General gaming

General gaming

Postcard from PAX: The Most Touching PAX Moment Ever

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 08:53 PM PDT

James Silva, friend of 1UP and creator of such XBLA hits has Dishwasher: Vampire Smile and I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1 just had one of the one of the coolest marriage proposals ever. He and his girlfriend Michelle were showing off his new game Charlie Murder at the show, and unbeknownst to her, he actually programmed a special hack into the demo -- a marriage proposal. As a crowd of friends in on the surprise began to gather, he asked her to come over and see something in the game. She covered her mouth in surprise as the proposal scene happened in the game, and then he dropped to one knee and popped the question to her personally.

As you can only imagine, she said yes.

Postcard From PAX: Hide yo Kids!

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 07:13 PM PDT

Yo PAX enforcers, time to bring in Chris Hansen.

Postcard from PAX: The Digital Game Museum: Keeping Old Games Alive Since Just a Little Bit Ago

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 07:08 PM PDT

If you've got some free time at PAX -- hell, even if you don't -- make your way to the sixth floor showroom and check out the Digital Game Museum's booth. They're a new organization dedication to preserving gaming history, and that's a damned honorable goal if there ever was one. As seen in the pic above, they have quite a selection of old game packaging on hand (though the organization seeks to preserve more than just boxes), along with all the physical trinkets and doo-dads games used to contain back when the user base consisted entirely of dedicated nerds (and I say that with affection). You can also play a few old PC games at the booth, and I managed to mess around with The Curse of Monkey Island enough to land it on my "must replay soon" list. But perhaps the coolest thing about the Digital Games Museum project is the fact that you can adopt the game of your choice for an entire year for just 20 dollars -- and guys, I'm calling dibs on Maniac Mansion.

Postcard from PAX: Best Bomberman Ever?

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 07:00 PM PDT

I stumbled out of the sixth floor showroom to find what appeared to be some insane version of Bomberman being projected onto a large, blank wall of the convention center. Turns out the game isn't just Bomberman; it also happens to be the Best Bomberman Ever -- at least, that's what the rep from Big Screen, Small Games told me. I'm no Bomberman expert, so I couldn't verify his claims, but I can at least say that the handful of rounds I played were just the break I needed from my constant schlepping around the show floor. And hey, you can even try the game for yourself at the very reasonable price of zero dollars. If we're strictly talking economics, I believe this game could indeed qualify as the best.

Postcard from PAX: Mommy, What's Wrong with That Man's Face?

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:50 PM PDT

You're looking at XCOM's presence at PAX -- this sole figure, apparently in the throes of some sort of alien attack. But that's all there is to this display; there's no PR person, no monitors showing gameplay footage, no booth babes hiding their utter contempt for the attendees. While a loud and angry setup would certainly fit the X-Com legacy, the amount of people snapping photos of this poor guy told me you don't have to spend ungodly amounts of money on promotion to generate buzz. So, kudos to you, 2K Games; I can honestly say that I haven't been so creeped out by a mannequin since Mannequin 2.

Postcard from PAX: Quantum Conundrum Fills Me With Joy

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 01:00 PM PDT

I haven't had a chance to take a step back and take a look at 2011 in gaming, but if you held a gun to my head, I wouldn't hesitate to say that Portal 2 was my favorite game of this year. Just thinking about the pure, unadulterated fun I had with that game has me itching to play it again -- but alas, I'm in Seattle, far away from any computer that could run the thing (plus, I would probably anger my boss/roommate if I spent valuable PAX time playing old video games).

So why am I bringing up Portal 2 out of nowhere? Well, if you somehow managed to get this far without reading the headline, my Portal ruminations are entirely the fault of Quantum Conundrum, the latest game from Kim Swift -- which I happened to check out this morning in a hands-off demo. Feel free to judge me based on this statement, but I couldn't help but feel a burst of elation after walking out of that suite in the musty old Fairmont Hotel (which seemed to be holding some sort of mummy convention, based on the ages of the people milling about the lobby). I wanted to run down the street, shouting at passersby -- perhaps in a Jimmy Stewart from It's a Wonderful Life cadence -- "Video games are great!" So I guess I shouldn't have to tell you that Quantum Conundrum impressed the living hell out of me.

Postcard from PAX: MMOs On The Go

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 11:46 AM PDT

In pre-Internet olden times, MMORPGs had to travel from town to town, dispensing quests and experience points before heading out to their next destination. Thankfully, these days are behind us, but NCsoft has stuck to the old traditions by employing a van to cruise the streets of Seattle and spread awareness of guilds and their possible wars. And since the thing isn't moving very fast, skateboarders of the city will certainly appreciate the abundance of skitching opportunities the Guild Warsmobile offers.

PAX: Ken Levine on Making BioShock Infinitely Believable

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 11:43 AM PDT

Irrational's BioShock Infinite practically swept the awards at this year's E3 with an amazing, albeit hands-off, demo that showed the player navigating the skyborne city of Columbia as a former Pinkerton agent named Booker along with a young woman named Elizabeth whose mysterious powers are the source of one of Infinite's key play mechanics as well as the baleful attention of its seeming nemesis, a clockwork automaton called Songbird. The constant character byplay between Booker and Elizabeth was the most impressive aspect of the demo by far, as the two shared a sort of tense banter about every situation they encountered, from the mundane (browsing a shop) to the fantastic (warping nearly a century forward in time to an alternate-reality 1983). I had the opportunity to speak to Irrational chief Ken Levine this morning at PAX; he's hear with voice actors Troy Baker (Booker) and Courtnee Draper (Elizabeth) to offer showgoers a glimpse behind the scenes of the voice sessions for the E3 demo. The making-of material to be shown at this afternoon's panel is fascinating; it doesn't depict people recording in an isolated booth as with most animation and games, but rather a fully interactive session in which Levine, Baker, and Draper bounced ideas off each other and even employ a bit of harsh, verbally abusive method acting to make sure that Draper's tearful performances are legitimate. These harrowing creative moments help demonstrate exactly why people are so excited about Infinite, though; Irrational is aiming for a truly engaging character-driven narrative, and Levine has offered a little insight into the philosophy and tech that's being poured into their effort to make Infinite's floating city in the turn-of-the-century sky the most emotionally convincing game ever.

Postcard from PAX: You Really Like Us

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 11:39 AM PDT

I've probably mentioned several million times that it's still incredibly surreal for me to now exist in the land of games journalism; I spent so many years on the sidelines (and freelancing) learning about the likes and dislikes of different people that it's sometimes odd to meet them face-to-face. For example, yesterday I not only got to meet Chris Kohler and Jeff Green -- I also sat alongside them as one of their peers! And please note that I could have embarrassed myself in front of Jeff due to my admiration of his former 1UP podcast, but I stuck to the relatively subdued "I loved GFW Radio, but you probably could have guessed that." I hope he appreciated my self-control.

Sadly, we weren't able to record this one, so you may not get a chance to hear it outside of the underground bootleg podcast scene which I'm guessing doesn't exist. But to those of who could attend: thanks! I've only been a real 1UP staffer for just a handful of months, so I appreciated all of the kind comments about my work and the Retronauts podcast. Your motivation keeps us going; just ask any writer out there. Thanks for coming out if you could make it, and double-thanks for going easy on EarthBound during all of the game slandering. You guys are seriously the best.
Posted by Shri Krishna

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