Xbox 360 Kinetic and PS3 Move
Both of these additions felt more like a gimmick than an essential component in enjoying a game. Granted, Kung-Fu LIVE and Dance Central were cool, popular game series for hardcore gamers will most likely not be getting the treatment. Maybe story-driven games like Heavy Rain, but honestly it wasn’t any more enjoyable than using the original PS3 controller. We also tried out Sports Champions; basically a generic game made for the PS3 Move (much like Wii Sports). We tested this gladiator game where athletes fight against each other using a shield and a weapon. We had pretty high anticipations for the Move, but unfortunately, it just ended up feeling like a Wiimote clone.

Dungeons & Dragons Online
We stopped by this booth to check out DDO, mostly because we had no experience with it. We got a demo of the newest adventure pack update coming up in October. This will be DDO’s 7th and biggest update since the game went free-to-play. Man this update is action packed.

First and foremost, this update adds two new races: half-Elf and half-Orc, adding an all new layer of depth to class construction and building. This update also comes with an improved UI, allowing players to search through their inventory and auction house via a search box. Furthermore, DDO gets a DirectX 11 update, meaning advanced graphics and smoother animations all around.

DDO is free-to-play, and can be found at the official DDO website. If DDO is not your cup of tea, you can also try Lord of the Rings Online. They’re also free-to-play MMO from Turbine.

Less swag?
Somehow, we saw less swag. We actually tried to go around collecting swag, but it just seemed like there was less swag being given away. Of course, there were a plethora of pins, badges, stickers and other smaller paraphernalia. But it just seemed like, there just weren’t as much, shall we say, “valuable” swag, like T-shirts, hoodies, notebook, etc. We did however receive a hat from Nexon after their impressive demo of Vindictus . Viva Nexon!

Fighting News
Two things I wanted to mention, for all you fighting fans out there!

We had the pleasure of checking out MvsC3, and it was pretty sweet. It basically plays like Tatsunoko vs Capcom. The button layout has weak, medium and strong attack buttons, an air combo launch button, and two assist buttons. I’m sure you guys have all seen the screenshots to know that the game looks sweet. Can’t wait!

The second news is not really news, but the Kingston booth had Justin Wong, the champion of several US based 2D fighting game tournaments, taking on challengers on SFIV. They were best of 5 rounds, and Justin had to change characters every time. Those who could beat him were awarded some wonderful prizes. I actually don’t remember what the prizes were because I was just staring in awe at his gameplay. When we had decided to leave, I think he had 38 consecutive wins. Amazing.

Viva PAX
While other large gaming or anime/comic conventions are becoming more public-friendly by accepting mass media contents, it’s0 refreshing to see that PAX is still holding its ground for originality and dedication towards gamers and geeks. Awesome booths, great panels, and cool card/board games that you didn’t know existed.

Long live PAX and see you next year!

• League of Legends – exclusive skin for Jax – This exclusive skin is designed by Penny Arcade team. We only have two so act fast!
• Rift: Planes of Telara – beta invitation – Fantasy MMO fans would probably want to check this game out. We have two keys available.
• End of Nations – beta invitation – MMORTS? Yes, it is possible. We have 25 beta keys to giveaway!
• LEGO Universe – beta keys are here! – 11 beta keys for you LEGO fans!

Please head to the forum and request for yours.

You’re welcome!

But we think the Gaming God was on our side; somehow we ended up at the Red 5 Studio booth for a Firefall demo, and it actually got us excited. Let’s look at the trailer first.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A typical, bit of a cliché trailer. But if you watch the gameplay video, we’re most definitely sure that it’ll pique your interest in Firefall.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Epic it is.

Freedom to choose transportation methods, real-time combat you would expect in the open-world of MMOs, monsters ambushing player’s outpost and towns. The world of Firefall is full of non-stop action, with customizable options of RPG fun. And best of all, Firefall is free-to-play!

The game will be released at the end of 2011. If you’re interested in joining the open beta, go to the official Firefall website and sign up for it.

When we fist saw the game screenshots, we didn’t give much attention to it. It looked pretty, but that’s as far as we knew. After a meeting with Nexon however, we were just glad that we started off the first day of PAX 2010 with Vindictus.

If you read the specs of the game, you’ll see that Vindictus offeres plenty of elements that many hardcore gamers would appreciate. Vindictus is beautifully rendered with modified Source Engine, enabling an awesome physics engine where things can be destroyed as you might expect in a real world. This story-driven game is based on Celtic mythology.

But our gameplay experience uncovers more than that. Fast-paced, combo-packed action RPG elements with support of gamepad controllers encourages traditional PC gamers as well as the console gamers. Though character customization (stats and cosmetic) and controls can go as deep as any hardcore gamers would wanted, it’s not hard to master the combos at all.

Vindictus provides characters rather than the jobs and classes. There are still skill trees for players to mess around with, and deep character customization + the armor crafting system can easily differentiate the looks among players. How deep is the character customization? With the help of physics engine and crafting system, the armors can actually be destoryed, and the characters will be left with their underwear. And yes, you can even customize your underwear. If you want more customization than that, you need help.

One of the best parts is that Vindictus is FREE-TO-PLAY. Yes, we’re not joking. Nexon is famous for their free-to-play games (remember our last year’s coverage of Nexon?), and with Vindictus, they’ve just raised the bar for the available free-to-play market in the U.S.

Easy to control, hack-and-slash fun with an in-depth game system of MMORPG, we truly couldn’t find any faults with Vindictus. Yes, it’s still in its early beta stage, and we might have to play for days or weeks to get the whole idea of the game, but we can’t stop expressing our love towards Vindictus.

We’ll be giving out access keys for the upcoming open beta of Vindictus. It’ll begin on September 15, 2010 so make sure to be here when we give out those keys. In the meantime, check out the official Vindictus website for more information.

Our initial thoughts on LEGO Universe were that this was gonna be an MMO mainly targeted for a younger audience, with perhaps some familiar MMO elements built in; nothing major.

But boy were we wrong. LEGO Universe is an expansive, fully functional MMO, with unique features that only LEGO can provide.

When you first begin the game, you can customize your LEGO avatar by selecting a decal for all of your face features, as well as your body, and legs. Each decal in the set is fully animated when the character is created. You then begin your quest to bring back the LEGO Universe that’s been shattered to pieces by an evil force attempting to suck creativity/imagination out of the universe.

The game pretty much plays like your standard MMO. You run around, you can select and equip different types of armor, weapons and items, and you go around hacking away at enemies. During our demo, we saw the building class in action. This class can basically “build” helpers, much like summoning monsters. In the demo, the player was in a pirate world, where the builder built a mermaid to lull the pirates into a deep slumber, making them vulnerable to attacks.

Speaking of building, one of the biggest draws we saw for LEGO Universe is exactly that. By progressing through the storyline, you can collect items to equip, as well as LEGO parts you can use to build things with. You are initially presented with a LEGO property. You can build whatever you want on it, given you have the necessary pieces, and you are able to go and visit your friends properties. You can build castles, swing sets, rocket ships, trucks and pretty much anything.

The great thing is that you can either use a quick build function, where you can choose from a predetermined set of objects, or use a different build function that lets you basically drag and drop parts together, or, you can actually build an object completely from scratch, piece by piece. Now THAT is LEGO.

The objects built using the first two options are immediately visible to the public, but an object built by the player then goes through a screening process, where a rating team for LEGO Universe verifies that it is safe and appropriate for all ages. But, your friends can visit your property in the process of building, and will be able to see what kind of masterpiece you’re working on.

The sweetness of LEGO Universe doesn’t stop there. After building them, you can actually give each object a behavioral attribute. For example, you can set a bike to move forward 10 spaces and make it do a wheelie every time you approach it. These behaviors are programmed via a very user-friendly command inputing UI. You can basically drag and drop commands and chain them together.

This gives LEGO building an entirely new depth, giving you the power to fully animate your LEGO creations and bring them to life! By utilizing this, you can create your very own mini-game, making your property a custom-built amusement/entertainment center. In fact, we could definitely see ourselves spending hours just building LEGO mini games!

Of coure, all of the functions in LEGO Universe have been kid-tested, assuring that every child can actually enjoy all the features this game will provide. We were very impressed with the level of depth and freedom LEGO Universe provides, satisfying players of all ages, whether they are die-hard LEGO fans or not.

And with Torchlight II, they’re at it again. It definitely felt like more than a revision of the original Torchlight.

The development is still in its early stage, so we can’t be too certain about what we’ve experienced. So let us throw you a few words and see if they catch your interest: 4 new classes. Fluent drop-in/drop-out multiplayer mode, with WAN and LAN both supported. Auto-adjusted difficulty depending on how close your multiplayer partners are. More randomly-generated dungeons and fields. Customizable UI. More pets to choose from. Shifting environments depending on day or night. 4, 5 or 8 multiplayers mode.

Are you excited yet? From what we’ve experienced so far,Torchlight II comes nothing short of a well-produced, quality action RPG in the making.

At first we didn’t realize that the Torchlight II we demo-ed wasn’t even in the beta stage. Yet, the game ran very smoothly without any hiccups. Since the game is still in the early stages of development, we couldn’t get the screenshots…yet. But as soon as we get ‘em, we’ll let you know.

Fun, it was.

One thing we’ve noticed is that now you can use the infinite loop within two portals as a strategy.

As we stated, the demo was in real-time so we couldn’t get the full version of the co-op demo. But we have the teaser of the co-op mode.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out the Portal 2 website if you cannot get enough of it.

Enjoy!

As I’ve mentioned on numerous accounts, I’m a huge fan of the Resident Evil series, and so I love Shinji Mikami. We will definitely be keeping an eye out for this one!