Joystiq

PAX Prime tickets go on sale, four-day pass already sold out [Update: All gone!]

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:15:00 EST

Tickets for PAX Prime are availa... wait, what? Already!? OK, so the PAX Prime four-day pass is already sold out, but individual days for Friday, August 30, through Monday, September 2, are still available.

Last year it took a little over a week for the entire expo to sell out. Given that the four-day pass sold out in under an hour of tickets going on sale, it's best not to delay if you want in. As in: go get your wallet right now and get it done before you move on to the next thing in your day. Fair warning.

Update: The official Twitter now reports that all badges have completely sold out. If you got a badge, we'll see you at the show!

PAX Prime tickets go on sale, four-day pass already sold out [Update: All gone!] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breaking free with your own IP: Insomniac's CEO on what's next (besides Ratchet & Clank)

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 18:30:00 EST

There's a big craze these days with independent developers, though the idea isn't all that crazy. Developers, as it turns out, like to own the stuff they create - Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games is no different. And here's something you might not know about Insomniac: the studio owns virtually none of the iconic characters or worlds it's created. Not Ratchet, not Clank, not the world of Spyro the Dragon. That last one cuts especially deep considering the vast riches Activision's reaped from its Spyro-based Skylanders game. The former two are Sony-owned.

With Fuse (which we think used to be Overstrike) and Outernauts, Insomniac is pushing in a new direction. "For us, we're at the point in our growth as a company where we can own our intellectual property," Insomniac president and CEO Ted Price told us in an interview last week. "That's been gratifying for us because, as creators, controlling your own destiny - controlling the IP that you build - is important." Beyond its financial importance, owning IP also means unfortunate spin-offs of properties you created can't be farmed out to other studios (see: Resistance: Burning Skies).

It's important to note what Price says about his studio not being able to own its previous projects. When Insomniac started in 1994, it produced only franchises owned by its publishers. Quite literally everything the company created up until Outernauts and Overstrike/Fuse was owned by outside forces. That's why you will assuredly see more Resistance games, despite Insomniac outright stating it won't work on any more (at least any time soon) - Sony owns the IP rights to the Resistance franchise and can do with them as it pleases.

Continue reading Breaking free with your own IP: Insomniac's CEO on what's next (besides Ratchet & Clank)

Breaking free with your own IP: Insomniac's CEO on what's next (besides Ratchet & Clank) originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insomniac's 'Fuse' likely to be a reworked 'Overstrike'

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 13:30:00 EST

With Insomniac president and CEO Ted Price obliquely teasing an unknown project called "Fuse" during his PAX Prime 2012 keynote last week, it wasn't too difficult to put together the teaser image he produced and the teaser video released last year (above) for EA Partners project Overstrike. Price wouldn't admit as much to us during a followup interview last week, but he didn't really need to.

"I'm gonna point you to Fusegame.com," Price answered when asked about Overstrike's long absence from the public eye. Is it still a current-gen game (it was originally announced for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)? He wouldn't say. When directly asked whether Overstrike and Fuse are the same game: "I'm being cagey here because I want to be consistent with how we're answering these questions," he said, deferring to his PR manager.

The PR man offered a bit more than Price would. "We're very deliberate in what we're showing right now, and that's why we're just pointing people to the website and saying, 'Hey, this is a process. We're going to share more information with you, stay tuned.'" That said, why in the world would the two guys be pointing us to a website for Fuse when we're asking about Overstrike? The answer seems pretty clear to us.

Price additionally refused to answer whether Fuse is an EA Partners project - Overstrike is an EA Partners-published four player co-op game.

Unsurprisingly, Game Informer is also positing that Overstrike is now named Fuse, calling it a "reworking" of the originally announced concept (what that means is up to your own interpretation). We'll presumably find out for sure when the Fuse website's countdown clock runs out in another seven days.

And wouldn't you know it, there's an upcoming Insomniac press event offering hands-on time with an unannounced game. Sounds like we'll find out what the mystery is all about soon enough.

Insomniac's 'Fuse' likely to be a reworked 'Overstrike' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ron Gilbert's platformer / adventure game 'The Cave' also headed to Wii U eShop

Ben Gilbert — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 18:07:00 EST

The Cave isn't just destined for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, apparently. During a demo at PAX Prime this afternoon, DoubleFine rep Greg Rice pointed out that the game's also headed to the Nintendo Wii U's eShop.

The platformer slash adventure game wasn't actually playable on Wii U at the studio's booth, so it's unclear how different (if at all) the game will be on Nintendo's next home console. We're hoping that the Wii U's tablet controller (the WiiPad[TM]) has a giant touchscreen button that simply says "Solve," though it'll probably be something more clever.

Ron Gilbert's platformer / adventure game 'The Cave' also headed to Wii U eShop originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 02 Sep 2012 18:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Runic's post-Torchlight 2 plans: Mac port, patches, and a trip to the mountains

Mike Schramm — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 11:30:00 EST

Runic's CEO Max Schaefer seems both simultaneously relieved and nervous as he sits in the Torchlight 2 booth at PAX Prime 2012. Relieved, because his company finally announced a release date for its long-awaited game, and slightly nervous, because he knows the community's judgment is finally coming. But even launch won't bring a real break for Runic: Schaefer says the company has a clear plan laid out for post-release work.

A Mac port and language translations are first on the list, says Schaefer - both of those are real priorities for the team. Runic's also working on patching the game (if necessary), and getting the content editor up and running so both users and devs can make some mods and add-ons for the game. After that, says Schaefer, he's not sure. "We'll go up into the mountains or something and figure out what to do next."

Schaefer says that both a console port of Torchlight 2 and "an MMO" aren't out of the question, but there are problems with both of those ideas. "We will not be making a traditional MMO under any circumstances," he says, so a possible Torchlight MMO could look very different from what players might imagine - a pretty different stance from what we've heard in the past from Runic Games.

And while the studio had plenty of success with an Xbox Live port of its first Torchlight game (and Microsoft showed interest in a port of the second game), Schaefer says "it's a lot harder this time," given the way the game is built, to put together an Xbox port. All of that is a long way off, however - Schaefer's more concerned about getting this game released first.

Runic's post-Torchlight 2 plans: Mac port, patches, and a trip to the mountains originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 02 Sep 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tour Mojang's pop-up museum: view the beautiful lawsuit docs for Scrolls, the insides of a Creeper

Ben Gilbert — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 10:00:00 EST

Mojang's more than just the studio that birthed Minecraft - it's also the studio that birthed the amazing fan art you see above. Beyond said art, Mojang erected a faux museum in honor of its short life on the PAX Prime 2012 show floor.

In it, we witnessed the actual legal documents served to Mojang head Marcus "Notch" Persson over Scrolls, the inner workings of a Creeper (its heart is dynamite!), and a very impressive set of Legos. Take the tour with us in the gallery below.

Gallery: Mojang Museum (PAX Prime 2012)

Tour Mojang's pop-up museum: view the beautiful lawsuit docs for Scrolls, the insides of a Creeper originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 02 Sep 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is gorgeous, open-world, and not Metal Gear Solid 5

Ben Gilbert — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:54:00 EST

Hideo Kojima divulged details on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes at an "introspective" PAX session about the series today. The game's demo was shown recently to attendees at a Metal Gear 25th anniversary event in Japan, and involved Snake sneaking his way through an open world.

So what else is new about Ground Zeroes? It's a "prologue" to Metal Gear Solid 5, says Hideo Kojima. The open world of Ground Zeroes is literally the entire world - a helicopter can be called to help during missions or ferry Snake in and out of mission levels. Moreover, you can customize the music that the helicopter plays when it arrives to help you ("Flight of the Valkyries" played during the demo we were shown today - Kojima says the louder the song is, the more of a chance of you getting caught, so maybe Slayer wouldn't be the best choice).

Kojima reiterates that Ground Zeroes is a current-gen game, though Fox Engine is scalable for next-gen as well. He wouldn't give specifics on the name, but calls the game "a beginning" rather than an end for the series.

Is Ground Zeroes the "Project Ogre" we've been wondering about? That's still not clear. What we do know is it's headed to current-gen consoles (360 and PS3 were mentioned) rather than the next, yet-to-be-determined hardware generation.

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is gorgeous, open-world, and not Metal Gear Solid 5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seen@PAX: Disney artists will draw your favorite Disney character (from Epic Mickey 2)

Ben Gilbert — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 13:30:00 EST

Of all the artist alleys we passed at PAX, we never expected to find a team of in-house Disney cartoonists hand-drawing popular characters for surprised attendees. Take a peek at the gallery below and see how some of Disney's iconic characters (featured in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two) were brought to life.

Gallery: Epic Mickey 2 artist's alley @ PAX Prime 2012

Seen@PAX: Disney artists will draw your favorite Disney character (from Epic Mickey 2) originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft wants to shave your hair into a mohawk at PAX

Ben Gilbert — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 04:00:00 EST

Just like the publisher's Far Cry 3 booth at PAX East 2012 offered attendees a chance to get permanently inked, PAX Prime 2012 attendees can get their perfectly coiffed doos turned into a mohawk to promote Ubisoft's upcoming shooter. The idea is that the newly mohawked community will look just like "Vaas," FC3's masochistic main antagonist. He totally has a mohawk!

The first 60 participants that accept the complimentary buzz get a free copy of Far Cry 3 when it launches on December 4 in the US.

Gallery: Far Cry 3 (Mohawk Madness @ PAX Prime 2012)

Ubisoft wants to shave your hair into a mohawk at PAX originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fortnite getting a closed beta 'early next year'

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 23:30:00 EST

As a special prize for one lucky attendee of tonight PAX Prime 2012 Fortnite panel - a reprise of the Fortnite panel we saw at San Diego Comic Con earlier this year - Epic Games gave out a golden ticket that provides early beta entrance to next year's Unreal Engine 4 PC game. So ... wait, does that mean there's gonna be an open beta for Fortnite?

"TBD," Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski told us immediately following the panel. "There will definitely be a closed beta," producer Tanya Jessing added, but she also refused to confirm whether an open beta is also in the cards. But hey, that one lady who won the ticket? She's totally in.

Fortnite getting a closed beta 'early next year' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skulls of the Shogun playable at PAX Prime, trailer visible right here

Sinan Kubba — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:00:00 EST

Skulls of the Shogun is coming to just about everything Windows 8; Windows 8 PCs, Windows 8 phones, Windows 8 tablets. Oh, and Xbox. The turn-based strategy game supports cross-platform play across all those Windows, a nifty feature PAX Prime attendees can sample for themselves this weekend.

Skulls of the Shogun comes crashing through all those Windows on October 26.*

*when Windows 8 launches

Skulls of the Shogun playable at PAX Prime, trailer visible right here originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aliens: Colonial Marines' Escape mode looks painful if you're a human

Sinan Kubba — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:10:00 EST

Yesterday Sega and Gearbox announced Aliens: Colonial Marines' new 'Escape' multiplayer mode, a four vs. four, Xenomorphs vs Marines bloodbath. Today, they've sent us that bloodbath in video form, and it looks a bit painful for the marines.

It's up to the marines to escape the Alien planet's outpost by getting to the extraction point, while the Aliens just chase them down like dogs. There's a time limit too, meaning the marines must work together to make it out with their limbs and guts intact.

Should the idea of gutting or being gutted entice you, Aliens: Colonial Marines is playable at this weekend's PAX Prime. The game itself arrives next year on February 12 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The Wii U release date remains unannounced.

Aliens: Colonial Marines' Escape mode looks painful if you're a human originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Closure lights up Steam on September 7

Sinan Kubba — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 06:30:00 EST

Closure will jump from PlayStation Network to PC and Mac next week, Eyebrow Interactive confirmed today. On September 7, the 2012 Indie Game Challenge winner will be released on Steam for $10, coming in at $5 less than when it hit on PSN back in March. The light-orientated puzzle-platformer also brings extras to its Steam version, including a developer commentary mode unlocked after beating the game.

Programmer Tyler Gliael and artist Jon Schubbe are showing the game off at PAX Prime this weekend, but in the meantime you can read Richard's review for a glowing reference.

Check out its moody screens after the break.

Continue reading Closure lights up Steam on September 7

Closure lights up Steam on September 7 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MineCon digs out of Vegas, headed to Europe; Mojang attending PAX Prime

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:15:00 EST

MineCon will return in 2012, though it won't be held in its previous Las Vegas digs. Mojang director of fun (seriously her title) Lydia Winters took to the company's blog and cursorily detailed the next MineCon as taking place in "a secret location" somewhere in Europe. Winters promised "ALL the details" as soon as Mojang signs the lease for its Europe-based convention.

Additionally, Winters confirmed that Mojang will indeed be attending PAX Prime once more this August/September, though she didn't say what those Minecrafty folks will be showing off. We've got high hopes of seeing the next big update to Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition, and we suspect that 0x10c may also be in attendance.

MineCon digs out of Vegas, headed to Europe; Mojang attending PAX Prime originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX Prime passes entirely sold out

David Hinkle — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:15:00 EST

Whelp, we hope you bought your PAX Prime pass already. In little over a week, everything has sold out - all three-day passes and all single-day passes. So if you didn't get in, you're out of luck.

"Sadly, we are 100 percent out of badges," Penny Arcade's President of Operations and Business Development, Robert Khoo, told Joystiq. "I wish the venue was larger, but it's just not - capacity limits and firecode only let us sell so many, so our hands are tied on the issue. We wish we could sell more, but unfortunately, what's out there is it."

PAX Prime takes place from August 31 through September 2 in Seattle, Washington.

PAX Prime passes entirely sold out originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 May 2012 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jurassic Park: The Game promo Jeep deal causes dino-sized kerfuffle on Reddit

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST

Yesterday, we received a flood of tips from Redditors and other folks urging us to report on a post at the community site, titled, "I let TellTale borrow my Jurassic Park Jeep and all I got was this lousy Dino-Damage." Written by Jurassic Park-themed Jeep Wrangler owner Kevin "Boomerjinks" Henry of the Jurassic Jeep group, he recounts the events that transpired upon arranging a deal with Telltale Games to use his vehicle for promotion at this past September's PAX, where the studio was showing attendees its upcoming Jurassic Park game.

Henry alleges that a variety of communication issues transpired prior to shipment of the Jeep from his location in Colorado to the convention in Washington, and that upon arrival, the vehicle itself had been damaged (scuffs and chips, mostly). Though he says he was assured that he'd be compensated for the damages, the company apparently went dark on him after several exchanges in the weeks following PAX. So he took to Reddit, but we'd only heard one side of the story.

But after a minor uproar ensued, Telltale head Kevin Bruner took to Reddit himself to air his company's side of things, even agreeing to pay the damages in full out of pocket immediately. While he says he doesn't like "the circumstances this is going down in," he'd rather move things along. "This way we won't need to hash this out publicly any longer." As Telltale has been going through the vehicle transport's insurance holder, things haven't been speeding along for Henry's Jeep fix, Bruner claims.

Meanwhile, as a fallout from the initial report, the ex-Telltale employee who organized the Jeep deal with Henry has been virtually mobbed by angry Redditors -- one of which posted the former employee's name, which resulted in "83 phone calls (according to Google voice), 41 Facebook messages, and 19 emails." Also, Jurassic Park: The Game is out today, in case you were wondering.

Update: Apparently Henry himself outed the former Telltale employee, according to this Reddit comment.

Jurassic Park: The Game promo Jeep deal causes dino-sized kerfuffle on Reddit originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Visit OnLive at PAX, get a free OnLive console

David Hinkle — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:40:00 EST

OnLive has announced a tasty little scheme for PAX. Anybody who heads over to the site and signs up for a PlayerTag can snag a free OnLive console. All you have to do is show up at the OnLive booth during the Seattle show this weekend and tell them your PlayerTag. Simple.

Recently, OnLive added a slew of social features to its games streaming service, including Facebook achievement posting and group chat. It also found itself dominating headlines all over the web when game retail giant GameStop pulled OnLive tokens from sealed copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution on PC.

PSA: Visit OnLive at PAX, get a free OnLive console originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sonic CD coming to XBLA, playable at PAX [update]

Jordan Mallory — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:24:00 EST

Major Nelson, majordomo of all things Xbox, took to his blog this afternoon and posted a detailed list of all the games and events that will be spread out across Microsoft's five booths at this week's Penny Arcade Expo. It's about what you'd expect; Gears of War 3 Horde mode, Forza 4, Mass Effect 3, etc, until you get to the list of Booth 432's XBLA titles. Right near the end, snuggled squarely between Retro City Rampage and War of the Worlds, is an unannounced XBLA port of Sonic CD.

We've reached out to Major Nelson and Sega for comment, but as of yet no additional confirmation has been provided by either party. We suspect they're too enthralled by Sonic CD's masterful theme song to even move, let alone respond to our e mails.

Update: A communique has hit our inbox from Sega PR: "We don't have any details at this time, but we'll be sharing some more information soon."

Sonic CD coming to XBLA, playable at PAX [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Retro/Grade headed to PAX Prime with fancy ID cards

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:33:00 EST

Retro/Grade developers 24 Caret Games will print customized ID cards for PAX Prime attendees this August, giving some peace of mind to those dreading sudden separation from their like-minded groups in Penny Arcade's increasingly packed event.

The crew from 24 Caret will be at this year's Seattle-based soiree, showing off its game and holding a promotional contest -- and that's where the ID cards really come in. Entry in the high score contest is tied to pre-registering for a card (which you can do right here) for free -- if you're not into that kinda thing, generic Rick Rocket cards will be available otherwise at the show. That said, if you pre-register, it'll also net you a totally swanky identification for the duration of PAX, undoubtedly helpful in your repeated self-introductions as "The guy who plans to conquer your Retro/Grade high score."

Retro/Grade headed to PAX Prime with fancy ID cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Minecraft's Adventure Update will be playable at PAX

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST

If the promise of 24/7 board gaming extravaganzas and endless 3DS StreetPass swapping aren't enough to get PAX Prime attendees excited about the event, perhaps this will: Notch has announced that Minecraft's Adventure Update will be playable on the show floor. The expansion, which is still largely under wraps, will tack over 40 new features onto the game, including NPC villages, additional farming opportunities and randomly-generated dungeons.

For those who didn't snag tickets to the sold-out, late-August convention, don't fret too much -- we can only assume the line for Mojang's booth is going to wrap around the expo hall like an anaconda. Your time would be better spent actually playing regular Minecraft and building a complex machine to do all that Adventuring for you.

Minecraft's Adventure Update will be playable at PAX originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX 10 says these are the best indie games

Jessica Conditt — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:30:00 EST

The top 10 indie games in the entire world have been selected as this year's PAX 10, each of them winning some free booth space at PAX Prime from August 26-28 in Washington. Chosen as the "best in gameplay, originality and overall fun-factor," winners include Atom Zombie Smasher, Jamestown, Fez and seven others you're probably not cool enough to have heard of.

Find out who won (and by process of elimination, who lost) according to the press release after the jump.

Continue reading PAX 10 says these are the best indie games

PAX 10 says these are the best indie games originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: PAX Prime passes dwindling, only Friday and Sunday tickets left

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:00:00 EST

PAX Prime 2011 organizers announced earlier today through Twitter that there were only 400 passes left for Friday access to the event. The 3-day and Saturday passes have already been tapped, while "a battery" of Sunday passes are still available -- the remaining one-day passes ($35 apiece) must be purchased through the official PAX site.

Penny Arcade marketing maestro Robert Khoo tells us that they've been given the green light to sell about 10 percent more badges than in prior years. It would appear that PAX East, despite welcoming 69,500 attendees in March, did not diminish interest in the Seattle show. At the current rate of ticket sales, the organizers guesstimate that PAX Prime passes will be completely sold out three months before the August 26-28 event takes place.

PSA: PAX Prime passes dwindling, only Friday and Sunday tickets left originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 May 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: PAX Prime 3-day passes are almost gone

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 06 May 2011 10:36:00 EST

Guys, we so desperately want to hang out with you in Seattle. We want to take you on a tour of our favorite Starbucks locations. We want to go to the top of the Space Needle with you, and point out our favorite Starbucks locations. We want to take you to the birthplace of grunge and flannel -- but we can't do that if you don't get a PAX Prime 2011 pass.

According to the event's Twitter feed, PAX passes are quickly becoming a scarce commodity -- in a tweet this morning, organizers reported, "We are nearly out of 3 day passes for PAX Prime 2011, less than 1k remain." Sure, if those are gone, you can still buy the one-day passes piecemeal; but we're really going to need all 72 hours to show you our favorite Seattle hotspots. Like the Puget Sound! It's so pugety this time of year.

PSA: PAX Prime 3-day passes are almost gone originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 06 May 2011 10:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Halo Fest set to take place during PAX Prime 2011

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:40:00 EST

Already snagged one of the (quickly diminishing) passes for PAX Prime 2011 in Seattle? Little did you know that you were secretly buying your admission into a second, equally exciting event. At this year's original, Seattle-flavored Penny Arcade Expo, 343 Industries will turn the third floor annex of the convention center into "Halo Fest," an event the studio describes as "the largest and most expansive live Halo experience ever."

The event, which will celebrate the franchise's tenth anniversary, will also feature tournaments, panels and giveaways for stoppers-by. Best of all, your entry is guaranteed with a PAX Prime ticket, meaning you have literally no reason to stop by. Unless, of course, you don't like Halo. Or if you're super scared of heights. Three floors is awfully high up, you know.

Halo Fest set to take place during PAX Prime 2011 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 May 2011 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX Prime registration open, developers get their own PAX Dev event

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EST

Whether you're a video gaming enthusiast or a member of the industry which sustains itself upon the monies of video gaming enthusiasts, you'd better start getting ready for next Penny Arcade Expo. Not only did registration for PAX Prime 2011 open up earlier today, but an all new event called PAX Dev was announced, catering to the interests of game developers in the two days preceding the weekend of August 26, when the main, Seattle-based convention takes place.

The new event's site explains its mission statement, saying, "We're shooting for a small (750-ish), intimate setting where digital and pen/paper game developers alike can focus on their craft." As much as we'd love to get all up in that to learn about the deepest brain-thoughts of our favorite developers, the site explicitly states, "No press." That's too bad for us, but shouldn't be a problem for JoySoft, our new spin-off development studio, which is staffed entirely by people who look exactly like us, only with conspicuous-looking mustaches.

PAX Prime registration open, developers get their own PAX Dev event originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A pair of new Dragon Age 2 screens, care of PAX

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:49:00 EST

Two new screens from Dragon Age 2 have been passed along from BioWare, one of which showcases dudes with anteater masks. Sure, that may not be the technical term for said masks, but we're totally going with it.

Gallery: Dragon Age 2 (PAX Prime 2010)

A pair of new Dragon Age 2 screens, care of PAX originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue's virtuous thongs: explained!

Ben Gilbert — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:30:00 EST

When DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue was first introduced, we were baffled by the mysterious origin of the game's various undergarments of legend. Now that we know where they're from -- thanks to this latest trailer, care of PAX -- well, we're just as baffled. Head past the break and see for yourself.

Continue reading DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue's virtuous thongs: explained!

DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue's virtuous thongs: explained! originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Free Borderlands update will raise level cap, rebalance main game

Christopher Grant — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

We've got bad news and good news. First, the bad news: The new Borderlands DLC pack - that's Claptrap's New Robot Revolution - won't include the two most requested features. Those would be a new level cap and a rebalancing of the main game to accomodate the new level cap. And neither of those will be included with the latest DLC.

Now the good news: They are being included in a free update for the game across all three platforms, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford told a live PAX audience that his studio resisted making it a part of a DLC pack since, if they included those features, "you'd have to buy every previous DLC" to get access to said features. So, instead, Pitchford said they were going to release a "free update to Borderlands that will both rebalance the original game around the level cap and increase the level cap for everyone."

But Pitchford said the studio still struggled with how high to raise it. On the one hand, Gearbox didn't want to match the 11-point upgrade that many people paid for with the "General Knox" DLC, but on the other the devs didn't want it to be too low, like 5-points. Instead, they came up with another number. "With the current level cap at 61," Pitchford teased, "we realized if we added 8 levels ... "

The audience groans.

So the new level cap is 69 and it will be released sometime around the October 12th Borderlands Game of the Year Edition release.

Free Borderlands update will raise level cap, rebalance main game originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sonic Colors preview: Wisp you were here

David Hinkle — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST

We can all agree that Sonic Unleashed had some pretty deep lows -- specifically, the Werehog. But the daytime segments in the game showed promise; almost a return to form. These areas of the game, for the unaware, combined Sonic Adventure-like 3D free-running elements alongside more classical, 2D elements from the series' past. It was easily the highlight of that game.

And Sega knows it, which explains why Sonic Colors is pretty much nothing but those portions of gameplay. That alone would make for a pretty serviceable Sonic game, but Sega has also added Wisps: small alien creatures who imbue Sonic with one-time-use powers.

Gallery: Sonic Colors (E3 2010)

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Sonic Colors preview: Wisp you were here originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Portal 2's PAX co-op gameplay footage introduces robot hugs

Ben Gilbert — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST

Just because you aren't at PAX Prime this weekend doesn't mean you can't experience at least some of the joys and wonders that the show floor has to offer. For instance, the 10 straight minutes of Portal 2 co-op gameplay that we've dropped after the break, courtesy of GameTrailers -- hearing the "oohs" and "aahs" of the crowd on all sides, you'll feel just like you're there! And sure, you might not get a free Portal 2 shirt like this session's attendees did, but you can experience a heartwarming robot hug. And isn't that more than enough?

Gallery: Portal 2 (PAX 2010 co-op)

[Update 9/9: We swapped out the cam-capture with a direct feed version, muy better. Also, happy birthday, Dreamcast!]

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Portal 2's PAX co-op gameplay footage introduces robot hugs originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Halo: Combat Evolved and the battle for boats

David Hinkle — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

During development of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, Bungie actually created a working boat. One map in particular was discussed during today's Bungie panel at PAX 2010 -- an area with several islands where the player would have to navigate from one to the other via watercraft. Bungie showed a video of an early rendering of the craft in use, which very much looked like a futuristic version of a cigarette boat.

In the end, it was cut from the game -- not because it didn't handle well, but because "it wasn't fun." Personally, we would've liked to try our hand at aquatic Haloing, but then again we're huge fans of Miami Vice.

Halo: Combat Evolved and the battle for boats originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Outland preview: When shmups grow legs

Justin McElroy — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST

If you need proof that the upswing of independent game development is having an impact on more mainstream devs, look no further than Outland, the upcoming XBLA and PSN release just revealed by Ubisoft during PAX 2010.

Just tell me this doesn't seem like one of those way-out-there ideas, the product of one-man coding in his spare time: It's a beautifully rendered animated platformer that draws aesthetic inspiration from classics like Out of this World ... oh, and it's sort of based on Ikaruga.

Crazy, yes, but also very real and, as I can attest after one of the levels and a boss battle, very beautiful.

Gallery: Outland (first screens)

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Outland preview: When shmups grow legs originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Red 5 Studios reveal Firefall, coming to PC 'near the end of 2011'

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Perhaps it isn't enough for you to know that Firefall -- Red 5 Studios' first release -- is full of guns and jetpacks? Would it help if you knew that the lead designer was also headed up Tribes? Ahhh, good! Firefall is a "team-based action shooter" featuring "hundreds of players" completing objectives and battling to the death in a "dynamic open world." And, frankly, it looks great.

The title is free-to-play and relies on an in-game marketplace for profit. We might normally balk at such a monetization system, but we were thoroughly impressed by the game's debut gameplay trailer, not to mention the pedigree behind Firefall. If you're as enticed as we are, you'll be glad to know that Red 5 is accepting applications for the game's beta starting right now.

Gallery: Firefall

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Red 5 Studios reveal Firefall, coming to PC 'near the end of 2011' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Killzone 3 screenshots feature hoodies, pummeling

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:40:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Before you and the many thousands of other yous gets a chance to go hands-on with Killzone 3 this weekend at PAX Prime, Famitsu has a smattering of new images to hungrily dig through for new information. One thing solidly confirmed by these shots? Dusters. Hooded dusters, no less!

And hey, if you ask us, there's a severe underuse of dusters in the world of video games. Unfortunately for the gentleman above, he seems to have been socked in the face several moments before the image was taken, so his duster is fluttering through the air along with his torso. Hopefully you'll fare better this weekend at PAX!

Killzone 3 screenshots feature hoodies, pummeling originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX West pre-registration now open

Richard Mitchell — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:45:00 EST

With the BBMT-fueled madness of PAX East 2010 still fresh in our minds (and bodies), it's already time to pre-register for PAX Prime in Seattle. The official PAX website is already counting down to the event, which will take place from Friday September 3 through Sunday, September 5. Single day badges are available at $35 each, while a three day pass runs $55. The PAX site notes that prices are slightly higher this year thanks to the Seattle public event tax. Also, remember that the prices above are for pre-registration only. All prices will go up by $5 come September 3.

We'd suggest grabbing your tickets now before the event inevitably sells out. After all, you don't want to miss magical moments like this, do you?

[Via Kotaku]

PAX West pre-registration now open originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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