What will be at PAX East 2013?
Held in the sizable Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, PAX East is the second largest session of the show, after the aptly named PAX Prime. Starting March 22, PAX will showcase game designers over two days ranging from the big to the indie to the downright analog.
While the precise schedule has yet to be announced, preliminary information has been bubbling to the surface. In addition to booth after booth of gaming, there will also be live entertainment such as keynotes, musical acts and forums with artists and hosts Holkins and Krahulik will be milling about as well.
Based on tentative schedule information, here's what you'll see at PAX East, and what we expect from the show:
The Indie Showcase
According to the PAX website, the Indie Showcase is "a collection of the best indie games you've never heard of available on mobile platforms." These developers may have small budgets, but they're flush with creativity, and are designing for iOS 6 and Android.
So far the Indie Show includes seven games, and here they are:
Little Chomp: A platformer (think Super Mario Bros) and physics puzzle game starring the titular caterpillar, Little Chomp.
Third Eye Crime: Not to be confused with the band from the 90s, Third Eye Crime is a stealth/puzzle game starring a psychic art thief. This game a has a film noir visual style and a swanky jazz soundtrack to match.
Major Magnet: According to its description, Major Magnet is a new kind of platformer promising "an adventure unlike any the mobile world has seen before." Intriguing, no?
Orion's Forge: A puzzle game built on a narrative that has you helping Orion to forge to new constellations.
Saturday Morning RPG: A role playing game with a story and visual style harkening back to the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1980s. Guide Martin "Marty" Michael Hall through his high school to a battle with the evil Commander Hood. Sounds like something for Scott Pilgrim fans, or anyone who likes a little animated nostalgia with their games.
Spaceteam: An out-there sounding co-op title for iOS. From the game's description: "Spaceteam is a co-op iOS party game for two to four players who shout technobabble at each other until their ship explodes...You need to follow time-sensitive instructions. However, the instructions are being sent to your teammates, so you have to coordinate with them before the time runs out. Also, the ship is falling apart. And you're trying to outrun an exploding star. Good luck." Count us in, Spaceteam.
Time Surfer :"Surf until your doom catches up - then rewind time and keep going!" A title with gameplay that recalls the slingshot simplicity of Angry Birds and the time-bending of indie darling Braid? Sign us up.
Helping indies reach a wider audience is near and dear to the heart of the show. At past PAXes, medium-pushing titles like Fez, Journey and Unfinished Swan have been given a pulpit from which to preach their arty approach. Expect to see more than just iOS 6 and Android titles, as the convention floor will be littered with booths featuring games big and small.
Story time with Cliffy B
A PAX show always has its fair share of industry movers and shakers, and nobody has moved and shaken the industry like Cliff Bleszinski, aka Cliffy B, aka Dude Huge, aka the creator of Gears of War.
This is the man who overhauled the third-person shooter genre with finely tuned cover mechanics and precise camera angles. After three Gears titles on the Xbox 360, and with a fourth entry on the horizon, he announced a new PC-only title Fortnite, only to up and leave his position as design director for Epic Games.
