{"id":15431,"date":"2016-09-09T00:01:13","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T00:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=15431"},"modified":"2016-09-09T00:14:12","modified_gmt":"2016-09-09T00:14:12","slug":"pax-west-2016-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/09\/pax-west-2016-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"PAX West 2016: Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EARL\"<\/a>In Part Two of my PAX West 2016 coverage, we\u2019ll take a look at games I checked out from smaller developers.\u00a0 But just because they\u2019re smaller, it doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re any less important!\u00a0 I even got to play a brand new Toe Jam & Earl game!\u00a0 Also, I was able to try VR gaming for the very first time, so you can read my initial impressions here, too!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Solitairica<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the first meetings I had on the second day of the show was with a couple of guys who made a solitaire game on iOS.\u00a0 But this isn\u2019t just any solitaire game!\u00a0 They added RPG elements to it!\u00a0 As you play the deck, you\u2019ll be battling a fantasy monster, and when you match cards of particular colors, you\u2019ll fill up special meters.\u00a0 When you have enough points, you can use special moves like give yourself extra armor, remove cards, etc.\u00a0 The only way to defeat the monster is to complete a game of solitaire, so it\u2019s harder than it sounds!\u00a0 I\u2019m actually going to be reviewing this game in full later, so check back then to see how it is!<\/span><\/p>\n

GungHo Online<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past few years, GungHo has been to PAX and has always shown at least a few eye-catching games.\u00a0 The title that really boosted them up, the popular Puzzle & Dragons game, even got the Mario treatment on the 3DS a while back.\u00a0 At this show, they even had ongoing Puzzle & Dragons tournaments!<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Other games they showed were the strategy game Super Senso and the classic styled 2-D mobile shooter Galak-Z (I hope I get to review that one).\u00a0 Also shown was Let It Die, a console action game from Suda 51.\u00a0 If you know what kinds of games they\u2019ve made in the past, you\u2019ll know what to expect with this one.\u00a0 Here is a picture of a lady dressed as the main character from the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Riverbound<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Another interesting game that caught my eye was Riverbound.\u00a0 It\u2019s a four player hack and slash that reminds me of a cross between Castle Crashers and 3-D Dot Game Heroes, as it has pixelated graphics like Minecraft.\u00a0 It\u2019s viewed from a top down isometric perspective, and up to four players can drop in and out any time they want.\u00a0 Looks like a great arcade-y kind of game.\u00a0 I also love the name of the developers who made it: Cococucumber.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tinybuild<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tinybuild has always had a large presence at PAX, even at PAX South!\u00a0 Another thing I like about the folks there is that they are all smiles and are super nice!\u00a0 They also always have a ton of games, and there\u2019s no way I could play them all, but I did try a couple.\u00a0 One was Cluster Truck.\u00a0 In this 3D action game, you jump on top of mac trucks driving at high speeds and crashing into each other.\u00a0 Your goal is to not touch the ground.\u00a0 Kind of like that \u201cHot Lava\u201d game everyone played as kids.\u00a0 But it\u2019s harder than it looks!\u00a0 Like Extreme Frogger!<\/span><\/p>\n

Another game I played at Tinybuild that\u2019ll be out next year is Mr. Shifty.\u00a0 It\u2019s a 2-D action\/stealth game that kind of reminds me of an old Capcom arcade game called The Avengers (not related to Marvel), except Mr. Shifty is much better.\u00a0 In the game, you view the action in a top down perspective.\u00a0 Punch and kick enemies like any beat \u2018em up, but be careful because your enemies all have guns and can kill you very quickly.\u00a0 So you must try to use stealth and other sneaky tactics to win.\u00a0 For instance, you can break down doors to defeat enemies, and also whistle to get their attention.\u00a0 Mr. Shifty has one more special power, too.\u00a0 He can teleport short distances, kind of like that one guy on the X-Men (can\u2019t remember his name).\u00a0 Use your teleportation skills to avoid being shot and warp behind baddies to confuse them.\u00a0 You can even go through thin walls!\u00a0 It was a really fun game, but pretty hard, too (I\u2019m not good at stealth games).<\/span><\/p>\n

World of Tanks & World of Warships<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

My brother Jeff and his friends used to love to play an online tank game called World of Tanks, and now they have one with battleships, too!\u00a0 I didn\u2019t meet with them or play any of the games, but they did have a really cool LEGO model battleship at PAX that I took some pictures of.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BATTLESHIP1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer shot of the side.\u00a0 Can you imagine how heavy that LEGO model must be?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BATTLESHIP2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Look at all the LEGO men!\u00a0 If you look closely, you can see a peace treaty signing and a military band!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BATTLESHIP3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wired Productions<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here I checked out two games.\u00a0 One was We Sing, a karaoke party game where up to four players can sing with four microphones.\u00a0 What\u2019s cool that if you connect your cell phone to the game, four MORE players can join in by singing into their cell phones, for eight total players in all!\u00a0 That would be one noisy party!\u00a0 Another game I looked at was Super Dungeon Bros.\u00a0 It\u2019s a cross between an isometric beat \u2018em up and a Rogue-like dungeon crawler.\u00a0 It has an 80\u2019s rock \u2018n roll theme and is very challenging!<\/span><\/p>\n

Mekazoo<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I played this at last year\u2019s PAX, and I was glad to see it here, too.\u00a0 It\u2019s nearly ready to go now, and will be available on all consoles, even the Wii U (but just a little later).\u00a0 In this 2.5D platformer, you play as robot animals and can switch on the fly to use their skills.\u00a0 Like an armadillo who can roll around in a ball, or a frog who can use its tongue to swing across obstacles.\u00a0 It also has very fluid controls and reminds me of a cross between Klonoa and Sonic the Hedgehog. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Behemoth<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

These folks have been at every single PAX I\u2019ve attended.\u00a0 They make games like Castle Crashers, Alien Hominid, and BattleBlock Theater.\u00a0 Their newest game, Pit People, is an arcade style strategy game.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have the console to play it on, but I still always stop by their booth anyway!<\/span><\/p>\n

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

One of the characters in Pit People is a walking cupcake.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Ysbryd Games:<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never heard of this publisher before, but they must be fairly prolific because they had so many games shown that they spanned two separate booths on different floors at PAX!\u00a0 I checked out a few.\u00a0 One was VA-11 HALL-A, a classic looking game where you play as a bartender in space.\u00a0 Another was YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG.\u00a0 It has 3D graphics, but they all look very pixelly and classic looking, and dungeon have puzzles like Lufia 2!\u00a0 With games like Earthbound and Undertale rising in popularity, I think this one will be a hit, too.\u00a0 And finally I looked at She Remembered Caterpillars, a mobile color-based puzzle game with a strong story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cyan<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If the name Cyan sounds familiar to you, then you\u2019ve probably played Myst at one point.\u00a0 Back when I was writing for The Dallas Morning News, I\u2019d take my dad to E3 with me and he\u2019d always want to know about the latest Myst game.\u00a0 He loved them!\u00a0 Cyan\u2019s newest game, Obduction, isn\u2019t a Myst sequel, but it might as well be!\u00a0 It\u2019s the best example of a \u201cspiritual successor\u201d that I can think of!\u00a0 You walk around weird 3D environments, watch grainy video of people talking, and solve obtuse puzzles.\u00a0 I make it sound bad, but it\u2019s really not.\u00a0 My dad loves these games, and he\u2019s pretty smart, so they aren\u2019t bad at all.\u00a0 The neat thing is that Obduction is available now on Steam, and in a few weeks they\u2019ll even have a VR version!\u00a0 I thought about getting a Steam code and having my dad review it here, but I think I\u2019ll just get it for him for Christmas instead.\u00a0 That way he can have fun with it and not have to worry about writing anything.\u00a0 If I do that, though, it\u2019ll mean my dad will get a Steam account before I do!\u00a0 Ha!<\/span><\/p>\n

Adult Swim Games<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I hated putting Adult Swim Games into my \u2018small developer\u2019 part of my PAX articles because they\u2019re really not small at all.\u00a0 In fact, they had so many games I couldn\u2019t play them all!\u00a0 So I just focused on the ones that interested me the most.\u00a0 So first I checked out a few of their games from their Cartoon Network label.\u00a0 Teeny Titans is based on the popular Teen Titans Go! cartoon, and in it you collect amiibo-like figures of the Teen Titans and other DC characters, then pit them in RPG battles to earn coins to buy more figures and upgrades!\u00a0 You can even have an Alfred figure, which is awesome.\u00a0 The game looks just like the show, which is either a good testament to the game or a bad jab at the show.\u00a0 Another was Superstar Soccer: Goal, a soccer game featuring various Cartoon Network characters.\u00a0 And finally was Card Wars Kingdom, a sequel to the Adventure Time card battle game that was first featured in an actual episode.\u00a0 The new game is free-to-play and focuses more on straight-up monster battles.\u00a0 All of these games are available now on mobile devices.<\/span><\/p>\n

Toe Jam & Earl: Back in the Groove<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One game I did play at Adult Swim Games was a brand new Toe Jam & Earl title!\u00a0 I think they were promoting this game more than the others as Toe Jam greeted you as you entered the booth.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

A costumed Earl was also walking around the show floor, sometimes accompanied by musicians laying down some funky bass beats!<\/span><\/p>\n

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

I never had a SEGA Genesis as a kid, so I didn\u2019t play Toe Jam & Earl that much.\u00a0 But I sure did read about the game a lot, and I think the characters would make for a great cartoon show.\u00a0 I have played the game enough to know that it\u2019s just a cleverly disguised dungeon crawler with funky hip-hop aliens.\u00a0 In the new game, if you look far away enough and squint your eyes, it looks almost just like the Genesis classic.\u00a0 But once you look closer, you\u2019ll see the HD graphics and hand-drawn animated characters.\u00a0 Other new things include more presents, different enemies, and new levels like dark stages where you must use flashlights to see.\u00a0 I also like how you can see the floor below you on the next level.\u00a0 There are even 2-D bonus stages that look like the Panic on Funkitron sequel.\u00a0 I think this game will really please fans when it comes out later on PC.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rick & Morty Simulator: Virtual Rick-Ality<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rick & Morty is a popular Adult Swim cartoon for grown-ups.\u00a0 I\u2019m not really into it myself, though.\u00a0 I do like adult cartoons like The Simpsons and Futurama, but some like South Park and Family Guy are just not my cup of tea.\u00a0 Rick & Morty falls into the latter category.\u00a0 But I wanted a chance to try a VR game because I\u2019ve been really worried about it.\u00a0 You see, I\u2019ve been blind in my left eye since birth, and I was wondering how I\u2019d be able to see VR games.\u00a0 They\u2019ve been becoming rather popular lately, and the whole PlayStation booth at PAX was dedicated to VR, heck, PAX even put the Penny Arcade characters playing VR on their programs!\u00a0 I was worried that if VR becomes the norm, I may not be able to review new games anymore because of my vision.\u00a0 So I was glad to be able to play the Rick & Morty game in a controlled environment with people around me who were aware of my concerns.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

And I\u2019m happy to report that I think I\u2019ll be able to play VR games fairly well.\u00a0 I was worried that they\u2019d use some sort of stereoscopic 3D effect like the 3DS does, but it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 Things in the background looked a little blurry, but the folks at the booth said that it\u2019s just the technology isn\u2019t there yet to make it more clear.\u00a0 My peripheral vision may not be as wide, but they also said the games are designed so you have to move your head around a lot anyway, which I have to do in real life to see things around me.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

So they started me up by putting the VR goggles and headphones on, and handing me two controllers.\u00a0 One for each hand, and they reminded me of the nunchuck parts of a Wii remote.\u00a0 There was a trigger button so you can grab things in each hand.\u00a0 At first I viewed a grid screen, with blue lines telling me how far the border is in VR.\u00a0 You can only move so far right now.\u00a0 When the game started, I was zapped into Rick & Morty\u2019s workshop, and they said I was a new Morty clone.\u00a0 One of them even freaked out that I had floating hands!\u00a0 Forgive me, I don\u2019t watch the show, so I\u2019m not familiar with the characters.\u00a0 Anyway, to test their new Morty clone out, they first had me pick up some dirty underwear and put it in the washing machine next to me.\u00a0 That\u2019s a task I\u2019m very familiar with, as I\u2019ve been doing laundry for my family ever since I was in third grade (Boober Fraggle was my favorite character in Fraggle Rock, and he did all the laundry for the Fraggles, so that\u2019s why).\u00a0 Anyway, it took me a while to get the hang of the controls, because I kept forgetting to open the washer lid with my left hand and hold onto the underwear with my right.\u00a0 And I also couldn\u2019t get the washer to start, but I was more concerned about how to turn the knob so that it would be on the right setting.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the while I was doing this, Rick & Morty were lamenting about how lame their new Morty clone was, having taken such a long time to do a simple task.\u00a0 One of them even said he was going to shoot me right between the eyes.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t paying much attention to them because I was more concerned with getting the laundry done, and I didn\u2019t think they\u2019d REALLY shoot me.\u00a0 I\u2019m lovable Cary, nobody would want to shoot ME!\u00a0 Well they shot me anyway and next thing I knew, I was in a dark room in purgatory with nothing but a ringing telephone.\u00a0 I picked it up and the voice on the other end said I was dead and if I wanted to go back to life, to push the button on the phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I did that and was warped back to Rick & Morty\u2019s workshop.\u00a0 Since I had limited space to walk, they showed me how to warp to the workbench, which had all sorts of cool stuff I could pick up.\u00a0 Rick & Morty said they had to teleport somewhere for a bit, and to not touch anything.\u00a0 Yeah right!\u00a0 I picked up a ray gun and shot out a window, threw some beakers and flasks against the wall, shook some cracker boxes and threw them behind me, and pushed a button on a cube to reveal a smaller ball.\u00a0 Maybe that has some significance in the show.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I think the purpose of most VR games is to let you do things with reckless and wanton abandon that you wouldn\u2019t normally do in real life.<\/span><\/p>\n

So when Rick & Morty warped back, the tall one commented that he saw I was making myself at home.\u00a0 Shortly after, the weather outside because utterly apocalyptic, and they asked for me to pull a lever somewhere. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t find a lever, so eventually the whole house was uprooted and we were left in a grid area while Rick & Morty announced their new VR game, along with a title screen.\u00a0 One of them even said, \u201cYay, we\u2019re making a VR game, just like in the 90s!\u201d\u00a0 And that\u2019s all I did with Rick & Morty!<\/span><\/p>\n

Carnival Games VR<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Later on, I got to play another VR game elsewhere called Carnival Games VR.\u00a0 It\u2019s a collection of around 12 carnival themed mini-games, and you\u2019ve probably seen the series before on other consoles.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The first game I tried was a haunted house where you ride on a roller coaster cart and hold two guns to shoot at targeted cardboard ghosts and other spooks.\u00a0 It kind of reminded me of Point Blank, and was also similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney World.\u00a0 The other game had me holding two plates, one in each hand, and I had to catch and balance as many funnel cakes as I could.\u00a0 Well, I cheated and held both plates close together so I could hold more funnel cakes.\u00a0\u00a0 When the game was over with, I tossed the plates into the air and let the funnel cakes fall to the ground.\u00a0 I then could pick up the funnel cakes and throw them at the carnival barker.\u00a0 \u201cOw, my spleen!\u201d he would exclaim.\u00a0 Remember what I said earlier about reckless and wanton abandon?\u00a0 Anyway, whether or not Carnival Games VR ends up being good or bad, I\u2019m glad there are some family-friendly VR games on the market at least.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, those are my first experiences playing VR.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I got a chance to try it, and discover that I really CAN play it, despite my vision.\u00a0 And a lot of the VR developers I talked to said that they don\u2019t plan on it ever replacing traditional gaming, just moving alongside it.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it also brought up a few new concerns for me.\u00a0 One, the VR devices cost anywhere between 400 to 800 bucks, and require a lot of space to move around.\u00a0 Both of which I don\u2019t really have.\u00a0 But at least I know that if I don\u2019t get into VR, it\u2019ll be of my own volition, not something I have no choice or control over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all for Part Two.\u00a0 Stayed tuned for my final PAX West article tomorrow!\u00a0 –Cary<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Part Two of my PAX West 2016 coverage, we\u2019ll take a look at games I checked out from smaller developers.\u00a0 But just because they\u2019re smaller, it doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re any less important!\u00a0 I even got to play a brand new Toe Jam & Earl game!\u00a0 Also, I was able to try VR gaming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15431","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\/15431","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=15431"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15449,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15431\/revisions\/15449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}