10. Assassin’s Creed III

We would love to place this game higher on the list, but the lack of a playable demo does not let us truly judge the game. On the surface, it looks like a new game, but we cannot measure how much has changed unless we can get our hands on it. However, the impressive crowd effects matched with the incredible new animations have got us really excited about the quality in store for Assassin’s Creed III.

9. Primal Carnage

Primal Carnage may seem like another multiplayer deathmatch title, but what sets it apart from the rest is the ability to play as dinosaurs. The game we played may have been in its pre-beta stage, but it’s definitely shaping up to be one of those titles to watch out for this year. Sniping from a distance with your rifle may be fun and all, but being able to pounce on your opponents as a raptor is truly satisfying.

8. Borderlands 2

The first Borderlands was so fun it should have been illegal. Playing through the stylized campaign with up to four friends while leveling up your character and collecting hundreds of randomly generated weapons can be straight up addicting at times. Borderlands 2 looks to be more of the same, granted, with the required “more of everything” approach video game sequels employ. More of a good thing has never been bad, has it?

7. Loadout

As its name suggests, Loadout is all about customizing the weapon you’ll take with you to battle. The game prides itself in the amount of customization it will offer players, and adds some familiar Team Fortress flair to make it stand out as one of the next go-to multiplayer shooters on the PC. There are hundreds of customization options for your weapons, and you get more each time you win a match. Oh, and did I forget to mention this is a free-to-play title?

6. XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Any fan of the original XCOM has been eagerly waiting for a true sequel that can grow on the concepts and mechanics of the original while respecting the hardcore mentality that made the atmosphere of the original game so unique. That sequel may be right around the corner. The video that was shown at PAX showed a game that looked just like the original cult classic but with a high-definition boost, fully destructible environments, and a scope that can truly fulfill the dream of the original.

5. Hell Yeah!

Metroidvania games may follow similar design structures, but each one is unique in the personal touches it brings to the genre. Hell Yeah! impressed us with its humor, colorful graphics, and unique mini-games that occasionally pop up when you’re about to slice through some enemies. With plenty of worlds to explore, skills to learn, and enemies to destroy, Sega’s charming platformer is one to look out for. You thought Sonic was badass? Think again.

4. Max Payne 3

Some of the best shooting mechanics we have ever felt did not come from a first person shooter. Max Payne 3 has rammed up everything that made the first two games stand out. Darker story, grittier gunplay, and incredibly slick bullet time moves. With just a month before release, we cannot wait for this game to reinvigorate one of Rockstar’s most beloved franchises.

3. Hitman: Absolution

Sneak past guards or blow off their kneecaps. Disguise yourself as an enemy or stick a crucifix in his skull. Life is full of choices, isn’t it? Hitman: Absolution is no different, and each choice you make shapes your overall experience with the game. The demo may have taken place inside a building, but its ending teased us with glimpses of the outside world you can explore. Agent 47 is back, and we can’t wait to see where his story will take him this time.

2. Mark of the Ninja

Stealth action games have become few and far between, with a great majority of them providing so many hints and abilities as to make the stealth an afterthought. Enter Mark of the Ninja, a 2D, hide in the shadows and kick some ass game from Shank 2 developer Klei Entertainment. With a clever mix of light and gameplay mixed with multiple paths through missions, this small downloadable title is sure to make some major waves when it lands on XBLA this summer.

1. Sleeping Dogs

United Front Games doesn’t want to reinvent the open-world games; it simply wants to make one of the best games the genre has seen. Drawing much inspiration from the film Infernal Affairs, Sleeping Dogs will let players explore Hong Kong and rely on their martial arts skills to take down the city’s top crime gangs. We played a build of the game that was two months old, and we were still impressed by its smooth graphics and smart controls. The developers have done a great deal of research capturing the feel of the city and refining various gameplay features like its combat and driving mechanics. We have high hopes for Sleeping Dogs and cannot wait until it’s out this summer.

Runner-ups: Quantum Conundrum, RaiderZ, Black Knight Sword, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Guacamelee, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, Heroes of Ruin, Mortal Kombat (Vita)

Picture running through the pube-infested corridors of Hell with a chatty shotgun as your companion. Now, imagine defeating hordes of zombies with stylish pompom attacks while your boyfriend’s severed head cheers you on.

Welcome to the world of Goichi Suda.

Better known by his nickname Suda51, the CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture is no stranger to the undead. His latest creation Lollipop Chainsaw stars Juliet, an American high school cheerleader, who mixes agile gymnastics with her talent for wielding chainsaws to fend off against her town’s sudden outbreak of zombies. When I asked Suda if he enjoyed making zombie games, he smiled and answered with a resounding “Yeah!”

As I played through the game’s demo, I couldn’t help but get reminded of Shadows of the Damned, a survival-horror title Suda worked on last year that managed to be more funny than scary. Suda told me that while the monsters in Damned were zombie-like, the ones seen in Chainsaw are the real deal.

A lot of his inspiration behind Chainsaw’s concept came from movies. Suda has always liked American horror and comedy films that are set during high school. Being a fan of zombie films in general, he one day fused these two genres in his head, and the game was born. Suda also incorporated depictions of zombies from around the world and from different time periods to give players more variety.

In the game, Juliet can stun zombies with her pompoms and then slice through them with her powerful chainsaw. You can do fancy backflips as you’re attacking, and if you manage to kill three zombies in a row, you’ll start a flashy combo complete with glitter and confetti. Also, not only do you have Juliet’s boyfriend’s head by your hip, but you can also use him to attack zombies, even placing his head on the ones you decapitate to make them dance via a surprisingly fun rhythm game. I could definitely sense that familiar Suda humor among all the blood and gore.

As I made my way through the game, I noticed the music change when I entered into battle with one of the mini-bosses. The high school level I played may have showcased rock music, but the game’s soundtrack will be very eclectic. The various zombie lords Juliet will face are inspired by different music genres. Video game composer Akira Yamaoka knows his stuff, Suda told me, so he’s once again in charge of the game’s score, this time collaborating with singer and composer Jimmy Urine. Their collaboration was great, and Suda can’t wait for fans to experience it.

At PAX East I also got to sample the bizarre, but enjoyable, Black Knight Sword, another game of his coming out soon for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. This would be the third game, the first being Sine Mora, that Grasshopper Manufacture has made available in a downloadable format. Suda told me that downloadable games are something his company likes doing and hopes to do more often.

Before ending our interview, I just had to ask Suda how he comes up with such interesting (to say the least) video games. Other Japanese game designers like Shigeru Miyamoto have drawn inspiration from their hobbies, but I learned that Suda gets most of his ideas while he’s driving around town. The passing scenery and people help him blend together all his thoughts and ideas.

Suda is aware that our society loves zombies, whether they be on television, movies, or in games. Lollipop Chainsaw is another game that will feed our hunger for the undead in a way we perhaps haven’t experienced before, this time allowing us to cheer and dance with them as we fight for our lives.

Lollipop Chainsaw hits stores June 12.

Heroes of Ruin is a multiplayer action RPG being developed by n-Space that hopes to bring a few new features to the 3DS it hasn’t seen before. During PAX East, I got to play a demo alongside the team’s senior designer Charles Valentine Stuard, who not only guided me through the game’s basics, but also saved my life a few times mid-battle.

Upon first glance, Heroes of Ruin reminded me a lot of another Square Enix published title Dungeon Siege III, both by its fantasy setting and its quest-driven gameplay. Playing from an isometric perspective, up to four players can embark on a quest to find the cure for the king of Nexus, who has been poisoned by a terrible curse. The game offers many side-quests aside from the main story-driven ones, with one quest allowed active at a time. Because dungeons randomly generate, you’ll also never feel like you’re playing the same exact game.

The best way to experience Heroes of Ruins is to play it with other people. Once I joined Stuard’s host game, I got to choose my hero and customize his appearance, clothing, and even give him a name. The final game will have four characters to choose from including the heavy-hitting Savage and the Alchitect, the game’s mage. The demo I played, however, only had the gun-wielding Gunslinger and heavily armored Vindicator to choose from.

I chose the Gunslinger and Stuard played as the armored Vindicator. My character did basic attacks with the B button, and pressing or holding the A button let him perform his chargeable scatter-shot attack. The remaining face buttons come into play when characters level up and learn new special moves. While you can charge some moves, most are quick to come out. Not only that, but I also noticed that the energy meter that depletes when you perform special moves refills rather quickly. The game is action-oriented, Stuard said, so he wanted players to be able to attack right away rather than worry about what they were allowed to do.

Making our way through the labyrinthine forest level meant running into swarms of undead enemies and the occasional puzzle too. The puzzle we encountered required us to light up four runes by hitting them, but each attack also shut off a different one. Stuard stood back while I solved it, and explained that when playing with a party of four, some puzzles can be solved a lot more easily and quickly than if it’s just one or two people playing. Teamwork is definitely important, even during battles. Spiders can trap you with their web, and while you can tap buttons to escape, it’s a lot more effective if your teammate comes to free you.

Monsters you defeat give you experience points and drop loot that you can pick up, equip, or sell at the touch of a button, and standing over an item lets you see its attributes. It’s literally first come first serve when it comes to getting items, so if you don’t want an item, just don’t get it. You can also drop them or trade them with your teammates for loot or gold. Stuard also explained the Traders Network that sends any item you sell to anyone’s store you make contact with via Street Pass. With over 80,000 items in the game, this looks very promising.

The last part of the demo had us facing a mini-boss that mostly required us to mash buttons to whittle down her health. When someone dies, that person gets sent to the last checkpoint. If all party members get wiped out, they will need to restart that quest from the beginning. Stuard mentioned that heroes have certain synergies with one another, so the most efficient party has one of every hero. We still managed to defeat the boss with ease, even though I did die a few times.

Stuard and I played a local game, but Heroes of Ruin will also provide lots of online features not seen in a 3DS game before. Online matches are conveniently drop-in drop-out, so even if your friends leave your game unexpectedly, the enemy’s levels will be adjusted right away so you can continue playing by yourself. You can also chat with your friends using the 3DS’s microphone or by plugging in almost any headset, adding greatly to game’s already social aspect.

With over 15 hours of gameplay, customizable characters, an extensive inventory, and randomly generated dungeons, RPG fans and 3DS owners are in for a treat when Heroes of Ruin comes out on June 23.

True to its name, Edge of Reality’s upcoming free-to-play PC title not only focuses on weapon customization, but it takes it to the extreme. Loadout will give players countless weapon parts that can be mixed and combined before a match begins. Not only do these parts affect a weapon’s reload speed or ammo, they also change the way it behaves entirely.

Loadout’s creative director Mark Nau walked me through the game during a gameplay session at PAX East this weekend. Players were divided into two teams of four, and before a match started everyone had the chance to customize his weapon, swapping out fireballs for electric bolts, changing its ammo’s physics, or simply replacing bullets for rockets. I had a long list of parts to choose from, but I decided to play it safe and created a quick-fire weapon that shot fireballs in a straight line. While both teams are choosing their weapons, you can enter a practice room to test out your new gun too.

After Nau suggested at least one person on each team be the designated healer (yes, you can even replace damage-dealing ammunition for healing effects,) the match was on. Our task was to capture certain points around the map before the other team did. These bases kept moving to different areas after they were captured, so I needed to look at my map often to know where to go. The game doesn’t have a cover system, so my options were to always keep moving, either by jumping or rolling, to stay alive.

The weapon I chose was super helpful and it lit enemies on fire when my shots didn’t kill them. The game’s cel-shaded graphics and bloody, yet comedic humor, reminded me a lot of Team Fortress, a game that Nau confirmed to be one of the game’s inspirations. His goal was to make Loadout even more over-the-top, a goal that was evident when someone burned to a crisp, had his arm blown off, or simply exploded from a rocket blast.

After a few minutes of figuring out what I was doing, I got the hang of things and enjoyed setting enemies on fire. Our team ended up winning the match too! After each game, you get experience points and a new weapon part to add to your collection. These parts are random, so even lower level players can get rare, more powerful ones. Nau also said that his team will be adding access to weapon lockers that will let you change your loadouts during a match.

I really enjoyed my time with Loadout, not just because my team won, but because it was great to see a shooting game that focuses on something I enjoy – customization. I was also really impressed by how great it looked even in its pre-beta stage. Nau also mentioned he is working on increasing the number of players per match.

The game will begin its open beta this summer. Stay tuned for more news about Loadout in the months to come.

Primal Carnage is an upcoming game starring dinosaurs. Let me start out by saying I wasn’t keen on this idea as the last game I played involving dinos didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth. Thankfully, Lukewarm Media’s upcoming PC title is anything but Jurassic Park: The Game. Sure, it may draw some inspirations from the James Cameron films, but this game takes place in a whole different park.

This weekend at PAX East, Primal Carnage Assistant Producer Garrett Austin walked me through the basics. The game is divided into two teams: dinosaurs and humans, with each team having five distinct characters to choose from. Each human character has special skills to deal with certain dinosaurs, but so do the dinosaurs. Think “rock-paper-scissors,” Austin said.

Team dinosaur includes the stealthy Raptor that acts as the assault class; the big bad T-Rex that takes lots of beatings but is the slowest of the bunch; the versatile Dilophosaurus that can blind enemies from a distance with its acid spray attack; and finally, the Pteranodon that can swoop down, grab enemies, and drop them to their death. There is also a fifth class, the tiny Compsognathus, but it wasn’t playable. Austin told me they will act as the game’s horde class, letting you control a mob of dinosaurs to overwhelm your foes.

One of the first things you’ll notice when playing on the dinosaur team is that you play through a third-person perspective. After trying each dinosaur, I immediately fell in love with the sneaky raptor capable of instantly killing anyone with one quick pounce. Its only drawback was its low health, which could only be replenished by traveling outside the main battle zone to find and feed on animal carcasses. These are carnivores after all and require meat to survive. The T-Rex, however, is the only one that gets health from the humans it swallows. Pretty nifty considering how slow it is. Speaking of speed, jumping, running, or even pouncing on enemies drains your dino’s stamina bar that replenishes over time.

Though I was having a blast dominating with the dinos, I then played on the human team and realized how different it felt. Humans play using a first-person perspective and come with their own set of weapons and equipment. The Scientist is the sniper and can shoot tranquilizer darts to disorient the dinosaurs; the Commando is your powerhouse player complete with rocket launchers; the Pathfinder carries a shotgun, can fire flares, and has a dog by his side to alert him of incoming attacks; the Pyromaniac is a close-ranged attacker that wields a flamethrower and chainsaw; finally, the Trapper can trap dinosaurs in his net and then finish them off with one quick slice to the neck. Humans are naturally weak, so the most effective way to survive, Austin mentioned, is to stick together and support one another.

Like I said, I never thought playing as a dinosaur would be so much fun. Personally, I did feel they had an advantage over the humans simply because their attacks felt stronger. One pounce from a raptor, one bite from a T-Rex, and one grab from the Pteranodon was enough to kill someone. I also felt that the dinosaurs were faster and more durable to attacks, so trying to beat them was tricky and required teamwork. Still, the game is in its pre-beta phase, so what I played is still a work in progress.

Lukewarm Media is marketing the game as a multiplayer online game with hopes of allowing 12-16 players per match. Austin mentioned that they are working on implementing additional modes like Capture the Flag, but they’re trying to do it in a way that makes sense. Why would dinosaurs need to capture flags or bases anyway? He also mentioned his team is still considering including a single player mode.

We may not know why humans are fighting dinosaurs or why they’re in the same time period – the team is still working on that – but I did find out that Primal Carnage is a game I can’t wait to play once it comes out.

Below are screenshots from the preview video shown at PAX East last weekend. Read our full preview here.

The ones below are not from the video shown at PAX but they are awesome nonetheless.

Assassin’s Creed 3 comes out for Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 30th.

All good things come to an end. With PAX wrapping up on Easter, the show floor was not as packed and not as much cosplay was on display. Nonetheless, we bring you the best of Sunday!

If you let Ubisoft shave your head into a mohawk, you were given a tank top and a free copy of Far Cry 3

Happy Easter everybody! The bunny is here!

Chrono from Chrono Trigger

Col. Quaritch from Avatar.

I think there was some overlap with Anime Boston

More TF2 goodness.Spy and Fem-engineer.

Link going after Zelda

Mixed bag here

Yup, now I am convinced that Anime Boston had something to do with this

Warhammer 40k soldier

Claptraps!

This one stole a small child

Tanooki Mario!

This guy just rocked the Reddit

Nathan Drake

Random picture of the day: Colonel Sanders

Samara from Mass Effect. Like, no joke, that is Rana McAnear, the person they modeled Samara from for the game! (Thanks to Onan for the heads up)

Ghost from Call of Duty MW2 (as portrayed by a girl)

This Creeper seriously scared the crap out of me.

Katamari!

At the end of the day however, I think these guys win...at life.

Thanks for reading and keep coming back to Blast for more PAX East 2012 coverage throughout the week!

After what seemed like a century in hiatus, Max Payne has recently seen the light of day in a Rockstar developed and published project. At this year’s PAX East we got our first hands on.

Taking place several years after the end of Max Payne 2, the third installment in the series finds Max as a private security guard for a client in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has drank and painkilled himself into another deep hole of metaphors and soliloquies and is ready to get back into action. As his client’s trophy wife is kidnapped by a rival drug gang, he finds himself in a ton of trouble from which he can only bulletime himself out of.

The level we played starts off in New York City, as Max and his old police academy partner Raul Passos are in the middle of a heated chase. A new component to the Max Payne formula is the addition of a cover system. By pressing X on the 360 controller, Max will hug any piece of cover available to him. However, Rockstar made a point of not marking each level with obvious cover traversal. The cover is there, but Max’s ability to slow down time with his patterned bullet dodge move is the best way to approach each situation. Furthermore, the amount of environmental destruction in each level is such that no object will remain too sturdy after a frenetic firefight.

As the chase continues, and enemies try to stop your path, the ferocity of the combat comes into view. Every bullet is an individual model in the game, meaning they will pierce skin and break bone as they travel through the body. Some cringe worthy deaths were in full display  as headshots piled up. Adding to the realism and intensity of combat is Rockstar’s Euphoria physics engine. Used in GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption, this innovative physics system mixes rag doll physics with artificial intelligence to give each character some real weight and believable reactions when getting shot. More importantly, it prevents Max from clipping through any objects in the game as he flies though the air during a dodge. One needs to be careful about where they are dodging, seeing how a a collision with a wall can end your streak of badassness in a heartbeat. However, if you do land wrong, Max will remain on the ground, letting you pivot and twist around while you are shooting, without needing to get up. It needs to be played to fully understand, but it works really well in the heat of battle.

James McCaffrey returns as the voice of Max, this time further embodying the character by providing his likeness as well as some mo-cap work. The is just a fraction of the work done to amp up the presentation. When cut scenes break the action it will be through in-engine comic book style panels, where important events are cut up into frames and dialogue is displayed on the screen. The transition in and out of these is seamless, and when partnered with Max’s classic somber monologues, the film noire atmosphere comes off strong.

As the demo wrapped up we got to play a level further on in the campaign where Max is in a shootout at a Brazilian soccer stadium. Max Payne 3 sticks close to its roots retaining the painkiller driven health system from the previous games. You can gain back part of your health if you use a painkiller, but if you are out you will die a merciless death. Added to this mechanic is a type of “last stand” feature in which if an enemy lands a lethal blow, bullet time will activate, giving you a second chance to finish them. If you manage to kill them, a painkiller will be used with a bit more style than simply pressing up on the d-pad.

It is good to see Max back in action. The game is well on its way to come roaring into next generation consoles and the new additions are set to help enhance an already perfected gameplay mechanic. Hardcore fans are sure to be pleased and newcomers cannot ask for a better time to join. This game better be on your radar.

Max Payne 3 will release on the XBox 360 and PS3 on May 15th and PC on May 29th.

Day two of PAX East has come to a close, giving us a good chance to look back at some of the best cosplay of the day.

Pikachu!

Dovakin

TF2 Spy

AC 2 Doctor

Army of Two brah!

Rikku and Sub Zero are dating. Yeah, I didn't know either

Sonic!

Female asassin

Skullgirl

Creepy nurse

Two-face

Bumblebee

Old SNAAAAAKE!

Nurse joy

Hit girl

Dead soldier

TF2 Scout

Big Daddy, Little Sister, and Splicer

Anja from Gears of War

Juliet from Lollipop Chainsaw (plus more Anja)

Full Assassin'c Creed cast

Canada man?

Ghostbusters, B.A. Baracus, and More Juliet.

Pink Ranger!

Once again feel free to vote and let us know which ones you like the most!

P.S: If a picture has no caption I have no idea who they are. Knowledge is power so please let me know what they are dressed as!

NeatherRealm studios have done a fantastic job bringing back the Mortal Kombat series with last years critical and financially successful reboot. Now they are attempting to break into the handheld market with a straight port from their console game onto the PS Vita.  Here is our hands on.

First things first, Mortal Kombat for the Vita is running on the Unreal Engine 3 and it shows. While it is not a one to one port, NeatherRealm is not toning anything down. Full blood effects, gore on characters and sharp as a knife textures pop out from the screen. The OLED display does these graphics justice, providing bright colors and fantastic lighting.

The entire combo list from the original game has been ported and it works surprisingly well in the smaller package. While the d-pad is not as intuitive as we would like, the back touch panel has not been mapped to any controls, allowing you to spread your fingers and hold the system as you wish. Fatalities utilize the front touchscreen interestingly, letting you perform a finishing blow by swiping your fingers through the screen rather than putting the input on the pad.

Vita users will be happy to see a complete roster of Mortal Kombat characters including the additional DLC ones such as Freddy Krueger. Furthermore, there are new levels in the challenge tower, many of which use the Vita’s touchscreen, such as the Fruit Ninja-esque “Test your Slice.” Just replace fruit with human heads and you get the idea. New items also litter the Krypt, giving old fans a reason to come back to this awesome fighter.

Mortal Kombat Vita hits store shelves on May 1st.

Here’s a new look at Hawken, one of this year’s biggest and most anticpated titles, straight from the PAX East floor!

Hawken launches this December.

Anywhere where gamers gather in large numbers, there are bound to be cosplayers. From the intricate to the ridiculous, here are some of the best costumes we saw at the first day of PAX East 2012.

Vault Dweller

Female League of Legends Champion (as portrayed by a male)

Very clever GLAD-OS

Kid Icarus

Dancing Zombies (who hate plants)

Far Cry 3 mercenary

SNAKE! SNAAAAAKE!

Zelda

Double Luigi

Noob Saibot and his Jedi friend

Mega-Girl?Booth Babes for Steel Battalion

Harley Quinn

Vincent from Catherine

U mad?

Who is the best? Let us know in the comments! The costumes with the most votes will make it into our top 10 list at the end of the weekend!

A new title from Paradox Interactive may just be the sleeper hit of the convention. War of the Roses is an original take on the team deathmatch formula, one which brings new life and a new setting to a well trodden area of gaming. Here is our hands on.

Taking place during the titular War of the Roses (between the British families of York and Lancaster) the game seeks to become a “medieval Battlefield 3.” Our hands on consisted of a standard team deathmatch between 6 players. At the beginning of each round you were allowed to choose a class which ranged from a standard foot soldier armed with a sword and mace to a longbowman lacking armor but rocking range.

To be honest, we were expecting the combat to come off as clunky and unorganized, as most melee first multiplayer games have in the past. However, War of the Roses features some radically intuitive combat. The PC only title has you use the mouse of aim the direction of your blow. You can charge up a blow by holding down the left click, and while it may deal more damage, it will cause you to leave your guard open for a counterattack. On the defensive end, one can use the mouse to parry in any direction. A correctly blocked blow will stagger an enemy, giving you the chance to move in for the kill. Realistic weapon physics really help make War of the Roses a unique experience. If a blow swings too wide it may strike a rock or a tree, causing you to stagger back and leave yourself open. Once an enemy has been downed, the game allows you to execute them with a brutal stab in the face.

On the ranged side, playing as a long bowman or crossbow soldier provides its own challenge. Ranged units do not benefit from the heavy armor that most other units sport. For that reason, a strong blow by a two handed sword can be lethal. As payoff, one is much more maneuverable as an archer, allowing you to strafe around a knight and shoot them in the back. However, if a shot is not strong enough, it will not pierce the armor unless it strikes any exposed flesh.

Upgrading will occur much like any other muliplayer game. While the economy for player progression is not set in stone, the developer assures us that one will see a clear sense of progress the longer one plays.

Paradox is putting a lot of effort behind this title and the potential is ridiculous. If they can deliver on the promise of larger maps, dozens of players at once, and horse combat, this may be a must own PC exclusive this year.

If you have yet to register for Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East or are having second thoughts about going to the biggest gaming expo on the east coast, you better make up your mind fast as Friday and Sunday passes for this weekend’s event are quickly disappearing.

“Only a few hundred Friday passes left. Probably sell out in a 2-3 days at this rate,” announced the official Twitter account for PAX, the three-day event that had sold out its three day passes a couple of months ago.

PAX East and its west coast cousin PAX Prime are one of the only occasions fans can play some big-name games before they are released. Here’s a quick list of some of the games, demos, and previews the big developers and publishers will be showcasing this weekend.

Square Enix (Booth 850)

Sleeping Dogs, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Quantum Conundrum, Heroes of Ruin, Wafku, Risen 2: Dark Waters

Microsoft (Booth 524)

Crimson Dragon, Deadlight, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Trials Evolution, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, Fable: Heroes, Kinect Sports: Season  Two, Kinect Star Wars, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor

Nintendo (Booth 412)

Mario Power Tennis Open, Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Mario Kart 7, Resident Evil Revelations, Ketzal’s Corridors, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword, Pushmo, Dillon’s Rolling Western

2K Games (Booths 924, 936, 1036)

Borderlands 2, Spec Ops: The Line, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Civilization V: Gods & Kings

Rockstar (Booth 912)

Max Payne 3

Sega (Booths 448, 548)

Hell Yeah, Sonic 4 Episode 2, Jet Set Radio, Virtua Fighter 5: Showdown, Virtua Tennis Challenge, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, House of the Dead 4, Aliens Colonial Marines

Ubisoft (Booth 824, 836)

Assassin’s Creed III (footage,) Far Cry 3, Mad Riders, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online, I Am Alive, Babel Rising, Monster Burner, MotoHeroz, Prince of Persia Classic HD

Reverb Publishing (Booth 808)

Girl Fight, Wheels of Destruction, Black Knight Sword, Bang Bang Racing, JAM Live Music Arcade, Primal Carnage (booth 1167,) Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat, Shoot Many Robots (booth 612,) Dungeon Defenders, Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad, Country Dance All Stars,

Paradox Interactive (Booth 368)

War of the Roses, The Showdown Effect

Perfect World (Booth 736)

Neverwinter, Blacklight: Retribution, RaiderZ

Don’t forget too that aside from these studios, other, lesser known, developers will be there as well, so be sure to check them out. You never know what indie game will be the next Journey!

Duh. With the success of the original Borderlands — of course a sequel is coming. It’s just good to get the nod from Gearbox themselves.

The recently announced shooter sequel, which is expected to hit sometime after March of next year, will  bring players to the unexplored regions of planet Pandora, and introduce “all-new characters, skills, environments, enemies, weapons and equipment.

Want to see the game in action? Borderlands 2 will be officially unveiled at this year’s GamesCom on the 17-21 of this month and PAX Prime on August 26-28/

SEATTLE — Sony brought a few Move titles to show off at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo, and with both of the major new motion technology being released soon it was interesting to see what would be available for titles.

It does kinda feel like a Wii game...

One of Sony’s new Move titles is cleverly called Heroes on the Move. You play one of the famous characters: Sly Cooper, Ratchet, Clank, Jak, or Dexter. This is a party title, with short quick games to get a group of people into it.

I was able to play through two levels of the game. The first one was a modified bowling game. The player bowls a ball in the level, then uses the controller to direct the ball to roll in certain directions to hit all the enemies on the board. The ball keeps rolling until it falls off the map. There are bumpers and ramps on the map to help direct the ball in the direction of the enemy units that must be destroyed.

You move the controller up to jump over things or to get it to get to higher areas. The level that I played was fairly easy, but was still fun. The character could also be moved around the board to other starting locations to help get to different spots, like to bowl behind where it started. The controls took small motions to nudge it in different directions, and felt a lot like a Wii Game.

With the glowing orb at the end of the Move controller it was able to very accurately track all my movements, since it knows the exact dimensions of the ball, it knows how far away it is by how big the circle is, and can tell moving forward, and backwards as well as from side to side, and up and down.

The second level I got to play was one where you could throw a disc around to hit the targets. The disc stops when it hits a wall or other object that isn’t breakable. The discs also stop if you try to go to high with them too fast — they stall out and fall to the earth. This level had a limited time and a limited number of discs. As you’re destroying the enemies, you have to also collect more discs and time bonuses to keep going.

Overall the game was fun, and I would enjoy playing it as a friendly party game, and it has potential as a family title. The only complaint is it did feel like a game more designed for the Wii, just using Sony Franchise characters.

SEATTLE — Kung Fu Rider will be coming the PlayStation Network, and it will use the Move Controller. The game features an office worker in Hong Kong riding less traditional "vehicles" down the busy streets.

It was described as similar in style to Crazy Taxi, and we wholeheartedly agree. The demo that we got to play was with an office chair. The character sits on the office chair, backwards, using the seat back as a steering wheel. The final game will feature a variety of weird vehicles.

The movements are fairly simple. You move the controller up and down to go faster, quick upward jerk will cause the chair to jump, so you can leap over objects and grind on rails if you land correctly. They also use two buttons on the controller, one to lean the character back, to duck under objects, and another to do a round house kick. This makes the controls very simple. The game was very arcade like also with the graphics very cartoonish.

The animations in the game when you’d lean back, kick or jump or even when you’d get knocked off your chair were hilarious. Getting knocked off your chair happens in slow motion, with an exaggerated fall backwards.

The object of the levels was to get to the bottom within a time limit, and falling off would punish you by losing time and speed. They have money scattered throughout the level to collect for points.

I thought it was a fun, and quick game. It’s not going to be a real deep story line game, but if you want something quick and fun, you’ll like Kung Fu Rider.

Kung Fu Rider is for 1-2 players and comes out this month.

Game features:

• Find the best routes of escape while racing through 27 exciting courses in six unique areas of Hong Kong.
• Slide solo in single-player mode or have a friend use a PlayStation Move motion controller to aim a "target" around the screen in order to collect items and fend off enemies in the offline multi-player co-op mode.
• Unlock 12 new vehicles that will help you make a speedy getaway through the streets of Hong Kong.
• Check out the tally screen at the end of each race to see your reactions captured by the PlayStation Eye camera during your most extreme wipeouts.

SEATTLE — Valve has running a hands-off demo of the co-op play for Portal 2 during the Penny Arcade Expo.

The Game features two robots, an orange one and a blue one, that Glados has given a set of missions too. The game still plays with the expected commentary, where Glados will say things like "make you wish you could die," after one of the Robots gets "killed.”

The Portal colors were modified slightly, so that it makes it easier to tell which player shot which side of which portal. One portal is red and yellow, and the other is blue and purple. They also added a new “ping” tool. The developers noticed that even when the two players are in the same room telling each other what to do would be tricky, especially with how tricky some of Portal’s puzzles can be. The tool points a marker where you want the other player to place a portal. This helps coordinating, where you can tell the other side what you need them to do.

The co-op missions will be about twice the length of the original portal game. They will be the same length as the single player missions.

They then showed off some of the new puzzle devices in the game. There is a laser, which can be redirected with light cubes, but they require extra caution in the co-op mode that you don’t accidentally use it on the other player. There is a light platform that the robots can walk across, and like all other objects in the game, the new ones will move through the portals. They showed off one of the ways that two players will be needed in the new game, by having the light path going over the acid from one player’s portal, than needing to change the direction to go down another hallway. If the first player moved their portal, the path they are standing on would disappear, and both robots would fall into the acid.

They showed another co-op solution in making more practical a move that was previously a fun stunt to pull in the game. It had been fun to shoot a portal on the ceiling and the floor, so that the player falls from infinitely gaining speed to terminal velocity. In the original one, this, while still being a fun move, wasn’t very practical since the screen moves so fast that it’s near impossible to redirect the upper portal anywhere useful. With two players though, one player starts falling through the other player’s portals, and then they redirect the output to a desired location, shooting the falling player out at maximum velocity, without requiring a huge cliff.

They also added more comic relief to the game. The two robots can wave at each other, and even hug. It’s very funny to watch one of them "forget" to hit a switch, killing the other, and then offer a hug in apology. Though in a non-demo situation, I’m not sure how often either move would be used.

The video ended with a demonstration of the new features of the game, and the two robots preparing to begin their task. I’m looking forward to this when it’s released on Feb 9, 2011, on the Xbox 360, PC, Mac and PlayStation 3.

This year’s list of the world’s most influential people according to TIME magazine includes the famed creators of Penny Arcade, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. They are also the founders of PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) and PAX East – gaming shows which have become some of the largest and most influential in the industry.

What started in 1998 with a simple comic strip, has evolved into a multifaceted gaming empire that includes the comic/website, a web show called Penny Arcade TV, the incredible – always fan-focused – PAX shows and an amazing charity, Child’s Play, that delivers games to sick kids around the world.

Today, Penny Arcade has over 3.5 million readers and the duo behind it show no signs of slowing down. Congratulations, gentlemen!

Source: G4

Tonight at the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston, Infinity Ward’s Robert “FourZeroTwo” Bowling commented on the current state of affairs involving the fallout between publisher Activision and the studio, which led to the firing of Infinity Ward founders Jason Young and Vince Zampella.

Bowling adamantly affirmed to the audience that whatever we’ve heard, whatever we think we know, it’s not actually factual and morale at the studio is just fine.

“Infinity Ward is 100 super dedicated people. Vince and Jason, love those guys. Important thing to know is that there are 100 guys who slave over these games. And they’re still there.”

He went further, saying there’s nothing to fear.

“You don’t have to worry about anything. The map pack is still making its release date. News stories sensationalize it. Moral is good at Infinity Ward.”

Whether or not he’s being forced to regurgitate PR spun answers is one thing, but if he’s not lying, this is great news.

Next weekend’s inaugural east coast gaming show, PAX East, is 100 percent sold out, a show representative said today.

PAX East

The show, March 26-28 at the Hynes Convention Center in lovely Boston, Mass. is now completely sold out, with over 60,000 expected to attend.

We’ll be at the show in full force, reporting on panels with industry folk and bringing you in-depth hands-on coverage of unreleased games. So if you missed out on buying a badge and attending, keep it locked at Blast for round-the-clock coverage.

PAX East 2010

Bow before Omegathon!

One of PAX’s most anticipated events every year is the hilarious Omegathon. The new PAX East version has an ‘East Coast’ twist which will feature team play in every single round.

Previous Omegathons have featured team play, but never in the finals. The PAX East competition features a Prize Pack including 2500 gold – in addition to tickets, airfare and hotels for Gamescom.

The First 3 Rounds of the competition will feature:

Round 1)  Mario Kart: Double Dash

Round 2) Geometry Wars 2

Round 3) Unnamed Rythym Game

The game played in the 4th round is a well-guarded secret and will only be announced the night of the competition (March 28th). Contestants will be selected during the Wil Wheaton keynote. Past Omegathons have produced some considerable hostility between teammates who were not performing up to expectations. This year’s event looks to take the level of verbal abuse toward strangers to a whole new level.  Who would ever want to miss that?

The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX, is coming East in March and landing in our backyard in Boston.

It’s open to the public and for one weekend in late March it’ll be the gaming capital of the world. You’re going to be there right?

A recent posting on PAX East’s Web site simply reads: FACT. We will sell out of badges for PAX East Coast 2010. And continued with based on what we’re seeing on pre-registration numbers there will be NO BADGES AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR.

Blast Magazine will be at the show in full force bringing you live coverage of the show’s many panels and getting our hands on every game on the show floor, but you should join us.

Will be sold out soon!

If you haven’t already, head over to the PAX East page and grab yourself a ticket today before they’re gone.

PAX East

The 2009 PAX, or the Penny Arcade Expo, a nerd-gathering and social gaming destination held in Seattle over the summer was a grand hit. It drew thousands of guests who came to play games, listen to music, and join in the general revelry of the event.

We went and wrote all the hands-on previews you could read, but if you desire a documentary-style DVD of the happenings, PAX has you covered.

The DVD collection, with over 10 hours of content on six discs, will arrive in the PAX Store later this month.

And keep an eye out for PAX East, a mammoth-sized event landing in Boston in late March.

Harmonix is paying tribute to this weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) convention in Seattle by offering up tunes from bands playing the show as next week’s DLC for Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3, and for half-off the regular $2 price to play.

So if you cannot attend PAX over the next 4 days and see these bands live, why not enjoy them in the comfort of your living room, in digital form in Rock Band?

Furthermore, for the more mainstream audience, Harmonix is also selling tunes from A.F.I., 3 Doors Down, Audioslave, and The Jackson 5, at full price however.

*99 cents instead of $1.99

‚· Freezepop “" “Get Ready 2 Rokk” *

‚· Freezepop “" “Less Talk More Rokk” *

‚· Freezepop “" “Science Genius Girl” *

‚· Jonathan Coulton “" “Re: Your Brains” *

‚· MC Frontalot “" “Origin of Species” *

‚· Paul & Storm “" “Opening Band” *

+ Full Price

‚· 3 Doors Down “" “Kryptonite” +

‚· AFI “" “Miss Murder” +

‚· Audioslave “" “Gasoline” +

‚· Jackson 5 “" “ABC” +

And as always, Harmonix continues to play catch-up with Wii rockers, adding the following tunes to their growing library September 8.

‚· Avenged Sevenfold “" “Bat Country”

‚· The Jam “" “A Town Called Malice”

‚· The Jam “" “Going Underground”

‚· Oasis “" “Supersonic” (Live)

‚· Rage Against the Machine “" “Guerilla Radio”

‚· Talking Heads “" “And She Was”

‚· Talking Heads “" “Crosseyed & Painless”

‚· Talking Heads “" “Girlfriend is Better”

‚· Talking Heads “" “Once in a Lifetime”

‚· Talking Heads “" “Take Me to the River”

And finally, if you love your Rock Band on the go, the following tunes will be added to the “Rock Band: Unplugged” catalog on September 10.

Godsmack “" “I Stand Alone”

Stone Roses “" “Love Spreads”

BioWare and Gabe & Tycho have come together to create a new 8 part web comic based on the upcoming fantasy epic Dragon Age: Origins. The comic focuses on a dangerous encounter between a party of mage-hunting Templar Knights, the reviled “Witch of the Wilds” Flemeth and her deadly daughter Morrigan. The comic provides a dark introduction to the game’s brutal world. The first page of the series is available here, with a new page released each week. The site will also hold an exclusive Q & A with Penny Arcade on the site as they share some of their impressions and favorite moments. Anyone who wants to see the game and play it can get an advanced look at the game at Penny Arcade Expo! Anyone who wants to should go to booth # 622. The game is being released on PC and Xbox 360 on November 3 with a later PS3 release to be announced. Comment below with impressions and thoughts!

Fans of the Wii and DSi should be lining up to buy tickets to Seattle, because Nintendo will be showing off many of their new and upcoming games at the Penny Arcade Expo! They’ve got their own booth (#352) and are ready to give fans a sneak peek at upcoming games and let them meet several video game artists in the process.

Nintendo’s video game line up at PAX will showcase games like New Super Mario Bros Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Metroid Prime Trilogy (check out our review here), Wii Sports Resort and Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. In addition to these games, Nintendo will be showing off the new WiiWare game Pokemon Rumble, which allows players to fight against enemies and allows for multiplayer co-op battles.

In addition to showcasing their upcoming games, Nintendo has scheduled a Flipnote Studio presentation with several well known artists. Flipnote Studio is a free DSi Ware application which allows gamers to draw a series of pictures which are then animated to resemble pictures drawn on notepads. Among the artists chosen for the demonstrations are Scott Kurtz (PvP), Eric Jones (DC Comics: Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade), Christina Strain (Marvel Comics: Runaways), Mike Choi (Marvel: X-Force), Edison Yan (5th Cell: Scribblenauts) and Ryan Jones (Telltale Games: Tales of Monkey Island).

So from September 4-6, Nintendo will be showing off their latest developments. Be sure to stop buy their booth and check them out!

Electronic Arts today announced that the highly anticipated Dead Space: Extraction has officially gone gold in preparation for a September 29 debut and will be playable to the game-crazy masses at PAX this weekend in Seattle.

The Wii exclusive, developed by Visceral Games, formerly EA Redwood Shores, is a prequel to the award winning and pants-wetting “Dead Space” and promises to bring gamers the same elevated heart rates and horrid nightmares its big brother did.

What’s more is EA is bringing the M-rated “Extraction” to PAX this weekend in Washington state to help win over undecided gamers and journalists alike. Our editor, Marc, will be on site playing the title and sending you his thoughts. Stay tuned!

Riot Games, an independent game studio famous for crafting online games, announced today that their latest digital endeavor, League of Legends for the PC will be playable for PAX attendees this weekend in Seattle, WA.

What’s more is that the first 20,000 PAX attendees will receive an in-game treasure; a champion skin designed by Penny Arcade and everyone that plays League of Legends, or simply stops by the team’s booth, will receive a beta key for the title.

And finally, Riot plans on unveiling the playable versions of 8 new heroes imaged below at the show. And fear not, for our big boss man, Marc, is flying out to the west coast to soak in all the glorious information on League Of Legends and everything else!

Written by‚ Brian Szabelski

SEATTLE — The general consensus on‚ Wii Music, at least based off their disastrous E3 press conference showing, is that the game is utter garbage, a waggle-fest geared towards the preschool and the extremely elderly. However, after getting hands-on time at PAX with‚ Wii Music, I can tell you those perceptions are incorrect.‚ Wii Music‚ is not nearly as bad as the E3 crowd might have made it out to be. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s not utter garbage.

First off, if you are a “hardcore” gamer, this game is not designed with you in mind. Some people may take an interest in certain aspects of the game, which I will give detail on in a bit, but the simplicity of‚ Wii Music‚ is clearly geared towards those new to the gaming scene.

At PAX, the free play and drum set modes were available for play. The free play mode is the one you are most familiar with. Free play has a “no-fail” setting by default, meaning you can’t lose no matter what you play. And yes, there are note charts for each of the songs, but you don’t have to play along exactly on the right beat. This turns free play into more of an experiment than anything else, but there will be close to 60 instruments in the final version of the game, ranging from the now-infamous dog suit to drums, guitars, and saxophones. Each of these instruments has different motions that are used to play it, and pressing different buttons on the Wii remote or nunchuk will produce different notes. At any time, up to four players can participate in a song, with six total musicians on stage: a minimum of two musicians are always computer-controlled, but you can select which parts you want to play.

The PAX line-up featured only 5 songs, including the themes from‚ Super Mario Bros.and‚ The Legend of Zelda; when the game is released, a full roster of 50 songs will be available, mixing more modern songs along with classical tunes and Nintendo themes. In this sense, it’ll probably be similar to Nintendo’s previous music game offering,Donkey Konga. Each of the songs can be played at a number of different tempos and in a variety of different styles, including Japanese, reggae, rock and country among others. It’s a nice way to change the game up a little bit, but it’s not the only way.

While being able to record your performances and send them to your friends doesn’t sound like a whole lot,‚ Wii Music‚ offers a few options that add to the replay value. You can rate your performances on how well you thought you did, but your friends can adjust those scores if they think you did better or worse. While that all still sounds like nothing, there is one more thing your friends can do with your performances: remix them.‚ Wii Music‚ will allow you to change the tempo, style, and instrumentation of performances your friends send to you, offering up a chance to change things around a little bit and experiment. I personally think that feature will be one of the hidden gems in‚ Wii Music, much like how the music maker was in‚ Mario Paint.

Also on display at PAX was a drum set mini-game. By pressing different buttons on the Wii remote and nunchuk, you will be able to hit different drums and cymbals on the set. The Wii balance board is used to control the bass drum and hi-hat cymbal pedals. It takes a bit of getting used to this setup, but after a while, it feels natural. Most of the people I saw playing this at PAX seemed to enjoy it, though they weren’t going as nuts as Ravi Drums was at E3. Other games that will be included are the conducting mini-game from E3 a few years back as well as other drum-like solo games and lessons on how to play.

Like other‚ Wii‚ series titles, graphics are kept rather simple on purpose, both in design and in its bright color scheme. There are different backgrounds in free play mode to pick from, but overall, everything about this game screams simple. For‚ Wii Music, it works fine, because the game doesn’t need to be graphics intensive like‚ Fallout 3‚ orGears of War 2.

Wii Music‚ is not intended to be‚ Guitar Hero‚ or‚ Rock Band. It’s more likeElectroplankton, an experiment in games for the newer gamer. At the end of the day,Wii Music‚ is going to sell well, perhaps not as well as‚ Wii Play‚ or‚ Wii Fit, but it is not the end of Nintendo, like some will have you believe. With so much of‚ Wii Musicshrouded in mystery, though, keep an eye out for some future announcements from Nintendo on more content for the game.

The Penny Arcade Expo ran August 29-31.‚ The 5-year-old exposition is regarded at one of the seminal in the video game industry, adding music and pop culture elements. The Miniboses performed this year.

Popular Internet comic Penny Arcade announced today that the fifth Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) will be held August 29-31, 2008.

The 2007 expo brought in 37,000 gamers at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, and outpaced any other event of its kind.

PAX is a three-day “celebration of games and gamer culture,” the company said.

The festival includes an exhibition floor filled with playable builds of upcoming tabletop, console, and computer games; a conference program of game-industry speakers on gaming topics; music concerts; freeplay areas; industry parties; game tournaments and more. Since its inception in 2004 the show has doubled in size each year, with 4,500 attendees in 2004, 9,500 in 2005, 19,300 in 2006, and 37,000 in 2007.

Last year’s keynote speaker, Wil Wheaton attacked video game stereotypes and questioned opinions that gaming was related to antisocial behavior. PAX is consistently filled with the notion that gaming is a social interaction. Last year, groups competed face-to-face, and played new games like Rock Band and SingStar

“PAX has always been about community,” said Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade, “and I think that was really reflected in the overall vibe of the show. PAX celebrates what it means to be a gamer, and walking onto the show floor gives you this sense of kinship … it just feels right.”

Exhibitor packets are available now, and attendee registration starts in January, according to Michael Meyers PR.