{"id":20532,"date":"2020-09-25T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T00:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=20532"},"modified":"2020-09-23T12:51:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T12:51:30","slug":"pax-online-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/25\/pax-online-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"PAX Online 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is one of the largest video game conventions open to the public.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the flagship show, PAX West in Seattle, had to be cancelled this year because of COVID.\u00a0 So instead, they created PAX Online, which was all last week.\u00a0 Virtual showgoers could watch videos of upcoming games, and even try demos of some of them on Steam and Xbox Live.\u00a0 I got a virtual press pass to the event, so here\u2019s an article about the show.<\/p>\n

But first, I would like to apologize in advance if this article isn\u2019t very good.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never written an article about an online show before (I doubt many people have), and usually whenever I do something for the first time, I\u2019m pretty horrible at it.\u00a0 Also when I go to a show like PAX or E3, I set aside time to take off of work so I can go to the show and write an article about it.\u00a0 But since I didn\u2019t know what to expect from this show, I didn\u2019t take off of work, so I didn\u2019t have as much time to check things out and write my article.\u00a0 Plus I was pretty busy with other things during the show.\u00a0 My birthday was smack dab in the middle of it, and one of my brothers is getting married at the end of the month, so I needed to make some preparations for that, too.\u00a0 Also, since there\u2019s no way I can cover everything in these shows, I only look at what I think is interesting for me and what might would go well with the theme of GamerDad.\u00a0 And I didn\u2019t play any demos because I don\u2019t have an Xbox One, and I don\u2019t have a Steam account either because I\u2019m just not really a PC gamer.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got plenty of console games so I\u2019ve never felt the need for Steam.\u00a0 I guess PAX Online would be ideal for streamers and YouTubers, but I\u2019m sorry, I just don\u2019t have time for that right now.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to do that someday, but I\u2019ve got a full time job and household duties so what I do at GamerDad already is all I have time for.\u00a0 I guess I\u2019m just too old fashioned and need to get with the times.<\/p>\n

Finally, before I get started, I\u2019ll say that while I guess it\u2019s good they did a PAX Online (better than doing nothing I suppose), I really hope that when this COVID stuff gets better, we can go back to normal and have ACTUAL shows we can go to.\u00a0 I really hate the term \u2018new normal\u2019 because NONE of the stuff we\u2019re having to do right now because of COVID is normal.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry, but it isn\u2019t.\u00a0 Shows like PAX and E3 are more than just game videos and demos, it\u2019s about personal interaction with PR professionals and other gamers, and that\u2019s what I enjoy the most.\u00a0 So here\u2019s hoping we can really go back to normal soon and go to real shows.\u00a0 PAX Online isn\u2019t a replacement, I hope.\u00a0 OK, with that out of the way, let\u2019s take a look at some of the games at PAX Online!\u00a0 Oh, and in case you\u2019re wondering, these games listed should be coming to consoles at some point, that\u2019s the main reason why I looked at them.<\/p>\n

Alien Hominid Invasion (The Behemoth)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Behemoth, makers of games like Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers, has ALWAYS been at PAX West.\u00a0 Or at least the ones I\u2019ve been to, anyway.\u00a0 They even do a press breakfast which I\u2019ve never been able to attend because I\u2019m usually flying out to the show early that morning.\u00a0 They had a new game this time, Alien Hominid Invasion, which looks like a four player version of their original cartoony shooter.\u00a0 It\u2019s so chaotic that I wish I could\u2019ve played it to describe it better, but hopefully I\u2019ll get to review it when it comes out.<\/p>\n

Strings Theory (BeautifulBee)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an isometric puzzle maze game where you control bits of unraveled strings with various movements and characteristics.\u00a0 Looks pretty cool and right up my alley.<\/p>\n

Smash Ball (Gamepill)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this futuristic sports game, you play as a robot and try to bounce a ball into the opponent\u2019s goal at the other end.\u00a0 It kind of reminds me of WindJammers in a way, like a cross between Pong and air hockey.\u00a0 I think the makers wanted it to be a big eSports game, too.<\/p>\n

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights (Binary Haze Interactive)<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the press release: \u201cLily, the last surviving priestess in a land devastated by an endless and oppressive rain turning people undead, awakens in a church with no memory of recent events. As she explores beyond the relative safety of the sanctuary, Lily will summon the spirits of purified undead to protect her on a journey to find the source of the rain twisting her home into a haunted shadow of itself.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a 2-D Metroidvania style game with neat black and white graphics.\u00a0 Might be a bit too serious for my tastes, but looked somewhat interesting anyway.<\/p>\n

Fury Unleashed (Awesome Games Studio)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looks like a cross between Metal Slug and Comix Zone.\u00a0 It\u2019s a 2-D run and gun shooter with beautiful 2-D visuals set in a comic book world.\u00a0 I hope I get to review it, but it looks awfully hard!<\/p>\n

Neon Noodles (Radi Meresan)<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the press release, Neon Noodles was made by the same person who did Semispheres, which I reviewed a couple of years ago, so that\u2019s cool.\u00a0 Neon Noodles is a cooking game where you are a robot and use blocks to prepare food.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to tell what you do from the trailer, but the press release says you use programming commands and such<\/p>\n

Neko Ghost, Jump! (PAX Rising)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A pirate dog has kidnapped all your kitty friends, so now your cat hero must save them by solving puzzles and stages that really remind me of the 2-D\/3-D switching mechanic of Super Paper Mario.\u00a0 You can also turn into a ghost, too, for some reason.\u00a0 Really neat game I hope to review when it comes out on consoles!<\/p>\n

PHOGS and Cake Bash (Coatsink)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two games right up my alley.\u00a0 Cake Bash is a four player game where you control cute little cartoony cakes as you smack around the other confectionaries.\u00a0 Just watch out for crumb snatching pigeons!\u00a0 And in PHOGS you play as a weenie dog with a head on each end (kind of like Nickelodeon\u2019s CatDog), and you must stretch and wiggle to solve puzzles.\u00a0 Kind of reminds me of Noby Noby Boy, but with actual gameplay.<\/p>\n

Rangok Skies (Digerati)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a 2-D vertically scrolling \u201cbullet hell\u201d style shooter.\u00a0 Looks like something Psikyo would\u2019ve done.\u00a0 The characters look cool and the game feels like it could be a lot of classic arcade style fun.<\/p>\n

Ys 9: Monstrum Nox (NIS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

And I saved the best for last.\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s the game I\u2019m most excited for anyway.\u00a0 The next installment of the Ys franchise is coming next year in February!\u00a0 Ys is an action RPG series that\u2019s a lot like Zelda, just more \u2018action-y.\u2019\u00a0 This is the game that makes me sad there was no real PAX West show this year.\u00a0 I would\u2019ve loved to visit NIS America\u2019s booth and played this game for real!\u00a0 Really looking forward to this next February!<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all I have to say about PAX Online!\u00a0 Again, sorry this article wasn\u2019t very good.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll conclude with links to my last to REAL PAX articles so you can see what a show coverage piece should be.\u00a0 Sure the info in these links may be a bit outdated, but it\u2019ll be fun to reminisce.<\/p>\n

PAX South 2020<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

PAX West 2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

–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.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the flagship show, PAX West in Seattle, had to be cancelled this year because of COVID.\u00a0 So instead, they created PAX Online, which was all last week.\u00a0 Virtual showgoers could watch videos of upcoming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20532","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\/20532","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=20532"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20534,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20532\/revisions\/20534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}