After we played the excellent pre-alpha DS version of N+, we were asked by the game's producer, David Geudelekian, if we wanted to meet Metanet, the creators of the original N. It's sort of a strange feeling, to play a game and then be escorted directly to the people responsible for it, by another person responsible for it. Or, at least, it would have been, had Metanet's Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns, as well as David, not been so genial. Metanet was at PAX promoting the Xbox Live Arcade N+, which they are developing along with Slick Entertainment.

Metanet's N+ booth, hidden behind Atari's in the corner of the exhibition hall, was as indie as the game, featuring a custom-built 360 display unit accessible only after a series of wall jumps and guarded by automated machine gun turrets; Mare and Raigan took a break from challenging convention-goers to multiplayer N+ (victors got t-shirts) to take part in an impromptu chat about the new multiplatform adaptation of their Independent Games Festival Audience Award-winning Flash game, its platforming influences, and even about their mysterious new game, Robotology. The interview continued via email afterward, when we weren't in one of the world's loudest places.

Ubisoft's Clint Hocking made a special trip to PAX this year to show off his latest project: FarCry 2. But this isn't your run-of-the-mill FPS sequel, as our liveblog of the demo details, but an ambitious open-world shooter set in the exotic locale of the African Savannah. We were lucky to grab a couple minutes of Clint's time following the demo for an interview where we asked about the FarCry brand, the possibility of console ports, and how long they think this open-ended game will take to finish.

Why use the FarCry brand to make this game?

Well, I think that's kind of a business question for Ubisoft but my answer to that is, Ubisoft started with FarCry, published it and obviously started making the console games. The same time they were doing that – keep in mind I started conception before FarCry Instincts even shipped. They were in production when I started conception. And Ubisoft knew at that time that they wanted a top tier PC sequel. At the same time they knew about FarCry; at that time Boiling Point was announced; we didn't know about Just Cause; they knew they were going to make at least two sequels on the console; LOST was on TV. Literally they said, "We're worried that we're going to dry up this brand."

Chris Kohler over at Wired took time to check out the Wii game Geometry Wars: Galaxies while at PAX07 and came away with the opinion that it was better than that of its original Xbox Live Arcade game. Even though we're huge Nintendo fans, we can't say we actually believe him, because the dual-analog control scheme of the original is just about perfect. Still, he sticks to his guns.

Not only does he comment that the control setup of the Wii game is more intuitive, he also comments that there isn't any reason why the game couldn't have been a download on Wii Ware. We have to agree, because even though the game is almost guaranteed to be fun, we doubt it'll ever warrant a price tag of more than twenty dollars.

I didn't get as much time with Crackpot's Insecticide as I liked, but I got to mess around in both an action stage and the detective mode, at least superficially enough to know how they worked. I can tell you right away that all three Psychonauts owners, as well as LucasArts adventure fans, are going to want this.

The action mode looks and feels just like Psychonauts, with the exception of touch-screen integration, of course, and your character's use of a projectile weapon rather than melee. It's pretty much a standard 3D platformer. The graphics have taken a significant hit compared to the concept art, obviously, but the style of the game (like its neighbor at the Gamecock booth, Dementium) helps cover. The touch-screen control scheme was a little hard to manage, seeming to involve more limbs than a non-arthropod like myself had available. However, I quickly found that I could lock-on to targets with a button, and could therefore avoid the stylus altogether. I fell through platforms a couple of times, but that was actually a pretty common problem for some of the really early versions of games I played at PAX.

We don't have to tell you that a lot of people weren't exactly fans of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; Nintendo fans who loved it (and even those who didn't) heard the complaints over and over again. That's made a few people a little wary of the upcoming Phantom Hourglass, and we understand. Really, we do, even if we don't necessarily agree. But from every scrap we've seen from the latest handheld entry in the franchise, it's shaping up to be a real adventure -- which is the biggest complaint about the series as time goes on. We've seen it. We've done it. We've been been heroic through the ages, and though we love every moment spent in Hyrule, sometimes, we crave something a little different. From the looks of things, we're about to get just that, and more.

Our own JC Fletcher spent some time with Phantom Hourglass recently at PAX, and his report is nothing short of glowing. Everything in the game feels fresh and new, and what's more? It's just plain fun. There are all the elements we need for a Zelda game: familiar enemies and tasks, but the smooth stylus-based controls turn the forests and seas of Hyrule into a whole new world. We've been waiting for this one for a long time, but the closer we get to release, the more it seems that it's all been worth it.

We've tucked a video behind the break that offers up a short glimpse of simple navigation that shows off the stylus-based movement, so you can see for yourself. Just watch out for the trees.

At last weekend's PAX 07, one of the biggest titles Sony was showing was the latest build of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. We were eager to get our hands on the action platformer to see if any of those problems from E3 had been fixed, but before that we were able to talk to the Line Producer for Uncharted, Sam Thompson about his game. He talks about tweaks and fixes to the game, technical details surrounding development and whether or not they'll be supporting Home. Check out the interview below and come back in a bit for hands-on report as well.

Can you go into the tweaks that have gone into this Uncharted demo since it's showing at E3 last month?

Absolutely, one of the things we did and we looked at very closely at E3 and after the show was the targeting system. And believe it or not the targeting system is still an evolutionary process and probably going to continue until we release the game. And one of the things we are doing to focus on this is bringing in test groups and getting a lot of peoples hands on the game and listening to what they have to say about it. The development team has taken an active roll as well, into kind of tuning the system. A lot of the time, artists won't have time to play the game until they're done with their contribution to the product. But we've really been trying to get everybody's feedback as often as possible because when you're dealing with a game like this it is an evolutionary process and it takes a lot of tuning to get the targeting system to where it needs to be.

The second thing we've done is that we noticed during E3 that there was actually problems with the way the enemies were animating and people were getting a little kind of frustrated. So we decided to change the way the enemies were reacting so there is no invulnerability state when they grab at their knees or flinch after taking damage. At E3, there was a two second window where they wouldn't take any damage, so it gave people the impression that you had to pump 60 bullets into the guy to kill him.

Retailer Pink Godzilla's presence at PAX was one of the more drool-worthy booths at the show. In addition to piles and piles of Dev Kit kits, PG t-shirts and stickers, the booth was rife was classic and import games and consoles. If you were looking for a copy of Face Training or Doki Doki Majo Shinpan or even Yume Penguin Monogatari at PAX, this was the destination. I personally had a PC Engine Coregrafx in my hand at least twice, desperately battling over whether or not to buy. I totally would have if stuff didn't cost money.

The most impressive (and expensive) items were on display in a glass case, and included things like Toilet Kids, Dracula X and even a sealed Super Metroid ($300). I ran off with a Twin Famicom took a bunch of pictures of the booth, when I wasn't getting trampled.

I'm glad Wii-volution sent in this interview with Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 producer Ryo Mito. It'll tell you a lot more about the additions to this game over the last one than I can.

I played this at the Atari booth at PAX, and while I didn't exactly know what was going on, I was really enjoying the game. I don't know how it compares to any previous Budokai games, but the Wii controls were really easy to use and had me executing crazy combos and chaining teleports and beam attacks and big punches all over the place. The special move inputs require you to hold a button and then make a motion similar to the actual move (a diagram of the required movement appears at the bottom of the screen.) I played as Nail, and had to cross my arms in front of my chest to do ... I don't know, some big flashy thing. I really dislike Dragon Ball Z, and I had an awesome time playing the demo.

One thing even I can tell you is new to the series, and totally amazingly awesome: it's online. I asked the Atari rep twice to be sure. Online.

My PAX expo hall map showed a small Konami booth toward the back of the hall. Just small enough, I thought, for a couple of DS demo stations showing off a certain side-scrolling sequel. I was sure I'd come back a hero, having gotten my hands on Contra 4 for real, and bringing back hyperbolic froth based on real playtime rather than screenshots and video.

You can imagine our disappointment when we saw the actual Konami booth, then. That's it above, occupied by Derrick and Garrett from Mega64. ProTip: it's not Contra 4.

Okay, I'm exaggerating. That's not the whole Konami booth. There was another DDR machine behind it.

The Omegathon has become an annual tradition at PAX, and this year was no different. A gaming challenge that runs the gamut from the old school to tabletop gaming, the Omegathon truly tests the mettle of its participants. Another aspect that has become a tradition is the top secret final round of the Omegathon. Gamers have come to expect challenges of the old school variety, as previous Omegathons concluded with PONG and Combat (ask your parents). This year, however, was different. This year, the final round of the Omegathon was Halo 3. Yeah, you read that right. The top two Omeganauts, Accelon and MNC Dover, competed in new Halo 3 maps (Narrows and Guardian) and were able to test out new weapons and items like the firebomb, flamethrower, and flashbang. Head over to Joystiq for the full rundown.

Poor Namco Museum DS was sitting there in the Bandai Namco booth all alone, while people ignored it in favor of new games. It needed just the right person to come along and play some Dig Dug II.

Dig Dug II is, of course, unchanged, as are all of the games in the collection-- that's kind of the point of Namco Museum (with the exception of the oddball Wii version). However, players have the option to change the method of presentation significantly. You can view the game in the normal DS orientation or turned sideways, with the screen rotated in either direction, depending on how you want to access the controller. You have the option for full-screen or the original aspect ratio in all of these configurations. There's also a softening filter that can be applied to the graphics. With so many options for displaying the games, it's slightly frustrating that there are only eight games in the collection. We want definitive DS versions of Bosconian and Metro Cross and The Legend of Valkyrie!

Having people get hands-on time with the upcoming PSP-2000 makes a lot of sense to us. But, according to Joystiq, the experience at PAX was a little uncomfortable. The Sony booth girls (who look a lot like PSP-tan) had systems tethered to them. However, for better or for worse, the systems were tucked away in a sensitive area (see picture, above).

Joystiq added that "the cables weren't very long" and provided "awkward situations where you all up in their personal space and playing with something right next to the front of their pants." Hot?

The Penny Arcade Expo was bigger than ever this year -- more people, more bands, more special guests, and way more companies showing off videogames on the show floor. Major companies like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Atari and Sierra were all on hand showing off their newest titles. So, of course, we took a ton of photos from the show floor showcasing all the cool stuff that was being shown, so check out our huge gallery below!