8/27/2007

The PAX recap

Christ, what a weekend. PAX was fun, but incredibly exhausting. If you're interested in pics (of which I did take many, including me with Wil Wheaton & some of the guys from Rooster Teeth) & vids, check out the PAX 07 thread at the Gorillamask forums (warning, this is a site full of perverts and degenerates, so of course it's like a second home to me, but venture beyond that particular thread at your own risk). So I've added Wil, Rooster Teeth and the Mega 64 guys to my links. I could've done it sooner, but to be frank, not like they need any help from my small little blog and I don't believe in putting stuff on my site that I'm not at least a casual supporter of by visting it at least couple times a month. To be honest, I haven't kept up much with what any of these guys are doing beyond when they get massive notice for something (like's Wheaton's big split from G4 or when the Mega 64 guys parodied Resident Evil and nearly got arrested), but I'll try and check in on their stuff more often so at least I can post it to the 5 people who visit this site who might also not know about this stuff.

One very pleasant surprise that was somewhat related to Pax was that I discovered a new old DS game to enjoy: Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime. This got pretty solid reviews when it was out, but I just didn't see the appeal. I wanted a new game to play while I waited in line (which is something you'll do quite a bit of at Pax if you want to get in early or go to any of the good panels) and I picked this up used for $20 and it was money very well spent. Pax is normally a great place for multi-player DS gaming, but I completely ignored that and played almost nothing else the entire weekend. It's basically Zelda lite, but it's incredibly fun.

Of course, what would PAX be without new games to play? Still pretty fun, but it doesn't hurt to have a bunch of cool new shit. The biggest draw was easily Rock Band. People lined up for hours to get one play on the damn thing. I don't have that kind of patience, but I was lucky enough to be there to film Tycho (the bald dude on guitar) from Penny Arcade doing a round with a few other guys:



Oddly enough, Sony (possibly desperately trying to garner some goodwill from the actual gamer community) had easily the largest presence, with a HUGE booth, lovely ladies attached to the new PSP for play, and all their hottest exclusives playable most of which I had some quality time with, so I'll give you a quick summary of what I did play:

Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction-Holy hell was this disappointing. I have never not loved an R & C game. It's actually the one game Sony had coming out this fall that I thought would be a guaranteed winner. But if this demo is any indication, it probably needs another year of fine tuning. The frame rate just sucks, there's extremely noticeable tearing all over. The lock-on also barely worked, making strafing and aiming a ridiculous chore. Finally it really seems like they've added nothing really new that's worth mentioning. Granted, there's technically nothing wrong with classic R & C gameplay, but this seems like the best example of a game that literally has nothing new to offer except a shiny next-gen coat of paint. I have faith in Insomniac, so I'm praying I'm horribly wrong and this was just an early demo.

Heavenly Sword-Pretty much what I expected. The fighting is solid, but like some reviews have said, is limited to small confined areas that seem to repeat way too often. And the non-fighting levels just plain suck.

Lair-Most reviews have already trashed this game, and they are right to. The whole design of using the six-axis to steer is just uncomfortable and not fun whatsoever. Plus, the game itself is just incredibly dull.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune: Now this game got me excited about buying a PS3. The acting is shit, but that's the only flaw I could see. The game is gorgeous, runs incredibly smooth, controls great (probably due to almost no six-axis bs) and gives you a great sense of being a modern-day Indiana Jones. I highly recommend this for anyone who owns a PS3 and if PS3 can produce a couple more gems like this, I'll probably pick one up myself in the near future.

That's all for today, as I am incredibly tired from the weekend. But don't forget to check out IGN's review of Metroid Prime 3 which should be up around 12:01 am (and I'll talk about that along with all the other new games coming out this week tomorrow). In the meantime, here's a couple of videos & the GOTW for you:

ULTIMATE METROID PRIME 3 TRAILER:



Trailer of the Week: Into the Wild

Into The Wild - Trailer

Posted Jun 29, 2007

Based on a true story of one young man's tragic 'return to nature'. After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.



FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Bowling Alley Defense

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