PAX Prime 2011 - A virtual tour, Part 1

Now that I've finally covered all of the special interest areas of PAX, it's finally time to take a general tour through the exhibition hall and talk briefly about the various games I saw while I was there.

FireFall was everywhere at PAX. They clearly had a large budget for advertising this year vs. last year, when they first introduced the concept of the game.

Graphics about the game were posted all over the place in unexpected areas. They even had graphics applied to the sides of the escalators. There was even this gigantic tableau out in the foyer next to the Prototype 2 exhibit (which we'll see later). Periodically an animation would play in this model where the flaps that are currently laying on the ground in this picture would pneumatically lever themselves upward as if the pod was getting ready to blast off.

A close up of the lady figure. Who cares about the guy figure? :)

I didn't spend any time playing this game (shame on me!), but I was able to sign up to be entered into the 'beta,' which is apparently running now. Supposedly you just need to register here and you'll be put into the 'beta' pool, which is to say, you might get a chance to play the game eventually. I still haven't received an invitation, so clearly I am not cool enough to play.

Gears of War 3 is arriving in a few short weeks, so of course we had quite a bit of advertising material for it lying around, including this model of Marcus from the game. Impressive, but silly.

The 'Just Dance' series of games were a crowd favorite, just like they were last year. Elsewhere they also had a 'Just Dance 2' booth. Never underestimate the capability of normally introverted nerds to dance like crazy people in front of thousands if they get to play a game while doing it.

Unlike 'Just Dance 2,' which was a Wii exclusive, 'Just Dance 3' will also be on Xbox 360 and PS3. It's coming this October, so soon you too will have a chance to make a fool of yourself in front of your television.

More 'Just Dance' footage with the destructoid robot this time. Check out my earlier post from a few days ago for video of him dancing.

The scout trooper was getting down with his bad self.

This is what they do in the break room when they're not chasing Ewoks.

I bet he would've beaten Luke in a dance off.

'Guild Wars 2' had a large presence at PAX also. Unfortunately, I didn't brave the long lines to check it out. Some of that was because I haven't yet had a chance to try out 'Guild Wars 1' from when I picked it up during a Steam sale. My excitement should rise once I get a chance to play the first game.

Another shot of the 'Guild Wars 2' goodness with different lighting from later on.

Another shot of the same art flipped, downstairs in front of the t-shirt store.

Bethesda upped the ante for Skyrim by bringing a big old gigantic dragon to intimidate the crowds.

It's too bad it wasn't breathing fire out of its mouth. Better not give them any ideas...

RROAWR! It looked awesome. Sadly, again, I didn't go check out Skyrim. I wasn't overly enthralled with either Oblivion or Morrowind, the last two entries in the series. I think I'll wait and see on this game.

If I knew more about Dungeons & Dragons I could tell you who this guy is. But I don't. Oh well.

Messing with his cat would be a very bad idea, though.

The Songbird, the mysterious villain from Bioshock: Infinite! I actually stood through this line. They didn't have a presentation, sadly, but I was able to get a signed poster out of the deal. I'll post a picture of the poster some other time. Other people took a quiz on some artwork they were displaying to get a t-shirt (I should have taken photos of some of that art!)

Various companies show off their awesome case mods at PAX. I'm not sure I'd want my computer to be 'powered by a skull,' but it does look pretty cool.

RAGE guys! Sadly, yet another exhibit I didn't sit in line for.

Jace Beleren from the Magic universe! He likes to use Blue, which means he's a bastard, unsummoning all your creatures and cancelling all your good cards.

Liliana Vess, black magic witch extraordinaire. Apparently, she's going to be featured in the next magic set.

Time for a change in venue! This year, PAX also had game companies upstairs on the sixth floor. Sadly, they were a little more out of the way than the people on the main exhibition floors, but it did make it easier to get around and look at everything up there. Some really cool indie games were being shown there.

Take 'Uncle Slam,' for example. The idea is to select a president, then knock his teeth out.

"Why are you sitting down on the job, my good chap?"

The game is played on an iOS, so either an IPhone or an IPad. The IPad probably works best. You can maneuver your president forwards and backwards, then touch on the boxing glove you want to use and slide your finger in the direction you want to punch.

"Put up your dukes, I say, we need to decide whether to create a national bank."

If your health bar ran out, you were knocked out. Also, your energy bar would drain when you threw punches.

I turned out to be horrible at this game, unable to really connect properly with my boxing gloves. It was down to the wire, my health almost gone.

"My fiscal policy is obviously more sound!"

Things looked dire until I discovered that if you backed up, then rushed forward, you could knock down the other president, forcing him to get up. I rushed back and forth like a whirling dervish, determined to knock my opponent over.

I had no health left, but the match wasn't over! I rushed forward, pushing him over. I thought for sure he would get up and finish me off, but the bell rang. The round was over, and I was the winner! I'm still not sure how I won. Dumb luck, probably.

If you own the proper IDevice, I would recommend you get this game. The demo I played had around ten presidents, but they claim when they're finished they'll have all former presidents in game, right up to Obama. That will let you choose your favorite president and go at it in a Mike Tyson-esque punch out to the end!

That's all for tonight, stay tuned for a continued tour of the games I saw at PAX!