Heavy Rain

Games I don't Care About, and Hate Hearing About

NOTE: Now there are some big games on this list so if you can't handle seeing your most anticipated game of next year on a hate list, I suggest you back away from this post, and don't comment. This list is not arranged in any particular order, it's just a list.

	1. Final Fantasy XIII I have never played a game in the Final Fantasy series and don't ever plan too.
	2. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Same deal as the first game on this list
	3. Heavy Rain Now don't get me wrong the game looks good, but it also looks boring as fuck.
	4. Gran Turismo 5 How long has this game been in development again? Forza 3 FTW
	5. James Cameron's Avatar: The Game This game does not look good. How could it have been worked on for 2 years? Please feel free to answer.
	6. MAG I can't see this working on a console where all people do is swear into there mic's because there fucking twelve years old, or there 42 and still trying to act cool. Grow up
	7. Bayonetta Attractive main character who looks like a librarian, japanese craziness, not my kinda game. But all you Bayonetta boys have fun.

Apologies if some things don't sit right with you in terms of content delivery, I just wrote this for some friends on Google Wave, (No, I don't have invites), who knew I was there, and I'll be damned if I'm writing it out again.
 
 The first thing that hit me was the size of it. Both days fully sold out, with a total of around 1300-1400 people in attendance each day, across the two buildings.
<In here on the Google Wave, are some poor photos taken at the expo, when I could sneak them in. If you're that interested in seeing these, I'll add them later.> 
 
 

Assassin's Creed II (PS3)

There was an understandably large demand for people to play this game, so logically, they provide a whopping four screens for it, and we were getting turfed out fairly quickly when I got my chance to play it, apparently it had been fifteen minutes. I don't believe that for a second. It was only available on PS3, where I dislike how they've mapped the controls out, however the game is desperately pretty to look at, and runs at a silky-smooth constant 60fps. Combat is relatively unchanged in it'smechanic , but has been made a lot smoother, and free-running is better than ever, being more immersive than in the original. I can't wait for this one.

Bayonetta (XBox 360)

This demo was short-lived for me, as it didn't explain the controls at all, and left you guessing what your objective was. Just a hack-n-slash with tits,guns and glasses. This will probably end up being a rental, as the story seems quite interesting, but I can imagine the gameplay getting boring quickly.

Blue Toad Murder Files (PSN for PS3 & PSP)

I played this game with no expectations, only really to get swag from the pretty women promoting the game, (T-Shirt and Beanie), only to find myself thoroughly enjoying it. The whole game was available for play through, as it's only a PSN game created by Relentless Software (creators of the Buzz games), though I resisted playing it through all the way. Despite some irritating voice-acting and sub-par lip syncing, this is a tremendously enjoyable, charming title.

Dante's Inferno (PS3, XBox 360)

The first game I played from the 18+ area of the expo, which I was eagerly anticipating, what with it being created by EA Redwood Shores (EARS) studio, the minds behind survival-horror, Dead Space. I left the small plastic stool with mixed feelings about it. Yes it was another Hack-n-Slash, the second of three atthe Expo, which got repetitive in the stage that I played, which was a very flat, monotonous scape , (I think I was only in the second circle), so the limited weapons and abilities may have led to this feeling. Despite this I remain hopeful due to some fantastic characterdesign , fluid gameplay which runs at a constant 60fps, with 30 enemies on screen in full 1080p viewing. I am hoping there is just one morehook that will make this game a sure-fire purchase.

Dark Void (XBox 360)

Was absolutely rubbish. The inability to run at more than a light jogging pace, the terrible voice acting, jerky framerate issues, and a sub-par story made this my biggest waste of time at the expo.

Forza Motorsport 3 (XBox 360)

Admittedly, I didn't play this, but if you've played Forza 2, you know what you're getting, but much, much better looking, and with better sounddesign to boot.

God Of War III (PS3)

This was an absolute fucking joy. Despite being the third Hack-n-Slash at the expo, it far excelled the rest, and was worth the forty minute wait to play, even if the demo only lasted me about 13 minutes. The fighting is intense and fluid, running almost too smoothly. The games looks glorious, and the gameplay is intense. I can even forgive it the relatively liberal use of Quick Time Events, due to them actually being tough, and marking the Square, Triangle, X and Circle buttons at the appropriate side of the screen, (left, top, bottom and right, respectively), add into this equation a short time within which to react to the prompt, make even a QTE and intense experience. Given also, and already excellentstoryline in the first two games, which continues with 3, will no doubt be great makes me want to ship my PS3 up to me, just for this game.

Heavy Rain (PS3)

Another fantastic exclusive that Sony has managed to bag, this game really does look incredible, very realistic. In case you're unaware, this is a detective game about a killer who kidnaps children and then sends their victim's families a box with a piece of Origami in it, earning them the title of 'The Origami Killer', hence the games subtitle. Gameplay is focused almost entirely on QTEs, but works as a point and click adventure for the modern day. This game oozes style, andthe voice acting and lip-syncing is phenominal, probably the best I've ever seen in a video game. My one concern with the game is that it is so graphically intense it caused the four PS3s it was running on to freeze. A lot. There were no console problems at all apart from those running Heavy Rain. If Naughty Dog think they 'maxed out' the PS3, they've probably worked so hard that they've not seen this masterpiece. Oh yeah. I'm one of the unfortunate ones who it crashed on.

Left 4 Dead 2 (XBox 360)

Time to make my brother jealous. (:D) This steals my Game Of The Show award, purely for the fact that I played it about four times over the two days, despite an often 30 minute wait, though the queues maxed out at one hour. Approximately half of a campaign was available to play, (two safe houses worth), in single player or offline co-op, where I played every time. It is very much more of the same, (no bad thing), butabout 12 times better as well. With 3 more special enemies than the original, and walking witches, the game is a lot more intense, and the new enemies make you jump a lot more, especially the Jockey and the Charger. The jockey works on a similar principle tothe hunter, jumping on you, usually just after you've taken down a massive horde, and want to heal, it seems, but rather than pin you down, it steers you (quickly) towards the nexthorde . The charger appears from nowhere, is half the size of a tank, and knocks you for a lot more than six. The addition of Melee weapons is a great one, although it does sacrifice your pistol, and when you find a machete, it gets insanely brutal. This game is insane heaps of fun.

MAG (PS3)

Massive Action Game. Another PS3 game. This was the last new game I got to play at the expo, and I'm not sure how to feel about it. The online beta has been around since just after E3 now, and people still playing know the maps inside out, and are really, really good. This was a case of spawn, run for a minute and promptlydie again. For about ten minutes. I died too often to count, and got no kills. Whilst I can see a lot of promise in this game, given 256 people online per server, divided into squadrons, in two teams of 128, I didn't really enjoy playing it in such a public environment, or without a headset, which was irritating, since communication is a HUGE part of this game. Then the servers crashed.

Monster Hunter Tri (Wii)

Terrible controller mapping, and it's stiff and blocky at best in terms of everything. Rubbish.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)

This, like most Nintendo booths were disappointingly empty for most of the expo, though this was clearly the busiest of Nintendo's showcase, and with good reason. After this was announced at E3 earlier this year, I admit I was very skeptical about it, but after playing with 3 other people, 2 of whom were complete strangers, we had a fantastic time. There were eight levels to play through, but you only had ten minutes to play on the demo. The game retains the old-school Mario charm, albeit a bit updated, and the visuals are bold, but smooth, and it runs great on the Wii. The object is to get more points than you competitors, by getting coins, flowers, mushrooms and beating enemies. There are no penalties for dying, though you only have five lives to make it through the levels. It sounds like plenty, but gets tough, especially as the screen follows the player in the lead. This, I will be getting at some point.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time (PS3)

Whilst I joined a game that someone had left running half-way through, the controls are simple enough to quickly figure out and get going with in an instant. The art is vivid and bold, yet despite vomiting bloom in you face, it remains tasteful. The sound had gone on my TV, so I can't comment on that, but the gameplay was solid and straightforward, which is nice in today's gaming climate. What's even nicer is that what I feel will be an accomplished and excellent platforming game, will stand out as a beacon in today's shooter-dominated climate. A breath of fresh air, which looks fantastic and plays even better.

Red Steel 2 (Wii)

This is a vast, vast improvement on the original, actually delivering what we wanted from the first that we didn't get. The new graphic styling suits the Wii a lot better than the original, semi-realistic approach that was previously taken. The Motion Plus attachment makes the sword play much more enjoyable, and detects power much better than the original did as well. I will wait for reviews on this one, though. They said the first was great, but they lied then.

Saboteur (XBox 360)

This probably steals second Game In Show. It had by far the largest demo on the floor and the graphical stylings are simply a treat to look at. From the Monotone in non-liberated sections of France, save for the red Nazi bands on theGestapo forces, and fire effects, to the very colourful and bright sections of liberated Paris. The controls are excellent, despite taking some getting used to. Combat is tight, and the cover system is brilliantly effective, and non intrusive to gameplay. Damage, as far as games are concerned, is relatively realistic, you can't take many shots before going down, and the Nazi's have the same health amount as you. Voice acting is brilliant, and despite putting on the accents, they sound more realistic than cliched. I really cannot wait for this game.

Split/Second (XBox 360)

This only had one track playable on the demo, the airport, which featured in the unveiling trailer earlier this year. The graphics are simple, but functional and good to look at, and the way they've incorporated the HUD just behind you car is a brilliant idea, meaning it's not a distraction as it's where you're looking at anyway, and only displays what you need to know; laps, score, position and effects meter. My one complaint is that the controls are touch too twitchy for my liking, which results in imprecise drifting, which is a shame as this appears to be the main way you fill up your special bar in order to activate the track effects.

Tekken 6 (PS3, XBox 360)

The final in the list of new games I played. (I also hit up Borderlands, despite sinking 26 hours into it, since Friday (22nd) evening). This is Tekken, finally on a return to the form that gave the series it's well-respected name in the first place. It runs fantastically smooth, and the combat feels fluid, even using the control stick, something odd considering other fighting games that have made this transition *cough* Street Fighter IV *cough*. The visuals are stunning to look at, and the addition of Mortal Kombat style changing arenas through breaking walls and floors, creates an altered atmosphere, that makes the series feel fresh again. There is also an absolutely MASSIVE character roster, probably close to 50 characters, including all old and some new characters, which means I can't help but wonder, 'Is this going to be the last ever Tekken?' I mean, going out on a bang with improved fluidity, no framerate issues, a huge roster and on both consoles?

So that's it for the games that I played at the Expo. Sorry for the essay on this, but there's more just below this.

Developer Sessions.

I saw three of these over the two days, all of which were very interesting to attend, and one that left me feeling very priveleged.

Ask Eurogamer! - Tuesday 27th

With Tom Bramwell & Johnny Minkley, online editor and main man of Eurogamer TV, respectively.

This was, as is fairly self-explanatory, a Q&A session with Tom & John about the expo, and video games in general, whilst nothing new was learned, particularly, it was interesting and provoked some mild debate, and made me realise just how many people had lucked it into the games business, especially as journalists.

Splash Damage, " BRINK ", Wednesday 28th (XBox 360, PS3)

With Paul Wedgwood, CEO of Splash Damage, creators of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory for id Software .

This made me feel like one of a priveleged few, the second group of people to have ever seen in game footage and the UK unveiling of Splash Damage's upcoming game, Brink. Brink is a futuristic shooter that features 8-player drop-in co-op gameplay, with two campaigns to complete. Brink is set in a fictional city built at sea, and was the pinnacle of green living. But the world outside went to shit, and left this place, called 'Ark' cut-off from everything else, and a load of refugees turned up and started living in the shipping containers of the docklands. This left them poor, and trying to seek a fairer distribution of wealth, whereas the security see them as nothing but terrorists. The gameplay features intuitive 'free-running' depending on where you look whilst sprinting at an obstacle. The visuals are fairly generic for a futuristic, struggle shooter, in a dystopian world, that was once the shining beacon of the human race.

From what I have seen of this, I am excited for it, as there is so much depth to it, so much more that I don't have the time, and I expect you don't have the will to read through, to explain. Keep your eyes out for this one. Brink is published by Bethesda Softworks.

Just Add Water, Gravity Crash, 28th (PSN)

With Stewart Gilray, CEO of Just Add Water.

Just Add Water is a small digital-distribution games company, with a team of just six staff, only three of which made Gravity Crash, a PSN exclusive, retro-style game. This is a game is nice to look at, but boring to watch people play. Using the classic 80's formulae of space shooters involving, Gravity. Inertia, Thrust and Vector Graphics, they bring the 80's back, and put it in Hi-Def for all to enjoy. This session was the shortest of those that I attended because most people didn't have questions to ask at the end, and a fairly dull powerpoint presentation explaining how the game was made and what influenced it. Meh.

That was it for the developer sessions that I saw, and all of them, with the possible exception of Brink, will be available to stream on the Eurogamer website soon.

I left at the end of the second day after about 18 hours of Video-Game testing, watching and listening. I was (and still am) exhausted, but I almost wish it couldn't have ended. It was a truly magical thing to attend, and I can see this getting larger, but hopefully not too large, as I feel it would lose the brilliant atmosphere where it's run by gamers and game journalists, and where security and other officials there love video games.

I can't wait for next year.

 Episode from 09-26-2009.

We are back and starting to make some changes to the show. This is going to be the last 2 hour plus show for a long time. “Why is the show so long?” you ask. Well, that's because we talk about the pure concentrated awesome that was the Penny Arcade Expo 2009. Tune in to find out what happened at the convention. 

Show Link: http://www.vsrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65347

You can get the RSS feed here: http://realmworx.hipcast.com/rss/checkmate_arcade.xml
Check out the iTunes Music Store or the Zune Marketplace to subscribe.

Send us an e-mail: checkmatearcade@gmail.com

Download here. Or you can look at the news post, and maybe subscribe on iTunes?
 
This was the first podcast since the last three-hour megathon from last month, but I don't like the podcast being this long. I'm aiming for 1 hour podcasts, which really means 1:15ish we'll see. I have to figure out how to time manage and tell people to shut up about dumb topics, while making it sound like a conversation not a script.
 
Tell me what you guys think about the big return. What I really want to know is I know a lot of people listen to the show cause Tom is very funny. Fact is, he won't ever be back. So all you fans of the past show, will you still listen even though he's not on? I thought we did pretty well this time around, had some fun, talked about some cool stuff, and we have some more user-interactivity plans for future shows. Trivia questions, fabulous prizes, fun type of stuff.
 
Lemme kno

or Why I Prefer the Safe Bet
 
     I love original and fun video games, but original and fun video games cease to be
called original they moment they are declared successful. Because successful games, though
they might be fun and original, are what developers actually develop (or try to develop)
all the time.  I bring this up because many are feeling bitter towards Modern Warfare 2,
Halo 3: ODST, Guitar Hero 5, The Beatles: Rock Band, etc. for pushing many releases such as
Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Red Dead Redemtion, and even some
original titles such as Bayonetta,  Heavy Rain, and Singularity. However, we should not
feel resentment towards Call of Duty as a franchise, because it was also once a new IP at
one time. You as the consumer have voted with you dollar, and have reaped what you have
sown, so quit your whining. However, if you did not vote with your dollar, you still don't
have right to complain. "But Popcorn, what ever do you mean? I didn't vote with my dollar,
why should I suffer the delay <Insert Game Here> because of another games overhyped
success?" to you I say, "Well, its simple really. With <Insert Game Here>'s delay many more
people will be able vote with their dollar after the crowded holiday season on <Insert Game
Here>, which will in turn fund the publisher and developer to make sequels to <Insert Game
Here>." In short original IPs, if they are successful or if there is enough demand for a
sequel, there usually is one. Franchises like Left 4 Dead, Warcraft, Guitar Hero Halo, Call
of Duty, Half-Life, Diablo, Metroid, Mega Man, and even such an old character as Mario all
started as an "original" concept.

    I suppose this piece is turning into an economics paper, but before I delve more
into the effects of the dollar on franchises, let me state that I am uber-excited for a
single "original" game this year. A little game called Borderlands caught my eye in a Game
Informer cover story. With words like millons of guns being thrown against bold statements
of "diablo meets halo" I just couldn't wait until I could start tearing it up on the planet
of Pandora. That was in September of 2007, with the launch promised for a Christmas 2008
release, then Tuesday, March 11, 2008 it was reported by Kotaku* that Borderlands would
move to sometime in 2009. I was a little disappointed, but by then Fallout 3 had been
shown, and I was uber-stoked for that. I've yet to pick up Fallout 3 for several reasons,
(waiting till I was at the appropriate age, money, not having played the previous games,
Game of the Year Edition, etc.) but at the time I was foaming at the mouth for Fallout 3.
The release date for Fallout 3 came and went, though, with nary a wink from my eye. I had
chosen a different game that year, Mercenaries 2, which needless to say was not my favorite
game of all time. Why would I choose such an obvious stinker for my Game of the Year
(literally, the only new release I bought in 2008 was Mercs 2)? Well, I had played and
thourougly enjoyed the first Mercenaries, and wanted to see a sequel. Obviously, I was
disappointed, not because Mercs 2 was a bad game, but because Mercs 2 didn't capture the
feel or fun of the first game. Games create personal opinions, and personal opinons have a
nasty way developing nostalgia. Nostalgia in turn, will color ones judgement of the other
games in the franchise, for good or for ill. Which is why I wanted Mercs 2 (aside from the
upbeat ad campaign song), my judgement of the first game colored my judgement for the 2nd

game. Which now brings me to Borderlands (in a roundabout sort of way), the only way of
knowing if I should buy this game or not is only my judgement, (albeit colored by my
judgement of other games, ad campaigns, and prerelease footage) and not nostalgiac value.
Because I've been judging the game on its own merits, I've determined that this is where I
want to put my 60 bucks. Although, I haven't gotten to the bit about why I prefer the safe
bet. Which is why I'm going to another paragraph.
 
    So, why do I like the safe bet? Because its safe, I know I won't waste my money on
a crap game. At least, it used to be that way, most things are popular because they are
good. Everything else thats popular is popular because the people who buy the not good, but
popular thing are stupid. I know its a cliched argument, but I believe its true, case in
point the Twilight book series (to be fair, that's more of a case of 'sex sells' than an
acute case of stupid). So when a franchise that is critically acclaimed and popular its
usually something I like to look into. When said popular (but still good) franchise butts
into a holiday release calendar with all the fanfare of the second coming, don't forget
that a lot of these franchises (COD, Diablo, Warcraft, Guitar Hero, Halo, etc.) started out
just the same as a lot the original titles of today. So, peace out, have fun with whatever
game(s) you'll be snuggling up to this holiday season, and I hope to see you online.
 
If you liked this article/editorial/economics paper/rant go ahead and comment and tell me
what you liked about it. I'll be doing an unboxing of Borderlands, and a review (if I get
it, appropriateness may play a role in getting it for me) on my youtube channel.

www.youtube.com/c0l0nelp0pc0rn
 
Sources: 
*http://kotaku.com/366619/borderlands-delayed-to-2009

  

PAX was one of the best things I have ever experienced. This is not hyperbole. If you're reading, start saving your money now for Boston or next years west coast show in Seattle. The most amazing part of the show for me was getting to meet the game journalists I respect and admire. Unfortunately, I was unable to talk to the Giant Bomb crew although I thoroughly enjoyed their panel. I hope to chat with those guys at my next PAX.
 
I could talk about the wonderful panels or any of a number of activities that were available to me at a whim, but instead this post will focus on the show floor and the games that made an impression in spite of the hundreds of others vying for attention.
 

Games of the Show (in reverse order)

Star Wars: The Old Republic

The prospect of an MMO with emphasis on story is at once exciting and troubling. On one hand, motivation to push forward that goes beyond WoW's text boxes explaining why I should collect 10 boar tusks is a welcome innovation to the genre. On the other, MMOs are perpetual experiences. Since BioWare obviously cannot create a perpetual story (without repeating), what will content be like after I have experienced the crafted stories of each of the classes? We were told that the story of each class would exceed 100 hours which is fantastic, but what happens next? Does The Old Republic then revert to the repeatable instances that characterize the genre?
 
I attended both the panel and the Q&A session later at the cantina. Information on this game is tightly guarded, and much of the Q&A consisted of evasion crafted by the game's undoubtedly skilled and extensive marketing machine. We were shown the trooper class which was described as a tank with some long-range capabilities. Other classes present were the Sith warrior and the bounty hunter. BioWare also plugged a multiplayer conversation system which, although details of the system were not given, appeared to consist of dialog choices rotating through party members rather than being the sole responsibility of the party lead. Companion characters were also alluded to.
 
The most intriguing feature on display was what they are calling "flashpoints." These are essentially decisions at which the story branches--common in single player games but new to MMOs. A ship captain was tasked with taking on a battleship and chose to ignore orders. The player must then decide to kill or spare the captain. The choice was passed on to the crowd who chose to kill him. A new captain was appointed and told her only chance for survival was to follow the orders. She initiated attack on the battleship at which point her ship was boarded. The player is then tasked with eliminating the boarding forces. We were never explicitly told what the other outcome would have been, but we were told that our decision completely altered the progression of the storyline. At the Q&A session, I asked if story decisions would ever affect players outside the player's own party. They could not answer my question, but they did say there will be class-specific story arcs that are unalterable by any other player. Other story arcs may be influenced, at the very least, by members of the player's party.
 
This game was not playable at the show so I have no idea how it will turn out. The action appears very WoW-like with abilities displayed on a hotbar at the bottom of the screen. I'm incredibly excited by the potential of this game, but there are still many unknowns. It looks as though Lucasarts and BioWare intend to keep it that way.
 

Red Dead Redemption

Here is another game that was not present in playable form but shows incredible promise. We were shown a brief mission in which a captured woman had to be rescued by the protagonist. The game includes a technique seen before in which time slows and the player may mark spots on enemies which are then shot. Once the mission was complete, we were treated to a showing of the open-world aspects of the game. It looks incredible. The area is huge. Rockstar emphasized the previously revealed random events that may take place in the game's vast expanses. They even killed a couple of animals in the wild, and, at risk of sounding morbid, the deaths were the most realistic I have seen. Wild horses may be wrangled and broken for your own personal use (Grand Theft Horse). Horses are not the only modes of transport in the game as stagecoaches and trains provide the means for a fast-travel system. The game includes a karma system which affects the reputation of the player and will influence his interaction with others.
It very much looks like Grand Theft Auto in the old west which is most definitely not a negative. If I understood correctly, every building in the game will have an interior. While this is certainly much easier to do in the sparsely populated old west than it would be in a modern urban center, it is still a welcome addition to the open-world action genre. Players have lamented for years that so many of GTA's buildings are no more than facades. Another (for me) welcome addition is fairly trivial in the scheme of things: the horse will continue to guide itself along the current path giving the player freedom to aim and shoot while riding! Here is another innovation that makes sense in context. Of course a horse would be able to continue along a road of its own volition where a car must be guided by the driver. In fact, I wish this feature were in a context that made much less sense so that developers would feel free to incorporate it into their games for non-sentient means of conveyance as well.
 

Heavy Rain

This game completely floored me. I already anticipated the game, but I was not at all prepared for the experience it delivered. I played a quick five-minute demo, and came out with more empathy for and attachment to the characters than most games can muster in 30-40 hours. This is the game this generation that will provide a substantial innovation to carry the medium forward. Sure, we have seen new gameplay elements introduced recently such as the time manipulation avalanche started by Braid, but those are largely superficial and add to the depth rather than the breadth of gaming experiences. Heavy Rain pushes games toward the experience of a movie but not in the forced way of previous games that have claimed to do so. I have not yet seen this game compared to a movie experience or to interactive fiction and this fact somehow makes its tendencies in these directions more authentic and credible. Gamers will clearly recognize it as a game. I would, in fact, describe it as interactive fiction, but the interaction is very well done. It doesn't really feel like a string of QTEs that the player must walk between but it is essentially that. Leaving a description at that, however, is akin to describing great literature as an ordered series of letters printed in black on a white page: far too reductive to be useful.
 
In the demo, you play a private investigator trying to learn the identity of the Origami Killer. Following a lead, you enter a convenience store to talk to the owner who himself has lost a child to the killer. He is still a bit raw over the whole situation and doesn't want to discuss it with your character. You decide to pick up some things while you are in the store to avoid wasting the trip. In the meanwhile, a robber enters the store and a standoff begins. For my playthrough, I tried sneaking up the back aisle to approach the assailant from behind. The game prompted me to slowly move up on the right analog stick as I proceeded down the aisle to quietly pick up a bottle from the nearby shelf. As I continued, my character knocked a box from one of the shelves. My reflexes failed to be sharp enough to prevent it from crashing to the ground, and my sneak attack was thwarted. This lead to a struggle that played out first in dialog and then physically. The player before me had mitigated the scenario through dialog options alone to cause the robber to leave. It was a great experience. The "steering" of the character was a bit cumbersome. In fact, I couldn't really tell how the left stick was mapping my inputs to the character at all. I was told the controls are among the biggest elements that are still being significantly tweaked.
 
I asked the operator of the demo about branching. Specifically, I wanted to know how many branching points there are in the game. Are there a few key points where the stories branch off? His reply was the it branches "everywhere." This could just be marketing, and there will be no way of knowing until the game is actually released. The answer was at least encouraging. In a game that's power comes from the gravity of player choice and its affect on the game world, the number of points at which player choice is significant will either greatly improve or diminish the value of the experience.
 

Games I wanted to play but didn't

Scribblenauts

The biggest unknown for me with Scribblenauts is its staying power. It does something games have not done before. How long will I want to do that thing once I have a firm grasp of the game's limits? There are two reasons I didn't play the game: First, no amount of playing I could have done at PAX would have answered this question. Second, the line was incredibly long. I have never seen this level of buzz for a DS game.

Diablo III

I've been hearing this is more of the same. That is no problem for me. I would gladly play prettier Diablo II with minor improvements. That said, there is no decision for me to be made about this game. I'm buying it. Also, the lines were long.
 

Borderlands

I have a preorder in for this game already. It is my first preorder since last generation. They would have to show some horrible shit at PAX to temper my excitement. Oh yeah. The lines were long here too. Do you notice a theme?

Games that were slightly disappointing

Dust: An Elysian Tail

This game is beautiful, but, in my limited play-session, it doesn't have the muscle to unseat the dominance of Castle Crashers in the space of side-scrolling beat 'em ups with RPG elements. The combat seemed fairly repetitive. Unlike Castle Crashers, the game moves strictly on a 2D plane meaning your character may only move left or right. I found myself being cornered by enemies with no apparent way to evade their barrage of attacks. I was told that this game is "probably" migrating from the indie channel to XBLA. If they can keep it under the $10 mark, I will give it another look. Hell, I will at least play the demo even if they price it at $15.
 

Fairytale Fights

Once again, here is a beat 'em up with repetitive combat. In addition to that, I'm not terribly fond of the right analog stick for attacking. I didn't really see what benefit the analog-ness offered, and, given that, I prefer the precision of the buttons for attacking. Perhaps there are elements here I missed. I will withhold judgment for now.
 

Split/Second

I have heard lots of hype for this game, and hype from the TRS cast urged me to try it out. I don't really understand the unfettered love the game is receiving. For a game centered around crashing people and creating havoc, the crashes are not very believable at all. They don't have near the impact of those in the Burnout games. (I will avoid use of the word "visceral," but you should know I was tempted.) The racing is standard arcade racing. The triggered events were impressive but didn't seem to have the profound impact I would have liked on the outcome of the race aside from the deformation of the track itself. 
 

Until next year...

That just about covers it. Feel free to post questions about anything at PAX in the comments. I will do whatever I can to answer them. I had a fantastic time and look forward to going to more. If you are reading this, and you have never been to PAX, check out the next PAX on your respective coast and begin planning now to go if you can at all. Get your passes early!

The second day is done, and there isn't much PAX left to go. I won't be doing as much tomorrow as I will be letting a friend take my place for a few hours before the Omegathon, but I swear I will still get to Split Second 
 
Heavy Rain. This is a game to watch out for. It singlehandedly makes me jealous of PS3 owners (or people that have 300 bucks laying around). The choices work well, perhaps even better than Mass Effect, and the story, at least what I saw, really packed a punch 
Uncharted. Note I didn't actually get my hands on this one, but I didn't feel like I needed to after watching others play in front of me. Graphics: Top notch. Enemy AI: Brilliant. Shooting/Cover Mechanics. About as good as can be. climbing elements? They looked a little boring from my perspective. Don't let that make this sound like some sort of diss on the game though. It still looks very cool (BTW, the main characters bantering is just as annoying as that main character in Crimson Skies) 
Bayonetta. This game is soo full of style its coming out of my hair folicles (which now drape over me like a full body suit). The combat was beautiful and while complex (you have a lot of control over what the character does) the controls were extremely intuitive and I had little trouble mowing down enemies after a brief tutorial. I am very excited for its release (and subsequent drop in price, at which point I will buy this and every other game not called Scribblenauts) 
Brutal Legend. Like Bayonetta, this game has a lot of style, but the combat in comparison was bland and unexciting, which I believe is an unfortunate result of Jack Blacks short weapon. That said, this game has some of the best humor i've ever heard in a video game (even better than the Madworld commentators)   
White Knight Chronicles. It seems like a good deal of fun, but I'm not happy about the slow reaction of any commands you give your player. Its like you tell him to do something, and about a second and a half later, he does it. Beautiful though, and very large as well
 
Star Wars: The Old Republic panel. Let me make it clear right now. I am not interested in MMOs, in the slightest. I simply attended in the place of a good friend of mine who had fallen ill with some food poisoning (people, avoid the fourth floor Subway). I will admit it was quite impressive. Bounty Hunters and Sith look like a lot of fun to use, especially with the cover mechanic, and the fact that all the dialogue in the game is spoken is mind blowing. Bioware is certainly a force (see what i did there?) to be reckoned with. after the panel, they gave everyone a code to redeem for KOTOR on Steam (which they announced earlier in the show) but doesn't that seem kind of lame, considering almost everyone in that room had already played it? 
The Giant Bomb panel. It was nice to meet the guys in person (even though I met some of them yesterday). That NOS/Ramen mix they made looked absolutely vile, but props to the kid who won and recieved a Beta Key for Starcraft 2.  They had a little exclusive cartoon they had made (time trotters was it?) and it was fun and a little bit silly. A shame I thought it was worth leaving early for the... 
Capcom party. Pretty lame in general i've got to say, but they were giving out free Tricell ID cards with peoples pictures on them (if i get a good response, perhaps i'll post a picture of mine), zombie face paintings, and raffle tickets for cool prizes like the PC version of RE5 and a expensive video card. I didn't win the video card, but I did, for the first time in my life, win a raffle by getting RE5. Reason number 2 why i need to go get a gaming quality PC (reason one being APB). 
 
tomorrow: Dead Space Extraction, Split Second, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 358/2 days, and I swear I'll finally remember to ask Sega about the status of Infinite Space. If i have time i'll get around to the Saboteur as well.