{"id":16117,"date":"2017-02-02T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T00:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=16117"},"modified":"2017-02-02T01:24:20","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T01:24:20","slug":"pax-south-2017-part-1-a-switch-for-the-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/02\/pax-south-2017-part-1-a-switch-for-the-better\/","title":{"rendered":"PAX South 2017 Part 1: A Switch for the Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is one of the largest video game conventions open to the public in the US.\u00a0 It started out in Seattle, then expanded to another show out East in Boston, and for the past three years, they\u2019ve also had a show in San Antonio with PAX South.\u00a0 Since that\u2019s only a few hours\u2019 drive from where I live, I decided to go again this year along with my dad and several of my younger brothers.\u00a0 Last year\u2019s PAX South was a little underwhelming for me, but this year was much better, thanks to more interesting indie games, a brand new lobby area just built at the convention center, and my first chance to play the new Nintendo Switch console!<\/p>\n

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

So I guess I\u2019ll start with what everyone wants to hear about first: the Nintendo Switch.\u00a0 Normally when I go to PAX, I arrive the day of the show.\u00a0 But this time I arrived the day (or night) earlier.\u00a0 So the next day of the actual show, I was able to enter an hour early as a member of the press.\u00a0 I made a beeline for the Nintendo Switch booth before it got too crowded.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I did because the booth was pretty much an untouchable sea of people the rest of the time.\u00a0 Here is a shot of their booth from afar:<\/p>\n

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

1 2 Switch<\/strong><\/p>\n

I already have my Nintendo Switch and Zelda pre-ordered, but I wanted to try to play some of the other Switch games at the show so I can see if they would be worth getting or not.\u00a0 The one I was most curious about was 1 2 Switch, a collection of two-player mini-games that use the capabilities of the new console.\u00a0 I played a few of the mini-games on it with my brother Ben.\u00a0 The first was the quickdraw game that everyone has seen in the previews.\u00a0 It plays like what you think it would.\u00a0 Too bad there wasn\u2019t any classic NES Wild Gunman references.\u00a0 Here is shot of people playing that one.<\/p>\n

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

After that we tried two other mini-games.\u00a0 The helpers gave us little stools to sit on, and we had to pretend to milk cows.\u00a0 We held each of the separate controllers vertically and pressed the buttons and moved them down like we were squeezing cow udders.\u00a0 At the end of the time limit, they counted how many glasses of milk you filled, and whoever had the most, wins.\u00a0 I beat my brother Ben at most of the other games, but he milked more cows than I did!<\/p>\n

You know how in the Switch videos they bragged about the advanced rumble features, and they used three ice cubes in a glass as an example.\u00a0 Well the last mini-game was a good example of that.\u00a0 We held the controller in one hand horizontally like we were holding a small narrow box.\u00a0 You could feel rumbles on the inside like marbles rolling around, and we had to guess how many marbles were in the pretend box by gently moving it around.\u00a0 I barely tilted the controller and felt the marbles roll, and when I felt three \u2018clacks\u2019 I guessed three marbles and won!\u00a0 So if 1 2 Switch has a variety of mini-games like that, I may end up picking it up, since it feels like a game everyone can play.\u00a0 But I still think that Nintendo should\u2019ve had that be a pack-in game with the Switch.<\/p>\n

ARMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next game we played was Arms.\u00a0 It\u2019s a boxing game where the characters have long stretchy arms, and you can move the controller to aim where your punches land from far away.\u00a0 It plays like a better-controlling Wii Sports boxing, and it is very colorful, but I still don\u2019t know if it\u2019ll be worth the full price of a game.\u00a0 But then, this was a demo.\u00a0 The final game may have more.\u00a0 I still wish that Namco or Capcom would\u2019ve made this game instead of Nintendo (one of the characters even looks like Tron Bonne in a mech), as those two companies are very good at bringing the arcade experience to home consoles.<\/p>\n

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

SnipperClips<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last Switch game Ben and I played together was SnipperClips.\u00a0 It\u2019s a co-operative puzzle game where you control two pieces of paper.\u00a0 If you overlap each other, you can press a button to cut off paper from the other player to make a new shape.\u00a0 In some stages, you must do this and work together to fill in a shape on the screen.\u00a0 In other stages, you must do more physics-based puzzles like play basketball.\u00a0 Changing your shape in those stages helps out, too.\u00a0 I believe this will be an eShop title that will be out shortly after the Switch launch.<\/p>\n

Splatoon 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

After that, Ben and I split up and he went to the line to play Zelda.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be playing Zelda in a month so I was good.\u00a0 So I snuck back in the booth and played some Splatoon 2.\u00a0 It looks and plays just like the Wii U original.\u00a0 In fact, if you didn\u2019t tell me it was Splatoon 2 on the Switch, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to tell the difference as I was playing with the Pro Controller.\u00a0 But in a way, that\u2019s also a good thing because even though I hadn\u2019t played the first game in over a year, I was able to jump right into this one and even win my first match!<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s my experiences with the Switch at Nintendo\u2019s booth.\u00a0 I think the only problem I had with the Switch was that the control stick and buttons on each of the detachable controllers felt too close to each other.\u00a0 But other than that it was all right.\u00a0 I think the only games I didn\u2019t play at Nintendo\u2019s booth were the Street Fighter 2 game and Super Bomberman R (sorry Bob).\u00a0 They had some neat stations at the Nintendo area where you could play the Switch to show off that it can be played anywhere.\u00a0 One area looked like a cutout of an airplane.<\/p>\n

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

Another looked like a cutout of the inside of a van, or maybe a camper?<\/p>\n

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

But I think my favorite was the area that looked like a diner.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t mind going to a Mario-themed diner, but the chalkboard menu here had some questionable items, like Fire Flower Fries and Spiny Shell Burger.<\/p>\n

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

Has-Been Heroes<\/strong><\/p>\n

I played other Switch games at different booths, and Has-Been Heroes was one of them.\u00a0 But I wouldn\u2019t have known it unless they told me because I was playing it with the Switch Pro Controller.\u00a0 Has-Been Heroes is a roguelike RPG, and the battle screen looks like a typical RPG.\u00a0 But the battles are anything but typical.\u00a0 Each of your heroes is assigned a row, and you press buttons that correspond to each row to attack.\u00a0 You can switch out heroes if they need to charge up for the next attack, but the enemies are ever approaching, so you have to think fast.\u00a0 Luckily you can pause the action to collect your thoughts, and you can get spells from a stagecoach that looks like a lottery wheel!\u00a0 I felt the learning curve was a bit high on this one, but then, my brain can be pretty slow at times.\u00a0 If you like fast-action RPG dungeon crawlers, you may want to check it out in late March.\u00a0 And it\u2019ll be for all the new consoles, not just the Switch.<\/p>\n

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

TinyBuild<\/strong><\/p>\n

This game company with the orange booth has always been supportive of me over the years and they\u2019re super nice, too.\u00a0 So I always try and check out their games during shows.\u00a0 They showed off tons of games.\u00a0 Hello Neighbor is a stealth game where you must sneak into your mysterious neighbor\u2019s house to find out his secrets.\u00a0 Mr. Shifty is a top down viewed game I played at PAX West where you can warp through walls to sneak up on bad guys.\u00a0 Guts and Glory is a 3-D obstacle course game where you drive crazy vehicles like a bike with a kid\u2019s seat on the back, or an army four-wheeler.\u00a0 Streets of Rogue is a top-down dungeon crawler with an arcade beat \u2018em up theme. \u00a0 Most of them will be available for PC, but some are coming to consoles as well.<\/p>\n

Death Squared<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best way I can describe this game is that It\u2019s like a block pushing puzzler, except that you are the blocks.\u00a0 You control cube shaped robots and must get them to certain places on the map. You only use the directional pad, and the buttons just make your robots blink, so it\u2019s easy to figure out how to play. There is a single player mode, but I tried a four player party mode where you must work together to solve puzzles.\u00a0 It\u2019s coming out really soon, and I hope I get to review it!<\/p>\n

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

Headup Games<\/strong><\/p>\n

They had a trio of games shown.\u00a0 Super BlackJack Battle 2 Turbo is a blackjack card game with Street Fighter style graphics.\u00a0 Slime-San is a single screen 2-D platformer where you play as a slime creature and must escape the insides of a worm that swallowed you.\u00a0 It kind of reminded me of super-hard platformers like Super Meat Boy.\u00a0 And finally was a hand drawn point and click adventure called The Inner World, which was popular on the PC and now will be on consoles!<\/p>\n

RIME<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aside from playing Switch games and Monster Boy, RIME was one of my favorite games shown at PAX South.\u00a0 You play as a boy and must explore mysterious ancient abandoned ruins along with a fox to guide you on your way.\u00a0 You solve Zelda dungeon-like puzzles involving sound, light and shadows, and even size perspective!\u00a0 The game\u2019s atmosphere also reminded me of ICO and a bit of Myst, too.\u00a0 It\u2019s coming to all the new consoles (even the Switch), as well as PC.\u00a0 At the front of the booth, a young lady was dressed as the main character, and she was super nice to me as well as everyone else who passed by.<\/p>\n

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

Monster Boy<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the only game at PAX South that I might\u2019ve liked better than RIME was Monster Boy.\u00a0 At first I thought it was the remake of Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon\u2019s Trap, but it\u2019s not!\u00a0 It\u2019s a brand new Wonder Boy game and the sequel to Monster World 4, which came out more than 20 years ago on the Genesis!\u00a0 It plays and looks great, so if you enjoy 2-D platform adventures (especially ones like Shantae), you should keep your eye on this one.\u00a0 I know I will be!<\/p>\n

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

Semispheres<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a really neat puzzle action game where you control two dots at the same time.\u00a0 Each has a maze on their side, and you must navigate them both to the exit with the twin sticks.\u00a0 Sometimes you can activate things in the environment to help the other dot bypass an obstacle, like getting the attention of a spotlight so the other dot can go by.\u00a0 I guess you could play this game with two-players, but I think that would be missing the point of the challenge: managing two things on screen at once.\u00a0 It\u2019s coming to PC and PS4 very soon, so I hope I get to review it!<\/p>\n

Blockshot Champions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another game I played was Blockshot Champions.\u00a0 It\u2019s a four-player battle arena game where you control a dot and can jump around and shoot the other players\u2019 dots.\u00a0 You can jump in the air three times in a row, shoot, and use a shield in all directions.\u00a0 Looked like a lot of simple fun, kind of a cross between Atari 2600 Combat and Robotron.\u00a0 It\u2019ll come out on PC later this year and consoles the next year.\u00a0 Although I don\u2019t know why it would take so long for a game about a bunch of dots to come out, but I guess that\u2019s just a good example about how arduous it is to get games released.<\/p>\n

Movie Buff<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not only does PAX show off the latest video games, but they also have a big presence when it comes to tabletop board and card games.\u00a0 In fact, my brothers\u2019 favorite thing they did at PAX South was paint D&D figures.\u00a0 I met with a company who made a movie based card game that was good for the whole family to play because you can kind of set up your own rules.\u00a0 It\u2019s called Movie Buff and I think it\u2019s been out for a while.\u00a0 The company who made it, Golden Bell, also publishes a newspaper magazine with comics in it called The Sunday Comics, and I thought that was really cool, too.\u00a0 If money wasn\u2019t so tight right now, I\u2019d subscribe to it!<\/p>\n

Hyper Universe<\/strong><\/p>\n

I really don\u2019t play online PC games at all, but if I did, I think I would gravitate towards Nexon\u2019s titles.\u00a0 In the past they\u2019ve been responsible for games like Maple Story and Dungeon Fighter Online, both of which really caught my interest.\u00a0 Their latest game seemed neat, too, so I decided to check it out.\u00a0 It\u2019s an online MOBA game.\u00a0 I have no idea what MOBA means, and a guy at the booth did explain it to me, and I still am not sure what it is.\u00a0 But I liked the game because one, it\u2019s a 2-D sidecrolling game with platforming and beat \u2018em up elements, and two, the characters were pretty interesting.\u00a0 I played as a pirate squid, and another player was a pink haired girl who skipped along the map.\u00a0 And my team won the match we played as well!\u00a0 You had to destroy the enemy\u2019s towers while defending your own, I think.\u00a0 But like I said, I thought the character designs were pretty neat.<\/p>\n

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

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

They were showing off their new Resident Evil VR game like they did at PAX West.\u00a0 They even had the haunted house exterior and everything.<\/p>\n

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

Rooster Teeth<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had the opportunity to meet with Rooster Teeth, but I declined and my brothers got so mad at me for that.\u00a0 I guess they\u2019re more popular than I thought.\u00a0 So I did check out their booth and they had a couple of games showing.\u00a0 One was based on their popular RWBY cartoon, and the other is a new game called Battlesloths 2025: The Great Pizza Wars.\u00a0 It\u2019s a top down arcade styled twin stick online game where you play as sloths battling for pizza!<\/p>\n

Happy Chess<\/strong><\/p>\n

I learned how to play chess by playing Battle Chess when I was a kid so I could see all the animations of the characters.\u00a0 I also learned that I didn\u2019t like playing chess that much.\u00a0 But I do like the idea behind Happy Chess.\u00a0 The pieces have emotional expressions to let you know if a move is good or bad, so it\u2019s a great way to teach people how to play the game.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just about all I did at PAX South. It was definitely the best PAX South show yet, and also the biggest.\u00a0 Here are two shots of the main show floor from the second story:<\/p>\n

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

And here\u2019s the other side:<\/p>\n

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

And that\u2019s all for now!\u00a0 Check back tomorrow for more PAX South pictures and things I did!\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is one of the largest video game conventions open to the public in the US.\u00a0 It started out in Seattle, then expanded to another show out East in Boston, and for the past three years, they\u2019ve also had a show in San Antonio with PAX South.\u00a0 Since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16117","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\/16117","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=16117"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16139,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16117\/revisions\/16139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}