A new podcast is up. Yes, it is supposed to be bi-weekly. Yes, I know we missed a date. This one makes up for the one that should have been made last weekend, and to catch up we’re recording another one this coming weekend with a special guest. We’re bringing on a WoW enthusiast to discuss all the features of the recently announced WoW expansion. For now check this out!

Pardon the extended absence on my part; as mentioned previously by both myself and Chuf, I’ve been on vacation in San Diego for both family, friends, and Comic Con since last Wednesday evening. For some reason though, the kind folks at Sony Online Entertainment invited me by their booth at the convention to talk with the developers there about both Pirates of the Burning Sea and Gods and Heroes and get some hands on time as well. You’ll have to wait for my full impressions, but for now, suffice it to say that Pirates is going to be just as great as people thought it would be before the internet exploded over Flying Lab’s distribution agreement with Sony Online Entertainment, and my opinion on Gods and Heroes made an almost 180 degree turn from “dildoes” to “I think I want this game” after getting a chance to sit down with it and with some nice folks from Perpetual (and I only mention the dildoes thing because of how impressed I was with the game).

In the meantime, I have a few other con-related thoughts, not all as gaming specific. First, Comic Con was ridiculously huge this year. For what I believe is the first time in its history, every day of the convention sold out, and there was more floorspace than ever, since the organizers moved the art auction upstairs. It was harder than ever to move around.

Second, comics specifically were less of a presence than ever before this year, while Video Games were huge; just eyeballling it, Square-Enix had a larger booth than Marvel Comics, and Marvel certainly had a large booth. Gaming announcements that should have been at E3 were also at Comic Con, especially from Microsoft, who announced both a price drop for the HD-DVD add on, and Viva Pinata for the DS at the show. I think it’s indicative of the vacuum created by E3’s reshuffling, and after this I fully expect big announcements at Blizzcon, PAX, and E for All in the coming months.

Third, the whole event, save for a few of the panels and the various Game Publisher booths, felt a lot like a carnival/farmer’s market for nerds and geeks of every persuasion. Which is fine, really. But the flea market vibe was stronger than I’ve felt or heard about in the past. Anyway. I had a great trip (and I assure you the vacation was much needed), but I’m glad to be back and writing. I’m waiting on some media from Perpetual for my Gods and Heroes impressions, but those and my thoughts on Pirates of the Burning Sea should be up during the week.

-Aegies

Some vacation. While it will be nice to flee the everyday banality of a college town during the summer for a while with a very pretty girl, something seems counterproductive to the idea of “Vacation” about writing about featured video games there for this site. And yet, that is very likely why I’ll be doing it. Because I love you. And I wanted you to know that.

Anyway. First up is Maximum PC and PC Gamers four day PC gaming extravaganza, their “Gaming University”, where in addition to trying not to smell too much like a stereotypical comic nerd, you might have the chance to rub shoulders with staff from PC Gamer and the Official Xbox Magazine. Unreal Tournament 3 deathmatches will be run every hour, with prizes from Intel and others serving as spoils for the victors. Following the “University” motif, there will be, er, seminars (?) on RTS games and RPGs. While there are quite a few games there that I don’t especially care about, I’ll definitely be checking out CDV’s Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (Holmes vs. Cthulhu? Yes please.), Southpeak Interactive’s Two Worlds, and maybe even the Korean MMORPG title Sword of the New World, courtesy of K2 Network.

On Saturday, in between checking out the Gaslamp District with the significant other, stopping by the World Sandcastle Championship, and trying to hunt down Warren Ellis, Sony Online Entertainment is hosting a party as well from 3:30 to 8:00, which is actually an early finish for Comic Con shenanigans, but I’m not complaining. Since it’s SOE, and not, say SCEA, there won’t be big name PS3 titles around, but there will be peeks at The Agency and Pirates of the Burning Sea, and “live music”. Anyone else going?

-Aegies