JohnSu Goes to PAX 2012

game

3 weeks after the Penny Arcade Expo (it's a gaming convention), I finally stopped wasting enough time to get around to finishing my report!

There it is. Read it, and press [SHIFT] to turn off the squiggling if it bothers your eyes.

This time I'm not going to provide a page-by-page commentary, because that turns out to be quite an unfriendly task for the reader. This time I will assume you've finished reading the flipbook and then talk about things I didn't address!

This was a hard one to write about. Not that nothing happened - there was much experienced! But it was kind of a sad trip for me, to step back and look at the industry all gathered up and see so much of the same thing (at least on a superficial level).

I could keep complaining, but I don't think it helps anyone and I don't even know what it is I really want in my games. All I know is that it wasn't there, and that I was disinterested and sad. And then I ate crab mac & cheese and felt better.

But there was some hope on the floor, too!

From Moonspider Studios there is Harold, a game where you help cheat a loser to victory? But that's not why I'm interested; apparently all that animation is done in 3D! Generally I side with 2D in the 2D vs 3D battle, but I'm all for tech that gives 3D more 2D-like options, so I'm rooting for these guys!

Then there's Capybara Games' Super Time Force, which I am sad that I will not be able to play because I do not have an XBOX. But they do have an animated short on their site that shows some nice humor, and as for the game itself: it felt like a solid platformer, and doesn't abuse the use of "retro graphics" (which is sometimes a synonym for "I can't art").

Last plug: Pixelscopic's Delver's Drop. Unfortunately I can't find any game footage of it, and it was an extremely early build (it only had 2 months (or was it weeks?) of development on it), but it looked promising when I played it ("classic Zelda on ice" is the best way I can describe it). I'm going to be keeping a close eye on this one.

I'm starting to feel like I'm running out of things to say that I haven't already said in previous reports. I don't know how much longer I'll make these - I may try exploring other options (like illustrating a journal?) next time I go to a convention.

Well, until next time!
:salute:

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