And here I thought the best of what I was going to get from PAX had passed. Ken Levine, the man largely credited for the success of last year’s BioShock hosted a panel about adolescent nerdery, Hollywood screenwriting exploits, and finding himself as a game designer.

Definitely my favorite panel of them all, and it’s not entirely because of my irrational love for the mind of Ken Levine. Having been born in an entirely different generation than Ken, I can still relate to many of his stories. Specifically the whole piece about growing up a total nerd and striving to find a tribe of like-minded individuals.

Source: GameVideos

PAX has begun, and with it has stirred the communal gamer vibe that continues to make it the gamer event of the year. The Washington Convention Center is crawling with gamers of every stripe and every developer worth a toss has shown up to show off.

The gaming press was allowed early entry into the exhibition hall and we quickly devolved into a heaving pack of sibilant monkeys as we ran from booth to booth. With so much to look at, we were afflicted, if momentarily, by a communal form of ADD.

But all that glimmers is not gold, and some offerings were better than others. In fact, some exhibitors seemed intent on showing up to fail. However, there was enough genius offerings to keep even the most jaded of gamers stamped with a permanent smile.

Fallout 3 was on display, and without a doubt Bethesda is taking home the gold with the best PAX booth for this year. They are taking a chance, letting anyone and everyone play Fallout 3 before its street date but from what I played, I think they’ll be fine.

Gears of War 2 was on site, and from what I saw it looked to be 2v2 combat – though they were still setting up, ignoring my pleas to play the game. I believe at one point someone threw a rock at me. Though what he was doing with a rock in his pocket is beyond me.

One game that I very much wanted to play, but a line had formed and my time grew short, was “Demigod.” Watching the game play, you control a hulking behemoth lending its aid to its chosen people, those who worship you – much like the way I am worshiped by the French. I watched one fellow stomp across a generic map, stomping on milling enemies and I was reminded of going one-on-one with my Warcraft III hero against another in a LAN. While the publisher has said there are many demigods to choose from, the only one that I saw was the fellow that looked like a walking castle – not that I am complaining, because he does indeed look as cool as he should. After all, he is a demigod.

More to report on Sunday afternoon, hopefully I will not be assailed by cosplay kiddies. Again.

While Wade, John, and Justin are enjoying PAX in Seattle, I am stuck happy to be in Boston this weekend for a wedding.

The good even better news is that, according to Joystiq, the Penny Arcade Expo will be making its way to Boston in 2010. This marks the first time in the shows five year stint that it will be held on east coast.

Source: Joystiq

According to the official Gears of War website, the Microsoft booth will be hosting 5V5 Gears of War 2 multiplayer matches during this weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo.

Along with the playable matches, there will also be an on-stage demo of the “Sinkhole” level from Gears 2 and both Gears writer Joshua Ortega and Gears artist Pete Hayes will be making an appearance at PAX for a quick Q&A session and autograph signing.

Now this kind of pisses me off because I’m not going to PAX, but I did go to E3 last month, and Microsoft didn’t have Gears 2 playable. That’s not fair at all.

You can check out all the days and times for the Gears of War 2 showcase at PAX at the official Gears of War website.

Source: Gears of War

If, like me, you are looking forward to the brand new space-based, real-time-combat-using, better-than-WoW, totally-awesome new MMO from Codemasters that is Jumpgate Evolution, then you may feel your pants tightening with the following trailer.

Nations At War is the first trailer for the game developed by NetDevil to really show its scale. With dozens of ship types and several beautifully crafted space scenes, this trailer not only gives us what we want, but is also a clear indication of what the end result will be.

If you would like to find out more about Jumpgate Evolution (and you know you want to) then have a read of our initial impressions, or our interview with the game’s producer, Hermann Peterscheck. Also, make sure to keep your eyes out for our hands-on with the game at this years PAX in a couple of weeks.

Jumpgate Evolution is currently in closed beta and is expected to release in Spring ‘09. You can sign up for the open beta at the official website.

Via: IGN