Monday, March 14, 2011

PAX East 2011 Wrapup

Short version: It was a BLAST! Long version, after the jump...



BEST PART:
Finally meeting my editor Susan Arendt, the Loading Ready Run crew, Shamus and all the other Escapist peeps in person, plus doing the movie-night panel that went KICKASS.

WORST PART:
Ah, cons - where $5 for a slice of pizza somehow sounds briefly reasonable...

3DS:
For the first half-second of picking it up, my heart-sank: "Oh no... the 3D doesn't work." But once your eyes find "dead center" magic-eye style a half-second later... damn, that's a nifty effect - it really does look like the screen is a "portal" reaching much deeper into the background than possible in your hand, which is freaky as hell at first - and I'll bet it'll be even more impressive when not under harsh convention lightning (i.e. when the screen is the brightest thing in your field of vision.) I'm still not 100% sure if the effect has a practical application outside of looking cool, and I can see myself switching the 3D off for longer sessions, but it works and even absent 3D the graphics/controls are - as expected - terrific.

"FIREFALL"
Hadn't been following development on this, but evidently an online/co-op 3rd-person shooter that looks like "Gears of War" with a stylized, cartoon/comic inspired design aesthetic. They were putting on quite a show.

"MORTAL KOMBAT" REBOOT:
It's "Mortal Kombat 2" gone 2.5D in High-Definition and with tag-team play... and there isn't a DAMN THING wrong with that! They had it set up in oldschool arcade-style cabinets complete with "fighter stick" controls; played a match against a friendly stranger and suddenly it was the tolerable part of the 90s again - sooo satisfying to hear "Finish Him!" again. This thing will be HUGE.

2 comments:

Maximus Lerner said...

Hey Bob!

Long time reader/watcher, first time commenter. I'm glad you enjoyed the Escapist panel, I did as well. I'm the one who asked for signatures there -- thank you so much for that, by the way, it was really the high point of my entire PAX East experience.

I just wanted to drop in and let you know that I loved PAX East as well, and that watching your videos is a thought-provoking experience that changes the way I analyze all the geek culture things I intake (video games, movies, and comics).

Thank you for the videos, thank you for the signature, and thank you for all of the videos and writing you've produced thus far. I hope you keep up the good work, Bob. Thanks again.

-Scott Barrett

Andy said...

I loved the Escapist panel (especially the Imp plushy, I can't believe I managed to catch it)

I really loved the story of how you got hired Bob, especially that you didn't know. (I think you should share that one)

-The Companion Cube.
P.S. I'm glad you liked the costume, at the beginning of the panel!