by Hack Johnson
For those poor souls stuck behind their consoles not many of you would have ever heard of PAX or PAX Prime. The Penny Arcade Expo is a collection of gaming conventions… well, honestly… more like festivals. They are held in various cities throughout the year like most conventions. PAX Prime refers to Seattle, as that was the location of the original convention/festival. PAX East is held in Boston until 2023 and there is also PAX Australia.
Thousands upon thousands upon THOUSANDS of developers and gaming enthusiasts flock to the PAX gaming festivals. Why? Because it’s awesome, that’s why! It is not just console gaming. It is not just big league publishers! No, there is a ton of focus on the indie games, tabletop gaming, CCG, RPG, and board games! Four days of gaming bliss culminating in the Omegathon! This is a tournament that can have you playing Tetris one moment and Halo the next. It really tests your mettle as a thumb jockey.
PAX Prime, East, and Australia all focus on one thing and one thing only… gaming! This list is simple. The top 10 best things coming out of PAX Prime (2013), which concluded earlier this week, on September 2nd.
No.10 Dragon Age: Inquisition Aims to Dominate
Who doesn’t love a good Dragon Age saga? Bioware missed the mark recently, but they have heard our pleas (i.e., bitching and moaning in the forums) and really stepped it up for the next installment. Multiple races that you can play are back, which is awesome. Even the Qunari will be able to be used. Players can also micromanage their follows to open up a Pandora’s Box of ass-kicking options. They rebuilt Dragon Age from the foundation of what makes a great game. I think the success of Skyrim has given these guys a kick in the ass. Areas are immense. Mounts have been added. They have also gone above and beyond to make Dragon Age: Inquisition playable for a long time. One area in this offering is bigger than the entirety of Dragon Age 2. Wrap your head around that!
No.9 Backyard Battles is what Tipper Gore was Afraid Of!
If you’re too young to remember Tipper, then you are one lucky youngin’. You know how all of these anti-game nuts say that violent games will cause you to murder? Yea, she kinda started all that. Backyard Battles is a game that is going to be available for the iOS. It’s a CCG that isn’t. Players get tokens to buy physical objects that can be used instead of intangible things like spells. Basically, Backyard Battles is a look at what happens to kids that are raised on violent games and then are forced to play outside. M:TG, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh were used as inspiration. At its heart, the game is about using your imagination and I like that — a lot.
No.8 Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, “Play it again, Sam!”
Most of these modern games I can’t play more than once. You give me Halo, Call of Duty, or whatever the game-of-the-moment is and as soon as I’m done it’s off to GameStop for a trade-in. These games take me an hour or two to defeat, so what’s the fun? The Batman Arkham series has been a tremendous hit, and the developers want to keep the hits coming and they want you, the gamer, to keep the game! How do they propose to do this? You’re going to be able to select your own boss order. It will be based on the things you gather and the path you take. The final 30-minute climax will be vastly different depending on these things, according to the developers. Every time you play the game you can have a much different experience. Of course you will have all of those kick-ass micro-stories and all to help round out the game.
No.7 Mass Effect Info Dump
Talking to developers and the creative minds behind the games we love is part of the fun of going to PAX events. Like learning that in the world of Mass Effect over 6.1 billion senseless deaths occurred. Thirty-seven percent of people killed Tali, and 64% of people CHOSE to play Paragon instead of going renegade. So people can be good even when they don’t have to. Interesting data from PAX and the developers. I for one hope there is a Mass Effect IV!
No.6 The PAX 10
Companies like Blizzard and Bioware are always getting the attention. This game blah, blah, blah, and this game blah, blah, blah — so who cares? In the Penny Arcade realm of digital entertainment these companies aren’t much more than your multi-billion dollar corporation bent on squashing the competition. You know – like Wal-Mart moving into a small town and putting the mom and pop grocery out of business. Same thing. The PAX 10 celebrates that 10 best indie games. This year had some stellar offerings!
[Editor’s note: A number of these games aren’t typical Yell! fodder, but it’s the PAX list and Hack is just reporting it — don’t worry, we whipped Hack till he bled.]
10. Avalanche 2: Super Avalanche
9. Badland
8. Escape Goat 2
7. Gunpoint
6. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
5. Owlboy
4. Ridiculous Fishing
3. Rogue Legacy
2. Sokobond
1. Towerfall
That’s the PAX 10 and you cannot go wrong with any of them. I personally love any new game that mimics the playability of the retro games. Atari and the NES were the shit in my generation and they still are in my opinion. Hell, my NES still works… how many of you PS3 and 360 owners can make that claim?
The top 5 things to come out of PAX Prime 2013 after the jump…
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