I’m still working up some write-ups for some of the more interesting games and tech I saw at the show. AAA titles were relatively few, I suspect because GAMESCOM was so close to PAX this year. This was a good thing really, as it certainly gave the indie games and smaller publishers more breathing room to shine.
First, here are a smattering of booth and cosplay pictures taken at PAX West 2016 over the last couple days. There was a lot of Overwatch Cosplay this year. See below for a quick recap…
PAX West 2016 Day 1/Day 2 Short Report
The following are just a few from-the-hip quick recaps of various things from the show:
ARK: Evolved has really…evolved
I am still stunned at the ARK: Evolved booth. Just last year they had a small booth with a handful of PCs and a banner, tucked away off to the side of the main Atrium level. This year, they had a GIANT F*CKING TYRANNOSAUR and a DRAGON you could sit on and take pictures. They had a very large booth and a big presence at the show. That MMO has come a long ways.
This year they are showing off their latest content update called Scorched Earth, which introduces (among other things) DRAGONS.
Original Battletech creator shows off X-COM style Battletech game
I got to meet Jordan Weisman, the creator of BattleTech and MechWarrior (as in the original tabletop miniature warfare games) and talk about his upcoming turn-based Battletech game. I’ll be writing up their PC Battletech game soon, but it’s essentially a turn-based Battletech game in an X-COM-like PC title.
Jordan got permission back from Microsoft to make the game, so this game will be wholly based on the original material. Expect to see familiar mechs (like the Atlas!), multiplayer, and a single-player story with all the ‘Game of Thrones’ like intrigue that was in the original games’ lore (but never really emphasized, because it was ultimately a war game).
I enjoyed it. It’s still in early Alpha but looks like it should please fans of BattleTech and MechWarrior.
Death Squared should be cubed
Death Squared is a little indie, co-op puzzle game by SMG Studio. Working in a team of 2 or 4 players, you must move cubes around to get them to the their respective circles–but you must work as a coordinated team. Puzzles are progressively more difficult, and add new and increasingly difficult twists as you progress.
Work together or die trying; Death Squared is the kind of game that builds teamwork and/or ruins relationships.
Also: Someone needs a companion cube skin.
Razer sharpens their Blades and offers new keyboards
I attended RAZER’S KEYNOTE, where they pimped the latest Blade laptops (basically just the ‘usual’ product updates/refreshes) and a partnership with Antec and Maingear to develop new cases (Antec) and PCs (Maingear).
Razer also showed off their external graphics amplifier, the RAZER CORE, a tool-less case you can drop a beefy graphics card into and then connect (via Thunderbolt) to a PC/Laptop for extra gaming horsepower.
Razer also announced/showed their new “Membrane+Mechanical” hybrid keyboard. They call it the “Mech Membrane”. You can think of it as an attractive ‘memchanical’ “Blackwidow Lite” that comes with an improved wrist rest, Chroma Lighting, and a more affordable price tag ($99).
Logitech: Wireless is better for gaming than you think
Logitech was also on hand showing off their new G403 Prodigy wired/wireless mouse, along with some test hardware to demonstrate that the G403 wireless does, in fact, incur less latency between the click of the mouse and the response.
It was an interesting test not so much designed to demonstrate Logitech superiority, but to demonstrate that the bad reputation that wireless mice has been long held by gamers regarding wireless latency is largely unfounded with current technology.
Logitech also showed some of their keyboards with new, streamlined looks: The spill resistant Logitech G213 RGB. It’s a non-mechanical keyboard with an otherwise minimalist look and matte/soft touch black construction. You can apparently dump a beer on it, and it will still work. (They tested that!)
That’s all for now; time to start writing up one of my favorite things from the show so far…
PC & Video Gaming Examiner 