Tag Archive: Pax Prime

Mar 04

Tagros’ Thoughts: Bit Trip Buy This Game

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Blargnation, Blargnaut, Blog, Computer, Games, Steam, Tumblr, Video Games

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Hello All!

As I sit here waiting for it to hit 9 pm (when Tomb Raider releases on Steam for the West Coast), I wanted to do a blog about a game that I have been playing a bit of recently. Unfortunately, I have been massively busy with work the past two weeks, but I have still been able to fit in time for a gem of a game that goes by the name of Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. For those that don’t know (which I assume is an extremely small portion of people reading this article), Runner 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the indie smash hit Bit Trip Runner. I actually ended up preordering the game on Steam after I got back from Pax Prime because of how impressed I was with what I saw, but for those who only have knowledge of the original, I will tell you a few reasons why I think you should check out its sequel.

The art style has changed quite a bit from the original version

The art style has changed quite a bit from the original version

First off, let me know that the gist of the game is the same. It is still an endless runner and still has extremely tight timing for some of the jumps, which makes gameplay range from fairly simple to absolutely excruciating. One of the biggest things that they added was a checkpoint about halfway through the level, which honestly, is a lifesaver. In the first game, you could get to the very last jump, and if you accidentally slipped up, you were all the way back to the beginning. Luckily, the checkpoint can lessen some of the anger that you may get towards the game, but it can get infuriating if you miss a gold piece and hit the checkpoint, because it means that you pretty much have to start the whole level again. Another pretty big addition is the fact that in certain places, the map will split into two parts where there is an easier and a harder route. These tend to not have very important consequences outside of the fact that you can earn more points if there are more obstacles on the map, but it is a cool addition, and sometimes it can lead to secret areas!

Another cool feature is that the three worlds in the previous game have been expanded to 5 worlds, with multiple levels in each world. Each of the different worlds have quite a bit of charm and character, and each world offers a new character that you can unlock. They all play roughly the same, but seeing the different skins is pretty cool and adds a personality to the worlds. You can also collect costumes to put on each unlocked character, which can make your runner completely different from your friends. I don’t know about you, but I am a pretty big fan of customization, so this fact really drew me in. What do you think of Runner 2 though? Have you played it? Do you want to? Sound off in the comments below!

The "retro" sections are much more few and far between, but still provide quite a challenge

The “retro” sections are much more few and far between, but still provide quite a challenge

Happy Gaming!

Tagros

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Status update

Monday February 11, 2013 — 1:13 PM

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Bill Zoeker

Hey Blargnauts! If you were following our coverage of PAX Prime last year, you know we pumped out a ton of interviews with developers, publishers, and everything in between. We’re going out to PAX East to bring you even more. This time, it will be a smaller group of us. Myself, Bill Zoeker, will be blazing a trail through the convention with Aria once again; with Kashi Takashi, and Ransom Summer rounding out the team. We’ll be focusing more on the lighter side of things this time, so prepare your sides to be split.

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Nov 03

Tagros’ Thoughts: Pid Sure is a Mighty Delight

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Blargnation, Blargnaut, Blog, Computer, Featured, Steam, Tumblr, Video Games

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You must utilize your portals well in order to get stars, the worlds currency.

Hey all!

I know that I have been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging, but I am promising right now that from now on, I will be trying my hardest in order to get out a blog once a week.  With the formalities out of the way, I wanted to jump straight into the topic that will be the focus of this weeks blog, a delightful game that is now available on Steam called Pid.  Now if you remember my article that I did from Pax Prime this year, you will remember that that was the first time that I got my hands on the game, and my feelings towards it back then were extremely positive.  Well yesterday, I got home from work and saw that SURPRISE! Pid was available on Steam rocking a very reasonable price tag of $9.99.  I recently got paid, so I decided to go ahead and purchase the game, and I have had an absolute blast with the bit that I have played.

For those who don’t know, Pid is the first game released from indie developers Might & Delight (hence the dumb pun title).  Much in the vein of a game like Limbo or  Braid, Pid is an indie platformer in which you are exploring a world that is very much stylized, and you are given a unique “power” that plays into the navigation of the world.  In Limbo, there wasn’t really a power, but there were switches that changed gravity, and in Braid, you had the ability to manipulate time, and in this regard Pid is no different.  In Pid, you are quickly given the power of these gloves which can toss out orbs which act as hover portals (in that they put out a beam in which you float away from the origin of the beam).  In the single player game, you are given two portals at a time to use, but in the multiplayer version, each player is given one.  This adds an extra level to the multiplayer, as you have to really communicate with your partner in order to place the portals down in the right places.  While the gameplay is very sound, the thing that I was most attracted to was the art style.  It’s kind of hard to explain (and I will add a screenshot in so that you can see better), but there is a very abstract look to all of the characters that populate the world, and it really adds to the whole atmosphere.

As you can see, things in Pid are just a little…different

I cannot wait to play more of Pid, and if anyone else has picked it up, I would highly recommend giving out your deets in the comments below and I will try to play with you as soon as possible! I know that I am shaking off the rust of the whole blogging thing, but I am really going to try to not only have more blogs out, but also to have more features and reviews out in the near future!

Happy Gaming,

Tagros

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Sep 17

Bill Zoeker

Win a RUNNER 2 Shirt Signed by Alex Neuse, Mike Roush, and Gaijin Games!

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Blargnation, Blargnaut, Tumblr, Video Games

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Hey Blergnuts and bobbers! As you may know, Aria streamed live from PAX Prime 2012 with Alex and Mike of Gaijin Games. Gaijin, being the awesome dudes they are, hooked us up with a Runner 2 shirt(size XL) which everyone at their booth proceeded to sign. Now we want to toss this vestment graced by the autographs of the minds behind the BIT.TRIP to one of you beautiful Blargnauts. Here’s how to enter:

That’s it! That’s all you have to do to win this awesome one-of-a-kind shirt. The winner will be picked at random on October 1st. Good luck!

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Sep 01

Day 1 Pax Prime Impressions

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Blargnation, Blargnaut, Blog, Cosplay, TTV, Tumblr, TwitchTV, Video Games

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The riot area was always pretty much this packed…

Hello Loyal Blargtonians,

So the first day of PAX Prime 2012 has officially ended, and I have to say that for my first day at a convention (ever), I had an absolute blast.  I honestly didn’t know what to expect as the whole Blarg team was approaching the convention center, but I have to say that what shocked me the most was the number of people actually at the convention.  The line to get into the front door snaked all the way back to our hotel pretty much , but luckily we got in through a very efficient way as to where we did not have to wait in the line for long at all.  The first thing I noticed was that many of the big names that you would expect to be there were not only there, but there in quite a bit of glory.  There is a really big Borderlands 2 statue that has all of the characters positioned which looks super cool, but I have been unable to play it as of this article, because the lines for it are (as expected) absolutely insane.  Raptor and I walked around the two main areas of the showroom and took in all the sights, and this is when I realized how big these types of shows really are.  Many of the booths were throwing out free swag in order to coax people into pre ordering their prospective games, and many of the panels were throwing out swag as well (for example, the Razer panel was handing out hoodies to the first X amount of people who came to their panel).

Raptor and I were trying to cover cosplaying pictures, so the first place that we went to was the 6th floor, where they were doing the indie stuff (such as Mojang and Supergiant games), in addition to the League of Legends event that they were having.  I know that Aria is not the largest proponent of League of Legends, but I found that area to be incredibly entertaining.  There were not only a lot of cosplayers, but the quality of some of the cosplayers that were there was absolutely incredible.  We found a Sejuani cosplayer that was her, and her friend was dressed up in a boar costume, and when asked, they replied that it took 3 months to make the costume.  We spent some time there snapping pictures of cosplayers, but after a while, we decided to meet up for lunch, and we all met at the Twitch booth.

The art style of Pid has me in love

When we showed up to the twitch booth, Man vs Game was streaming, and he was doing an interview with Danny B (famed creator of the Super Meat Boy music).  The interview that he was conducting was pretty interesting, but the main point that I want to get across with this is that at these shows, there are very high chances that you will be less than 10 feet away from some of the most acclaimed names in gaming.  It is just kind of weird to see a huge name standing 2 feet away from you, and you can just start up a conversation with them, whereas up until that point, they had just been a face on a screen or a box.  Anyways, while we were waiting around, paisley and I wandered over to the booth next to the twitch booth, and started playing a game called Pid. I don’t want to go into a long diatribe about Pid, but it is basically an indie release from a smaller developer called Might and Delight, and the multiplayer that Paisley and I played was actually very fun.  If you are here at Pax, you should definitely go check out the game, but if you are not, you should definitely keep an eye out for this one.  The platforming was super fun, and the art style was absolutely incredible, which made the indie gent inside of me absolutely light up.

Outside of those two main events, we didn’t do a whole lot, as we spent most of the day walking around looking for cosplay pictures.  We will have a larger gallery of cosplay pictures after the show ends, so you should definitely look out for those, and I will be trying to do a recap of each day at the end of each day (I know this one is a bit late, but bare with me), so you should totally stay tuned to the website, as we hope to bring you a ton of up to date information on all the excitement that is Pax Prime 2012!

Happy Gaming!

Tagros

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Aug 31

Watch the Blergz LIVE from Pax Prime!

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Blargnation, Blargnaut, Computer, Events, Featured, Live, Stream, Tumblr, TwitchTV, Video Games

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Come drop by, you could say hi to This!

Hello Blargnauts,

One of the many booths at this years Pax Prime is none other than a Twitch booth, and throughout the weekend, they are/will be having famous twitch personalities stream.  If you, the humble Blargnaut audience, were unaware, Aria will be streaming from the twitch booth tomorrow morning at 10 AM PDT.  For those who are at the convention, we would love to see you drop by and say hello, but for those that are not, it will be streamed, so you can watch fro the comfort of your own home! I don’t want to hype up our section very much, but what the Blarg will be bringing you is going to be PRETTY awesome.  She will be interviewing Alex Meuse and Mike Roush of Gaijin Games about Bit Trip Runner 2 (which should instantly pique the interest of true Blargnauts), so we should all be having an absolutely amazing time at the twitch booth. If you are at Pax right now, remember to drop by the twitch booth tomorrow morning at 10 AM PDT, as you can say hi to Aria (and possibly even some of the + Friends), have fun watching some Bit Trip action, and who knows, there may even be a surprise guest that shows up ;)

 

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Aug 31

Kashi Takashi

Pax Prime Day 0 Photo Gallery

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Blargnation, Images, Tumblr

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Hey guys Kashi here and here is some of the pictures I took from Day 0 of PAX Prime, as usual stay tuned here and on aria’s YouTube on what happening over the PAX weekend.

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