PAX PAX PAX PAX

written by Blain Newport on Monday, August 24, 2009

PAX is just around the corner. Okay, it's technically more than a week away, but it's taken over my thoughts.

Last year we had a pre-PAX Sacramento lunch gathering organized by VThornheart. Because he moved away, this year we have the pre-PAX Sacramento lunch gathering organized by me. I'm generally not a fan of organizing (or people), but the process has been pretty painless so far. I attribute that to keeping it simple.

1) Pick a time
2) Get a list of interested parties.
3) Figure a geographically central location.
4) Use Google to find a restaurant.
2b) People who express a conditional desire to attend aren't considered interested parties.

That last one had to be added mainly for some Bay Area folks who were only interested if the event was held near to them. It made more sense to me to favor people who were enthusiastic. We'll see.

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RT @Weezul Dante, Mass 2, Dragon Age, BFBC 2, Saboteur, Extraction, Warhammer, Brutal, Shift, Nitro, Nerf, MS Agents, Ao2, APB.

For those who don't use Twitter, that's the syntax for forwarding (RT = re-tweet) a tweet from EA.com Czar Jon Weezul, listing games Electronic Arts will be showing at PAX.

I wish all developers / publishers would do this. I'd understand if certain plans fell through and a game couldn't make it. But it still makes it a lot easier to plan my time.

Also, if it's not hands-on, I don't care. I should make that a T-shirt.

Dante's Inferno - I still want hands-on to see if it's worth playing.
Mass Effect 2 - If the action in this game is actually fun, it will be the first Bio-Ware game I'll finish since Shattered Steel.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Bad Company is a more story focused Battlefield series. The AI in the original was terrible, but the destructibility supposedly made for good multiplayer. I'll saunter by.
The Saboteur - World War 2 meets Okami. That's a weird enough concept that I'll have to take a look.
Dead Space: Extraction - Potentially the best Wii light gun game ever. :) We'll see.
Brütal Legend - Apparently this game is something of a brawler / RTS hybrid. I have grave doubts as I didn't much care for Sacrifice or Overlord. But I want to get some hands-on time to give it a chance.

And that's about it. I might wander by My Sims Agents to watch Jeff Green do demos. And APB is trying to be a Grand Theft Auto MMO, which is vaguely interesting.