R.I.P. Ryan Davis

I've made mention of the Giant Bombcast more than a number of times here in the past. I love it. By far my favorite gaming podcast and easily in my top three overall. Over the weekend the host, Ryan Davis, passed away. After spending nearly three hours a week since early 2009 with his voice and the rest of the GB crew it was a bit of a shock to see the news of his death. No clue how it happened, nor is it relevant, but he was 34 and I felt like I knew him just a bit. Sad times.

I got to meet him once in 2010 on the show floor at PAX East. He was clearly working. Moving fast, sweating and being followed by Vinny with a camera. When I called out his name and introduced myself he stopped and gave me his full attention. Chatted for and bit shook my hand and was on his way. He will be missed dearly by his friends and family for sure, but also by the hundreds of thousands of readers and listeners.

Weekend Review: Apr 20th & 21st

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Django Unchained
Another film we didn't make time for in 2012. What a shame, because I love 99% of Tarantino's work and this one was no exception. It was violent, dealt with race in sometimes uncomfortable, but direct ways and was crammed full of humor to take the edge off. The dialogue is top tier work, Waltz and Sam Jackson execute it masterfully. The soundtrack was killer. Evoking an audible cheer of glee (from me) when a Rick Ross track came on half way through the film, that was otherwise full of great spaghetti western style tracks.

Fire Pit
We had a new patio put in last weekend. We've spent nearly every night the past week hanging out and grilling on it. This weekend we sprung for a fire pit to add to our new outdoor living area. I like a good camp fire and this is a great alternative to building an actual stone pit (which was a consideration). Plus I get to secretly burn up all the branches that I end up piling up over the course of a year. Like a prisoner dumping dirt in the yard. Plus, burning stuff is totally cool.

D&D Podcast: Mines of Madness
Post Eberron game night, I haven't quite been feeling table top gaming. Nothing has gotten me excited to do it again this year or at least go through the preparation time. I needed a muse and got one this weekend. Like the Penny Arcade episodes of the past I wanted to grab some friends, dice and a table and throw down right then and there. The Mines of Madness is an adventure written by Chris Perkins and Scott Kurtz for this years PAX East. The podcast is Kurtz and friends playing through the adventure and it is pretty great.

PAX East 2011: Day One

Bright and early Friday morning we awoke to make what is now an annualized trip to PAX. The flight out of Richmond was uneventful, save a bit of delayed landing due to a storm front moving into Boston. It was that very same storm that pushed our day one plans indoors. Friday was supposed to be our bean town tour, but because of the rain we ended up at PAX a day early.

Before we made it to nerd Mecca though, we grabbed a bite at Caffe Nuovo for breakfast. I had the seafood omelette (yum) and Crystal had waffles with fresh fruit (burnt). Stomachs full we trudged through the rain to our hotel. It was nice, but it was not Mandarin Oriental nice. It was about a fourth of the cost though, so it all worked out. We dropped off our bags, were back down stairs and on the T to the Boston Convention Center in no time. A venue that felt double or even triple the size of last years spot.

The expo floor reflected that increased size. I immediately felt lost in a sea of blinking lights and nerd stink. There was so much to see and do that we ended up taking a break after seeing half of it to play some board games. We picked up Gloom and it only took us about hour to learn and play it. It's a card game that is one part strategy and two parts dark humor story telling. It is something I'd definitely consider buying in the near future.

Back in the expo hall it was on to touring the rest of the games on offer. We still want a Geek Chic table in our dinning room, but will have to wait till we get a new house. Those things are massive and wicked cool. The lines to play Portal 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic were epically long, but I wish I could have tried them. Red Faction looks like it will capture everything I loved about the last game in the series minus a sledge hammer. Machine Gun Jetpack made me want an iPad more than the game itself, but it seems cool in it's own right too.

What can best be described as life sized D&D was a highlight of the show floor for us. A party of six, picked characters in the form of laminated simplified character sheets on lanyards. Crystal was a Warlock and took the Cleric. Each party member had two powers to give you an idea of how simple we are talking. We faced off against 6ft tall cardboard cut out monsters (Strahd). Rolling basketball sized rubber dice to see if we would hit. I think every group conquered the encounter, but ours did so with style. I got the killing blow from a flank.

Board game and expo hall'ed out we grabbed some dinner. Pizza and mountain dew for +5 nerd points and then went to sit in line for the Joystiq Podcast. Last year Crystal had never heard the boys from Joystiq, but walked away really enjoying the mix of humor and game talk. This year was more of the same with Bob Ball cruising the crowd in a dinosaur costume the whole evening before revealing himself (giggle) to read an email.

After Joystiq let out we rushed over to the line for the Giant Bombcast. Crystal enjoyed this panel less and ended up playing Sudoku for most of it. I explained after the fact that Giant Bomb is my go to voice for video game opinions. That their podcast is usually funny too, but it can go long and get really into game talk. After the Bombcast panel we hitched a taxi ride back to the hotel. Hitting the bed hard for some much needed sleep.

Up Next: Boston/PAX Day 2, Sam Adams and the trip we didn't take the the Boston Aquarium

Red Dead Redemption

I never played Red Dead Revolver, the first title in what I assume is now a series. I skipped waiting line at PAX East because I wasn't interested enough to stand around to see one game. When asked to pre-order at my local game store brick and mortar, I rolled my eyes and told them I'd wait for a demo. Despite my efforts to turn away Red Dead's advances though, it has won me.

The first salvo across my bow came in the form of a multiplayer trailer Monday night care of Penny Arcade. The second and final strike came Tuesday morning when a wave of stellar reviews washed over me. Even though I am mid stream in a play through of Bio Shock 2, I went Tuesday night to pick up Red Dead. I've since shelved Bio Shock for a later date and fallen head over heals for an open world western.

What the game does best so far is nail the sense of place. Sure the story is good, the voice acting is great, the controls are spot one, but the environment is the big seller here. Trotting out of town at midnight on my horse reveals an expansive sky filled with stars and a sense of loneliness that is palpable. Where some games might attempt this they usually fall short and end up feeling lifeless. The foliage, wildlife and ever changing terrain keep Red Dead out of this rut. It is simply beautiful to play.

Since I have not finished it yet, I won't ramble to long here, but will take a moment to recount some of the great moments I have experienced. The single player core missions are fun, but also scripted to a certain degree. What I have enjoyed most so far are the random encounters I have come across:

• A man being chased by a pack of wolves, screaming for his life, only to be saved by some quick sharp shooting on my part.
• Coming across and overturned stage coach, a hobbled lawmen and two prisoners attempting to escape on foot. I chased down and shot the first prisoner in the back and lassoed the other and dragged him back to the injured guard.
• Another broken down stage coach, which saw highway men ambushing a farmer. Two shots center mass for the first bad guy and a bullet in the head for the other. The farmer took off after his escaped horse following my rescue.
• A man and woman spill out of the local saloon, the woman screaming for some one to help her. The man seems to be in the process of what will eventually be a rape. In an attempt to shoot the man, I fire wildly and accidentally kill them both. On lookers scream out and call the local authorities before I explain my good intentions. My horse meets me half way out of town and I escape into the country side.
• Two miles outside of town I see a gentleman attempting to flag me down on the side of the road. I pull up just short of him and he explains that a group of men are attempting to hang his friend. When we arrive the man is hanging from a noose kicking and grasping at his neck. My first shot should have been the rope, but instead I kill the bandits. By the time I shoot him down from the tree it is too late. The man who waved me down falls to his knees weeping over his now dead friend. I feel awful and wish I could offer condolences, but there is no button press for that.
• After midnight I leave the bar to head to my room and step into the middle of the street where bandits are shooting wildly on horse back. Attempting to be a hero I walk out in front of them and I am trampled to death.

Moments like these, the county side and the perceived joy I will get from the multiplayer and forthcoming co-op pack are putting this game at the top of my list for 2010. That's right Mass Effect 2, you better watch your back!

Meatspace D&D - April Ed.

Among the numerous experiences I took away from PAX East, there was a specific geeky opportunity I planned to follow up on. Around mid afternoon Saturday, while we were killing time between panels, we went to the game check out room and discovered Surface Scapes. They were playing D&D 4e on the table so I started to explain to Crystal what was happening in the encounter. I could see her eyes glazing over as my talk of minors, opportunity attacks and close burst threes, only served in confusing her more.

To my surprise she did not tell me to squash the nerd talk though, but rather asked me to teach her about it when we got back home. If she was only being kind to her geeky husband, she knew not what she did. I saw the door open just enough to let through a faint beam of light and set about swinging it fully ajar. DMing a local game has been a plan of mine for nearly a year. In the absence of experience, willing players and time though I feed my hunger through a virtual tabletop group. That experience has gone better than I thought it would, but it will always lack the tangible presence of the players and their undivided attention.

I started my plan by really testing the waters with Crystal. I set up a 30 minute solo encounter for her, where she began in a town with a mission, participated in a little RP and then some brief combat. If she was humoring me this time her bluff check was a critical hit (lol dice humor). She was sold. I followed that up with the same encounter for my brother who was also a virgin to the tabletop. He was sold. Two of my VTT players actually live in Richmond and were already onboard. When the dust settled we were a group, four players and a DM.

In the weeks leading up to our first game night we prepped by rolling characters, buying dice and picking out minis. I went about creating what I hoped would be an easy to follow, yet interesting world for the game and put it all on it's own OP page. When the night finally came around we ate delicious cookies care of Ethan, had a fun prop care of Mike, Gabriel was slightly late and Crystal did her best to stay up till 11:30pm. Overall it was a great time and the game went really smooth. I played up my NPC role playing as best I could to hopefully set a good foundation for the new players. Finding your players voice is probably the hardest thing to do for the pen and paper neophyte.

My camera was less than 25 feet from me and I forgot to take pictures. Call it first night nerves if you will, but I will capture my geeky wife and friends come hell or high water next time we play.

Daily Affirmation

After attending the Scott Kurtz panel at PAX East I've become a huge fan boy. In that vein, I hunted down the podcast he and Kris Straub started back in 2007, Daily Affirmation. I have been listening from episode one onward since Sunday and I am loving them. I've had to stiffle more laughs than I can count with fake coughs at my desk. Discovering the podcast also brought Kris to my attention, Chainsawsuit is now a part of my daily internet routine. That is all, go listen and read comics!

PAX East: Day Two

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And now the thrilling conclusion of our tale...

Saturday morning we took the rare opportunity to sleep in, without child and in a city far from our own the Z's came easily. "Sleep in" is a bit of a misnomer I'm afraid, when you have been waking up for a year at 6 or 7 anything beyond that is gravy. We were up, showered and in a Dunkin Donuts by 9am. A Boston cream in Boston tasted the same as one Richmond, but the pleasure centers of my mind were all hands on deck just at the thought.

No repeats of our day one e-celebrity sitings at the repository of confectionery toruses, sadly. Upon entering the convention center at 10am though we saw the Tycho Brahe (Jerry Holkins). I was giddy and Crystal was more amused with my amusement than anything else. For the better part of the rest of the morning we toured the expo hall. The first place we went was to the Geek Chic booth to get a brief demonstration and pitch on the Emissary. An object I thought ownership of would be pure fantasy for the entirity of my mortal life, but was left in open mouthed amazement when Crystal expressed interest in it as our new dinning room table. I won't believe it till we are eating a meal at it, but there now exist hope.

There were tons of games to see in the expo hall as well. Split Second (pic) was a fun mix of Mario Kart and Burnout that will probably end up on my shopping list. Joe Danger (pic) caught Crystal's interest as a mix of Excite Bike and Trials HD with a cartoon aesthetic. Shank is a beat'em up that looks flipping incredible and will be mine on XBLA this year hopefully. Seeing Puzzle Quest 2 inspired Crystal to start playing the first game for the rest of the weekend. AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! (pic) was a game I had read about a number of times, but never played, I remedied that on Saturday. Finally, I played in (pic) a mini MW2 tourney and did horrible with default controls and free for all.

After a quick lunch in the mall it was back to the convention center to see even more. The board game rooms were packed (pic) with folks playing all kinds of games. Before we could checkout a game though I was drawn to the siren song of Surfacescapes. Simply put it is D&D 4th edition played on the interactive screen of a Microsoft Surface. Impressive stuff for sure, but better expressed through their videos. Drooling complete we played a quick demo of Zombie Dice (pic) and then checked out Ninja vs Ninja. Being two folks of limited time, NvN was a great game for us to cut our teeth on. Next we played Zombie Fluxx and were sold pretty quick on it. We ended up playing for more than an hour and then hunting for a set to buy. They were sold out, but I have since ordered it online.

Dinner was more of the same, a trip to the food court and then right back to PAX to get in line for the live Joystiq Podcast. We ended up waiting in line for an hour and a half (pic). Thankfully the time was spent sitting and playing our DSes. We were rewarded for our wait though, as the first 10 or so rows of seats (pics) had video games waiting for their recipients. Crystal got a copy of Tropico 3 and I the Force Unleashed: Sith Edition. The live cast (pic) was great, my face hurt from smiling and laughing through the whole hour.

We wrapped up our night with another line, for an hour this time, to see the Scott Kurtz's panel. A semi drunk Scott showed up on time and just started telling stories. He is an amazingly funny story teller, we laughed, things got emotional and we laughed some more. His panel ended up going an hour over and we did not get back to our hotel till 1am. A bit discouraging given our 5am wake up call for our flight, but well worth the lack of sleep.

Sunday was an early morning flight and reflection on a whirlwind weekend in Boston. We had a ton of fun in the city and even more at PAX. We are already planning to go at the very least to two days of PAX next year. Hopefully we can shoot for all three.

PAX East: Day One

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As mentioned previously, at the end of March Crystal and I went to the first ever PAX East in Boston. So without further ado, our tale...

Arriving in Boston at 8:30am Friday morning to a snowy city, we made the worst mistake of the trip by choosing to take a taxi from the airport to the Museum of Fine Arts. Fifteen minutes and $48 later, we were at the museum doors only to find it didn't open till 10am. So we made do and found a place to grab a bite on the Northeastern University campus. Bellies full we went back to the museum and toured it for nearly two hours. The pictures we took can not do the art we saw justice I'm afraid, but they are worth a look all the same.

Following the museum we some how snaked a free ride on the subway north to the Freedom Trail and arrived just outside of a visitors center for a map. I mention the map briefly, as the travel apps I purchased for my iPod Touch were a colossal waste. I guess it is time for a real smart phone and a data plan later this Spring. Moving on, the trail was a great way to see a fairly concentrated portion of Boston's history and have a tasty seafood lunch near Faneuil Hall.

Our fill of history and our tired legs had us on the subway headed south to our hotel by 3pm. At our stop I took us on a two mile detour to the Sheraton. It wasn't fun getting kinda sorta lost, but we found a few options for dinner and saw the cast of the Joystiq Podcast in doing so. When we finally arrived at the hotel we were met with the news that they were overbooked, despite my booking the room two months in advance. Before we could get upset though, they were already describing the new arrangements they had made for us, all on their dime too.

We would be staying in a hotel just a hop skip and not even a jump from where we were. Slightly peeved and ready for a nap we cut through the mall that connects to the convention center and it's surrounding hotels and arrived at the Mandarin Oriental. Being unfamiliar with the company, were pleasantly surprised at the level of service and the incrediable room they put us in. It included a king sized bed, 42" LCD, office/living room area, a marble bathroom as big as the other areas combined and a great view of the city. A steak dinner and a trip to the Apple store later and we found out just how big an upgrade we had recieved. Where two nights at the Sheraton was going to cost us $400 the stay at the five star Mandarin Oriental was $1,250. I should say "would have been" as we paid zero dollars.

Tomorrow will be a retelling of our day at PAX, but I will leave you with pictures of the hotel rooms bathroom. Images Crystal wanted to capture for ideas for our next house. Note the rain forest shower head in the first picture, a pleasure I had never experienced before, but now demand as a matter of course. Picture 1 & Picture 2.

Scott Pilgram Game

Along with the recent movie trailer, screens and details of the tie-in game were on display at PAX East this past weekend. I'm diggin' the 8-bit love.

[Via: Albotas]

PAX East Cometh

PAX East is just around the bend and in order to facilitate preparation the schedule was released yesterday. Crystal and I will be heading to Boston post the ides of March to take in the sites and sounds of the fair city and attend to the convention. Bean town is a first for her so we will be spending most of Friday sight seeing. Saturday is convention day from sun up to sun down. I'm geeked for the whole deal and she is finding more and more to get to get excited about. Notably the wide selection of board and tabletop games that will be on hand. Sunday we'll fly home following a whirlwind two day trip.