Posts By Alex Scoble
2011 PAX Prime Report: Xbox 360 and Kinect
August 30, 2011 | Alex Scoble
Editor: When I found out that Alex Scoble was attending this year’s PAX gaming event I asked him if he would be willing to write up a post, or posts, outlining what he though were the highlights of the event. Thank you Alex.
This is part 2 of 2 of my thoughts on PAX Prime. You can read Part 1 here.
The 1st part mostly dealt with PC gaming and part 2 is all about the Xbox and Kinect, so let’s dive right in.
Xbox 360 Games:
The games that were on display for the Xbox 360 and the consoles in general were definitely sequel heavy this year. The following sequels stood out from the pack:
Mass Effect 3: What can one say about this franchise? It’s one of my top 5 game franchises of all time and number 3 looks to continue this trend. They are continuing to improve the dynamic third person shooter gameplay and are greatly expanding the RPG elements which were simplified from Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2.
The simplified RPG elements of Mass Effect 2 was one reason why I still prefer the original to the sequel, although Mass Effect 2 was an improvement in many key areas. Mass Effect 3 definitely looks like a must buy when it is released.
Battlefield 3 continues the line of Battlefield games, which differentiate themselves from the Call of Duty series by allowing characters to pilot tanks, planes and boats on the battlefield as well as to choose from four different classes to allow for different styles of play.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was such a fun and compelling multiplayer combat experience that I’m definitely looking forward to Battlefield 3, although the merging of the medic class with the assault class will take some getting used to. Read More
2011 PAX Prime Report: PC Games
August 29, 2011 | Alex Scoble
Editor: When I found out that Alex Scoble was attending this year’s PAX gaming event I asked him if he would be willing to write up a post, or posts, outlining what he though were the highlights of the event. This is Part 1 of a two part report – Thank you Alex.
Just returned to Beaverton, OR after hanging out in Seattle for the last 2 days for my annual pilgrimage to what is now called Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) Prime http://prime.paxsite.com/ (as opposed to the newer PAX East which takes place in Boston).
For video game and board game fans PAX is pretty much the best place to get hands on with all the latest and upcoming games as it is a show for fans by fans. No press pass needed to get in, however, you do need to buy your passes early as they sold out of 3 day passes about a month after they went on sale and sold out of all passes about a month after that. Since the passes go on sale in May for a show in August, you can see that you now need to buy passes early or you won’t get in.
Vendors show off their wares for the big consoles (Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360), as well as for PC, even a few mobile games and for the board game crowd as well. I fully expect that eventually, the Facebook/G+ casual gaming companies will start renting space as well.
