Gaming Category
Enforcers
It was a rainy day while I was in London that a post went up on the Penny Arcade website calling for volunteer submissions for “The Enforcers”. The Enforcers are the large group of people, clothed in black shirts that spot the Penny Arcade Expo generally being helpful and keeping everything running smoothly.
I knew of the group from discussions and news on the previous conventions and had always wondered if I could be part of something that seemed so cool. I applied for a job, not really thinking I would be accepted what being a travelling Australian and all. To my surprise soon I found an email from penny arcade in my inbox informing me of my acceptance to “The Black”. My life hasn’t been the same since
Being an Enforcer isn’t just a volunteer job. It is a way of life. Being surrounded by people who think, talk and act like you, all with an insane level of passion is intoxicating. Everyone is accepted. Parties are arranged on an almost weekly basis. Helping hands are offered to all those who have accepted the black. Being an Enforcer is about fun, games and friends. In the first two days of being in Seattle I attended two Enforcer gatherings, one specifically to welcome the 3 out of town enforcer Australians (and 3 local Aussies) at the Outback Steakhouse.
It is also about being some of the most professional mother fuckers around for the week of PAX. Exhibitors and staff of the convention were often amazed to find out that we don’t get paid for our work at the Expo. They were continually impressed by our expertise and professionalism. I explained to a few that asked me about it that I felt it came from a level of passion and dedication to the subject matter and organisers that you don’t normally see at most expos or jobs even.
I made more friends in my time in Seattle through the Enforcers than I have pretty much in my whole trip combined. At the moment my Enforcer badge is tucked neatly in my backpack, waiting to be hung somewhere safe at home to remind me of all those that made my time at PAX and in Seattle so wonderful.
SAX, bag stuffing fun
About a week before PAX is SAX. SAX is a day of bag stuffing, pizzas, introductions and hilarity.
This year the Enforcers banded together in production lines to stuff flyers, tshirts, buttons and other junk into over 20,000 swag bags to be handed out to attendees at the Expo. The stuffing started at 9am and didn’t finish until about 7pm, with only a small break in the middle which was staggered to allow people to grab some pizza.
While monotonous the activity was great fun and once your brain had fallen into a pattern of grab, stuff, pass it was easy to chat with those around you. Meeting so many new people all striving for a common goal was a great way to get to know the people I would be working with pretty much non stop for a week at the convention.
Next time you grab greedily at the bags handed to you at your next convention give a thought to the many hands that went into making sure you got all your stupid vouchers!
PAX 2009
I have been following the development of Penny Arcade Expo for many years. Created by Mike and Jerry from the webcomic Penny Arcade it is a convention by gamers, for gamers. This years convention, held between the 4th and 6th of September was attended by over 60,000 people making it their biggest yet.
Pretty much this whole adventure has been leading up to PAX. I mentioned it in the About the Odyssey section right at the start of the trip and have been excited about it since. I bought my pass well in advance, even before they were officially on sale and spent many hours reading and re-reading my ticket receipt, counting the days until I would be in Seattle and at the con.
I worked as an Enforcer (more on this later) at the Expo which gave me a great behind the scenes look at the whole convention from setup until tear down. I have never worked a more rewarding and exciting job. My main role was to be in Info Booth, helping attendees, VIPs and assorted other people who need help with what ever I could offer. We managed Lost and Found, handled checking in other Enforcers, gave advice where ever appropriate and generally looked after the welfare of the attendees.
I didn’t really see much of the convention per-se. I was working most of the time out of choice because I enjoyed it so much. I did wander about the convention a few times though talking to people and checking out new games. Brutal Legend looks great, as does Dantes Inferno, Diablo III and Star Craft II. I had a go on the PSPGo which was surprisingly light and looked at the new PS3 Slim, which is pretty much the same “size” as the PS3 Phat, just thinner. I helped Tim Schafer find his way to his booth, talked to people from Microsoft and Nintendo and oogled the gorgeous cosplayers that dotted the Expo Hall. I didn’t get a chance to check out any of the Panels, but I did say hello to Mike and Jerry, the former who I got a photo with at the after party. Jerry had a baby on the last day of PAX so there was no chance of seeing him at the after party. I really enjoyed the whole expo. The vibe that resonates through the whole place, emanating from attendees, exhibitors, speakers and staff alike is one of kinship and fun. Never have a I felt so at home at an event.
One of the funniest moments I experienced while in our little Info Booth bunker was being approached by an older lady who was trying to get in touch with her over excited 16 year old. The young man was supposed to contact his mother at 2pm but had been too busy / couldn’t be stuffed doing so and she was worried and came and saw us around 7pm. Unfortunately we explained to her, we had no way paging the centre, so she would just have to keep trying on his phone. As she turned away accepting her fate of waiting her phone rang and, answering it in front of us, she told us it was her son and proceeded to berate him down the phone. The first words out of her mouth were “YOU ARE SOOOO GROUNDED”. The whole booth started rolling around laughing and I grabbed a few sheets of paper and asked the lady to get him to come to the booth. This was the result when he walked around the corner. I have never seen a kid turn so red. Good times, good times.
Setup and tear down were real eye openers and in a moment of inspired genius while tearing apart left over swag bags we came up with the idea to collect up the LOTR:Online games and create a domino design. 3 hours and 1351 DVD cases later we came up with this.
Probably the best thing I take away from PAX is the great feeling of satisfaction I received in being part of something so great and all the friends I made along the way. I feel I have been truly accepted into “The Black” and I will be trying my damnedest to be back to help in 2010.
Also: Giant Connect Four FTW.
Ubisoft
Not much to say about my visit to Ubisoft Montreal other than I WENT TO FREAKING UBISOFT MONTREAL! The makers of some of the best games released in the past two generations: Splinter Cell, PoP: Sands of Time, Rainbow Six : Vegas and of course Assassins Creed.
Sure I was all sweaty after riding to the office, and too nervous to ask if I could take photos around the reception but I was polite enough to ask permission to take a few shots of the office doors. The building is a massive warehouse on St Laurent and the lobby looks pretty cool and industrial. There were people coming and going the whole time and it all looked pretty busy.
I am glad I managed to see it while I was here, a nice little experience for my gaming odyssey. Next big gaming related event? PAX, baby!
Those Crazy LARP’ers
Yesterday I witness one of the craziest of past times in the Mont Royale park: LARP’ing. For the uninitiated LARP stands for Live Action Role Playing. Basically it involves players (standard nerds) getting dressed up and acting out fantasy fights.
While most LARP’ing events are fairly structured and planned with skill trees, classes, teams and abilities all determined by dice rolls this LARP’ing event which happens every Sunday is more of a free for all. Forming two loose teams the groups advance on each other, proceed to beat each other with foam swords until at some point it is decided the round is over and the process repeats ad nauseam. There doesn’t seem to be any real referreree and anyone seems to be able to join. All it takes is a foam wrapped stick and a bit of imagination. In some cases you’ll see the level of dedication to role goes from casual stick bashing to broom head adorned helmets.
For the many onlookers that surrounded the players the whole thing seems ridiculous. Especially when you see the grown men taking things even more seriously than the 6 year olds. But you know what? In each and every photo you’ll see in my gallery you’ll find smiling faces. These kids are just having fun, making friends, getting out doors and a little exercise and I wont be one to decry them for that.
I had a hard time choosing which photo to use for the header image, it was a toss up between this, this and this but in the end I went with the hardcore players. All gold, all pretty cool, but you can find even more LARP’ing gold in the gallery below. It’s times like this I wish I had a decent SLR and a telephoto lens, but I just have to make do with my waterlogged Canon point and shoot which has done me well so far.
Oh and on the topic of LARP’ing check out the great animation from the For Tax Reason guys after the gallery. Great stuff.
Mega Man Rap
This very cool Mega Man 2 video just rocked my socks. I can see them in the corner of my room. They’ve been rocked the fuck right off my feet. Cold appendages are the bitter side effect of such an awesome video. You have been warned. Fo’ realz.
Take a trip down memory lane, and learn a few 1337 stratz along the way. Keep an eye out for Mega Man putting his baby momma in her place! Oh, and hold onto your socks.
For those who aren’t quite sure how this internets shiznit works yet, the video is embedded after the jump. Just hit that little link down there talking about photos and videos and whatnot to see it. If you don’t see the link, you’ll be seeing the vid, so this point is moot. Moot Point. Moot.
Card Games – Killer
Next in my series of Card Games is “Killer”.
Killer
A fairly simple game, Killer is about investigating a murder at your party, with any of the players involved being either a Killer, Detective or Victim. The Killers aim is to kill every other player who is not the detective before the detective can determine who is the killer.
To begin, take a King and Jack out of a standard deck of cards. The King represents the detective, and the Jack the killer. Next, take a random selection of cards, being sure not to get another King or Jack from the pack. Take as many cards as there is players. If there are 6 players, you will need a King, Jack and four other cards.
Shuffle the cards and distribute one to each player. Players examine their cards and determine if they are the killer, detective or just a victim.
The Killer, or person holding the Jack must then, as subtley as possible, wink at whom they suspect to be victims. When a victim notices the wink they must say aloud “I’m dead”. The Killer aims to kill all the victims they can.
While this is going on, the player holding the King card, the Detective, is trying to determine who is the killer. They can accuse someone; but they have only one chance to do so. If they accuse an innocent person the round is over and the killer remains secret. Cards go back in the pack, are shuffled and the process starts over. The round can also end when the Killer has killed all the victims or if the detective correctly accuses someone of being the killer. Scores can be kept but most of the time the game is just played for the fun of it.
Killer a fairly easy game and very entertaining, especially when players are skilled murders.
I’ve still got a few more card games to go up, so keep watching that “card games” keyword.
Card Games – Chems
I’ve learnt a few new card games and I thought I would share them with y’all. Seeing as these are games, thats right GAMES Colin, they will be stuffed whole-heartedly into the “Gaming” category of the site.
Chems
Today’s card game is Chems. I am not sure of the exact pronunciation, as it’s a crazy french game. The Frenchies here assure me that “Chems/Cams/Kerms” means nothing, it’s just a word so you can substitute whatever you like. It is a team game, real time strategy of sorts, where the aim of the game is to hold four of the same card (every suit of a card), and working as a team attempt to get “DOUBLE CHEMS”, two people with full hands each, and it works like this.
The game must be played with an even number of people, with everyone broken into teams of two. Take 1 deck of cards, shuffle and distribute four cards to each player. Place the remaining deck on the table face down. Each player picks up their cards and looks at their hand. Players may want to rearrange their cards for easier sorting. Once everyone is ready, the dealer flops four cards from the top of the pack onto the table face up. Players wait for the dealer to call “Go” and a mad scramble of choosing one card from your hand and swapping it with one of the cards on the table begins. There are no turns, just all in.
Swapping continues for as long as the players like, unless 3 of the same card (ie, 3 jacks) appear on the table. At this point, or when everyone is done swapping, the dealer takes the cards on the table, turns them back over and puts them in to “burned” pile. A new lot of four cards is flopped onto the table and the process begins again. Once a player has “Chems” they must signal their partner secretly and their partner must say “Chems” or “Double-chems” if they suspect their partner has “Chems” as well. If someone has “Chems” and this noticed by an opposing team they can call “Contra-chems”. If the player is found to have “Chems” when “Contra-chems” is called the player holding the “Chems” must place their cards in the burned pile and take four new cards from the top of the pack. If the player does not have “Chems” they must show two different cards secretly to the accusing player and that player must forego their cards and take four new ones from the pack. The round is won when a team successfully calls “Chems” or “Double-chems”. A team gets one point for “Chems”, two for “Double-chems” and the game continues for as long as you want. Scoring can be replaced easily with “drinks to be distributed” for conversion into a drinking game.
The strategy lies in the relationship and signals you have with your partner. You cannot call Chems on your own cards, so it is important that your partner is always checking for your secret signal, and the signal must be subtle enough that the other players cannot detect when you have “Chems”. Counting cards comes into play where good players can see when someone on the opposing team or their own partner has picked up enough cards to be holding a full hand.
So there you go. Give it a bash, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. It’s a great game to get to know people with and the real-time card swapping of it makes it very fun and keeps everyone on their toes.
Keep an eye on the blog for more card games to appear, they’ll appear under the “card games” keyword.
Game On Exhibition
Ok odyssey fans I’ve finally got you real gaming article. Now you can finally shut up about my gaming cred Colin.
Queensland Library hosted “Game On”, an exhibition on the history of Video games which was presented from the 17th Nov, 2008 through to Today. I was lucky to catch it on it’s final day. The exhibition featured old old OLD SKOOL Arcade machines, including classic spacewar cabinents through to today’s current tech with the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 making an appearance.
Exhibits included pretty much EVERY handheld gaming console, a timeline of working, playable consoles (which included the Sinclair, Magnavox and Famicon) and a mockup of the original Spacewar oscilloscope game that started it all. While I could have done with more information on the games and systems, it was a nice trip down memory lane. Tegan and I were a little disappointed in our own way that Soul Calibur didn’t make an appearance. Me as it’s Dreamcast incarnation is still rated in the top 10 best games of all time by Game Rankings, and her as it’s the only game she can play.
It was cool seeing the Lynx and Game Gear handhelds in all their double A chewing glory and getting an insight into the planning that went into GTA3. It’s just a pity that all of you that haven’t gone to see the exhibit yet have missed out! Fail.
I was unable to take my camera in, due to some bullshit rule, but Tegan went rogue and snuck in her Olympus, taking a few cheeky snaps which you can check out after the break.
Street Fighter Whoopage
Yesterday I got a chance to play what seemed to be a dodgy import of Street Fighter IV. I was wandering around an arcade in China Town and spotted it hidden in a Tekken 5 cabinet.
Now I must say that while I am a Street Fighter fan, I have never been that crash hot a player. I can seldom pull off moves and would have only won a handful of fights. I take joy in watching other players mastering the game, in awe of their speed and accuracy. Street Fighter IV is the perfect game for me. The animations, art style and backgrounds are a delight to watch. Players who dominate can pull off beautifully animated sequences and the dust, flame and brush stroke effects are fantastic. While some of the faces the characters make are awkward (such as the much discussed Ryu “o” face) the characters are big, beautiful and move smoothly between their animations.
At this arcade they had two cabinets linked, and I challenged a seasoned player. Needless to say: I had my arse handed to me within a few seconds. I tried the single player arcade mode, had a couple of wins before being thumped by the fat clown dude, Rufus. The controls were tight, smooth and the game very enjoyable. Well worth dropping a few bucks on.
Anyone who is interested in checking it out, and is in Sydney go to Galaxy World above the Paddy’s Markets at the top of Market City. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, but I did get a sneaky video of my opponent which you can see after the break.