{"id":12328,"date":"2014-09-03T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T00:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=12328"},"modified":"2014-09-02T01:37:20","modified_gmt":"2014-09-02T01:37:20","slug":"pax-prime-2014-day-1-seattle-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/03\/pax-prime-2014-day-1-seattle-warriors\/","title":{"rendered":"PAX Prime 2014: Day 1: Seattle Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SMASH\"<\/a>The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is one of the largest public video game conventions in the US.\u00a0 They have one in Boston, a newly announced PAX South in San Antonio in January (which I will be going to as well), but the big main one was just in Seattle over this past Labor Day weekend.\u00a0 I just got back from that one, so for the rest of this week, we\u2019ll take a look at what I did and games I played at this year\u2019s PAX Prime!\u00a0 Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n

Nom Nom Galaxy<\/strong><\/p>\n

I flew on Friday morning, so I only had three meetings with game companies in the afternoon.\u00a0 The first game I met with folks to play was one I actually played last year.\u00a0 Back then it was called PixelJunk Inc., but now they\u2019ve changed the name to Nom Nom Galaxy.\u00a0 It\u2019s a 2-D action game that takes elements from Minecraft, Terraria, and even Cooking Mama!\u00a0 You and another player explore planets to find ingredients to take back to your base to make different kinds of soups to send out so you can earn money!\u00a0 In the new build, they showed off new boss battles where you must fire soup cans at rival aliens!\u00a0 Nom Nom Galaxy will be available for Steam on PC and later for PS4 and Vita.<\/p>\n

Adventures of Pip<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this 2-D platformer, citizens of a pixelated game world are having their pixels stolen away by an evil queen.\u00a0 So now the heroic Pip must save the day!\u00a0 While you do start out as just a single red square pixel who can\u2019t do much, when you defeat certain enemies you can evolve into an 8-bit sprite with more mobility.\u00a0 Later on you can even turn into a 16-bit sprite for even more attacks!\u00a0 You\u2019ll be constantly changing between each form to solve puzzles and bypass obstacles.\u00a0 Enemies, bosses, and even backgrounds will also change forms as well.\u00a0 The game controls great and has lots of fun retro platforming puzzles.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be available for PC as well as platforms like Wii U.\u00a0 It\u2019s being made by ex-WayForward employees.\u00a0 I met one of them who did the art for A Boy and His Blob on Wii.\u00a0 And the music is being done by the same guy who did the songs for Shovel Knight.\u00a0 Right now, Adventures of Pip in a Kickstarter phase, so if you are interested, look them up and help them out.\u00a0 With the success of retro styled games like Shovel Knight, I think Pip has a good chance of coming out sometime.<\/p>\n

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions<\/strong><\/p>\n

My last meeting of the day was to play the next Geometry Wars game!\u00a0 This series plays a lot like the classic arcade title Robotron, and it is very popular.\u00a0 Activision is bringing back the classic brand Sierra to publish this new entry, and their name is always associated with adventure games like King\u2019s Quest, Space Quest, etc.\u00a0 So when I asked them why they chose to have Sierra publish the next Geometry Wars game, their answer just went over my head.\u00a0 They could\u2019ve said, \u201cJust because,\u201d and I\u2019d be happy with that.\u00a0 Anyway, in the new game, you glide over 3-D shapes like cubes, spheres, and even a peanut shape!\u00a0 You can choose drones to follow you around that give you special abilities, and you can earn currency to buy more later.\u00a0 The game now has a map with levels to conquer, and will have improved online co-op and competitive gameplay.\u00a0 But the core game is still classic Geometry Wars that fans will love.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be available for nearly all systems later this year.\u00a0 At PAX, they had a competition and whoever got the highest score each day would win a Geometry Wars related figurine.\u00a0 My friend Leroy, who sometimes helps me write game reviews, is really good at Geometry Wars games and I think he even bought his 360 just to play Geometry Wars.\u00a0 I bet he could have probably won one of those figures.\u00a0 See the picture below to see what it looked like.<\/p>\n

\"GEO\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Square-Enix<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though I didn\u2019t get to meet with ALL the companies at PAX, I did get to play some games in press rooms and whatnot.\u00a0 Square-Enix had a lot of games on the show floor, but not the ones I was interested in playing.\u00a0 The ones I wanted to play were in a press room in another hotel!\u00a0 But I did get a chance to check them out, like the new Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call music game for 3DS.\u00a0 I loved the first game, and even made it my Game of the Year for 2012.\u00a0 This new one is more of the same, but sometimes that\u2019s OK.\u00a0 I played two songs: Edgar and Sabin\u2019s theme from FF6, and my favorite Airship theme, the one from FF9.\u00a0 They also had the Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix on display as well as some Dragon Quest ports for iOS devices.\u00a0 I wish I could\u2019ve taken pictures in that room because it was decorated better than their booth on the show floor.\u00a0 It had a paper stage for Curtain Call and a Keyblade replica for Kingdom Hearts!<\/p>\n

Capcom<\/strong><\/p>\n

Their booth was mostly just the Capcom store where you can buy toys and things based on Capcom\u2019s franchises (like a cool Cammy statue I saw).\u00a0 A lot of companies do that at PAX, though.\u00a0 But behind their booth they did let you play some games, but most were already released, like Dead Rising 3 and Ultra Street Fighter IV.\u00a0 But they did have a display with the Phoenix Wright Trilogy coming out on the 3DS eShop.<\/p>\n

Namco Bandai Games<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was surprised to see them at PAX because usually they don\u2019t come to this show.\u00a0 They only had two games on display here though.\u00a0 One was a new Naruto game, but the other one was a upcoming Digimon title!\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have a release date yet, but it\u2019s coming for PS3.\u00a0 I thought that was kind of interesting.\u00a0 I used to review a lot of Digimon games back in the day.<\/p>\n

Misc. Stuff<\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t get to play anything at Sony\u2019s booth, but they did have Little Big Planet 3 on display, which my brother Jeff loves.\u00a0 Same with Microsoft, they were so crowded I didn\u2019t even go into their booth, but they had a big bright Sunset Overdrive sign.\u00a0 Ubisoft mostly just had a big Assassin\u2019s Creed display, so I didn\u2019t mess with them at the show.\u00a0 Borderlands must be very popular because I saw two different booths at the show featuring that game.\u00a0 2K Games had Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and TellTale had Tales from the Borderlands.\u00a0 And finally, I wanted to play LEGO Batman 3 at WB Games\u2019 booth, but they didn\u2019t have it there.\u00a0 Supposedly they have a new Gauntlet game, but I couldn\u2019t find where to play it at the show.<\/p>\n

SEGA<\/strong><\/p>\n

In November, Sonic and friends are starring in a new computer animated TV series on Cartoon Network called Sonic Boom, and SEGA had a big, bright booth to show off the games based on the TV show that are coming out as well.\u00a0 I played them both.\u00a0 The Wii U game is a colorful 3-D platformer.\u00a0 It has speed stages like the other 3-D Sonic games, but it also has some 3-D exploration and obstacle stages as well.\u00a0 Kind of like Ratchet and Clank without the shooting.\u00a0 The 3DS game is more of a 2-D platformer, but it also has new elements like a map and the ability to switch characters at any time.\u00a0 Both games have a new gameplay mechanic, too.\u00a0 Characters can shoot out an electric rope that can be used to swing from objects, pull things, and throw enemies.\u00a0 I imagine die-hard Sonic fans may not like the changes, but for people like me who didn\u2019t like the fast gameplay anyway, this may be a welcome difference.\u00a0 At PAX it was great to see all the boys and girls playing the Sonic Boom games.\u00a0 Kids love Sonic!<\/p>\n

Here is a picture of statues of characters from Sonic Boom, including my favorite: Tails.<\/p>\n

\"SONIC1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the other two.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know who that is on the right, but that\u2019s Knuckles on the left.\u00a0 Looks like he\u2019s been eating his spinach or something!\u00a0 Look at him, he looks ridiculous!<\/p>\n

\"SONIC2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another game Sega had on display was a sequel to their Project Diva F: Hatsune Miku music game.\u00a0 Here is a young lady dressed as the main character from the franchise.<\/p>\n

\"MIKU\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nintendo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nintendo was set up a little differently this year because they were in three different places on the show floor.\u00a0 Their main booth, where they usually show all their big games, was dedicated this year for just one title: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS!\u00a0 The line was too long for me to play them, of course.\u00a0 They would have people compete and whoever won would get a Smash Bros. towel.\u00a0 I like Smash Bros., but I\u2019m not very good at it so I knew I wouldn\u2019t win anyway.\u00a0 I only got close enough to take a picture of the sign overhanging the booth, and it has two of my boys on it: Pac-Man and Mega Man!<\/p>\n

\"SMASH\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They also showed what the Amiibo figures would look like for it.\u00a0 I\u2019m totally going to get the Kirby one.\u00a0 Oh, who am I kidding, I\u2019m going to try and get them all!<\/p>\n

\"AMIIBO\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At another area on the show floor, Nintendo had a sliver of a section dedicated to all things Pokemon.\u00a0 Such as the new Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire remakes.\u00a0 Also they had Pokemon Art Academy, which teaches you how to draw Pokemon on the 3DS like the other games in the Art Academy series do with other paintings.\u00a0 And finally, they had a version of the Pokemon Trading Card Game you can play on tablets!\u00a0 Here is the giant inflatable Pikachu that was hovering over the booth.<\/p>\n

\"PIKACHU\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The other games Nintendo showed were next to the escalators like they always do.\u00a0 I made it a point to play Captain Toad: Treasure Trackers and that\u2019s it.\u00a0 The line to play Hyrule Warriors was way too long.\u00a0 Speaking of which, the second night at PAX I did go to a special off-site Hyrule Warriors event, but it was WAY too crowded.\u00a0 I was lucky enough to get a T-shirt and scarf.\u00a0 The T-shirt has Link from the game on it and says, \u201cTeam Link.\u201d Too bad they didn\u2019t have \u201cTeam Zelda,\u201d or \u201cTeam Fi,\u201d or \u201cTeam Impa,\u201d or \u201cTeam Agitha\u201d shirts.\u00a0 Or better yet, \u201cTeam Tingle!\u201d\u00a0 The scarf is based on the one Link wears in the game, and is probably one of the nicest freebies I got at the show.\u00a0 But it was too crowded for me to play the game or eat any food or drinks, so after we got our stuff, we went back to the hotel!<\/p>\n

Stay \u201cTooned\u201d for More!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all for today!\u00a0 \u201cToon\u201d in tomorrow for more PAX fun!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is one of the largest public video game conventions in the US.\u00a0 They have one in Boston, a newly announced PAX South in San Antonio in January (which I will be going to as well), but the big main one was just in Seattle over this past […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12328"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12330,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12328\/revisions\/12330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}