Over the years, the stigma of being a “gamer” (someone who enjoys video games) has led many to believe that the community is based around solitary individuals who gather in darkened rooms to play games such as HALO, Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy. Hunched over their hardware, their eyes never leave the screen as the action unfolds in front of them, directing either a scantily clad female archaeologist or a genetically modified super-soldier to perform tasks that combine stealth and skill with random bursts of extreme violence.
Many believe that when gamers leave the comfort of their utilitarian hovels, they emerge badger-like, blinking in the daylight and they draw their trench coats tighter around their bodies as they struggle to interact with the trauma of a world that seems alien to them.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
As will be proved this weekend (March 26th-28th) when the Hynes Convention Center in Boston plays host to PaxEast 2010 — the biggest video game event the East Coast has ever seen!
PAX East is an event dedicated to video gaming in all its forms, and according to the organzers it will be “a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers. We call it a festival because in addition to dedicated tournaments and freeplay areas we’ve got nerdcore concerts, panel discussions, and an exhibitor hall filled with booths displaying the latest from top game publishers and developers.” And the best part is “hanging out with other people who know their [stuff] when it comes to games.”
As you may be aware, I am a huge fan of video games. I may not be good at most — Ihave the patience of Christopher Walken deprived of “more cowbell,” and my excreta knowledge is lacking — but this event will be an excellent chance for Boston to showcase the talent that exists in our gaming community.
The usual suspects from the top of the gaming tree such as Harmonix and Rockstar will be in attendance and we can expect the quality of their product to be as exceptional as ever. As for me, I will be looking to find out more about Rock Band Network (Harmonix) which has been described by Joe Rybicki (GamerPro Magazine, April 2010) as guaranteed to “change the way we discover, experience and appreciate music.” In addition, I’ll be looking for the n00b designers in the area.
Where will attendees find the little guys at PAX East? I’m heading fo the Boston Indie Showcase, which will bring together local gaming companies to demonstrate their games to a wider (and hopefully appreciative) audience. Five Companies will be hanging out at Booth 117 and it will certainly be my first port of call on Friday when the doors open.
Dejobaan Games have developed AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! — “A Reckless Disregard for Gravity,” or Aaaaa! for short. In the game, the player has to BASE jump off buildings whilst performing all manner of stunts for points. The game even gives users the chance to spray-paint government buildings and (apparently) it will teach users how to debristle a pig. Dejobaan were a finalist in the 2010 Independent Games Festival for “Excellence in Design,” and they claim to have been bringing us video games for 75 years but I think that could be stretching the truth. I’ll find out this weekend.
The lads at Fire Hose Games will be debuting their first attempt at diversionary amusement with Slam Bolt Scrappers, a battle game that combines building and brawling. The game is going to be available to play all weekend and for those of us who consider missile launchers to be an integral part of the gaming experience, it could be a winner.
Of course the boffins at MIT have not been shy in coming forward with their offerings to the gaming public. Two games on show at Pax East, Dearth – an “exciting co-operative action puzzler”- and Waker which is a puzzle/platform game, set “in the world of a child’s broken dream.” Both of these games have been developed by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Games Lab ,“a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the government of Singapore created to explore new directions for the development of games as a medium.” As you might expect, the combination of academia and gaming will lead (inevitably) to a more cerebral gaming experience, and I certainly expect extreme violence to be at a minimum in these games.
Last but certainly not least, we have the games Miegakure and Turba.
Developed by Marc Ten Bosch, Miegakure is a platform game that utilises the fourth dimension to solve puzzles and a high level of overlapping perspectives to achieve your goals. It sounds confusing but it will no doubt become clear in the flesh, as it was another nominee in the 2010 IGF “Excellence in Design” category.
Turba is another puzzle game but heavily influenced by music. The brainchild of Keith Morgado, the game will actually be released for sale on 26th of March, and 1000 copies will be available at PAX East for the very reasonable price of $10. I haven’t had a chance to play the Beta version yet but it appears (to this neo-luddite anyway) to be similar to Tetris (1984). The goal in Turba is to produce combinations of the same color to gain points. It works using the beats of the music selected and each game board is different depending on the style of music selected. The faster the song, the quicker the game and for anyone who fell in love with the beautiful and addictive simplicity of Tetris will probably appreciate Turba.
So for anyone who owns a trench coat, has experienced the joy of virtual interaction with other gamers online or just wants to marvel at the myriad worlds that video-gaming gives us access to, PAX East 2010 is a must-attend event.
Bostinnovation will be at this Sold-Out Event; I will be the one in the corner failing miserably to beat younger gamers at the latest incarnation of Guitar Hero.
But it’s not the winning that matters, right? It’s how you play the game.
