PAX06

Gamehelper | Funky Chicken Show - Episode 1013

2006-10-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

This week the gang discusses the announcements coming from Microsoft’s X06 in Barcelona (pronounced – Bar-theh-low-nah) and tackles the discussion of micro-transactions in light of Sony’s recent Gran Turismo HD announcements.

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Gamehelper | Funky Chicken Show - Episode 0915 - 0922

2006-09-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

We got a two-fer this week kids! Due to some delays and trouble getting the ODEO uploader to play nice we've ended up posting both podcasts on the same day - more or less. So you've got a full hour of Funky Chicken Show goodness at your disposal herein!

Episode 0915
This week the gang discusses Susan’s return from the Fiji islands where she tossed coconuts at unsuspecting popstars for fun on her vacation.

For further entertainment the gang discusses Digital Distribution and how it may affect the industry, publishers and collectors alike. From there we shfit gears to take a look at the GamerChiX controversy on Xbox.com forums.

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Episode 0922
This week Wii discuss the…Wii. With Nintendo having announced official pricing, box contents and confirming the addition of a pack-in title Wii felt it was time Wii gave this little console that could another in-depth look and discussion.

Where’s my Wii60!!

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Gamehelper | Funky Chicken Show - Episode 0908

2006-09-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

This week the gang laments the loss of their fearless leader Susan as she jets to Fiji with Al Gore to discuss the loss of the islands lush vegetation...meanwhile, the gang takes cheap shots at Adam Alessandrini (aka Altmann) as he returns from the PAX expo floor - yes, they forceably removed him in the end - and returns to the GH Studio to share his experiences with the Funky Chicken Show Crew. The remainder of the show we attempt to get all brainy on you and ask the tough question, "What is Next-Gen, exactly?"

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Gamehelper | Funky Chicken Show - Episode 0901

2006-09-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys & Gals-

Now, this has nothing to do with PAX to be clear but we thought since you've all certainly distinguished yourselves as the lovers of all things cool and geeky we'd give you the first taste of our second podcast attempt ever!

Otherwise known as the Gamehelper Funky Chicken Show, the crew at Gamehelper.com struts their funky stuff – SHUT YO MOUTH! – each and every week to take you behind the scenes at gaming events like PAX, into the cellphones of unsuspecting developers and behind closed doors at your favorite publishers to bring you the latest happenings in the gaming world around you!

Let us know what you think! Leave Your comments here. We're making this show for you so suggestions for improvements, topics or games you'd like us to discuss are welcome!

Enjoy! Pachoey-

P.S. Please ignore the background breathing - Darth Vader sat in as our censor...ahem...

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PAX Random sightings

2006-08-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

Here's some footage that I didn't quite find room for in the rest of the videos.

I want to take a moment to thank all of the enforcers. You'll see a video of a guy: Big Red. This man is the patron saint of LAN Gaming. He's been here for all of the PAX's and he does his job well. He has to put together one of the biggest LANs on the planet and he pulls it off like a champ.

Next year I strongly suggest that we have more DDR. I think a synchronized Dancing tournament should be organized.

Oh, and i think the halo guy wants you to cover the red flag. Just FYI.

like... OMG like.. total nerds.

2006-08-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

This. Chick. Is. CRAZY.

Just watch the video...

I met her on the way to the Maydenbauer. She was in the shuttle with me. She started talking about all the nerds etc that were going to PAX. My only regret is that I didn't film more.

-Altmann

P.S. Don't worry, I got more vids coming up.

PAX06 coverage continues..

2006-08-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

I'll have some more videos up there for you including part 2 of my Fury feature which is an interview with thier lead designer.

I've also got another vid coming up later which is just a wacky cutup of various other people at PAX.

Oh, and if you like our blog... feel free to Digg it!

-Altmann

Oh and i know you like pictures so here's a couple for ya:

Fury: Unleash it

2006-08-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

I know many gamers were probably really annoyed by the really loud announcer guy yelling at everyone in the expo hall about "unleashing their fury" but if you didn't get a chance to unleash it, you can at least watch someone else do it...

I sat down with the folks over at the Fury booth (before the hall opened so I could get away from the loud dude) and play the game. I've got 2 videos for you to watch: the first is gameplay footage with developer commentary and the second is an interview with their lead (and hungover) designer Adam to discuss the finer points of unleashing our fury.

See Part 1 here:

Gamers say: FruitFUCK Jack Thompson!

2006-08-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

Ok my little play on words may be vulgar but let's face it, Jack Thompson is a crazyman.

My next video is, well, it's a special one for me because I'm the guy who made the fruitfucker. You can see more pictures of it HERE. I also made that crappy Annarchy case which you can see HERE.

In case you didn't know, the Fruitfucker is a FULLY FUNCTIONAL COMPUTER THAT DISPENSES JUICE. I allcaps'd that on purpose. If you attended PAX and didn't see it that's because I was up in BYOC playing CS on it most of the time. I presented the Fruitfucker to Gabe and Tycho so it may protect them in times of danger. Hopefully they enjoy it.

Also, you'll get to hear Jack Thompson's response to our call on Friday. "I've got your number and your name."

Good Jack. Good.

Gaming. On a table.

2006-08-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, and you thought I'd leave you out!

Though seemingly shunned from the Maydenbauer, the tabletop gaming at PAX was better than ever. I was sad to have missed the Star Wars LARP (I play a mean Twi'lek Bounty Hunter) but I did manage to catch the winner of the War Machines tournament as he received his medal. I also caught up with some D&D chicks and checked out HeroClix and Pirates of the Spanish Main. All in all it was rockin pretty hard in the Tabletop area, if a little on the musky side. Next year I'm dusting off Talisman for sure.

Check out my interviews below for all the coverage:

Interview with an Omeganaut

2006-08-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of one-on-one time with Sam Robinson, one of this year's Omeganauts. Check out the cool perks, the high-tense experience, and the all around awesomness of being chosen as an Omeganaut.

Flying Maiden: How many Omeganauts were there and how were you chosen?
Sam Robinson: There were 20 of us. I was chosen at random from all the people who pre-registered.

FM: How did you find out you were chosen and what was your reaction to the news?
SR: I got a call really late one night. I was tired so I didn't know if it was really happening. I got an email a few weeks later, so it finally set in.

FM: When did you find out about the list of games for the competition?
SR: *laughs* I moved to Seattle two days before PAX. I don't really go to the website too often, so when I moved in with my roomates they told me the list was up. I was called stupid on countless occasions. My roomates shoved the games in my face and all I did was train for the whole two days before PAX.

FM: What were some of the perks of being an omeganaut?
SR: There were a lot! I got into events before anyone else and I got to bring a friend with me. There were times when the exhibition room was full I got to go in anyways. The concerts were the best, because I was front and center every night with my friends. I also met this really hot chick, so the omeganaut thing kind of made me an instant babe magnet, because that meant she got all the perks too.

FM: Were there any downsides?
SR: Stress. My gamer tap was "Too good to sleep" because I anticipated staying up all night practicing, which is what I did. So I guess getting very little sleep was also a downside. Needless to say, this was heavily outweighted by the pluses.

FM: Were you well prepared for the competition?
SR: I got first place in geometry wars after only playing it for two days, but I don't really play a lot of FPS on the PC so that really screwed me.

FM: What round were you knocked out of?
SM: Round 3, Quake II. I finished 9th place with the top 8 moving on. My roomates keep reminding me I was 2 kills away from winning a car.

FM: How was it playing with Gabe and Tycho in Quake II?
SR: It didn't lead to my downfall, but they were really good and finished in the top tiere.

FM: Were there any unexpected surprises during the competition?
SR: I did well in geometry wars after playing a handfull of times. What was sad was seeing the rounds after I had already lost, when I know I could have beat them. The final round surprised me, because people are apparently not good at tetris

FM: Any final thoughts?
SR: Being an omeganaut is like you're famous but without actually having to do anything. It was definately a once in a lifetime experience.

PAX06 continues on...

2006-08-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Keep it locked here because I'm not done giving you updates. I've got a ton of footage to edit together. I just finished a nice little ditty on Pirates of the Burning Sea. The MMO where you get to swashbuckle your way into infamy. It was pretty cool looking and I can't wait to get into the beta. Check out the footage and Dev commentary in this video featurette:

FEATURE: PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA

Also coming up: Interviews with the tabletop gamers and THE CRAZY VAN CHICK (trust me, you don't want to miss that one).

-Altmann

Check out the FlickR set for some great photos of PAX06

Wives of PAX

2006-08-28T01:19:00.000-07:00

So there I was coming up the escalator and I found a pretty redhead with a cute little baby that looked familiar from one of my shots...

Brenna, who is Tycho's wife seems to be enjoying PAX06 even if it's a little much to take in. She was nice enough to talk to me about some of her experiences with Tycho and how they met as well as speak about her preferences in videogames and the like.

Later on in the main theater, I caught up with Kara, Gabe's wife (or mother, depending on which Gabe you're talking about). She was sweet and I advanced the idea of her and Brenna writing a strip and posting it up one day behind Gabe & Tycho's back. Surprisingly she has apparently suggested that before. Hmm... Wouldn't that be interesting.

Peep the interviews here:

[Oh and BRENNA is actually TYCHO'S wife. I'm just retarded]

Thanks for the interviews ladies and I hope you had a wonderful PAX!

30 Lines.

2006-08-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

The only thing standing between the final Omeganauts was 30 lines of Tetris.

So, after months of speculation. Hundreds of guesses. I personally heard everything from Virtua-tennis to Goldeneye and even Katamari. They were all wrong. The final game of the Omegathon was Tetris. Just Tetris. We're talking the oldest of the old school versions too. The original. The competition was defined by the first person to get to 30 lines.

To be honest, it wasn't much of a competition. Leeroy (the crowd favorite) did make some mistakes, but it was clear after his competitor "Davertron" was not good. In fact, neither would make it to 30 lines. Davertron would stack to the top in both rounds ending the contest early and giving Leeroy the win!

Leeroy, who was the runner-up in last year's Omegathon came away with a brand new Scion. A step up (in my opinion) from the game collections of the past. Congratulations man, you ran the gauntlet and came out the other side...

Check out the rest of the pictures in our FlickR set!

The Anti-climactic Round 6 of the Omegathon

2006-08-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone was waiting in the four story line to get into the final round of the Omegathon and see what the secret game would be. The concert hall was standing room only. Gabe and Tycho introduced the final combatants: Leroy and DaveTron.

The game, ladies and gentlemen, was Tetris. There would be three rounds. The two would race to complete 30 lines. The best two out of three would walk away with the new Scion.

The competition was over within five minutes. It was sad to watch. DaveTron was horrible at Tetris (my grandma could have done better...seriously) and gained two game overs very quickly. Leroy, who was apparently the runner up last year, walked away with a brand new Scion, completely decked out. DaveTron walked away with a 360 and $500 for Best Buy.

-Flying Maiden

PA Q & A panel: round two

2006-08-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

I got to the line rather early, but didn't feel like standing or laying on cold floor. A few friends pulled Sumo Bean Bag Chairs over from the wireless lounge, and we chilled in line eating expensive food-chart food.

Once inside the panel, Gabe and Tycho had a second round of question and answer time with the audience. They hit off the panel by showing off Altmann's awesome Fruit F***er Case Mod. He juiced some oranges and Gabe and Tycho drank the juice. Altmann gave the duo the mighty machine, which was a kind gesture.

The two began answering difficult questions, like who would win the battle between a bear and a shark. Little Gabe was very excited and was yelling during the entire panel. The two year old was cute, but not cute enough to put up with. A couple typical questions were asked, like the pirates versus ninjas question. My favorites were "What are your favorite curse words?" and "What's a normal day at the PA office like?" and "If Tycho wrote a novel would it sell on amazon in a bundle pack with a dictionary?"

At the first panel Gabe and Tycho called Jack Thompson and left a nasty message on his voice mail. Apparently he called Gabe back last night. The message Jack left was played on the mic, and was merely a threatening "This is Jack Thompson, and I have your name and number."

Overall, the guys were hilarious, and it was well worth the wait in line.

-Flying Maiden

Omegathon round 5...oops.

2006-08-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

I woke up today around 10:30, which was not nearly enough time to get to the convention center and get into line for the omegathon round 5 (which was set to start at 11:30). Hey man, nerds need their sleep. Don't be hatin'.

The game was Mario Kart and started with four Omeganauts. Two were paired up and the pair that won moved on to the next round, where the final secret game would be revealed.

-Flying Maiden

Omegathon round 4, Mc Frontalot and MiniBosses

2006-08-27T11:22:00.001-07:00

The final event of Saturday evening started with Tycho and Robert (the big business guy behind PAX) playing expert level on Guitar Hero II. They were insane, so much that the game froze near the end of the song and they had to start over.

Once they had the rematch out of the way, Tycho smashed his guitar. The Omeganauts were thenpaired up to play medium level songs at random. A few 'nauts killed their competition while others added a bit of style to the game. Four Omeganauts remain and will duke it out in Mario Kart tomorrow.

After, the bassist for MC Frontalot and the bassist for the Minibosses battled in a round of Guitar Hero. The bassist for Frontalot had never played before, but did rather well (we could only hope, since he plays guitar and all).

Mc Frontalot took the stage shortly after. The entire group was dressed in collared shirts and ties. Front danced during his set. He was very animated and had wonderful stage presence. He did songs from his "Nerdcore Rising" CD, left the stage, came back for an encore, and performed the famous Penny Arcade Theme song.

The Minibosses finished up the night and were the obvious crowd favorite. They performed rock hits from Contra, Mario 2, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, Castlevania 1, and many more. Occasionally the drummer or guitarist would get bored, pull out a DS, and start Picto-chatting with the audience. They also pulled an encore and came back on stage and performed Excite Bike and Metroid.

By the end of the night my feet and back hurt and I was ready for sleep. Tomorrow will be the final exciting day of the Penny Arcade Expo.

-Flying Maiden

Red vs. Blue

2006-08-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

The RVB panel was held in the main concert hall. It might have been the most popular panel besides Gabe and Tycho. The place was packed to the brim. It seemed like nearly everyone at the convention center was there.

The whole cast of the famous internet movies ("machinima" for the uber geeks) based on the Halo series were there to answer fans questions. The crew came out to gangster rap and a few of the guys actually dressed the part as well. Immediately upon sitting down, the cast showed off their "beer belts" and proceeded to start drinking.

Two Intel Dual-Core processors were given away to members of the audience at their discretion. This meant that fans began merely begging for the prizes when asking questions. None prevailed.

The panel was hilarious. I was constantly laughing. The panel called out the stupid questions and made fun of each other constantly.

I had seen only season one of the RVB episodes before catching this panel. After watching the hilarious antics of the cast, I will definitely be watching more of their work.

-Flying Maiden

Game Design Party!

2006-08-27T02:23:00.000-07:00

The Pitch Your Game Design panel had three industry professionals on stage. The interesting part that stood out for me was that Chris Erhardt, an industry veteran and a former professor of mine, was on the panel. As sort of an inside joke, we thought it would be fun to pitch games we ourselves had previously made for DigiPen.

We took our seats and TONS of people stood up to explain their ideas. Some were good and had potential, and others were downright laughable. The good ones got chosen to move on to the next round where they were asked deeper questions about prospected development time, specific platform, etc. The ones that were bad were asked to sit down immediately.

The best were when games had complex rules or explanation, and the presenter started with the sentence, "This is a very simple concept". One that I thought was hilarious was the "What happens after highschool" where the jocks that played football bag groceries for a living. He got pretty far actually, due to the audience loving his proposal.

One that made me want to actually play the game was the winner of the contest (he walked away with a TON of prize redemption tickets for his idea). He based his game design on the Mayan belief that basket ball hoops were portals to Hell (that's what he said at least...). The gameplay consisted of going into hell through these portals and using the Wii controller to do combos with the basket ball to defeat hell demons.

My DigiPen friends pitched their respective game ideas, and were then forced to have a dance competition to decide the winner. One friend did the worm, while another moved his arms in the fashion of a moron and took his shirt off. It was amazing and I'm glad I went.

-Flying Maiden

Organization improves! Gamers get more sleep!

2006-08-27T01:45:00.000-07:00

PAX has run late the past two days. I didn't get to bed last night until 4am, which made waking up at 7am Saturday morning to go stand in line very difficult.

After a brief showering, my friends and I headed down to the convention center. We reached the end of the line (which was down and around the block at 8am) to find that wrist bands for the concerts were being handed out in line. I grabbed one, left, grabbed some food, and crashed on my couch until 11.

Little did I know how much those few hours of sleep would help...

-Flying Maiden

PAX in Pictures:

2006-08-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today has been crazy! I visited the panel where Gabe & Tycho created Wednesdays strip (the tradition is to do Monday's but Monday's strip completes the Armadeaddon series).

It was a riot. Not only did Gabe show off his Pac Man tattoo, we called Jack Thompson, and Scott Kurtz (of PVP online fame). Unfortunately we didn't get to talk to a live person but the crowd made their presence felt through boo-ing (Thompson) and Cheering (Kurtz).

After Tycho spent a brief moment typing out the panels (in wordpad no less, kickin it old school) Gabe took the reigns and began his process of drawing the strip. Tycho fielded questions from the audience with his usual charismatic self. Seemingly following suit from last year's bacon cheeseburger incident there were endless requests to modify the strip including: add a blue ball, put a lampshade on his head, add Div (I support that one), add a hot dog fairy and even to add a crown to the hot dog fairy. This panel is probably the highlight of PAX for many and certainly this year didn't disappoint. Look for the strip on Wednesday.

After that, it was time to head into greener pastures. Specifically, the Red Lion Inn where the Tabletop gaming has been moved to this year. I was happy to find that crowd in full swing. We got their just in time to see the final War Machine battle and interview the winner. I also got together with some of the players and mingled, learning about some of the interesting games they were playing. I initially thought it'd be a hot room full of stinky men in old t-shirts referencing obscure in-side jokes. What I found was exactly that. But you gotta love it. This is PAX and this is why we come. Surprisingly, there were quite a few women mixed into the crowd. More than last year. So if you are here at PAX and haven't checked it out, you might find it worth your while to take a couple of hours and stop by. Who knows, you might gain some experience in the process...

I invite you to take a look at ALL the pictures from this year's PAX and get an inside view of the expo. So visit our FlickR set!

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

2006-08-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

As promised, I have some gameplay footage with developer commentary from the new MMO from Mythic which takes place in the Warhammer universe created by Games Workshop.

My initial impressions are good on this one. After checking out the LOTR MMO booth and seeing their less than impressive character modelling and gameplay setup I was pleasantly surprised by what Mythic had to offer. This MMO borrows (graphically) heavily from the WoW style of cartoony characters. They're shying away from the "realistic" stylings of Everquest & Co and it works great. The characters and universe are true to the Games Workshop image and longtime fans should be happy to know that everything in the game has to be OK'd by the folks at Games Workshop. Enough of me though, I'll let the Devs talk to you about it:

GameHelper Feature: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning IN GAME FOOTAGE

Omeganauts and Ball

2006-08-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

I was able to catch some of the female Omeganauts during the showing of the Scion (the Omegathon prize). They had some interesting things to say. Also, for those who weren't able to see the "ball" phenomenon, well you're in luck. My trusty cameraman was on hand and got the festivities on tape. I have a strange feeling that "ball" will become a PAX tradition from now on!

I also spent some time with the folks down in the Exhibition hall. I got hands on with the new Middle Earth MMO as well as I spoke to the Devs for Burning Sea (that pirate MMO) and Warhammer Online. I'll be putting that footage together tonight so expect an in-depth update on those games! Oh and I can't forget about those table top gamers, I'll be heading over there tonight to see what's brewing in the table top scene. Overall PAX is bigger and better than ever and keep it locked here for the latest news and videos!

PAX06: The Bands!

2006-08-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

As promised I snagged some time with MC Frontalot and The Minibosses. We spoke briefly about PAX, their experiences here and what games they're playing. Check it out! Flying Maiden should have a write-up of the concerts to give you the inside scoop on the shows.