Entries in PAX Prime 2014 (14)

3:09PM

PAX PRIME 2014: Play Play Special-Airscape: Fall of Gravity

onestly, there were a ton of games from the Indie Mega Booth that we really enjoyed playing, even if they didn’t make into our covered feature of the exhibit, and one in particular was Airscape: Fall of Gravity.

C’mon you guys, an adorable space squid who defies the laws of physics in order to save all of his equally adorable space fishy friends? Of course we’re going to play it and check it out. Join us, as we stumble in awe of the ingenious take on momentum and inertia, and try to make the best of the journey in our sleep deprived states; it was still a ton of fun though, check it out!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

10:48PM

PAX PRIME 2014: Hands-On at Square-Enix

quare-Enix brought the goods this PAX for fans of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts alike. Both the upcoming Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix were available to play at the Square-Enix booth, and I got hands-on with both.

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10:31PM

PAX PRIME 2014: Searching for adventure in Captain Toad's Treaure Tracker

henever I think of must-own games for the Wii U, Super Mario 3D World immediately comes to mind, and my absolute favorite thing about the game has nothing to do with the main game at all.

Nope, the one thing I praise about it before anything else are the Captain Toad levels, the endearing yet immaculately crafted collection of distractions from 3D World’s main game that surprisingly became one of its biggest highlights. So when Nintendo announced that the adorable adventurer would be getting his own title later this year, I naturally became a little more than excited.

The big question though is whether or not Nintendo can really pull off an entire games-worth of content around the quirky puzzle-based dynamic of Captain Toad. The answer is a resounding, obnoxiously loud yes guys and gals, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker could very well be one of the most whimsically charming games that the Big N has crafted in years.

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9:09PM

PAX PRIME 2014: Exploring the world of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric

ever before have I witnessed something struggle so hard to remain relevant like I have with Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog, and his laundry list of gimmicks and reinventions over the years. The spiny celebrity has done anything from hosting interspecies relations with a human woman to a werewolf, and so many other endeavors, that it’s no wonder that his appeal has gradually dwindled into disenchantment.

This new direction of the hog going “boom” admittedly comes off like a superficial one at first glance, but after giving it a go, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric could possibly be the proficient palate cleanser to all the failed expectations.

Ironically, Sonic Boom’s potential to be a good Sonic game is that it doesn’t try to play like a “Sonic” game at all.

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5:33PM

PAX PRIME 2014: Hands-On With Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd

ega surprised everyone last year with the announcement and subsequent release of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F for the PlayStation 3 and as a downloadable title on the Vita. The Project Diva games should have been about as obscure as it came in the west, since the whole game revolves around the personification of a music creation suite called Vocaloid. Created by Crypton, Vocaloid allows its users to generate lyrics which are sung with the voice of the specific version you buy, and Hatsune Miku, though not the first, is far and away the most popular of the entire line, worldwide.

If you thought a quirky rhythm-music game based on a group of virtual singers with dress-up elements and theatre modes wouldn't fly, two things should be remembered; firstly, Hatsune Miku has wild, live freaking concerts in Japan (seriously!) and secondly, Project Diva F was a mad, runaway hit in North America, selling out in many, many places at retail, especially in the part of the world where I live.

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9:47PM

PAX PRIME 2014: Bringing some friends to Lara and The Temple of Osiris

fter all the hype and dust began to subside, the reveal of Lara Croft and The Temple of Osiris struck a chord that loudly echoed across the land. The news ranged anywhere from a logically nostalgic callback for the license, to a complete surprise of a sequel announcement for a predecessor that never broke beyond the sleeper hit status.

The now affectionately regarded as a continuation of the classic series and characterization of Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft, Temple of Osiris returns to the familiar gauntlet inspired twin-stick co-op platformer setup of Guardian of Light with intensified overhaul of the cooperative multiplayer dynamics.

The upgrades and additional features of Temple of Osiris may just be one of the best directions that Crystal Dynamics could have taken this sequel in, and if this preview is any solid indication of the execution at work so far, then we may very well see 2014’s upcoming cooperative couch-party star by the start of the holiday.

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3:41PM

PAX PRIME 2014: The Best of the Indie Mega Booth

ndie Mega Booth is quickly becoming the premier attraction at PAX, vastly growing bigger in size with each passing event, and there’s a good reason for that—the games showcased are easily the best of the show.

What’s slowly becoming a growing tradition with us, we set a course to plot as much Mega Booth territory that we possibly could, charting new games to play, and getting intimate with familiar software from the previous shows. We’re here to pour our guts out over the games that have left us the most smitten—including our choice for the Golden Zonkie of the show!

So strap in, and get set, here’s our tour of all the new must-see games at the booth this year!

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2:01PM

PAX PRIME 2014: Galak-Z: The Dimensional - Interview with Jake Kazdal

o far, I really dig Galak-Z: The Dimensional. Between its procedurally generated everything and its slick visual styling, this awesome new shooting game is one to look forward to, not just for STG enthusiasts but gamers in general.

There is quite a bit of nifty technological wizardry that has been infused into Galak-Z's retro-anime, physics-based gameplay, but how did it come to be in the first place? What were the challenges of making such a game? What is the creator's favorite retro system?

All of this and more was answered as I caught up with 17-Bit founder Jake Kazdal for some good old-fashioned post-hands-on Q&A on one of this years most intriguing shooting games.

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