by Jayden Leggett, Editor

Being part of “the media” definitely has its perks sometimes. Sure, when we go to conventions such as the Australian debut of PAX (Penny Arcade Expo), we have to also do some work in addition to letting our inner-nerd run free. But this particular Friday morning was a definite “win” for us reporters, as we were able to gain access to the convention at 9:00 AM, giving us a whole hour’s head start before the swarms of ticket-holders stampeded into the expo hall at the Melbourne Showgrounds.

With this extra hour up our sleeves, fellow reporter Kerrie Hui and I figured it would be best to use this time to suss out the lay of the land, before the passageways became super congested. In addition to the obligatory stores selling geek-inspired wares like action figures, statues, clothing and so on, heaps of companies from the games industry were present (including a wealth of indie game developers), as well as a bunch of booths featuring gaming PCs, peripherals, audio gear and the like.

The guys at the Western Digital stall were handing out free shirts whilst showing off some of their sweet data storage gear, and also running a competition for best lap time on Trackmania (at least that’s what my memory is telling me the game was), with the winner to receive a 4TB hard drive. Meanwhile at another booth, SteelSeries gaming accessories such as headphones, keyboards and mice were being put to good use in a Counter Strike competition, with all participants winning SteelSeries branded prizes for their efforts.

I had the opportunity to have a nice chat with Chris at the Frag Labs exhibit, who walked me through the drool-inducing specs of a range of the Frag Labs gaming notebooks, all of which were very sexy units which sported even sexier prices. What I especially dug about Frag Labs was the fact that their team is clearly comprised of gaming enthusiasts, with the company even having a strong eSports presence. I highly recommend checking out their website to scope out their range of goods and the various eSports factions they are affiliated with.

While at the Frag Labs stall, I also got the chance to play a sweet twin-stick shooter that was playing on one of their machines. Assault Android Cactus was the name of the game, developed by Witch Beam, and it was one hell of a fun and chaotic experience. Expect an interview and video demonstration of the game with it’s designer Sanatana Mishra very soon (highly recommended viewing for action junkies).

There were a bunch of other games that Kerrie and I got to have a bash at over the weekend. First there was Robots Can’t Jump by Bayside Games, a 2D platformer with randomly generated levels in which players take control of a cute but deadly robot who builds his own elevators to reach higher levels, whilst powering-up on jewels that are obtained by destroying his enemies. Another gem that I tried out (whilst hideously failing at, thus horribly humiliating myself) was Infinity Wars by Lightmare Studios, a very polished card-battling game featuring beautifully animated playing cards and battle grounds that demanded a keen strategic mind. Toy Mania is yet another beautiful and addictive puzzle game by The Voxel Agents, complete with cutesy cartoon animals being formed. Fractured Soul by Endgame Studios is a sweet side-scrolling shooter that is best described as a double-screen Mega Man that requires careful planning and quick thinking. Stirfire Studios were also showing off their downward scrolling platformer Freedom Fall, which features great gameplay mechanics and unsettling taunts to the player via a twisted princess’ wall graffiti. Interviews and video demonstrations of all of these titles will also be online soon at this very website, so keep your eyes peeled (definitely worth your time, I promise!)

Now, going to a convention like PAX Aus without attending at least one panel would be considered sacrilege, so Kerrie and I made sure to get in on the early morning Ubisoft gameplay screening of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Between this and Assassin’s Creed III, I’m really starting to feel that I should jump headfirst into this franchise. Being considerably more pirate-y than the last entry in the series, the Black Flag demo showed off a vast array of cool gameplay features. Stealthy treks through jungle scenery, seamless open-world transitions from land to sea, boarding enemy ships to do battle, slick assassinations (featuring a couple of kickass flintlock pistols), this game looks like it will seriously rock!

Other panels were observed by us, including Rooster Teeth (whom we interviewed prior to the event – video coming soon!), a discussion about gaming (or rather the lack of gaming) on Mac computers, and a Bioware panel, in which they made a few revelations such as some PAX Aus exclusive art from Dragon Age: Inquisition, and the fact that the concept bible for the next Mass Effect game is almost complete. Our PAX Aus adventure at this stage, however, was far from being complete.

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