PAX East 2010 tickets on sale now

PAX will hit the East Coast in 2010 and you can buy tickets to take part in it right now. Tickets are on sale for PAX East 2010, with the show taking place Friday, March 26 – Sunday, March 28 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston Mass. The three-day pre-registration cost is $45 - a $10 discount from the at-the-door price. This is all-access for all events, concerts, parties, panels and free-play areas. Only “sealed deck” tournaments have an additional fee.

PAX East promises to accomdate thousands of atendees in the North East and bring pen-and-paper, tabletop, CCG, PC and video gamer related activties to create several days of madness. To show will offer tournaments, free-play areas, concerts, panel discussions and an exhibitor hall filled with the latest new games. Given that companies like 2K Boston, Harmonix, GamerDNA, 38 Studios, Blu Fnag and many other game developennt studios are in the Boton area one would suspect that these companies will take part. More details about the event after the break:

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Confirmed H1N1 case at PAX, say organizers

Were you at the Penny Arcade Expo over the weekend in Seattle? Feeling a bit rundown, tired or feverish? Well it might not be jet lag your suffering from. According to a recent update on Twitter from the official PAX feed the organizers of the event revealed that they have had one confirmed case of the H1N1 virus during the show.

“Just heard of our first test-confirmed swine flu case at the show. PLEASE if you feel symptoms (fever, etc) go to the doctor” reads the latest update on the PAX Twitter.

Update: There’s another confirmation on this story, if you need it, from Robert Khoo on the official PAX forums:

Giving everyone a heads up - we just received our first test-confirmed case of the the H1N1 swine flu virus at PAX. If you have any of the symptoms, please go see a doctor asap.

Thanks!

-Robert

I enjoy the way the organizers deliver the news like they just got a fresh shipment of new t-shirts. All kidding aside, if you feel a bit off it might not hurt to visit your doctor.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the H1N1 virus (or Swine Flu as it is commonly called) is spread “from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something – such as a surface or object – with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.”

The symptoms include (again from the CDC’s site on the virus) include “fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting.”

For more information on Swine Flu, visit the CDC’s section entitled 2009 H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) and You. Thanks to the irrepressible Scott Jones for the tip.

- original image source: NY Magazine

Valve reveals more L4D2 at PAX

Over the weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo Valve Software showed off Left 4 Dead 2 to fans and the media and revealed some new stuff about this second foray into the heart of a full blown zombie apocalypse. Shown off and playable at Valve and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 booth, Valve revealed even more information about Left 4 Dead 2 including a new campaign, new infected and new weapons.

After debuting “The Parish” campaign (set in the New Orleans’ French Quarter) at E3 and “Swamp Fever” at Comic Con San Diego, Valve revealed Dark Carnival - the third of the five campaigns shipping with L4D2 this fall.

Valve also unveiled a new Boss infected monster Known as “The Jockey.” This is the third new Boss infected from L4D2 revealed thus far (the Charger was revealed at E3, The Spitter at Comic Con). The Jockey lets you attack lone Survivors and wrestle control of their movement away from them-into fire, off ledges, or straight into the middle of a zombie horde.

In addition to the new campaign and boss monster the PAX showing of L4D2 marks the debut of the “Zombie Clown,” the “uncommon common” exclusive to the Dark Carnival campaign, and a few more of the 20-plus new items coming in the full product (electric guitar, machete, and the American baseball bat being offered as a pre-sell exclusive with select retailers).

Left 4 Dead 2 will be released for Xbox 360 and PC on November 17.

Fort Zombie announced at PAX

Paradox Interactive today kicked off its PAX 2009 plans by unveiling of Fort Zombie, an action RPG title that will be available through all major digital distribution channels. As the title suggests, Fort Zombie sees players trapped in the small town of Piety, Indiana. Faced with no other choice but to find shelter from an impending wave of zombies migrating from a nearby metropolis, players will have to choose a building to be their Fort throughout the entire campaign.

By focusing efforts on building up this structure, scouring town for supplies, and searching out and training other survivors, players will have a shot at surviving the massive zombie onslaught. Players will also have to choose from a variety of daily tasks and efficiently build up character stats and skills to fight off the zombies.

Fort Zombie will be released this fall on PC.

PAX performer tracks on Rock Band next week

The two three-packs of songs from bands appearing at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend will be available for download in the Rock Band Music Store for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. The packs feature Jonathan Coulton, MC Frontalot, Paul & Storm and Freezepop. Additional tracks from Avenged Sevenfold, The Jam, Oasis and Rage Against the Machine will be available in the Wii Rock Band Music Store, and tracks from Stone Roses and Godsmack will be available for download for Rock Band Unplugged on PSP. Full list after the jump:

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Scott Kurtz, Rooster Tooth dabble in City of Heroes

NCsoft and Paragon Studios today announced a new Guest Author program for the Mission Architect user-generated content system in City of Heroes. This program invites influential writers and aspiring game or story designers to collaborate with the team behind the City of Heroes MMORPG and publish custom missions directly into the City of Heroes game using the Mission Architect system. Participants in the Guest Author program will be announced on a regular basis. The first participants of this program will be Red vs. Blue series creators Rooster Teeth and PVP creator Scott Kurtz

Rooster Teeth plans to bring Captain Dynamic and his nemesis, The Great Face, from YouTube to City of Heroes, while Kurtz plans to bring character LolBat to life within Mission Architect.

Those attending the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle this week should make time for the City of Heroes panel discussion entitled “Mission Architect: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Story.” Both Scott Kurtz and Rooster Teeth’s Joel Heyman will be on hand with City of Heroes developers to talk about their experiences creating their own unique, personalized missions for the game. The panel will be Saturday, Sept. 5th, 2:30pm - 3:30pm Raven Theatre at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.

Nintendo’s plans for PAX

Nintendo says that it is ready to Play at Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, giving consumers their first chance to play key upcoming Wii and Nintendo DS games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. The recently launched Metroid Prime: Trilogy, Wii Sports Resort and Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box will also be on hand at the Nintendo booth (#352).

Additionally, Nintendo will debut a new WiiWare game at the booth: Pokémon Rumble. Pokémon Rumble lets up to four players at once team up and unleash powerful attacks as enemies surround them in this action-themed game.

In addition to the playable games at the booth, Nintendo has invited artists to create one-of-a-kind animations using the Flipnote Studio application for the Nintendo DSi. Throughout the Sept. 4-6 show, a professional artist will be on hand nearly every hour at a special area in the South Lobby (#S-3) to showcase the many ways that people can use Flipnote Studio to create original works of art.

Some of the artists scheduled to be on hand include Scott Kurtz (PvP), Eric Jones (DC Comics: Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade), Christina Strain (Marvel Comics: Runaways), Mike Choi (Marvel: X-Force), Edison Yan (5th Cell: Scribblenauts) and Ryan Jones (Telltale Games: Tales of Monkey Island).