pax-2009
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Star Wars: KOTOR on Steam, Direct2Drive now - free for PAX panel attendees
At this afternoon's Star Wars: The Old Republic panel at PAX, attendees were given a special treat: knowledge that LucasArts continues to expand its digital offerings, bringing the BioWare-developed classic (and precursor to SW:TOR) Knights of the Old Republic to both Steam and Direct2Drive for $10 ... starting today. KOTOR joins a digital lineup of LucasArts adventure game classics, as well as some more recent fare like Republic Commando. Still missing: X-Wing, TIE Fighter, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, and X-Wing and TIE Fighter Meet Frankenstein. We suppose the free Steam download code they Oprah'd away ("You get a code! And you get a code!") could be considered a treat by some; however, we've already given ours away on Twitter (@joystiq) convincing ourselves that sharing the knowledge is a far greater treat. Right? [Note to PAX attendees: There's a repeat of today's panel tomorrow morning at 11am; even money is on Lucas repeating this code-away there. That's from us to you. Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.]
PAX 2009: More characters for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Activision isn't officially at PAX this year, the publisher just dropped in to hijack our eyeballs for the evening so we could spend some with with Blur, Tony Hawk Ride, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. In the midst of the gaming and socializing, Acti revealed a few new playable characters in MUA2: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and exclusive to the Wii ... Goofy!Okay, we jest. The ink still isn't dry on that contract yet, but we hope that future versions of this game will gave us some sort of Disney hint, even if it's just a Scrooge McDuck level where you have to swim through gold coins. All kidding aside, MUA2 has added Iceman to the PS3/360 version, while the Wii inexplicably gains the cooler characters of Cyclops, Psylocke, and Blade. Where's the justice?! While we go vigilante and deal with this news, feel free to check out the gallery below and the new Iceman video just after the break.%Gallery-49195%
Hands-on: MAG's 256-man multiplayer
I, like most people, have never participated in a 256-player virtual battle (or, due to its uncannily enormous amount of participants -- is it a war?). Though Zipper Interactive's MAG is built on incredibly strong first-person shooter foundations, incorporating fast-paced combat and a plethora of unlockable character modifications, the takeaway impression from my recent time with the game during a Sony preview event at PAX is, as you might guess, it is enormous.The game does an excellent job of partitioning players off into smaller, 8-man squads. Though most of your contact is with your immediate teammates, there's a constant sense that you're part of something bigger. There's nothing intangible about the cause for that feeling -- you are a cog in a much larger military machine, rewarded for spinning in accordance with your higher-ups' orders.
Hands-on with Diablo III's desert wastes
click to enlarge Yes, it hasn't even been a week since we brought you some hands-on impressions of Diablo III. One might say it's too soon to add to those impressions, and one might have a good point. Allow us to offer a counterpoint: It's Diablo III. This game, at the very earliest, will not release until 2025 (Q4, of course). As such, we have to provide you with any and all possible coverage. It would be irresponsible not to. Besides, there's some new stuff to cover here, and it's good stuff. %Gallery-71950%
PAX 2009: LotRO Siege of Mirkwood coming this fall for $20
Yesterday's announcement of the mini expansion Siege of Mirkwood for Lord of the Rings Online was devoid of a date or a price, which was a deliberate choice on Turbine's part according to our PAX interview with the Executive Producer on the game. However, during our forthcoming interview with Jeffrey Steefel he informed us that fall is in fact the release date and once further testing is finished a more exact date will be announced.As for the price, Turbine seems to be trying something new with a $19.99 base price and some special promotional deals leading up to the release of the new expansion. Keep an eye out for our forthcoming interview about all things Siege of Mirkwood, including the combat and mount changes that we think you're going to find quite intriguing.
PAX 2009: Lode Runner dropping to 800 points on September 14
The new version of Lode Runner for XBLA was launched earlier this year in April at a price point of 800 points ($10). Microsoft quickly flip-flopped and said the game was incorrectly priced, subsequently correcting the price to 1200 points ($15), which caused a massive amount of complaining ... but no price reduction reverse. (Or what they call a "flop-flip"). It only took Microsoft four months, but the company is now flopping back to the 800 points price for one week. Starting September 14 through September 20, you can download the game for the price it originally debuted at, and what developer Tozai considers the "sweet spot." It has 272 levels, a map editor, and a robust community component waiting on people to run around in search of gold at a reduced price.%Gallery-12908%
Hands-on: Blur (split-screen multiplayer)
I'm a pretty tough customer when it comes to the adoption of racing franchises. To me, the driving genre seems much like a foreign language -- because I haven't been a strict stuent of virtual vehicles since my early youth, attempting to add it to my expansive areas of expertise would be a near-impossible task.Bizarre Creations' upcoming arcadey racing title Blur eschews the genre's unsavory, ultra-realistic bits, replacing them with weapons, power-ups and fast-paced neck-and-neck action. It's not the first time racing games have swapped out real for enjoyable -- but after playing a handful of four-player split-screen matches at Activision's PAX event, I couldn't remember the last time a racer made said switch so sublimely.
Former 'ilovebees' devs working on ODST meta-game 'Sadie's Story'
During yesterday's Halo 3: ODST panel at PAX, Bungie made a welcome announcement for fans of the Halo 2 "ilovebees" campaign. Bungie's Joe Staten announced that Fourth Wall Studios -- which is comprised of former members of "ilovebees" dev, 42 Entertainment -- will be crafting a meta-game in Halo 3: ODST called "Sadie's Story." The meta-game tells the story of what New Mombasa was like after the Covenant attack, but before the arrival of the ODSTs. The story will follow the exploits of a New Mombasa resident, Sadie. Staten didn't reveal many details, though he did note the involvement of Fourth Wall Studios and artist Ashley Wood. Bungie also showed some art from "Sadie's Story," including what looked like security camera footage and the face above. The meta-game will serve as a companion to the main narrative of the game and includes an entirely new cast. Bungie's Marty O'Donnell likened it to a radio play. Whatever it is, it certainly sounds intriguing.
New Fat Princess map 'New Pork' revealed
Click to see the gory details. If you thought Fat Princess was all about cake, then you were wrong! During PAX, the Titan Studios team announced plans for new DLC for the PSN multiplayer game. The first revelation is a new map entitled "New Pork" that looks more like Rome than a swine-flavored version of New York. Titan Studios is promising new kinds of strategies for use in the new map: "Use multiple sewer shortcuts to sneak up behind your enemies, blow up barricades to open up new routes of assault and defend your princess from the rooftops."According to the dev, this is just "the beginning of additional content for Fat Princess." Considering all the teases leaked so far, we're pretty certain that whatever Titan is cooking up is going to be huge -- fat, even.[Thanks, redskyy!]%Gallery-28044%
PAX 2009: Sam Fisher to see green again
During the live demo of Splinter Cell Conviction at PAX -- the same demo given at E3, incidentally -- Ubisoft creative director Max Beland revealed that Sam Fisher will indeed reacquire his trademark night vision goggles. A brief video showed the goggles in use, though Sam was still in civilian garb. The goggles enabled a black and white vision mode that allowed Sam to see through walls, with enemies glowing bright white. No further details were revealed, but at least we can take some comfort in Emo Sam taking one more step toward the badass we all know and love.%Gallery-64705%
Overheard@PAX: The wrath of a Halo fan
Meet Connor. Connor is a young Halo fan who attended the Halo 3: ODST panel hosted at PAX (more on that later). The panel contained many Bungie luminaries, including Joe Staten, Brian Jarrard, Curtis Creamer, Marty O'Donnell and several others. During the Q&A session at the end of the panel, fan after fan approached the microphone, asking about everything from O'Donnell's musical inspiration to when we'll get to see some gameplay from Halo: Reach. Connor, faced with the developers of one of the most popular gaming franchises around, had only one question. "Why would you even take the battle rifle out of the game?" (the battle rifle is MIA in the ODST campaign, lest you haven't heard). Listen to Connor's question (and Bungie's response) below. Direct Download (MP3)
Seen@PAX: One million billion computers
To a non-PC gamer, the sixth floor of the Seattle Convention Center is currently filled with an impossible number of computers, all playing a number of dirty keyboard-and-mouse-controlled games, and all linked together in a nebulous Local Area Network. Their users are strange and otherworldly, and their ranks are unexpectedly strong.To hardcore PC gamers, the sixth floor of the Seattle Convention Center is currently a vast, luminous sea of infinite pleasure.
Joystiq vs PAX '09: Day 1
Today might be the first day that PAX is officially open, but our first day in Seattle was actually Thursday (yesterday, if you're keeping score). We spent the day at the Microsoft campus trying out some of the stuff the company will have on the show floor, including some new XBLA games, Halo 3: ODST and Left 4 Dead 2. We also take you deep into Microsoft's top secret parking garage. See it all in the video above, and be sure to hit the HD button in the player.
PAX 2009: Uncharted 2 limited edition announced, you can't buy it
You're going to have to be quite fortunate if you intend to score one of the prized Uncharted 2: Fortune Hunter Limited Edition sets that Naughty Dog is having made, seeing as it won't be sold in stores. Unveiled this evening at the PAX '09 "sneak peek" panel, the extra-special packaging of the hotly-anticipated game includes a replica of the Purba Dagger featured prominently in the story, an art book and vouchers for yet-to-be-announced DLC. The only way to get one is to win one -- and exactly how to do that hasn't been disclosed.After the reveal, the Naughty Dogs on stage told the audience to look under their seats. Unfortunately, this wasn't an "Oprah Moment" -- only one (very lucky) attendee plucked a red ticket from under his chair, securing a copy of what's sure to be a memorable keepsake. We bet his gleefulness was off the chart.PlayStation.Blog has more details -- it's signed by the dev team! -- and a photo of the set. We're getting to the bottom of how these superb sets will be distributed, so stay tuned.
PAX attendees can grab free Avatar shirt, angelic glow sold separately
If you're in attendance at PAX 2009, make sure to head over to Microsoft's special Xbox table on the 4th floor of the North lobby and grab a redemption code for a free Xbox Avatar PAX shirt. Supplies are limited, but Microsoft will be handing out codes from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday, in case you missed today's giveaway rounds. Sure, it isn't as awesome as proclaiming your D&D skills ... but it's a great way to make your online friends jealous that you made it to the sold-out Seattle event.
Seen@PAX: Natal dev team learns how to move
Microsoft may not be showing anything related to Project Natal at PAX this year, but that doesn't mean we can't uncover the juicy megatons. Case in point, we arrived on the Microsoft campus on Thursday only to see the sign above. It seems the Natal dev team had booked a sports field -- yeah, Microsoft has those -- for some reason. We can only assume the purpose behind it was so that the team could learn about some of the motions the human body is capable of. After all, you can't learn that in a cubicle. Incidentally, Natal Ultimate Frisbee? Confirmed. See the evidence after the break.
PAX 2009: Twisted Pixel reveals new game: Comic Jumper
It must be fun working at Twisted Pixel, where you have games featuring a hungry, purple blob, a man who travels via combustion and now, an over-muscled hero with a giant smiley face for a head. Twisted Pixel just announced Comic Jumper, its newest downloadable title. The platforms are still unannounced and the game is likely "more than a year away," according to Twisted Pixel Games co-founder Mike Wilford.You play as Captain Smiley, along with his cohort Star -- who is, umm, stuck to the Captain's chest. They're bonded together, but they hate each other! Sounds like the perfect way to expose gamers to sticky situations and witty dialogue, no? The game will have you sending Captain Smiley into different levels within assorted comic books, with the art style (and possibly gameplay) changing with each jump into a new book. "This is something that Josh [Bear, another co-founder, the third being Frank Wilson] has had in his mind since high school," Wilford said. We're wondering what it was doing in there for so long ... and what will happen once it escapes.
DeathSpank gameplay footage debuts at PAX '09
PAX 2009 has yielded the first gameplay footage of Ron Gilbert and Hothead's forthcoming adventure slash RPG, DeathSpank. Billed as a potent mixture of Diablo's pointing and Monkey Island's clicking (or ... is it the other way around?), DeathSpank pokes fun at video gaming's huge array of heroic buffoons, though not without sending its own protagonist down a familiarly violent path. Mind you pay attention to the game's eye-catching art style beneath all that cartoon blood!
Seen@PAX: Joystiq's Kevin Kelly hurts himself on Darksider's horse
Some people were born to survive eight seconds of horse-astride glory unscathed -- Joystiq's Kevin Kelly is not one of these people. THQ's enormous Darksiders booth at PAX contains one of the neatest displays on the show floor -- a mechanical bull in the shape of the game's appropriately dark steed, Ruin. In a startling act of bravado, Kevin mounted the horse and subjected himself to its cruel, violent bucking. The results of this equine experiment are posted after the jump.
PAX: Two new Ratchet and Clank Future: Crack in Time weapons revealed
Insomniac Games' "Weapons 101" PAX panel had a pair of treats for Ratchet and Clank fans. After giving attendees a look at Crack in Time's expansive list of armaments, the game's director, Brian Allgeier, revealed two brand new guns: The Chimp-O-Matic, which turns enemies into adorable monkeys (and changes robotic enemies into robotic monkey toys with cymbals), and the Rift Inducer 5000, a weapon which summons tentacles from an interdimensional portal, which in turn grasp enemies and abscond with them through the vortex.Man, that seems kinda unfair, doesn't it? "You, enemy, will be turned into an adorable monkey. However, your friend is going to be abducted to a Hell dimension, where he'll be defiled by Cthulhu forever."
