pax-east-2012
Latest
PAX East 2012: TERA hands-on
In the service of Massively's ongoing PAX East 2012 coverage, I spent some time today in and around the TERA booth, ogling the pretty trailers and getting a seat in a group press demo to tackle some fun high-end content in the form of a five-player encounter with an Argon boss. Read on for an overview of what I saw!%Gallery-152724%
PAX East 2012: Neverwinter discussion and impressions
Many words come to mind when you mention Dungeons & Dragons, but "action" is not usually one of them. So at first glance, Neverwinter might seem like a bit of an odd beast. The game is meant as an action-based MMORPG that takes place in the distant future of the beloved Neverwinter Nights series; it's being developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Perfect World Entertainment. While the game isn't yet in open testing, the early version was playable on the floor of PAX East, and we had a chance to sit down with Cryptic Studios to discuss the game's development. I came to the show with no real expectations about the game beyond the fact that I knew the companies involved and was distantly aware of the game's development. I walked away more than a little impressed by what I had seen. However odd the collection of elements might seem, the game itself certainly piqued my interest.%Gallery-152607%
Each Borderlands DLC pack was made in eight weeks
Borderlands 2 art director Jeramy Cooke and concept designer Scott Kester both worked on the first Borderlands, and they shrug off accomplishments such as "made Borderlands" with considerable humility. When Cooke mentioned casually that every piece of DLC for the first title was created in just eight weeks each, we stopped him for clarification."You don't understand, those first DLCs, we were literally counting K to try and fit features in there because at the time we hadn't expected it to be such a huge success, so we didn't know that 'oh, we'll have to put all this DLC in,'" Cooke said during a meeting at PAX East 2012.This development time is impressive considering the heft of each pack, but also because Gearbox hadn't prepared the full game to handle add-on content."It was the first time the company had ever done DLC, but we were like, damn it, if we're going to do it, let's do it," Kester said. And so they did.Borderlands 2 is the second time Gearbox can attempt DLC and it has implemented a robust backend system to support whatever additional content it needs, including patches and support updates. With this improved system maybe Gearbox can beat its previous record and build one piece of 20-hour DLC in just 2 hours.Maybe.
Mike Capps: Epic Games has a PC-exclusive game in the works
Gears of War and Fortnite dev Epic Games is getting back to its roots with a PC-exclusive project, creative lead Cliff Bleszinski and president Mike Capps announced today during a PAX East panel. "We might be working on a PC-only title," Capps teased, before Bleszinski picked up where he left off: "Let me say that again: we are working on a PC game."The panel is still going on, but we'll be sure to chat to the Epic folks as soon as it's over.Update: Epic Games prez Mike Capps told us after the panel that the unannounced PC project is currently underway, and that the current plans are to keep the game exclusive to the PC platform. Unsurprisingly, he wouldn't tell us anything else.
Child's Play expands to assist domestic abuse victims
Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity is expanding its scope to assist children living with a parent in domestic violence shelters nationwide. The charity, known for donating toys, games and cash to hospitalized children, feels this a natural extension of its efforts."The mission is the same as far as we're concerned," Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik told us at PAX East. "Children make up a significant percentage of the population that move through domestic violence shelters on an annual basis: providing them with a way to escape some of the stress and struggle is directly in line with what the charity set out to do," Child's Play Charity's Jamie Dillion told Joystiq. "Our mission is to improve the lives of children through the kindness and generosity of the video game industry and the power of play. Games can and do have a hugely positive impact for kids who are enduring stress, whether it is from illness or an unsafe home."Child's Play raised $3.5 million in 2011.
Pre-Blitz: Harmonix on building a new Rock Band from scratch
Harmonix team members Matthew Nordhaus, Chris Foster, Brian Chan, and Jyllian Thibodeau explained the development process that led to Rock Band Blitz, by way of showing us previous versions and iterations of the game. Collectively, these prototypes were referred to as "Pre-Blitz," and epitomized by a brief video of a version that keeps the social basis of Blitz, but with a very different aesthetic.While the final game ended up featuring a sort of rainbow note highway in a musically reactive city, this version is a much sunnier, somewhat more literal "highway" style environment. Somewhere between these two, the team thought of having the music make the city spring up building by building, but that didn't make it.At one point it wasn't even decided where the music would come from. A DLC strategy was important to the team, but it wasn't certain that the game would be a Rock Band game. When it was decided that it would be, the source of music became obvious. And then the team had to convert all the songs from five lanes per instrument to two -- which, Nordhaus explained, made the game way too easy in lower difficulties. Finally, against his better judgment, the team playtested a game with only one difficulty, and it worked.Senior designer Brian Chan explained that the game lost the "track-locking" mechanic from Amplitude and other handheld Rock Bands, in favor of a system that allows players to build "levels" in individual tracks. This allowed people to play in a much more freeform manner instead of following a prescribed, single best scoring pattern.Even the specifics of the controls were in question, with considerations like gestural controls for each instrument. Above is an idea for keyboard controls that used left, right, and a button press to simulate keys.
PAX East 2012: Menace of the Underdark brings big changes to Dungeons and Dragons Online
Dungeons and Dragons Online players are in for a whole new world of adventure when Menace of the Underdark launches this summer. The expansion, due to release on June 25th, will send players into the Forgotten Realms to fight against the Queen of Spiders, Lolth. Executive Producer Fernando Paiz and Senior Producer Eric Boyer welcomed us into their lair... er, Turbine's booth... to talk about the upcoming expansion at this year's PAX East. Read on for our preview!
Laugh, cry, and win prizes at Joystiq Live from PAX East (today at 3pm!)
Today's the day! At 3:00PM EST in the Manticore Theater, Joystiq will bring you a live version of its new podcast-in-progress. Come to the panel to hear how the show is morphing into a different format that Joystiq Podcast fans remember. It's SUPER, and the entire Joystiq staff is involved this time.You'll learn more (like the show's name) beyond that, and see another exciting announcement that we think is totally rad. Make sure to bring questions for the Q&A section of the Live Show, because you could win some amazing prizes like the Special Edition Star Wars Xbox 360 console bundle, a ton of games, and Journey swag.
Nintendo's Kid Icarus: Uprising cosplayer is Pit (and not the pits)
Normally we wouldn't post about a single cosplayer found at PAX East, much less one there at a publisher's request; however, this Kid Icarus: Uprising Pit costume, designed and worn by PikminLink, is too amazingly accurate to ignore. The wings! The weapons! The character-accurate bike shorts! The reflective tape to create a glowing effect when a camera flashes! (See after the break). Anyway, if we can't post impressive cosplay once in a while, what's the point of coming to PAX?Even though PikminLink is an "official" costumed character present at Nintendo's booth, Nintendo reps told us that she designed and created the costume herself. Nintendo helped her by providing design reference.
The ghostly image of my death in Far Cry 3
The stories crafted during multiplayer sessions of Far Cry 3 will sound similar to the tales told from other competitive shooters:The blast from a nearby grenade hits me like a shockwave. From behind the smoke a group of four rebels emerge and open fire on an ammo depot I'm set on defending. Two of the invaders are felled in a hail of shots from my submachine gun. Two other foes scatter and leave me standing alone. The area is mine, and mine alone.I hole up, waiting for a flanking attack -- but nothing happens. Seconds later I hear a crack in the air. A blip registers on my radar. Then another crack and I fall to my feet, dead.What seems fairly standard turns into something new and interesting. Like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare before it, Far Cry 3 reveals lethal enemy positions via a kill cam. But unlike other titles, Far Cry 3's system may be the best that I've ever seen at detailing critical strategic information to downed players.%Gallery-130908%
Sliding and 'sploding with Ms. 'Splosion Man on iPad
Rather than create an all new experience tailored to touch screens, the iOS version of Twisted Pixel's excellent Ms. 'Splosion Man attempts to replicate the console experience -- and, yes, that means virtual buttons. So, many people have already stopped reading.If you're still here, stick around to read about Ms. 'Splosion Man's portable outing and the future of Twisted Pixel on Mobile devices.
PAX East 2012: A talk with PlanetSide 2's Matt Higby
"For me, it's such a compelling genre for anybody who's played it," SOE Creative Director Matt Higby said about PlanetSide 2's niche. "But that's the thing. There's not a lot of people who have played a MMOFPS, but the people who have are addicted." Hibgy sat down with us at PAX East to promote SOE's upcoming sci-fi shooter, saying that it scratches two itches with one bird (or some other mixed metaphor). "I'm a competitive player; I love shooters," he said, "but I'm also a very social player and love the progression aspect of MMOs." It's not as if the MMOFPS field is going to remain wide-open for very long. Competitors are rushing to mine this largely untouched market. Still, SOE has an advantage above the rest: It launched one of the first of its kind and has years of experience managing such a game. While we anxiously wait for word on PlanetSide 2's beta, we listened to Higby tell us why this title will continue the company's reign over the genre.
PAX East 2012: SWTOR 1.2 coming next week
We've been telling you about Star Wars: The Old Republic's 1.2 Legends patch for a while now. Thankfully we've finally got a release date to share as well. Actually, let's call it a release window, and let's call it next week, thanks to statements made by BioWare's James Ohlen at PAX East earlier today. "We have our update 1.2 coming in the next week, and then after that, it's going to continue to roll out month after month. It's exciting," he told Boston-area convention-goers. Ohlen's optimism springs from what's to come in SWTOR over the next few months. "The scope of our game updates in 2012 is going to be unimaginable. You're going to see so many changes and additions to the Star Wars Universe; it's going to be impressive," he said. Massively's on the ground in Boston during the weekend of April 6-8, bringing you all the best news from PAX East 2012. Whether you're dying to know more about TERA or PlanetSide 2 or any MMO in between, we aim to have it covered!
Your Japanese SNES Warlock game supply is secure at PAX East
If you're at PAX East this weekend, and in desperate need of a brand new, packaged Japanese copy of the SNES game based on the movie Warlock, Sudden Impact Games has you covered.Head over to booth 148 in the expo floor, and you can find your very own copy of that one game from 1994, in the freshest and most imported of conditions.
Seen@PAX East: Get your Far Cry 3 themed tattoo right here, right now
Being veterans of the game industry's convention season, we're harder to shock when it comes to bizarre stuff seen on show floors. We've seen food trucks, and crazy shoes, and full-on jets, but we've yet to see a live tattoo application, not to mention one based on a video game.Enter: Far Cry 3.Ubisoft hired a local tattoo artist to pre-screen attendees for the tattoo you see being applied just above. Rather than a Far Cry 3 logo, tattooees (not tattooines) are getting a tribal tattoo ripped from the game. Maybe a game logo should have been the way to go -- to help you remember when you explain this art's origin by the time you're 80.%Gallery-152569%
PAX East 2012: Defiance's first-ever combat trailer
PAX East is kicking into high-gear today. Studios are all over the floor showing off their latest trailers and demos, and Trion Worlds is no exception. The studio has just released a shiny new trailer focusing on the upcoming Syfy-Trion collaboration known as Defiance. For the first time since the title's announcement, players get to take a look at the game's frantic FPS combat. The trailer takes players into the land of the United States' Bay Area, which is in the process of being terraformed by alien invaders, and it's up to humankind to stop them before it's too late. The video gives fans a glimpse of large-scale combat as dozens of characters storm a stronghold by foot, ATV, and humvee to bring the fight to the alien scum, guns blazing. Oh, and the aliens look like the kind of fellows you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley... or in a well-lit one, for that matter. Just check out those teeth! Load your weapons and get in the fight past the cut. Massively's on the ground in Boston during the weekend of April 6-8, bringing you all the best news from PAX East 2012. Whether you're dying to know more about TERA or PlanetSide 2 or any MMO in between, we aim to have it covered!
PAX East 2012: World of Warplanes impressions
Much like its predecessor, World of Warplanes is not a game with an ambiguous title. This is a game about planes, and not the sort that flies cargo from one point on the globe to another. If flying around and getting into aerial dogfights sounds like an unappealing concept to you, well, you can pretty much just exit stage left when you hear the name. But the lack of subtlety in the name, however noteworthy, doesn't really say much about the game itself. Is it fun to play? Does it succeed in what it sets out to do? Really, is it just World of Tanks up in the air? I can't speak to the last one, but I can say that it definitely delivers on its stated design goals. This is a game all about maximizing the rush of an aerial fight and striking a balance between crafting an in-depth flight simulation and providing accessibility to those new to the genre.%Gallery-130862%
AirMech is a hardcore browser game for Chrome (with more platforms to come)
The team at Carbon Games is basking in its newfound freedom as an indie studio after its first development endeavor, Fat Princess creator Titan Games, dissolved under Epic Games China. Carbon Games' first project is AirMech, a free-to-play RTS-action hybrid debuting as a browser and PC title, most notably via Chrome.AirMech is currently in alpha, but it's existed metaphysically since 2009 at least, before Fat Princess was even pitched to Sony."AirMech is my baby," game director James Green told Joystiq on the PAX East show floor, where Carbon Games is one-sixteenth of the Indie Megabooth. "We pitched it to Sony before Fat Princess, but they didn't get it."The world may not have been ready for AirMech in 2009, but now, after the success of League of Legends and other accessible, hardcore hybrid titles, publishers are interested in a solid RTS-action blend that translates to multiple platforms and gameplay styles, Green said.There are more than 60,000 players in the Chrome alpha for AirMech, and at least 5,000 playing the PC version -- but Carbon isn't stopping there. Green pulled out an Android tablet running an early, mobile version (without virtual joysticks as a default, he was sure to note) and Carbon plans to announce a beta version for Steam this summer. Carbon would love to see a version on consoles as well, maybe even with a single-player mode, production coordinator Chris Merritt said.
PAX East 2012: Hands-on with Hi-Rez's new MOBA, SMITE
Move over, MOBAs -- there's a new kid in town. As PAX East 2012 rocks onward, Hi-Rez Studios is flaunting its newest upcoming title, the action-game-inspired MOBA SMITE. Today I got the opportunity to sit down with the game and get my face ground into the floor by the myriad more-experienced players with whom I played. But regardless of my utter incompetence, I still got some hands-on time with the title, so indulge me for a moment and let me tell you about it. The basic layout of the game will be quite familiar to any MOBA player. It sticks to the tried-and-true formula set forth by Defense of the Ancients in almost every possible way. There are three lanes, each lined with a number of defensive towers, and the ultimate objective is to work in tandem with your teammates and allied NPC creeps with the goal of pushing through the towers and destroying the enemy's giant minotaur. Wait, what?
Arkedo's next games are about pee and poo
Having completed development of Hell Yeah! for Sega, Arkedo Studio's first priority is to rest -- the studio is taking a month off after the production of what studio head Camille Guermonprez called Arkedo's biggest game ever.Following that, the company has its number one and number two next projects in the pipeline. "We're going to make two games, one game on 'pee' and one game on 'poo,'" Guermonprez told me at Sega's PAX East booth. "One game about pee and one game about poo," he clarified. "It's gonna be a Steam game, I think."You can fill in the joke yourselves.
