when the game launches next Spring.Most of that information can be found at the Jumpgate Evolution website, but check out the video for the gameplay clips. Just try not to be too annoyed by Adam Sessler. Of course the game was actually playable on the floor at PAX. Bet you're sad you missed out on that!
Virtually @ PlayStation.Blog PAX meet up
Click for bigger doughnuts Were you at the PlayStation Blog PAX 2008 meet up at Top Pot Doughnuts yesterday? If not, you missed out on some tasty pastry, plus the chance to win a Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 bundle. There was a huge turnout (apparently gamers can't say no to free coffee and doughnuts, who knew?) and we were there to take pictures. So check out the gallery to see brave, sugar-filled WipEouteers competing for the big prize, plus the gone-before-we-arrived swag bags and a second floor balcony that's about to collapse under the weight of over 130 PlayStation fans. %Gallery-30875%
