The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is a huge video game convention in Seattle spearheaded by the guys who do the prolific Penny Arcade web comic. PAX 09 was this past Labor Day weekend, and I was lucky enough to get a chance to go to it. Read on and join me on my PAX ‘09 adventures!

Unlike E3, the PAX convention is open to the public, and there’s a lot for a gamer to see and do. There were concerts and movies to watch in the evening (I didn’t go, I was too sleepy). There were panels and speeches going on all day, too. Players could also enter game competitions or just play games with each other for fun!

Since I’m blind in my left eye, I like to bring someone with me to these conventions to help me get around if I need it, but I’ve always brought family along because I enjoy doing things with them. Plus, since I write for a family gaming site, including my family in my work is always a good idea. In the past, I’ve always brought my dad with me, but this year at PAX, I decided to do something different. This year I paid for my mom and little brother Jeff to come to Seattle with me, and we made a little family vacation out of it. I’m glad I was able to have the opportunity to take them with me, because I may not have that chance in the future. And hopefully through this article, you’ll feel like you’re with me at PAX, too!

Anyway, since the games shown at PAX in the Exhibition Hall interested me the most, that’s what I’m going to tell you all about. Right at the front door was TellTale Games, makers of point and click adventures such as Sam & Max, Strong Bad, and Tales of Monkey Island. On hand was Dominic Armato, who does the voice of the main character in the new Monkey Island games (Guybrush Threepwood). A super nice guy, he gave me a tip for any young people out there who want to get into video game voice acting. He says to find your own venue to show off your talents, like how the Chapman brothers provided the voices for their own Homestar Runner Web cartoon. And a bit of luck is also handy, Armato says. Here’s a picture of Armato at PAX:

The big 3 console makers: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft were at PAX as well. Nintendo didn’t have as big of a presence as they did last year, and most of their games shown I’ve already got, like Metroid Prime Trilogy and Wii Sports Resort. I did get a little four player game time in with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, an upcoming four player simultaneous 2-D Mario game. I was Toad of course. Really fun, but hard to make jumps with three others bouncing off your head all the time! I wanted to play the DS RPG Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, but the line was always too long and it comes out next week anyway. Speaking of which, my birthday is next week (as of this writing), so if I have any secret admirers out there, this game is being released ON MY BIRTHDAY! (just kidding about having any secret admirers)

Since I don’t have a PS3, I didn’t look at too much at their booth. Microsoft’s booth had a ton of games, too, but the only one I took a close look at was one I had a special meeting for: Forza Motorsport 3. Normally I don’t like the more serious car simulation games, as I prefer arcade style ones like Ridge Racer. But the makers of Forza Motorsport 3 wanted to show me some new additions to help casual and novice players get into their new game. There are automated options to select missions and upgrades for your cars, so you don’t have to wade through all the menus of parts and objectives. Plus, you can opt to have green arrows on the track to follow, and they’ll turn red to let you know when you need to brake. Best of all is a rewind feature. Say you take a turn too hard and run into a wall. With the rewind feature, you can rewind and try that turn again without losing any time. But don’t worry, simulation fans, Forza Motorsport 3 still has everything you expect from the series. But with the new additions, now you can play and enjoy the game with other, more casual players and family members. And that’s always a good thing!

Ubisoft also had a ton of games at their booth. There was no way that I could check them all out! Wii sequels showcased were Red Steel 2 and No More Heroes 2. Here’s a PAX secret: In the men’s restrooms at the convention center, the toilet paper had No More Heroes 2 prints on them! Really! Ubisoft’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles licensed games were so big, they got their own area at another part of the convention center. The new TMNT Smash Up game was showcased with a big Turtles Party Wagon bus! I wonder how they got it on the fourth floor?

Rockstar Games was showing a PSP version of the DS Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars as well as a PSP music game called Beaterator. Namco Bandai had a Tekken 6 tournament at their booth, and showed off some new Dragon Ball game on the Wii. You could also buy classic Namco items at their clubNamco shop. I got a Pac-Man mousepad.

At a separate section, Namco was also showing off Katamari Forever on the PS3. It looks just like the others, but with a few additions like remixed music (I heard a slower version of Lonely Rolling Star), a jump button, and power-ups like one that sucks in items to your Katamari ball.

One of the titles I had a special meeting to see was WB Games’ Scribblenauts for DS. For all you secret admirers who want to get me a birthday present, Scribblenauts is also being released ON MY BIRTHDAY! It’s a 2-D game where you solve puzzles and obstacles by writing (or keying in) words. Then whatever you type will appear on the screen for you to use. The game has tens of thousands of words that you can type in for some pretty creative and wacky ways to solve problems in the game. Each item can be interacted with and some can be used with each other. For instance, the developer who demoed the game to me typed in ‘cow,’ and a bovine appeared. Then he typed in ‘butcher’ and one appeared and turned the cow into meat (rather cartoon-like, not bloody). Then he typed in ‘cow’ again and another cow came along, ate the meat, and turned into a dangerous Mad Cow! Just about anything typed in worked: Stealth Bomber, Robot, Cyborg, Android (all different), Sandwich, Jerk, Shrink Ray, and yes, even God! I’m surprised this game got only a E-10 rating, but then, Scribblenauts is only as twisted as you make it. I’m definitely going to be checking this one out. It was certainly one of the more popular games at PAX.

Sega had the teeniest booth at PAX, and they were showing only one game: Bayonetta. From what I can tell, in the game you play as a woman who can make her hair turn into a giant monster. She also looks like she is wearing her hair as clothes, too. It looked pretty weird, and coming from me, that’s really saying something!

There were plenty of games that little brother Jeff enjoyed, too. He likes to play online games on his computer, and since he’s an older teen, sometimes we allow him to play some of the more mature games out there. He wanted to try Left for Dead 2, but the line for that was always super long, as was Bioshock 2. Someone did paint a pretty neat Bioshock mural on the ground at PAX, though.

Other online PC games Jeff enjoyed were Serious Sam HD, a remake of the original coming for PC and Xbox LIVE. NCSoft had several full booths featuring each of their upcoming titles, and Jeff was looking forward to Aion so much that he preordered it at PAX, got a free T-shirt and a signed poster! Then, next door at the Guild Wars 2 booth, Jeff got a hardcover art book!

Another one of Jeff’s favorite online PC games is Mabanogi, and the makers of that title were showing off some of their new games as well. The action RPG Dragon Nest and the online 2-D side scrolling beat ‘em up Dungeon Fighter looked interesting to me, too. I wish I had more time to play online PC games like these!

I set up a meeting with cdv Games, and they showed off the aforementioned Serious Sam HD as well as Divinity 2 for PC and Xbox 360. It’s a sequel to a PC game and looks quite a bit like Fable. Except in this game you can turn into a dragon for a little medieval flight combat. Two kid friendly DS games from cdv include I “Heart” Geeks, and My Little Baby. My Little Baby looks suspiciously like My Baby Boy/Girl, but the developers said it has better and more intuitive controls. I “Heart” Geeks looks a lot like another game I reviewed recently: Gravity. It’s a bit like The Incredible Machine where you have to build gadgets to outsmart the bullies and win the heart of the school cheerleader. The art style in the Geek game was done by Mark Ecko.

I also set up a meeting with Hudson Entertainment, and they showed off Deca Sports 2. I played the new Dodge Ball game on it, and it was a lot of fun. But it’s still no NES Super Dodge Ball! Hudson continues to support WiiWare, PSN, and Xbox Live with downloadable titles like the Military Madness update. A new downloadable Diner Dash was on hand, based on the popular online game. This console version features two player co-operative and competitive play, where you can steal the other player’s orders and tables! There was a surprisingly big crowd waiting to play it. I got my mom a Diner Dash apron at Hudson’s booth. I wish they were showing the new downloadable Bonk game!

Bethseda was showing off Brink and WET. I have no idea what those two games are, but Bethseda’s booth looked cool! PAX also had panels, and I attended one this year. It was done by Bill Amend, creator of the newspaper comic strip Foxtrot. His entire panel was him reading his gaming related comics, but it was a nice break from the hectic showroom and it gave us a chance to sit down and relax for 30 minutes or so.

Capcom had both an impressive and disappointing showing at the same time. They had an impressive lineup of games. Cyborgs on the Wii played like an old 2-D side-scrolling beat ‘em up. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is an upcoming 2-D fighting game featuring Capcom characters and popular anime cartoon heroes. I picked Mega Man from Legends and Viewtiful Joe, who had a lot of his signature moves from the games. Everyone was playing on Wii fighting game joysticks, too! And the game I’m really looking forward to is Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney: Investigations. Unfortunately, the disappointing part of Capcom’s booth was the lack of representatives to show off the games and monitor the crowds. When I finally got to the front of the line to play Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, the other guy was hogging the player one controls and he was one of those fighting game spaz nuts and beating everyone in seconds, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time with the game. Capcom should’ve had someone monitoring the stations so they could’ve told him to move off and let someone else play. And it would’ve been nice if a Capcom rep was there to show how to play the Miles Edgeworth game, as I didn’t get too far without knowing what to do.

Harmonix was showing off their menagerie of Rock Band titles. While everyone was going ga-ga over Beatles Rock Band, I was more interested in LEGO Rock Band, as it is more family friendly. Easier modes for younger players as well as the other difficulty levels for experienced rockers mean the whole family can play together, and LEGO Rock Band will have some new gameplay modes and mini-games as well. And it works with all Rock Band and Guitar Hero peripherals.

Sanrio Digital was showing a Hello Kitty Online game. Free to play online, players create a boy or girl character and help out popular Sanrio characters like Hello Kitty, Dear Daniel, and Badtz-Maru (I guess I’d better turn in my ‘manly guy’ card since I know who these characters are). Using a standard MMO interface, Hello Kitty Online reminded me most of Animal Crossing. Combine items to make clothes and build your very own house. You can play the game solo, but you’ll get tasks done much faster if you play online with friends.

On the other end of the spectrum is Fairy Tale Fights for Xbox and PS3. This tongue-in-cheek cartoony brawler features demented versions of popular storybook characters like Snow White, Red Riding Hood, and the naked Emperor from The Emperor’s New Clothes. But this one isn’t for kids, as the game is so bloody you can slip and slide around on the red stuff. Play control is unique in that you use both analog sticks to move around and attack.

Ignition was showing two games at PAX. One is the Wii game Muramasa: The Demon Blade. It’s a 2-D side-scrolling hack & slash made by the same folks who did the stellar PS2 gem Odin Sphere. I just got a copy of this game, so watch for a review later on. Ignition also showed an upcoming DS RPG called Nostalgia which had a lot of airship battles.

Tozai Games was showing off some of their Xbox Live games like R-Type, Lode Runner, and Spelunker. They were giving out really cool retro Lode Runner T-shirts, but I missed out on getting one and I regret that. Austin, TX based Twisted Pixel was also featuring their Xbox Live games The Maw and ‘Splosion Man. I loved The Maw and even bought a plush toy of the purple monster while I was at PAX. They were also airing a preview video of their newest announced game: Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley. It stars a smiley faced super hero with a talking sarcastic and grumpy star on his chest. When he goes through different comic books, the graphics change to reflect the art, and the gameplay looks like a mix between Comix Zone, Earrthworm Jim, and Viewtiful Joe. Or not, I don’t know. At least the video was funny.

And that’s pretty much all the things I did at PAX. Sorry if I didn’t cover your favorite game, there’s just no way to play ALL the games there! But if you have any questions or comments about PAX, feel free to do so in the comments section on this page. I’d also like to thank the awesome PR professionals who helped me out and set up meetings with me at PAX. Booth babes? Who needs ‘em? The PR folks I met at PAX were way cooler!

Since this was also a family vacation, my mom and Jeff and I did some touristy stuff around Seattle as well. My favorite thing we did was the Ride the Ducks bus tours. These submersible buses drive you around downtown as well as a small boat ride around Puget Sound. We also went though the Science Fiction Museum and a Rock N Roll museum. Jeff got himself a Van Halen T-shirt there. We didn’t go up the Space Needle, but we can do something similar with the Reunion Tower at home in Dallas.

And that’s all we did at PAX 09 in Seattle. I’m glad I was able to bring my family along. Maybe next year I’ll go to E3 again. And like I said, if you have any questions about the games at PAX 09, just put them in the comments sections and I’ll see what I can do! –Cary

Tags: Misc