Posts tagged PAX
Whither art thou, Dickwolf?
Feb 9th
The comic strip that divided a subculture
Something is rotten in the state of videogame discourse.
Now that the dust has largely settled, I think we can begin to assess just what happened since the infamous “The Sixth Slave” strip (pictured above) ran nearly six months ago, and why the controversy surrounding it reached a breaking point two weeks ago.
I felt it’d be negligent of us to let the recent Penny Arcade controversy pass by without offering comment. But before we go any further, let’s just clarify a couple points:
- This controversy deals with some pretty serious and potentially upsetting issues, including slut-shaming, rape and threats of violence. These aren’t topics we would approach lightly, but be aware that this isn’t going to be your typical “I played a game, it was pretty good” article.
- The opinions expressed in this article are mine alone and don’t necessarily reflect those of any of the other editors or contributors here at Silicon Sasquatch. While I think we all share some common ground here, I wouldn’t want to put words in anyone else’s mouth.
Everyone good with that? Great. Let’s move on.
The Backlog: The case of the kidnapped burrito unicorn edition
Sep 10th
In case you’ve never been to Seattle before, consider this your primer.
In this week’s Backlog: Aaron laments his decidedly first-world problem of having too many games to play, Doug reminisces on the Dreamcast’s glory days, and Nick tries his hardest to remember everything he played at PAX last week.
PAX 2010 Debriefed: No, that’s not a Duke Nukem joke
Sep 9th
Sex Bob-Omb (with special guest Roxanne Richter) performing on-stage in Rock Band 3 at PAX 2010. And if that wasn't cool enough, The Clash at Demonhead took the stage immediately afterward.
There were only a few thousand dedicated folks who made the trip to Bellevue, Washington for the first-ever Penny Arcade Expo back in 2004. Maybe it’s because it was the first time I ever took a road trip with some friends since coming of age, or maybe it’s because we planned to go about ten hours before the expo began, but something about that trip was life-changing.
Here were a bunch of gamers congregating in a public space to play some Tetris, take in the handful of new games on display, debate menial details like which Final Fantasy game is best (trust me, they still get off on that argument), listen to some nerdy music and hang out at one crazy, 24-hour party. I think it’s safe to say that there had never been anything like it in the history of time, and so yeah – I take a little pride in knowing I was one of a few thousand people who were there when it all started.
In fact, I’m one of what has to be a pretty small number of people who have attended all seven PAXes in Seattle. I keep coming back because, simply, I think it’s a fantastic event. I love what it stands for, I love how it brings together new and old friends, and I especially love having the opportunity to hang out with people who create, write about, produce, promote, and just generally love games.
But something was wrong this year. Despite its strongest turnout yet, I felt there were some significant problems that surfaced at this year’s PAX.
The Backlog: The Gang’s All Here edition
Aug 29th
We’re baaaaaaaaaaaack. Aaron’s returned from a summer sojourn spent in the woods, and we felt “hey, we haven’t done a real good Backlog in a while” — nevermind one with the full crew. So though Nick has been criss-crossing the Pacific Northwest, Aaron has just come back to civilization, and Doug has been tangling with the local wildlife, there’s still plenty to talk about. Aaron needs some more time coming to grips with working Internet and electricity, but we do have a contribution from Tyler, our contributor and friend of the site who’s currently living la vida Nippon in Japan.
Backlog agents! Are! GO!
Read the rest of this entry »
The Backlog: Of Dark Knights and Dead Consoles
Aug 28th
Marge would be proud
It’s been a bit of a difficult week for the Silicon Sasquatch staff. Nick spent much of the week reformatting and fine-tuning his computer before hauling it up north for the sixth annual Penny Arcade Expo and its thousand-seat LAN — a stressful experience, and one that leaves precious little time for gaming. Doug’s third Xbox 360 fell under the alluring spell of the Red Ring of Death and is currently drifting towards Valhalla. And Aaron? Well…Aaron’s the lucky one who actually got to sit down and play through Batman: Arkham Asylum.
The Beginner’s Guide to Sports Games
Jun 23rd
The Penny Arcade Expo, the show by and for hardcore gamers, loves games of all kinds…except sports games. The "hardcore" seem to shy away from licensed sports sims, but should they reconsider? Photo by Doug Bonham
Sports games: They come out yearly, they’re some of the top selling video games on a yearly basis (the Madden NFL and FIFA soccer series each sold more than five million copies worldwide last year), yet they’re almost entirely shunned by most “hardcore” gamers. As somebody who has gone to the Penny Arcade Expo three times, I can tell you with certainty that you’re far more likely to find an obscure Japanese fighting game or pen-and-paper RPG than a copy of Madden.
Which is a bit of a shame, because from a pure gaming experience standpoint, non-sports gamers may well stand to gain a bit from trying out one of the many sports games out on the market today. Besides being one of the last bastions of single-console multiplayer out there, sports games – much like fighting games – allow for creativity in how you manage to play a game. While the great stereotype is that nerds and jocks don’t get along, truthfully it doesn’t matter when it comes to playing games — you don’t need to be athletically gifted behind the joystick.
Rooted in desires shown by my Silicon Sasquatch comrades to give these games a try, here’s an introductory guide to unlocking the joy to be found playing sports games.
Interview: Dan Teasdale and Heather Wilson of Harmonix Music Systems
May 12th
Editor’s Note: This interview was originally conducted at Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade in Portland, Ore. on Tuesday, September 2, 2008. Rock Band 2 lead designer Dan Teasdale and audio producer Heather Wilson brought Rock Band 2 to Ground Kontrol’s Rock Band Tuesdays for one of the game’s first public play sessions.
Sasquatch writer Doug Bonham conducted an in-depth interview with Teasdale and Wilson that sheds light on the creative process at Harmonix, from catering to fans to picking the perfect songs to release as weekly downloadable content. Although originally published on Doug’s blog, he’s graciously offered to repost it here. Despite taking place months ago, there’s still plenty of insight to be found from two of the people responsible for one of the top music game franchises on the market. Enjoy!
Let there be rock – RB2 fires up for the first time at Ground Kontrol. (Photo by Doug Bonham)
Rock Band 2 is almost upon us. The game’s developers, Harmonix, had a large presence on the show floor of the Penny Arcade Expo – the line to play the game was usually at least a half hour. While fans got their hands on the game for the first time at PAX, a lucky group of gamers in Portland, Ore., got a special treat when the sequel was demoed Tuesday, September 2. Ground Kontrol (511 NW Couch St., Portland, Ore.) played host during the regular Rock Band Tuesdays to Harmonix’s Dan Teasdale, lead designer of Rock Band 2, and Heather Wilson, audio producer for the company.
Teasdale and Wilson were kind enough to agree to an interview with myself, Nick Cummings, and one of the lead volunteers in running Rock Band Tuesday, John Leslie.