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Interview: Left 4 Dead 2's Chet Faliszek

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 15th 2009 at 6:43PM }

During PAX 2009, we stopped by Valve's booth to chat with Chet Faliszek, one of the leading minds behind Left 4 Dead 2. Read on for insight into the differences between Left 4 Dead and its upcoming sequel, the possibility of user-created levels on Xbox 360 and just what's possible with the L4D2 editing tools:

So, you guys have talked about fleshing out the story in Left 4 Dead 2 a bit more, and having a more involved plot. How do you do that with a game like this?

I think that's one of those "I'm just going to ask you to wait and see." Some of it is simply ... Left 4 Dead 1's world was at the same stage every place you went. The infection had been there for a little bit. This time we're seeing what it's like to be in a city before the infection hits. And you see different people's reaction to that, as you cross around the country, and there's some other bits we tie in with the original Left 4 Dead in Left 4 Dead 2 as well.

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Titan demoes Fat Princess' New Pork map

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 12th 2009 at 4:30PM }

Jeff Rubenstein over at PlayStation.Blog recently got a chance to check out Fat Princess' new stompin' grounds at the game's demo booth at PAX -- you'll find his video preview of the Roman-esque New Pork arena posted after the jump. The map not only possesses a visual aesthetic that stands out from the title's pre-existing levels, it's also got a neat instant-travel sewer system and a central resource hub that should lend itself to some fairly hectic skirmishes.

Also discussed in the video is the upcoming content patch, which will renovate the ranking system, balance the classes a bit and make the team switching mechanic less exploitable. Not discussed are the quartet of new classes hinted at by Titan Studios last month. We want -- nay, we need ninjas in this game.

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PAX attendance rises by 2k, 60,750 people geek out

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 12th 2009 at 3:00PM }

After the recent announcement by the folks at Penny Arcade that PAX 2009 sold out the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, today they officially released attendance numbers for this year's Penny Arcade Expo. Speaking with Big Download, PA's Robert Khoo said 60,750 people packed into the convention center -- though he had earlier predicted "roughly 75,000" -- and that the show's organizers are looking into expansion plans for next year to accommodate more showgoers.

We'd say with the unveiling of PAX East, some people may very well have stayed home in anticipation of a shorter travel distance early next year over this year's Washington-based soiree. This might help explain the relatively small attendance growth from 2008's 58,500 people to this 2009's numbers. However, Khoo said he's surprised how many people plan on attending both PAX East and next year's PAX, umm, West. We'll see you a year from now, Khoo -- with facts!

PAX 2009: Cosplaying in Seattle

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 10th 2009 at 1:45AM }

In the aftermath of PAX this year, we almost forgot to post one of our favorite event pastimes: a cosplay gallery. We've been too busy slapping on facemasks and hazmat suits to quell the nerd flu outbreaks. There weren't nearly as many people dressed up as last year, but we're hoping that Tycho and Gabe add a full-on costume contest to the mix next year for PAX East or West.

Did you see that Big Daddy costume we posted about? Well, that guy wasn't at PAX ... but we wish he would have been. Still, there were some impressive efforts up in Seattle this year, and you can take a gander at them in the gallery below. And yes, we've included a photo of War's horse Ruin from Darksiders, because he was a mechanical bull who just happened to be wearing a giant, killer horse skin. Cheater.

Anyhow, knock yourself out in the gallery below. After all, we braved a freakin' virus to get these pictures for you.

Gallery: PAX 2009: The Costumes

Hands on: Alien Breed Evolution

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 9th 2009 at 9:45PM }

When I saw that Team 17's upcoming Alien Breed Evolution was playable at Microsoft's pre-PAX shindig, I leapt at the chance to try it out. As a huge fan of the Worms series, I really wanted to give Alien Breed Evolution a go. After spending a few minutes with the game -- which appeared to be the trial version of the XBLA game -- I have to admit I was disappointed. That's not to say it's bad, but it failed to elicit that instant 'click' of the Worms series.

Gallery: Alien Breed Evolution

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PAX 2009: MAG producer explains the game's original server technology

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 9th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Making online, 256-player battles unfold without lag or disconnection issues is nothing short of pure techno-wizardry. However, according to producer Alan Van Slyke, who recently spoke with us at a PAX preview event, that's exactly what MAG will bring to the table thanks to a groundbreaking new form of server architecture.

"Before we started working on the front-end client technology, we started building the servers. We wiped the slate clean and asked 'what do we need to do to scale to these numbers to make sure it's not laggy, and make sure people can't exploit,'" Van Slyke explained. What they decided was that peer-to-peer hosting was insufficient -- instead, the MAG team created their own networking solution which would host and authenticate game data from a (presumably beefy) central server.

Van Slyke couldn't reveal the specifics of the technology (the patent for which is still pending), but promised that it would reduce latency and completely eliminate connection griefing which has plagued other multiplayer shooters in the past. In addition, he said Zipper's not worried about having its servers crushed by a day-one rush of new recruits, explaining that "we've invested a lot in our server technology and our load test harnesses and the things we can do to replicate the scalability of it to ensure that it's stable and rock solid."

Snap Judgment: XNA Dream-Build-Play 2009 finalists

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 9th 2009 at 5:30PM }

While nearly all of my demo appointments at PAX required me to absorb information about new games at blinding speed, the XNA Dream-Build-Play Finalists booth demo tasked me with getting a feel for six games in just under an hour. It would be difficult for me to develop any kind of deep analyses on these brief gameplay slivers -- instead, I've collected my initial, hastily acquired thoughts about the games after the jump.

Here's the short version: They're all pretty fun, but Dust: An Elysian Tail is clearly the leader of the pack.

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PAX 2009 interview: The Beatles: Rock Band lead designer Chris Foster

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 9th 2009 at 12:44PM }

The Beatles: Rock Band drops today, along with the band's remastered albums ~~availability on iTunes (?)~~ and a flood of Beatles: Rock Band news. Fans will be wailing on plastic instruments all day in an effort to travel back in time and live out their fantasies of becoming musical legends.

We caught up with lead designer Chris Foster at PAX, who gave up some secrets about the game (including the scrapped "forever" mode). Read on for the full interview.

Gallery: The Beatles: Rock Band (07/20/09)

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All 10 Left 4 Dead 2 melee weapons over here!

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 9th 2009 at 12:14PM }

Speaking to Valve's Chet Faliszek at PAX, we asked how many melee weapons will make it into Left 4 Dead 2. At the time, Faliszek told us he wasn't sure, but he knew there were more melee weapons in Left 4 Dead 2 than there were guns in the original game. We followed up with Faliszek after the show and we can now share all ten of the game's melee weapons. Without further ado, they are:

Baseball Bat
Cricket Bat
Crowbar
Electric Guitar
Fire Axe
Frying Pan
Katana
Machete
Tonfa (police baton)
Chainsaw

The question you have to ask yourself: Which one of these would you abandon your teammates for? Remember, a teammate constricted by a Smoker is a teammate that can't pick up that katana over there.

PSA: Swine flu cases confirmed at PAX

by Justin McElroy { Sep 9th 2009 at 10:13AM }

Important note for PAX attendees only: Okay, before we get into this, you have to promise us you're not going to panic. Promise? Okay. Some people who attended PAX have been stricken by confirmed cases of swine flu. So, if you were there, and you start feeling sick (like many apparently have), don't freak out, but ~~do go to your doctor right away~~. [Update: According to the CDC's latest advice, you need only go to the doctor if you're in a high risk group or have really severe symptoms. You can read all the advisement here, and thanks to Nori for setting us straight.]

There's a list of flights over at Penny Arcade of those with confirmed cases so, if you attended, make sure you check that out. But whether or not yours appears there, you need to keep an eye on your health, okay? Don't freak out, just be smart.

Important note for non-PAX attendees only: Okay, we're going to have to be smart about this thing if we're going to survive it. If you know someone who went to PAX, it's very sad, but they're dead now. You hear us? DEAD. We don't care if your own brother is banging down your door asking for NyQuil, you just keep telling yourself, "That must be the wind. It can't be Griffin, because he's dead."

Also, invest in power armor.

Hands-on: Tony Hawk Ride

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 9th 2009 at 9:15AM }

Hi. I'm Joystiq writer Griffin McElroy, and those are my feet. They're attached to my shins, which attach to a long sequence of other appendages which stop at my brain -- which at the very moment this image was taken, was likely in a confused, panicked state. It's a reflex reaction I usually turn to when placed before an alien video game peripheral, although in most cases, it quickly subsides, and is replaced with a steely determination to figure out how it works.

By the time I'd reached the end of my brief hands-on session with Tony Hawk Ride, I had only just begun to deconstruct the hardware's machinations, and started determining how to deftly manipulate it in order to do sweet tricks. I was making progress in this endeavor when the demo came to a halt, but I'm still not sure my mind had completely wrapped around how I was supposed to manipulate the device. Is that indicative of the peripheral's weakness? No, I think it can be entirely chalked up to the fact that skateboarders move in mysterious ways.

Gallery: Tony Hawk Ride

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Bungie, film noir and the creation of ODST

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 8th 2009 at 11:30PM }

During a panel held at PAX 2009, Bungie's CJ Cowan, Joe Staten, Lars Bakken, Michael Wu, Curtis Creamer, Marty O'Donnell and Brian Jarrard explained the creative process behind Halo 3: ODST. The panelists spent a good deal of the session discussing one of the major influences of the game: film noir. Film noir influenced nearly every aspect of the game, from the artwork and gameplay to the music and story. Halo 3: ODST borrows elements from the genre, such as dark lighting and moody music. Also in the tradition of film noir, players will be tasked with solving a mystery -- what happened to the rest of the ODST team?

In addition to the film noir talk, we got to take a look at some concept art from the game, including an Elephant adapted as a waste collection vehicle (renamed the Oliphaunt) and the Covenant Engineer, which will be making its first official appearance in a Halo FPS game. We also got to see the early, hideous model of Nathan Fillion's character, Buck, which you can see above. Apparently, Fillion's agent actually cleared it to be included in the game. Thankfully, Bungie did not.

Bungie also dropped the news of the Fourth Wall Studios meta-game within Halo 3: ODST at the panel, which you can read more about right here. And, finally, there was Connor. Check out images from the event in the gallery below.

Gallery: PAX 2009: Halo 3: ODST panel

PAX 2009: Battlefield 1943 producer talks lack of DLC

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 8th 2009 at 10:30PM }

We spoke with Battlefield 1943 producer Gordon Van Dyke at PAX and asked him why there hasn't been any DLC at all for the game so popular it crashed servers and broke sales records. The main reason? DICE is busy. Apparently it's working so hard on the next two Battlefield games that it doesn't have time to show BF1943 any extra love at all, which is a bit perplexing given the popularity of the title.

Gordon told us, "We don't have any immediate plans right now, but it's not ruled out. There's a lot of pressure on the team for Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ... we don't want to stretch things too thin and and make something that's not up to quality. Battlefield 1943 is a huge game with a lot that we can pull from. We just want to make sure we keep our options open, and make sure that the decision we land on is what's best for everyone. We don't want to be that company that pushes out DLC just for DLC's sake."

Fair enough, but we'd still like to see more maps and modes come to Battlefield 1943 like ... yesterday. Hey, hire some interns already!

PAX 2009: Red Dead Redemption lets you kill ... everything

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 8th 2009 at 8:00PM }

Red Dead Redemption's promised Wild West sandbox came to life in a build shown off to attendees at PAX over the weekend. One of the first things we noticed is that you can end a life whenever you want. What kind of lives? See a bunny bouncing by? Kablam. Attacked by a wild bear? Kapow. Angry at your horse and want to put him down? Kablang. You can kill literally every living thing in the game and, in some cases, skin them and sell their hides to the furrier in town to make some dough. We doubt he deals in horse skins, however.

There's more beyond the break, just mind you don't get shot.

Gallery: Red Dead Redemption (PAX 2009)

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Hands-on: Star Trek Online

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 8th 2009 at 7:30PM }

You're going to buy and subscribe to Star Trek Online if you're a Star Trek fan.

I'm really sorry to be the one to break it to you. You might not possess the fungible assets required for such a commitment -- heck, you might not even like MMOs. These facts don't matter. Cryptic hasn't just made a game based on Roddenberry's magnum opus -- it has managed to create a flawlessly adapted interactive extension of the show.

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