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UncategorizedXbox Live’s Top Cop Reads ‘The Book of Enforcement’
Stephen Toulouse gave a presentation at PAX that, like most of his outreach, leavened the dirty work of running Xbox Live’s banhammer ops with comedy. His sermon is about how the wicked “Poonhunter” came to be banned from Battlefield 1943. Stepto’s presentation continued well after the above excerpt. The rest of the address is full…
By Owen Good Published September 6, 2009 - Uncategorized
Splinter Cell Update: There Will Be Goggles, Bet (Almost) Settled
A certain someone (me) did a guest appearance this weekend on Giant Bomb‘s podcast, where it was my duty to officially settle a Splinter Cell Conviction bet. Giant Bomb editorial institutions Ryan Davis and Vinny Caravella had made a bet — for pride and maybe a nominal amount of money — about whether Sam Fisher…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 6, 2009 - Uncategorized
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time Impressions: Lombax In Space
Let 2009 hereby be known as The Year Of The More Interesting Hub World. The spokes of Wolfenstein emanate from a German city overrun by Nazis; those of Halo 3 ODST to New Mombasa. The new Ratchet? An action-packed galaxy. I got my hands on the outer-space portion of next month’s Ratchet & Clank Future:…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 6, 2009 - Uncategorized
Rockstar’s AGENT Arriving Next Year?
File this rumor in the slip-of-the-tongue category. In a Rockstar roundup of reader questions, AGENT, the 1970s-era espionage game unveiled at E3, is lumped in with two other titles for a 2010 release. It’s sooooo flimsy, but then, Wikipedia’s already cited this Q&A in giving Agent a 2010 release window, and if Wikipedia says it,…
By Owen Good Published September 6, 2009 - Uncategorized
FCC Report Praises Video Game Ratings
Remember how news about a week ago that the FCC was looking into a universal ratings system spooked the video game sector? Relax. A report delivered to Congress expresses a rather high opinion of how games are self-regulated. Quoting the Progress and Freedom Foundation, the report, published Aug. 31, says ESRB ratings are “in many…
By Owen Good Published September 6, 2009 - Uncategorized
The Secret World: Which Side Are You On?
Along with the second teaser trailer we talked about on Thursday, Funcom has released a slew of new images depicting the Dragon, the Illuminati, and the Templars, the three factions of The Secret World. I spent a bit of time this weekend discussing The Secret World with Funcom, but I can’t tell you about it…
By Mike Fahey Published September 6, 2009 - Uncategorized
PAX Cosplay Round 2 – FIGHT!
Day two has come and gone at Penny Arcade Expo and the cosplayers were out in full force. Let’s check in the with latest. In terms of sexy costumes the booth babes prevailed again. However, a Cammy-like one we saw back at TGS in 2008, certainly took the cake in terms of girl that could…
By Adam Barenblat Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Multiplayer Impressions: Gaming Without Icons
The draw of Kingdom Hearts is the mash-up of Final Fantasy characters and Disney characters, yes? Hopefully you have a second answer, because the multiplayer demo of the latest game in the series offers neither legendary roster. The Nintendo booth at PAX is showcasing a few DS games, including this month’s Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days,…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
The Ginormous Uncharted 2 Fortune Hunter Pack
Luke told you about the absolutely massive and extremely rare Uncharted 2: Fortune Hunter Edition. Now see it in all of it’s sacred glory. Located in the PlayStation booth area, Naughty Dog had a copy up for display in an airtight glass box reminiscent to the to the same one that holds the United States…
By Adam Barenblat Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Why Is Klei’s CEO Playing With Dolls?
This is what greeted me when I arrived at the Sheraton down the street from PAX to meet with Klei Entertainment CEO Jamie Cheng regarding the company’s latest game, Shank. So what do spooky dolls and an even spookier CEO have to do with a cartoonish beat-em up that could wind up being my game…
By Mike Fahey Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
The Triumphant Return Of My Sega Nomad
At the retro game shop towards the back of the main show floor at PAX 09 I was finally reunited with a long-lost friend of mine – the Sega Nomad. Back in 1999 I had found a Sega Nomad – a portable Sega Genesis that eats batteries like they were crack and it was one…
By Mike Fahey Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! Preview: Yellow Snowballs Added
The Xbox 360 gets closer to closing its Tower Defense Gap with the PlayStation 3 in October, thanks to a South Park tower defense game. Naturally, it’s tower defense with a twist. What Is It? South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! is an October Xbox Live Arcade game developed by Double Six Games. It…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Game Boy Houses 80 GB “Super Hard Drive”
From the just-because-I-can department: This modder stuffed an 80 GB drive inside a Game Boy, USB-enabled the case and then, for good measure, printed out that screen design and stuck it to the glass. He even went so far as to match up the drive’s LED indicator with the Game Boy’s battery indicator. It’s fooled…
By Owen Good Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
MAG Hands-On: Army Of Me And A Fierce Pancake
The only thing more exciting than playing in a massive, 256-player battle in MAG? Teaming up with another player who has no idea you have formed a bond with him that will last a lifetime. If you caught my preview of Sony’s MAG (Massive Action Game) from E3 earlier this year, it neatly sums up…
By Mike Fahey Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Mass Effect 2 Control Impressions: That’s Better, Shooter [UPDATE]
Maybe they did it for me. If not for last month’s surprise release of the Pinnacle Station expansion to Mass Effect, I may not have been able to appreciate what I just played in Mass Effect 2 this morning. At the Penny Arcade Expo today, I played a demo sequence of Mass Effect 2 that…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
XBL Avatar Golf Game is Now Available
Hey, remember the “leaked footage” of the Xbox Live avatar golf game? Mystery solved. It’s available on the Marketplace in the Indie Games channel. Avatar Golf is its name, because, well, it’s golfing with your avatar. It’s definitely a character-swap game for Easy Golf, as some guessed when the footage was released. The good news…
By Owen Good Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Chinese Gamers, PO’d at MMO, Shut it Down
Hot Blooded Legend is not the name of a skinflick, but rather, one of the most beloved online games in China. Last week, its publisher released a “nostalgia edition” of the game, and players revolted against the make-a-buck rehash. On Aug. 28, hundreds of them, feeling that publisher Shanda used “false advertising” to “take advantage…
By Owen Good Published September 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Storming The Castle: PAX Day 2
It’s on! Day two of PAX 2009 officially underway and what better way to start it off than a bunch of screaming anxious attendees just waiting to crash the gates. Luckily, we were there to catch the action. Stay tuned throughout the weekend for some more video coverage of show.
By Adam Barenblat Published September 5, 2009