PAX Prime Day Three Recap

All good things must come to an end, and PAX Prime 2012 has officially wrapped here in Seattle.  While we await our return flight home to get back to normal, we did have plenty that we got to see and do on Sunday, including some stunning new technology and a cluster of games at our fingertips.

Our day started at the Bethesda booth, and they didn’t disappoint their fans in the least.  Along with providing plenty of Dishonored masks and Avatar codes for Xbox Live Marketplace, they also had some cool paper speakers, perfect for playing at your desk.  Our impressions of Doom 3 BFG Edition should be up by the time you read this, and we’ll have a report on Dishonored’s new party infiltration stage in the days ahead.  If you got to check out either, you know how remarkable both of these games are.

We also dropped by PopCap’s booth for a little bit, getting some time in with the new Zen Pinball 2 PVZ table and even catching some of the disco zombies doing their thing on the floor.  The booth has been jam-packed all weekend with giveaways, including cool little PVZ hats and stuffed rocks.  There was also a photo booth, for those interested in getting their photos with PopCap characters.

After that, we made a stop by The Walking Dead booth to grab a turkey leg attached to a zombie hand (mmm, delicious) and get a quick look at The Walking Dead Episode 3, which is available now for download on PC, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.  We then moved over to Red 5 Studios’ FireFall booth, where they displayed the latest patch to the online shooter, along with a few class upgrades.  Their booth was massive and didn’t disappoint.

Following that (and a few spirited rounds of The Big Bang Theory: The Party Game – come on, we had to get some kind of card gaming in there), we made a stop at Twisted Pixel’s booth, where we got a first look at the company’s latest project, the 2013 release LocoCycle (look for our report to be on the site soon) and the forthcoming iOS version of Ms. Splosion Man.  Both games were coming together wonderfully, and, for good measure, we even picked up a LocoCycle bandana to feel more like bad-asses.

But then we got to check out this great piece of technology called the Oculus Rift.  If you’re a fan of Kickstarter campaigns, you probably already heard of this one .  If not, think of a virtual reality headset, but one modified for today’s gaming technology.  This thing is truly a piece of work, as it immerses you into a huge 3D universe of whatever game’s supporting it.  It’s interactive with the user as well, as you move your head around to look around, instead of normally using the right analog stick.  We’ll have a report on this new device very soon, and, yes, we want one.  BADLY.

Following our trial with the Oculus, we did one more roaming around the floor, saying hey to a few indie developers (like 24 Caret Games and Klei Entertainment) and a few Frag Dolls over at the Ubisoft booth.  Then it was time for the Gearbox panel to close out the show, and, as expected, it was a huge hit with fans, between free pizza and giveaways, and lots of funny stories from president Randy Pitchford and company.  (We’ll have a full recap online shortly.)

As for the evening, it was pretty quiet afterwards, though we did catch up with some friends over at GameWorks and a local karaoke bar, before settling in to call it a night one last time in Seattle.

And that’s a wrap for PAX Prime.  We certainly hope you enjoyed our coverage of the event, and we can’t wait for PAX East to roll around in 2013.  Time to let the good times roll once more…