PAX East 2012 is no more. Legions of gamers have returned to their nests. Boston is finally at peace.
But for three days, the East Coast morphed into a cosplay-stuffed playground for all things gaming, a wonderful wonderland of Mass Effect characters and developers who look like cats.
We had a great time out at PAX East this weekend, and we want to share that with all of you. So whether you were out on the show floor or stuck at home, wishing you had a three-day pass, check out Kotaku's round-up of this year's greatest games, costumes, and stories.
The Official Model for Mass Effect's Samara, Dressed Up As Samara
Today at PAX East, Stephen Totilo ran into a familiar face-Rana McAnear, the actress who provides the official model for Mass Effect's Asari Justicar Samara and her unhinged sex-killer daughter Morinth. More »
This PAX East Billboard Blows Everyone's Sick-Day Cover Story
Most of Boston's PAX convention happens over a weekend, making it easier for working stiffs to attend. But it starts on a Friday, which can be a bit tricky for anyone with a day job. More »
"Get Away From Her, You Bitch!"
This giant statue fight was snapped outside the Aliens vs. Colonial Marines booth at PAX East 2012. Photo by Jason Schreier. More »
Game Developers Look Like Cats. It's Weird.
What would happen if the readers took over Kotaku? We decided to find out. At our panel at the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston, we allowed anyone and everyone to "Take Over Kotaku" by pitching us stories on anything they wanted. More »
The Hygiene Products PAX Desperately Needs
What would happen if the readers took over Kotaku? We decided to find out. At our panel at the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston, we allowed anyone and everyone to "Take Over Kotaku" and pitch us stories on whatever they wanted to write about. More »
"Kotaku Cuts Budget and Articles Are Now On Paper"
What would happen if the readers took over Kotaku? We decided to find out. At our panel at the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston, we allowed anyone and everyone to "Take Over Kotaku" and pitch us stories on whatever they wanted to write about. More »
Liveblogging the PAX Mass Effect Panel
Our own Kate Cox is at PAX East, liveblogging BioWare's Mass Effect Panel.
What will happen? What will be revealed? How will it all end? Only one way to find out. More »
"No Comment" From BioWare on the Mass Effect 3 Indoctrination Theory
BioWare is planning to flesh out the existing ending of Mass Effect 3, but that doesn't mean fans haven't already done some fleshing-out of their own.
(Spoilers!)
The much-discussed "Indoctrination Theory" floats the notion that Shepard in fact didn't make it to the final decision at all, and that... More »
Here's Minecraft's Cool Xbox 360 Split-Screen in Action
Back in March, I found a new reason to get excited about the Xbox 360 version of Mincraft. Namely, split-screen local multiplayer for up to four players. More »
The Cosplay of PAX East: Day One
It's not the first industry expo of the year, but it is the first with cosplayers. Inside we've got shots of Tingle, Heavy, Salarian and Snake, and much more. More »
Raise Your Hand If You Prefer FemShep
They got 1200 Mass Effect fans into one room at PAX East this weekend. They-some folks from the game's development studio BioWare-asked people to raise their hands if their favorite game was the first Mass Effect. More »
Elaborate Transformers Cosplayer Stomps Around PAX East
Walking around the PAX East show floor, you're bound to see some crazy cosplay inventions. From simple hats to elaborate costumes, these gamer and anime fans run the gamut.
This Transformers cosplayer posed around the convention center as the lovable Bumble Bee. More »
Crimson Dragon is Basically Panzer Dragoon Minus a Letter or So
Shown off at PAX East 2012, this is Crimson Dragon and if it reminds you of a Kinect-based Panzer Dragoon, there's good reason. Not only is Land Ho, which handled the PS2 version of that game, working on this one, Panzer Dragoon's creator, Yukio Futatsugi also is involved.
If it's not clear in the... More »
This Sure Looks Like a Real BioShock Big Daddy
This Big Daddy and this Little Sister walked into the BioShock Infinite panel at PAX East today.
Pretty good cosplay, folks! More »
The Original Plan For BioShock Infinite's Boys of Silence Sounded Awesome
The Boys of Silence are BioShock Infinite bad guys. The original plan was for them to make you pay for all your noise.
The Boys were going to wait to attack the player, BioShock Infinite 's art director Nate Wells explained today during a panel about the game's bad guys at the PAX East convention. More »
Far Cry 3's Multiplayer Mode Fails To Impress
Far Cry 3 is a game I'm very much looking forward to. But a few 10-minute multiplayer bursts from publisher Ubisoft's upcoming open-world first-person shooter didn't inspire the same feelings. More »
Aliens: Colonial Marines Multiplayer is Adrenaline-Pumpingly Good
If there's one thing you can say to me to make a first-person shooter experience sound more exciting, it's that it's not a modern military shooter. In the case of Aliens: More »
Early Bastion Prototype Looked Very Different
You can see many of the ideas behind what would become indie gem Bastion in its original 2009 prototype, which developer Supergiant Games is showing off at its booth during this weekend's PAX East. More »
This Is The Right Way To Cosplay Portal 2's Robot Pals
Here are two people I chased at PAX East. Their costumes aren't perfect, but their cosplay concept is. They are the puppeteers of the two spindly robots from Portal 2. More »
The Cosplay of PAX East: Day Two
No way, Hannibal, I ain't gettin' on no plane with a crazy fool who don't look at this gallery of cosplayers at Penny Arcade Expo East.
This is the second day roundup of cosplayers at the year's first big fan-attended show. More »
This Weekend's Best-Named Game Is Guacamelee
The word "Guacamelee" looked indecipherable when I first spotted it on a sign in the indie games booth at the big PAX East show this weekend. I sounded it out. More »
Super Mario Bros. 1-1 With An Upside Down Controller? Not That Hard
Indie-curious attendees of this week's PAX East gaming show in Boston can get a "passport" stamped for every game they check out in the show's indie mega-booth. More »
Sneaking And Slashing Through Lovely Darkness in Mark of the Ninja
Mark of the Ninja doesn't look like your average stealth game. You won't be hiding in cardboard boxes or waiting 10 minutes for soldiers to turn around. More »
Skimpy Outfit Gets Lollipop Chainsaw Cosplayer Asked to Leave PAX
Word is that Jessica Nigri, a big-time cosplayer hired to portray the protagonist of Lollipop Chainsaw, was asked to leave PAX East yesterday. Why, you ask? More »
Borderlands 2 Will Get a New Character Class—Don't Worry, She's Not a Preorder Exclusive [Updated]
In a panel at PAX East, Gearbox Software just revealed that Borderlands 2 will add a new class-the "Mechromancer" sometime after the game releases this October. More »
Borderlands 2 Needed Afros, So Gearbox Added Character Customization
Earlier today I attended Gearbox's panel at PAX East, where they revealed a badass new downloadable class in the works for Borderlands 2.
But the existing four classes still needed some flair. More »
The Kinect Gears of War Game has Been Cancelled
Around a year ago, we brought you a look at a new Gears of War title being developed at Epic Games and designed to take advantage of Microsoft's Kinect technology. More »
Epic is Working on a Game Just for the PC
Well, here's something that hasn't happened for a very long time: Epic Games, creators of the Unreal Tournament and Gears of Wars series, is working on a PC exclusive.
Not a PC port of something else, a game built from the ground up with the PC in mind, and Epic's "current plans are to keep the... More »
Man Booted Out of PAX For Dropping His Pants
It's not just young ladies in revealing outfits who were being asked to leave PAX over the weekend. Grown men in their underpants were being shown the door as well.
According to a video posted on Destructoid, and supported by subsequent interviews, comedian Keith Apicary - aka Nathan Barnatt, aka More »