One of the reasons it's been a bit quiet from my end lately has been because of the next round of gaming events coming up -- Games Convention, PAX, Tokyo Game Show, Austin Games Conference, etc. With E3 diminished now, it seems like each one of these games events has become bigger (and there are more popping up left and right), so it's been quite the headache to plan for them all! But I love this stuff -- these events, while they can be a hassle to keep straight and cover, are always really exciting.
This week we've got crews at two major events: the Penny Arcade Expo (which kicks off later in the week) and the Leipzig Games Convention (which begins today). I'm handling the Games Convention, along with Matt, Patrick, Demian, Rob, and Jason. It's going to be a pretty big show this year, and we've been gearing up to deliver all of the latest details, videos, and impressions right from the floor. Plus, for me, covering Games Convention is a great opportunity to freshen up on my German.
(look how thrilled I am to be in Leipzig)
Anyway, the trip over to Leipzig was pretty draining, but we passed the time with lots of multiplayer matches of Tetris and Planet Puzzle League on the plane. I actually hadn't played the DS version of Puzzle League yet, so it took me a while to adjust to using the stylus and being able to drag blocks across the entire screen, but after no time I was kicking both Jason and Patrick's asses. YEAH.
I also played a bit of Jeanne D'Arc, Level 5's Final Fantasy Tactics style RPG that comes out this week. I LIKE.
Speaking of games I've been playing, though, one that I'm not playing -- and I'm holding Leipzig entirely responsible -- is Bioshock. You have no freaking idea how tough it was to have the game sitting on my desk before I had to leave for Germany...because I knew full well I wouldn't be able to start it and get everything else I needed done before I left. And Andrew telling me it was probably the best game of the type he's played since Super Metroid totally didn't help matters. I eventually gave my copy to David Ellis just so I wouldn't have to look at it. Ah well, at least I have a great game to look forward to when I get back!
Oh, and while I'm talking about good games, one that I recently started playing is Company of Heroes -- I totally love it. I didn't have the hardware to run the game at home when it came out last year, but I recently got a macbook pro and have been playing it via bootcamp. I don't know, it's just so cool to have this relatively high end PC game running on the thing.
Anyway, as I'm writing this it's about 9:00 am on tuesday over in Leipzig Germany, and we're getting ready to head out to the convention center. Today is going to be relatively tame -- we'll mainly be covering panels and keynotes from guys like Peter Moleneux (you can check out yesterday's from Denis Dyack) -- but you never know what might pop up. Tomorrow is when the big show actually kicks off, though, and from what I've seen of Matt's list of stuff to cover, there will be plenty to get excited about (and yes, that includes new games you haven't seen before).
And just to make sure you know, the best place to stay up to date on all of the news, videos, and previews coming out of Leipzig is our Games Convention Hub. It's live and will be seeing more updates shortly.
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