GC and PAX summaries

Here's my take on game thingey's announced at the recent Leipzig Game Conference ("Leipzig", or "GC") and Penny Arcade Expo (PAX).

By way of framework, there are games I care about, there are conference-related announcements, and there are conference-related announcements about games I care about. My summaries are mostly about this overlap. With smatterings of other stuff to celebrate diversity.

Oh, and Uwe Boll was the surprise guest at PAX. Not Jack Thompson. Good.

On to game announcements.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures -- I'm a Conan fan, and getting two games based on the franchise is pretty cool. This one is the MMO from Funcom, expected in early 2008 for PC (with an Xbox 360 version following), and early play tests from press have been fairly positive (with the caveat that for an MMO you really need more than a play test). And it was named Leipzig's "Best Online Game of the Show". I'm trying to get into the beta.

BlackSite: Area 51 -- BlackSite's being done by the local Midway Austin folks, and though they didn't hire me to do the voice work (they did let me audition), I want the game to do well. The typically snarky folks at Kotaku are a bit bullish on the title, which is saying something.

Borderlands -- Likewise, I want Plano, TX-based Gearbox Software (Brothers in Arms) to do well with their just-announced Borderlands. Sounds promising, and with a randomization feature that touts up to 500,000 different firearms (and is likewise applied to armor, vehicles, and so on) and randomized level layouts, this game doesn't sound like it's going to be boring at all.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -- The works and mythos created by C.S. Lewis are deep and rich, and given the movie is coming along nicely, the inevitable game from Disney Interactive is, too. Early build screens are already looking good, and I hope some gameplay videos pop up soon.

Dead Island -- Zombies am still new hotness, so this game from Techland (Call of Juarez, Loki, Warhound, and the Chrome Engine) looks promising. I love that the bar for now-gen zombie games has been set by Dead Rising. I'm hoping other devs rise to the challenge.

Fracture -- I'm hoping this new IP from LucasArts lives up to the hype of the terraforming gimmick. While the play mechanic is enticing, I haven't been struck by the character designs, and initial impressions from game press have said while the mechanic is cool, it was straight-up shooting that won matches.

Halo 3 -- So far, industry folks are liking Halo 3's campaign (same, but tweaked), multiplayer (tweaked way more), and in-game editor, "The Forge" ("This might be the coolest addition to Halo 3"). I think I may be going dark on this title soon, to avoid any (more) spoilers for me. Oh, and breaking from tradition, Halo 3 was the title used for the final Omegathon challenge (usually a retro game) at PAX. It was a new level, with new maps, with many lucky, lucky fans in attendance.

Haze -- I'm excited about this game, if for no other reason than it's from the Free Radical folks of TimeSplitters fame. There are unconfirmed rumors the game is not coming to Xbox 360, which would suck.

Heavenly Sword -- This PS3 brawler looks good, and reviews so far have been mixed on gameplay and depth. They certainly seem to be putting a lot of the right effort behind story telling, acting, character design, and audio, so I hope the game rocks as much as its potential.

Legendary: The Box -- Aside from Gamecock or Spark Unlimited needing to rename this title, I'm so looking forward to this take on a literal Pandora's box. More mythology for me, and dev chops from Spark partnered with the announcement of multiplayer have me grinning. And dodging griffins. Gamecock knows how to pick 'em; and they're in Austin.

Mass Effect -- Allegedly more polished, allegedly more pretty.

Metal Gear Solid 4 --Seriously, if you're not excited about MGS 4 for franchise love, pushing technical boundaries, innovative character design, or boundary-pushing story and thematic elements, you're probably reading the wrong blog. News at the show was a bit of "maybes", with possible support for customer soundtracks and online play. Themes and new boss characters were revealed, with a loose "Beauty and the Beast" theme, and boss characters based on real-life actresses / models Yumi Kikuchi, Scarlett Chorvat, Mieko Rye, and Lyndall Jarvis.

Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness -- I'm looking forward to this game, and the PAX announcement of the 4-5 hour Episode One available for download from Xbox Live this year is exciting for PA fans, and for folks (like me) wanting the Xbox 360 to catch up to episodic gaming. And the official Website opened.

Rock Band -- This game got rave pre/reviews at GC and PAX. I'm fascinated with this whole phenomenon that arguably allowed Activision to unseat Electronic Arts as top publisher (but let's see what the Madden '08 numbers do). Oh, and Rock Band is Harmonix / MTV Games. I was just, y'know, talking about the phenomenon.

Spore -- I so want this game, but I've put my interest on hold, repeatedly, to match its repeated delays. The devs at GC said the game is completely playable (yay!), but "still requires a lot of polish" (boo!), but there may be an open beta to help them do that (yay?). Oh, how they tease me.

Too Human -- While I'm tired of the soap-opera drama coverage of delays for this trilogy, I'm still excited for this game. GC announcements narrowed the 2008 release to early in the year, with a demo to hit this fall. And it's derivative of Norse mythology.

Totems --OK, this is a just-announced, PC/360 free-roaming / sandbox game from 10tacle Studios (best-named dev studio EVAR), and is inspired by the French sport Le Parkour, animism, super heroes, and Cirque de Soleil. Tell me your interest isn't piqued.

Viking: Battle for Asgard -- Long-time readers know I'm a fan of mythology, and Norse mythology in particular (my dog's name was Loki, and Thor and Loki action firgures are currently beating the crap out of each other on my office shelf). So I'm stoked about SEGA's announcement of Viking: Battle for Asgard, an Xbox 360 and PS3 hack-n-slasher where you'll also get to "order around mythical beasts and liberated troops in enormous battles" as Skarin, a warrior protecting Midgard (earth) from goddess Hel and her minions. Hey, even if it's just now-gen Rune with a few other mechanics, I'm on board.

Virtua Fighter 5 -- This is an improved version over the current cabinet arcade "Version C", and has upped the number of NPCs, the intensity of the AI in Quest Mode, and added more accessories with which players can customize their characters. The big show at GC was online play for Xbox 360 -- something the PS3 version doesn't have. VF5 hits this October, also from SEGA.

WET -- Is a new action shooter from Sierra, and game reviewers and sites have been a little jaded on it, marginalizing it as derivative of Tomb Raider, BloodRayne, Prince of Persia, and Covert Ops. "Jaded" being the operative word. The pre-rendered cinematics belie an attention to detail and love of Hong Kong / Rodriguez-style films that make for great target visuals and gameplay. Could be some potential here.

Sony -- Sony's booth evidently had toilets as seats, probably an allusion to some of their Euro advertising that had a model sitting on a toilette (no, it doesn't make sense to be either). But they did announce Play TV -- just for Europe -- which will sit between your PS3 and TV and let you record one channel and watch another (so it sounds like a dual tuner setup). Play TV not only supports high-def video but lets you stream live or recorded video from the PS3 to your PSP, letting you watch TV shows on the PSP from anywhere in the world. Not earth-shattering for those familiar with Slingbox tech, but still pretty cool. Sony says this isn't coming to the U.S., because the "U.S. doesn't have terrestrial digital television yet."

To me, not a good excuse, and I expect Microsoft to announce a leapfrog move that involves an extension of what they're already doing with their Media PCs, Xbox 360, and Zune players (now #2 in the MP3 marketplace, I'm told). If they don't make such an announcement, we can chalk it up to one of the bigger missed opportunities in media intersection.

The full Sony press release about Play TV is here.

Other pointers to Leipzig-related news stories:

• Kotaku.com
• Joystiq.com
• IGN.com

Other pointers to PAX-related news stories:

• Kotaku.com ("PAX 07" tagged posts)
• Joystiq.com ("PAX07" tagged posts)
• IGN.com ("PAX Central")