PAX East 2012: 24 Hours Until Game Time
In just one day, the geek culture will be invading our home turf. Droves of gamers, developers, and performers will be scattered throughout the Hub for PAX East 2012. What are some of the things we'll be looking forward to the most? Come with me now on a journey through my gaming-loving mind, and see what players should be keeping an eye on.
We cannot start this piece out without talking about the Big Three. Nintendo will be focusing all of its area on the 3DS with such titles as Mario Tennis Open, Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir, and the recently-released Mario Kart 7. Also on-hand will be a special tournament area for Kid Icarus: Uprising, where players will be able to compete against one another with their special weapons cards. Microsoft, meanwhile, will be showcasing its incarnation of Minecraft, Trials Evolution, Deadlight, and the Kinect title Crimson Dragon. The recently-released Star Wars Kinect will be on the floor to play, hoping to convince more people to give it a go. The only one surprisingly absent from the event is Sony. Are they withholding their big guns until E3? We won't know until June, so until then we can only speculate.
A lot of the big developers will be at the convention showing off their A-game. Rockstar Games will be letting gamers get down and dirty with the much-anticipated Max Payne 3, but whether or not it will be its single-player or multiplayer mode remains to be seen. SEGA will be bringing some nostalgic magic to the floor, with its upcoming releases of Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 and Jet Set Radio HD. They are also bringing the scare tactics with Aliens: Colonial Marines and the off-the-wall Hell Yeah! EA Games will be there, too, but as of now we have no idea what they'll be showing off.
Meanwhile Capcom is going to go all mech on us with the upcoming Kinect hybrid Steel Battalion: Heavy Armour, while Ubisoft is bringing three of their biggest upcoming titles: Assassin's Creed 3, Far Cry 3, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Square-Enix will let players go hands-on with Sleeping Dogs (formerly True Crime: Hong Kong), Quantum Conundrum (from Portal designer Kim Swift), and Deep Silver's Risen 2: Dark Waters. A Hitman: Absolution panel will also be hosted, where gamers will get to see more of Agent 47's upcoming adventure. 2K Games will be bringing us back to Pandora in Borderlands 2, take us to a ruined Dubai in Spec Ops: The Line, and give press a special look at the upcoming tactical RPG reboot XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
Of course we can't forget about the smaller independent developers, who are one of the biggest things I look forward to checking out at PAX East. Our buddies Twisted Pixel will be presenting a brand-new game, as well as host special challenges exclusive to PAX East in such titles as Comic Jumper, The Gunstringer, and Ms. 'Splosion Man. Shank developers Klei Entertainment will let gamers go hands-on with their upcoming side-scrolling stealth platformer Mark of the Ninja, and Uber Entertainment will present its free-to-play Super Monday Night Combat, promising players that their bullets are still cool and their bacon is still hot.
Hello Games will be there letting gamers pull off crazy stunts in the upcoming sequel Joe Danger: The Movie, while Deejoban Games promises some Drunken Robot Pornography. (Yes, you read that title right.) Drinkbox Studios will be showing off Guacamelee, where you take control of a luchador wrestler on a quest to save the daughter of El Presidente. Owlchemy Labs (the people behind Smuggle Truck and its more "PC-friendly" sister Snuggle Truck) promises to show off its latest game, though we can't be 100% sure what we'll be in for. Finally Night Owl Games will be premiering what's next for its popular Dungeon Overlord game, as well as show off a new app that will come in handy for RPG lovers everywhere.
What else can be expected? Who knows! All that matters is Boston is ready to kick ass, take names, and write its initials on the High Scores page. PAX East 2012: it's time to press Start.
ALSO: BE SURE TO LOOK OUT FOR REPORTS AT ANIME BOSTON 2012 FROM ANVIL AND BASTETTE-IN-TRAINING SAIGNEMENT!!!
