MER Episode 16 – The One Where We Visit PAX East!

Holy crap PAX East was a blast! Between playing new games, sitting in on some great panels, and listening to the best in nerd music, we had our weekend cut out for us. The conference was a resounding success, and we’ve chosen to highlight some of the best games and panels we saw. But don’t fret! There’s also a solid amount of The Old Republic news to get caught up on, including discovery of the game testing portal, the addition of the Biographies tab, and a word from Damion Schubert on group XP versus solo XP. All that and more! Give it a listen and let us know what you think in the comments.

Music for this show was provided by General Fuzz. Check out more of his work at generalfuzz.net
Transition music for this show was provided by Metroid Metal. You can hear more of them at metroidmetal.com

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News from the Galactic Republic
Genocide and Jedi: Why the Sith may be right in The Old Republic (via Ars Technica)

Game Testing Portal Discovered (via Darth Hater)
-Found by forum members Ianril and Zechio
-Confirmed shortly thereafter by Sean Dahlberg

Damion Schubert on Balancing Group & Solo XP (via Darth Hater)

Friday Update for March 26th (via SWTOR.com)
-Added new Biographies tab to the Holonet
-Short story “Smuggler’s Vanguard” by Threat of Peace writer Robert Chestney at StarWars.com

April Fools!
-Sarlacc Enforcer Class
-Hilarious class interview with Daniel Erickson and Damion Schubert (via GameSpot)

PAX East Panels
Journalists vs. Developers: The Ultimate Grudge Match
Panelists Include: Chris Kohler [Editor, Games, Wired.com], John Drake [Publicist, Harmonix Music Systems], Patrick Klepek [News Editor, G4], Jeff Green [Editor-in-Chief, EA]

The Death of Print
Panelists Include: Russ Pitts [Editor-in-Chief, The Escapist], Julian Murdoch [journalist, freelance], Jeff Green [EA], Chris Dahlen [Managing Editor , Kill Screen], John Davison [Editor-in-Chief, Gamepro]

The Future of PC Gaming (Yes, there is one!)
Panelists Include: Joe Kreiner [Terminal Reality], Jeff Kalles [Penny Arcade], John Abercrombie [Lead Programmer, Irrational Games], Mitchell Shuster [Co-owner, LanSlide Gaming PCs]

NVIDIA Unveils the Next Generation of PC Gaming
Panelists Include: Drew Henry [General Manager, GeForce – NVIDIA]

PAX East Games
Red Dead Redemption
Developer: Rockstar Games
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Release: May 18, 2010

Breach
Developer: Atomic Games
Platform: XBLA, PSN, PC
Release: Early Summer 2010
Some guy attempted to steal the source code…
Update: Turned himself in…

Shank
Developer: Klei Entertainment (published by EA)
Platform: XBLA, PSN
Release: TBA

Mafia II
Developer: 2K Games (Czech)
Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Release: August 24, 2010

Friday Update for March 26th, 2010

We’re here at PAX East! With a huge set of sessions and a sprawling expo floor to check out, we certainly have an exciting weekend ahead of us. Even if The Old Republic doesn’t have an official presence at the conference, expect to see a slew up updates about the things we see and hear.

In the mean time, this week Sean brings us a slightly different take on the Friday Update. No new planets or webcomics, but instead a deeper look into some of the characters we’ve seen thus far. Interested in Grand Moff Kilran’s rise to power or about the descendant of Bastila Shan? The new Biographies section of the Holonet looks like its shaping up to be the definitive source for info about some of the galaxy’s biggest names. Broken down into three sections (by faction), the list is rather slim at the moment, but we should expect to see more added in the coming weeks.

The second portion of today’s update is a pointer to a short story on the official Star Wars site by Threat of Peace writer Robert Chestney. The story follows Hylo Visz, a Mirialan pilot who helped to break through the Mandalorian Blockade. Chestney chooses to focus on a time in her past where she is contracted to work for a large Hutt crime cartel. Of particular interesting note is the mention of a Corellian corporation. If you remember in episode nine we discussed how Corellia was one of the planets we would love to see in the game based on its rich history involving some of the galaxy’s most powerful and prevalent ships. Be sure to give the story a read!

MER Episode 14 – Crackpots of The Old Republic

With Con season right around the corner, the news from Bioware has just barely been trickling out. But that’s okay! With a month break from the show, we’ve had plenty of news pile up to talk about including a new Holonet entry, a Dev Blog on the Sith Inquisitor, and the newly announced playable planet, Taris! It’s not all news either, as we launch into an epic speculation rabbit hole about the nature of the Spring 2011 release announcement. You won’t want to miss it!

Also, we want to extend a huge thanks to JThompson6577, DEDMON5811 (who left a seriously hilarious review and has been active in the forums as well), and Peterisjustok for taking the time to leave us reviews on iTunes!

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News from the Galactic Republic
Holorecord Entry: Onslaught of the Sith Empire

Developer Blog: Composing the Sith Inquisitor
-For those of you who missed the Trooper dev blog (like us) you can find it here

Taris Added as Newest Playable Planet
-Background info from Wookiepedia
-Aurebesh translation from Holonet Project
-Originally speculated as a planet back in July by forum poster MFavila
-Lore Update from Darth Hater

Stories from the Outer Rim
What the 2011 Release Date Means for the Community and EA
-Original release target post is now over 200 pages
-Recent entitlement post with an official response from ErickAdams
-Zach’s crackpot idea of a large media company purchasing EA in the next year
-The negative effect the entitled minority can have on the greater community (The Ghostcrawler Incident)

Fansites from around the web
-Holonet Project: Dedicated to translating all of the Aurebesh found on the Holonet pages. http://www.holonetproject.net/
-Shock N Awesome: Sith Inquisitor class blog. http://shocknawesome.com/

Pre-Episode Poll
Are You Going to PAX East?
-Nope. (87%, 47 Votes)
-Yes! I’ll see you guys there. (13%, 7 Votes)

PAX East Weekend Badges Now Sold Out

The PAX crew called it! Less than two weeks after alerting the community that the conference would sell out, the team has announced that they will no longer be selling the three-day weekend badge. Those who are interested in attending single days (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday), can still buy passes individually at $30 a piece. More information about the conference and badge registration can be found on the PAX East official site.

As mentioned in the pre-poll this week, we’re going! For those of you who have your passes, it would be great to meet up with you at the conference. Hopefully we’ll be able to figure out a specific time and place to get together. Be sure to check back on all the details.

MER Episode 14 Pre-Poll: Are You Going to PAX East?

Flights booked. Reservations made….we’re going to PAX East! And we’re incredibly excited to be able to take in all the event will offer. So we want to know, are you going too? Vote in the poll below and let us know in the comments!

If you want to order your pass, or are just curious about what the conference is going to offer, be sure to head on over to the official PAX East Site. Tickets ARE going to sell out, so be sure to get them as soon as possible if you plan on attending.

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