How do you follow up a weekend full of gaming competitions and fun? Why with a completely kick ass game-off with one of the most highly anticipated games of the year of course!

The Omegathon is a Penny Arcade tradition dating back millions of years and while normally competitors would go head to head with olde school games, this year Gabe and Tycho had something new up their collective sleeve, Halo 3. As you can imagine when it was announced, the crowd went crazy apeshit bonkers and it was a few minutes before I could actually hear anything again, even now my ears are still ringing. Also on hand for the festivities were nerdcore favorites The Minibosses who entertained the rapturous crowd with their version of the Halo 3 theme before the final showdown.

Contestants Accelon and MNC Dover jumped into the action with great aplomb and before long they were fragging each other left and right over two heretofore unseen maps loaded with even more heretofore unseen weapons. The crowd, of course, could barely contain themselves and with the amount of people crowded into the room it was a bit difficult to see what was going on save for the giant screens hanging over head.

The battle was fought hard with both players performing admirably, but in the end Accelon prevailed, taking down his opponent with a deadly blow from his Plasma Sword. His reward for all this hard work was a trip for two to TGS and a fat $5000. Gabe and Tycho then took the stage, presenting each of the warriors with their own samurai swords (Hatori Hanso no doubt) before sitting down themselves for their own fight to the death. (That would be an in-game fight to the death, not a real one. Sorry to disappoint.) The big winner this time was Gabe, pwning Tycho five to two and sending the crowd into deafening applause heard the world over.

And thus ended PAX. The crowd streamed out of the auditorium and scurried back to their hotels, swag and purchases in hand to pack their bags and head to the airport with the satisfaction of a conference that was not only fun and friendly, but distinctly well played.

Now I'm certainly not saying the Army had no right to be there, they paid their money for a booth just like everyone else, but I do find it a bit disturbing seeing such things at a gaming convention. Especially with all the talk about violence in video games and how it influences young people. As gamers we strive to quash that myth and yet here is the Army showing up promoting a game that is basically just a tool to try and get people to sign up for the military. Our government wants to bash violent games and then turn around and use them to lure kids into an actual war? Seems more than a bit hypocritical on their part.

What are your feelings on this? Personally, it scares the crap out of me.

Turns out it wasn't actually an audition as the finalists had already been chosen and were going to be appearing on a panel that very afternoon. The girls had been put through their paces all weekend, competing in various game competitions culminating in the aforementioned panel. Here, the finalists were grilled with questions from the audience so that everyone could get to know a little bit more about them. Once it was over, audience members were allowed to vote for their favorite, but the stringent process doesn't end there, oh no. Now the current Dolls must make some hard decisions about who amongst these lovely ladies will be admitted into their super glamorous gaming sorority. I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the announced winner as I'm sure you must be too! Who will it be? Only time will tell...

Frag Doll Finalists [Frag Dolls]

One odd phenomenon I did notice was the prevalence of kilts among many of the male members of the convention, especially the workers who were all sporting PAX t-shirts reading "Enforcer" on the back. I stopped the guy here at the left and snapped a picture and he kindly filled me in on the details concerning this odd but popular practice. Apparently, this sort of thing is quite common amongst Table Top Gamers in particular and the company that makes them, Utilikilts, is based right here in Seattle. Of course, I had to ask the inevitable question. "Are you going commando under there?" (you can always count on me to go for the tough questions) His reply, "No, I really don't think that's necessary." Ah Table Top Gamers, such strange customs you have...

First of all let me just say that the game has everything you would expect and want from a Penny Arcade game. A terrific art style, fun gameplay and hilarious dialog. You kick off the game with a great character customization screen. You can play a male or female character and for a comic style game, you get a surprising amount of variety in facial features, clothes and body types. One great mechanic has your character checking him or herself out whenever you change outfits. The amount of work that goes into the customization is pretty amazing seeing as not only do you see your character in 3D for the game scenes, but he/she is rendered live in 2d as well for the comic book cut scenes.

After the comic panel style intro featuring your customized character, you join up with Gabe and Tycho to solve the mystery of the giant marauding robot that opens the game by tromping it's way through your yard. Once your team is together you can use their various powers (individually and together) to plow your way through such iconic enemies as hobos, clowns mimes and even barber shop quartets. Just as in real life, Gabe's powers rely solely on fisticuffs and up close combat while Tycho (whos moves are the most powerful in the game) takes care of the ranged combat with a tommy gun and his trusty book (reading is power!). Your player character is the melee weapon fighter, starting off with a rake and eventually upgrading to other weapons along the way. Battles are turned based with timed initiatives and each special move requires a "mini game" to complete such as mashing the space bar repeatedly or doing timed moves with the directional arrows. Team combo moves can be done with two or three characters relying on a meter system to let you know when your power up is ready for use.

Watching the game really made me reminisce about the old point and click Lucas Arts games, on which PAA is heavily based. Engaging in dialog with NPCs will give you a variety of choices in answers, many resulting in additional razor sharp commentary by Gabe and Tycho. It should be noted that there are no voiceovers in the game and all conversation is done through comic style word balloons with dialog that had me laughing aloud a lot.

The game is set to be released simultaneously on MAC, PC and Linux with the XBLA version coming soon after. Despite the doubts that many people had concerning the game after the first trailer was shown, I think I can confidently say that gamers will be more than pleased when the first episode is finally released later this year. And in case you were wondering, there will be teabagging, but I'm not going to tell you where. That, you will have to discover for yourself.

From the PAX floor, GameVideos bring us a gameplay clip from the upcoming Kane & Lynch. Sorry fellows, I don't think there are any panty shots in this one. But there are guns. Lots and lots of guns.

Make the jump to check out the seedy (and surprisingly not stinky) underbelly...

The game was a blast and sharing it with my fellow friends and bloggers made it an extra amazing experience. This will definitely be a title that will quickly become a party classic, bringing drunken wanna be rockers together in the comfort of their living rooms regardless of talent. Just add a fog machine and you're a star, baby.

Apparently, the gleeful pair let loose with what may go down in history as one of the biggest let downs in surprise history, the introduction on director Uwe Boll. Luckily, the folks at Joystiq were on hand to catch every painful moment from his arrival on stage to massive booing and jeers to the crowd leaving in droves like rats from a sinking ship. Even more fun awaited in this half hour journey into hell including a hideous bit of his upcoming Postal movie and a gal who just couldn't help herself from telling Uwe how she really felt about it. Watch and cringe in terror if you dare.

They are also running a contest at the show to find a name to be used for a character in the game and PAX goers were encouraged to submit their real names for possible inclusion. I went ahead and submitted mine so perhaps I'll be lucky and my ridiculous sounding name will be chosen. I mean I know it's no Florian Eckhardt, but then, what is.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Website [Hothead Games]

Accompanied by my friend Chris Furniss, I made my way into the Seattle Convention Center which I was assured was much larger than last year's venue. I was impressed that they had managed to take over four floors of the building and filled them with gaming rooms of all kinds. Board games, card games, dice games and of course computer and video games.

Giant Sumo chairs filled the sides of the hallways and exhausted gamers were plopped down, resting, eating or playing with their DSs. There were even dedicated lounging areas devoted to different assortments of friendly handheld gaming competitions and freeplay. The top floor was dominated by a massive LAN room and the exhibit hall featuring booths by all the major companies and sporting a rather impressive amount of swag.

It seems a sort of a cross between Comic Con and E3 but with a much more relaxed atmosphere. An air of casualness seemed to permeate the whole affair with everyone genuinely having a stress free good time. Something tells me tomorrow will be a slightly different story given the shows history of a growing crowd and the obvious popularity of Saturday conventions. But so far so good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a full but relaxing day tomorrow. They are opening the place an hour early for the press so hopefully I'll be able to haul my carcass down there for a round of Rock Band before the teeming crowds arrive. Wish me luck...

If there's one thing Wil Wheaton knows how to do, it's get a reaction from a crowd. Whether he's inciting the ire of millions as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek or kicking off PAX 07 with his keynote speech, he never fails to make an impression. He makes his way onto the stage with dramatic musical accompaniment, citing the above line to an adoring crowd. After railing through every gamer cliche' that one could imagine and dropping a few f-bombs along the way, he begins recounting his days as a young nerd playing video games in the local arcade. He compares his generation's love of the old arcade to this generations attachment to World of Warcraft and Xbox Live. These, he says, are the arcades of today. The crowd is in the palm of his hand as he moves on from arcade classics to home consoles, hitting every classic title along the way and filling everyone's heads with nostalgic memories of the golden age of gaming.

Moving on to the present, Wheaton ruminates on the Wii and how it brought his love of gaming back to the fore. He sees the Wii and games like Guitar Hero as social tools and new ways of bringing families together. He knows that making sure what his kids play and experience in games is his responsibility and no one else's, finally giving a another big fuck you to Mr. Thompson and his ilk, whipping the crowd into a frenzy once again.

His speech is equal parts love letter to geekdom and a call for gamers to rise up in force and show the world that we can and will be taken seriously. The rapturous audience is duly impressed and indeed rise to the occasion and their feet, sending Wheaton off with a well deserved standing ovation.

America's Army PAX Booth to Feature Xbox 360 Hands-On Exclusive and Virtual Army Experience

West Point, NY (August 21, 2007) - The U.S. Army announced today that it will feature a number of interactive America's Army game experiences at this week's Penny Arcade Expo (August 24-26 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle). Located in booth #358, the U.S. Army will showcase the first hands-on demo of the upcoming America's Army: True Soldiers game which will be available exclusively on the Xbox 360. The Army's booth will also feature a version of its Virtual Army Experience and an America's Army PC LAN. SGT Tommy Rieman, a member of the America's Army Real Heroes Program and America's Army: True Soldiers development consultant, will talk to PAX attendees about the heroic actions for which he was awarded the Silver Star and his role in ensuring the authenticity of America's Army branded products. Select booth visitors may receive an autographed action figure featuring America's Army Real Heroes.

The following attractions will be at the America's Army booth:

America's Army: True Soldiers - Players will immerse themselves in the true Infantry experience of a modern Soldier as they advance through their careers and take on roles such as a Rifleman, Grenadier, Automatic Rifleman and Sniper. The America's Army: True Soldiers game accurately portrays the core values that guide Soldiers in the U.S. Army, by specifically incorporating gameplay based on mission accomplishment, teamwork, leadership, rules of engagement, and respect for life and property. America's Army: True Soldiers features extensive multiplayer missions for play on Xbox LIVE™. Co-developed by Red Storm Entertainment and the U.S. Army, the game will be released by Ubisoft this fall.

Virtual Army Experience (VAE) - This hands-on immersive exhibit delivers a high-tech, team-based, action-packed experience where the players must employ teamwork, leadership and high-tech equipment as they take part in a virtual high-value target extraction mission. In this version of the VAE (vae.americasarmy.com) players are armed with weapons fitted with lasers and recoil systems while they take part in the mission from positions on a HMMWV.

Real Heroes Program - SGT Tommy Rieman will be present at the booth to talk about his experiences with the America's Army program. SGT Rieman is a subject matter expert for the America's Army PC and console games and is one of the America's Army Real Heroes. The Real Heroes program tells the compelling stories of Soldiers who have distinguished themselves in combat and earned citations for bravery and valor. Soldiers' likenesses and biographies are utilized in the America's Army game and website, as well as in a line of action figures that will be available at ToysRUs in September. SGT Rieman will be autographing action figures at the show.

America's Army LAN - Gamers will be able to play and take home the latest version of the America's Army game.

If you're planning on attending this year's Penny Arcade Expo, you should probably hop on over to the site to check out the full schedule they just posted for the event that's kicking off later this month at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

The three day event has more than 22,000 people registered, tons of companies showing and some really interesting panels set up. The PAX guys are particularly psyched about the "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Love Hate Relationship between Devs and Pubs."

The panel will pit Seamus Blackley, currently of CAA; Lindsay Gupton of Amaze Entertainment (Crash of the Titans) and John Williamson of Zombie Studios (America's Army) in a steel cage match to the death... OK, I made that up, but they will be there to talk harshly at each other.

Rooster Teeth Productions will also be on hand to talk machinima and the show's keynote will be uber geek Wil Wheaton, writer, actor, guy-who-played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Shhhhhhhedule [PAX]