Busy Gamer Nation

A Tale of Two BioShocks: Why 'Save Anywhere' Matters

2013-05-01T23:39:30Z

We spend a fair amount of time discussing "the save game" here at Busy Gamer Nation, and with good reason. The save system has the biggest impact on whether a busy gamer can enjoy and ultimately complete a game. It determines how easily you can put your game down when family, work, and other aspects of real life interrupt your venture into a virtual world of play.

Games that cause too much suffering and loss are more likely to be tossed aside than those that let you easily preserve your hard-won progress. That's pretty obvious, but it goes deeper than that.

Checkpoint systems aren't inherently busy gamer friendly, but they can be fairly tolerable when they're frequent enough - particularly if they allow the gamer some degree of control. In the Halo games, for instance, if you're observant and remember where the game last saved you can double back to cross an invisible checkpoint whenever you want. Many titles autosave like this - when you enter or exit a room or new area - so if you can remember where the nearest save trigger is, you can generally get out of a game within a few minutes when the baby awakens from nap or you need to end your lunch break and get back to work.

But did you realize that the save system can greatly impact your overall attitude toward a game? I didn't understand the degree of this until I had a little epiphany recently while playing BioShock Infinite. I believe it's a valuable insight worth sharing and, hopefully, game developers will consider it when deciding on how to implement save systems in future titles.

BioShock: The game I couldn't put down for long

If you read my Busy Gamer Review of the original BioShock, you'd know that I played the game through faster than most despite my intention to take it slow and draw out the experience:

"I went into a sort of fugue state where all I could do for about 8 hours was play. I'd save and shutdown only to reboot 10 minutes later. Normally I'd try to savor a game of this caliber, like I have with the Elder Scrolls and Halo series. I found that impossible here. No matter how hard I tried, I just had to soldier on."

BioShock lets you save your game anywhere, except in a couple of places such as right before the finale. So while quitting was easy, letting go was not.

BioShock Infiite: The game I couldn't wait to quit

I resented that the game was holding my progress hostage and was ecstatic when I could finally stop. This was the opposite feeling I had with the original BioShock, where I would quit with the intent of saving some gameplay for later and then come back far more often than I intended.

Take away control, and gamers may resent you for it, and those feelings carry over to your game and whether they feel inclined to ever pick it back up again.

BioShock Infinite gives you only one save slot. It uses an autosave system that you can't consistently influence by simply crossing a threshold or backtracking to a previously explored area. Sometimes entering a door conveniently triggers a save, and other times you can go MORE THAN AN HOUR without a save opportunity.

This happened to me while I was revisiting an area of Columbia that you explore early on, but the place has changed quite a bit. No, it was not a final boss battle by any stretch, just lots of exploration and some smaller goals building up to help me achieve a larger one.

Normally I like to take my time, explore and find secrets, take down waves of enemies, and move the story forward only when I'm good and ready. But I had more than exhausted my lunch break when I realized that it had been nearly an hour since my prior save. It took me an additional 20 minutes to find a place to activate the autosave so that my extensive game progress would be preserved.

This is a dangerous practice for lots of reasons, but it my case it made me feel like I could not wait to save and quit the game. When I finally did, I was excessively relieved. I had worried that the place that triggered the save was going to lock me in to moving irrevocably forward (leaving behind exploration I still wanted to complete), but I had been fooled and could have saved considerably sooner if I hadn't been so intent on exploration. At that point, I no longer cared either way. I was just thrilled that I could finally put the damn controller down.

This is the opposite feeling I had with the original BioShock, where I would quit with the intent of saving some gameplay for later and then come back far more often than I intended. Here, I resented that the game was holding my progress hostage and was ecstatic when I could finally stop.

I did complete BioShock Infinite but, unlike with the original BioShock, I am not in any rush to revisit that world.

The lesson? Let your players decide when and where they stop and start. If your game is compelling enough, they won't be able to put it down for long. And when they do walk away, they will be entranced.

Take away control, and gamers may resent you for it, and those feelings carry over to your game and whether they feel inclined to ever pick it back up again. This happens all of the time with lesser games than BioShock Infinite.

Can you guess what happens? I bet you can, but let's not leave any room for doubt: We busy gamers toss those aside, often without a second thought.

Do Some Good - Our Child's Play Charity Auction 2012 report and an impromptu Valve tour with photo gallery

2012-12-18T17:17:48Z

We attended the 2012 Child's Play Charity Auction - as we have every year to date - and enjoyed a very special evening packed with geek drama and incredible surprises.

It almost didn't happen. I had been sick and was awaiting the results of a flu test even as I was putting on my tux. Work had been particularly challenging that week. Our babysitter had been sick recently herself, and we had to negotiate a complex handoff of our son to her and then dart across a toll bridge during rush hour to reach the event. More than once, we almost called it off. But we hadn't missed an auction yet (highlights from 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - we didn't write up 2011 beyond live tweeting), and this one would prove to be the most incredible one yet.

If you haven't heard, Child's Play raises money and accepts toy, book, and video donations for children's hospitals around the world. It's not too late to hit that link and help blow out the record $3.3 million collected this year!

Back to December 6. When we arrived at Year 9 of this geek pride event, the silent auction had already begun. We navigated around the room, closing in on the prizes we'd most like to win. GrrlGotGame eventually abandoned a D20 jewelry set that she adored when a very competitive bidder and her friend camped on (and eventually won) every dice trinket on display. On the one hand, we drove up the price so the charity benefitted, but would it have killed her to let someone else win even one small set of earrings out of the 4-5 donated sets?

But don't lament for us, dear reader, as we succesfully landed a prototype inflatable Wheatley from Portal 2 (which, in its blank state, seemed to have dumbfounded most other bidders), and a set of Halo: Forward Unto Dawn memorabilia (I bid on it just before the auction close announcement, which led to all pens being quickly confiscated).

The live auction, as usual, mostly went into territory quite out of our price range - the cheapest item was a $650 volleyball from the PAX panel Acquisitions Inc. Though it was fun to enjoy a swanky dinner, surrounded by Desert Bus volunteers at our unusually front and center table, while watching:

Penny Arcade's own Jerry Holkins pay $9100 for a "favor" from fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss
a lifetime PAX pass (good for entry to all future PAX events) get run up from an opening bid of $2,000 all the way to $6,100
two appearances in Penny Arcade comics land $15,000 each
a rare Mass Effect 3 N7 Valkryie rifle replica (pictured at top) deliver $10,000
Bungie tours that broke $10,000
Wizards of the Coast D&D and Magic: The Gathering tours that totaled $7,200
a rare 10th Anniversary Xbox 360, given free to select Xbox LIVE members, quickly jump to $5,100
a Portal gun replica and Valve studio tour that we personally coveted went for nearly $6,000

After we picked up our meager but still very satisfying prizes from the silent auction, I went to collect our coats while GrrlGotGame assured our new Wheatley that he was going to a good home. A Valve employee, observing her affection for her faceless friend, wandered over and offered her an extra figurine he had made on the company's 3D model printer. When she mentioned how much she would wished she could have won the Valve tour, he perked up: "How'd you like to have a tour right now? I'm heading over; it's just across the street."

After we collected our jaws from the floor, we dropped our winnings at our car and then trekked over to Valve for an amazing hour wandering the nocturnal halls of one of our favorite gamemakers.

Here are the highlights of our tour (click on pics for larger versions):

]]> The Valve main lobby

Gabe Newell's office (yeah, I totally touched his ball!)

Turrets that activate with movement

One of several massage rooms

The fan artwork bulletin board

Valve coathooks

The hat wall

A lemon grenade - its very generous owner gave it to us for our son (he loves it)!

Assorted objets d'art - and one very cool shop-vac!

The cafeteria

The fan item signing table

GrrlGotGame, blissed out!

All in all, an amazing evening!

Gamewatcher - On Kickstarters: Misconceptions, misgivings, and busy gamers

2012-08-03T04:18:01Z

I've been giving a lot of thought to Kickstarters lately. I have yet to support an actual Kickstarter (though I did help fund the upcoming Ben Folds Five album on PledgeMusic, which is similar), but I have come close a few times. Most recently, I almost gave in to Alpha Colony's update to the classic game M.U.L.E., but found the rewards confusing and never settled on exactly what level to fund. That Kickstarter didn't make it, but rumor has it that it'll be back.

In case you're new to them, Kickstarter projects entice you with various rewards based on the level of support you provide - typically starting around $10 and in some cases going into the thousands of dollars. You might get a small token of appreciation, a signed copy of the finished product, and maybe even a chance to meet the project's creators depending on how much you're willing to kick in. If a Kickstarter doesn't reach its goal, you keep your money and the owners of the idea either give up or start over, perhaps with a scaled back plan and budget goal.

One Kickstarter that is getting a lot of attention right now is Ouya, which has earned more than six times its $950,000 goal with about 5 days left to back it (if you're so inclined). Pronounced "OOO-yah," the device is an effort to transform Android OS - traditionally used for mobile phones and tablets - into an inexpensive gaming console for the living room. You'd hook it to your TV and, in theory, get access to an open gaming platform that will be populated with generally inexpensive titles that have been largely locked to touchscreen portables. Plus other uses, such as streaming TV and movies via services like Vevo (according to a recent report).

There seems to be a lot of confusion around Kickstarters, even among the seasoned games press. For instance, I noticed this tweet recently from Ben Kuchera of Penny Arcade Report:

Don't look at Ouya based on money raised, look at systems pre-sold. Right now? About 38,000. That's a Coldplay concert, not a revolution.
-- BenKuchera (@BenKuchera) July 19, 2012

Ben's not the only one to make this argument, but his comment is both snarky and succinct so he gets called out.

If you look at the definition of a Kickstarter, this is a very shallow argument. The goal of a Kickstarter is to fund the completion of a project, not create an economically sustainable installed base. Few if any could realistically do that, particularly at the console level. The main reason you should consider funding a Kickstarter is that you believe in a product and want to see it reach the marketplace. IF it is completed (and that is a big "IF"), you will be rewarded according to the level that you funded it and the reward that goes along with it. Plus, perhaps, the knowledge that you helped something creative come into the world that otherwise might have died.

But let's return to that big "IF." When a Kickstarter is funded, that means that the money is released to the project's developers. What happens after that is unregulated. If all goes according to plan and the intent of the Kickstarter program, the product will be completed and you get your reward more or less on schedule. The project may take longer than projected, it may fail to ever see the light of day and, in the worst possible scenario, you might be getting played by someone who has no intention to deliver the promised result. Scams are rare but not unheard of.

Just skimmed through the numbers, and over half of the Kickstarter projects I've backed are or were late by months. Be careful out there.
-- Dustin Deckard (@dustindeckard) August 1, 2012

So, if you're going to play the Kickstarters, it's a good idea to back projects from creators you believe in and, ideally, have a track record providing similar products.

If the Ouya ships and proves popular, people will clamor for it - even busy gamers. Its makers can charge whatever the market will accept that covers their real costs of manufacturing and doing business.

Ouya might still fail, but I think it has a decent chance to get to market thanks to the vast overfunding and seemingly reasonable amount of developer interest - assuming you can believe even some of the hype. So if Ouya ships and proves to be a good product that's worth its asking price, I will buy one. I simply choose not to back it before it's complete.

I imagine many people feel the same way. You barely have time fit in an hour or so of gaming here and there - where are you going to find the time to research and back worthy projects? As one busy gamer put it:

@gamewatcher they're gamers, not investors. If they all stop playing to care about the backend biz, the industry will have bigger problems.
-- Kate Lollar (@katelollar) August 2, 2012

Where do you stand on Kickstarters? Are you supporting the Ouya? Any others? Have any of your Kickstarter ponies come in and, if so, were they worth it?

How The Hunger Games could work as a multiplayer game, and still be game-changing art

2012-04-05T03:59:24Z

The Hunger Games as a shooter.

I've been thinking about The Hunger Games as a videogame, off and on, for about six months now. The idea came to me last October that such a game would need to be both multiplayer and not glamorize violence.

Impossible, you say? Yeah, that was my second thought. But the longer I've dwelled on it, the more I've come to embrace the concept.

Let's explore the idea a bit and see whether you think it could work.

First, you may have to rethink videogames from pure entertainment to art. Yeah, I don't really care what Roger Ebert says. He's been a movie guy far too long. I've been both a film buff and a game fanatic for most of my life. And games often (though not always) rise above commerce and conflict to enter the art space.

"The game should recap for all players the final moments of battle followed by a short video eulogy and the reaction from the home district. It needs to be poignant."

Art, in my mind, seeks to challenge, to influence. It may change someone's mind, or at least alter his or her outlook. It can cause a strong and sudden burst of emotion. It can awaken new ideas and even make you a better person.

The Hunger Games videogame would need to do this, and do it well. Otherwise, it would glamorize what the source material sought to vilify: a society that accepts violence against its children for political ends. The book was an allegory for war and the draft system that wrecked the author's father Haymitch-style (and many other families whose children did not make it out of the battle arena) to help the government control its constituents.

In my mind, the game would need to mostly do away with backstory. We would NOT have to pass through a training tutorial with Katniss hunting squirrels in the woods outside District 12. She would NOT return to the Hob and make trades using a complex speech challenge engine. There would be NOT be a dramatic moment in the town square where the names are drawn (except, perhaps, as an intro element for each arena battle or in touching flashback upon a tribute's demise - but more on that later).

If you played it out beat for beat, Suzanne Collins' remarkable novel would feel insanely cramped if it were crammed into the interactive gaming space. It would either become a cut scene-fest or a role-playing game that abruptly transitions from one storyline to another as we're whisked away to the Capitol and then forced up a claustrophobic tube into the Arena.

No, a Hunger Games game needs to be all about what happens in the arena, and what that represents in very real terms. It needs to support up to 24-player online gaming (with bots taking over for any tribute spots not filled by human players) and it needs to be poignant.

The Hunger Games would need to inspire strong reactions in its players.

When a tribute falls in the book (and, remarkably, in the film), we are made to feel loss. Even the "career" players that we come to fear and perhaps hate are someone's child, and we ultimately should mourn their loss even as we feel a sense of relief that our own tribute (and any that we might build an alliance with) is one step closer to closure. Unlike in the source material (where deaths are announced once a day with no detail on how it happened), the game should recap for all players the final moments of battle followed by a short video eulogy and the reaction from the home district. It should not look the same every time, so players who experience the same arena battles multiple times are not easily inured to the moment upon repeated viewing.

One of the amazing things about the movie is how neatly it has opened up. It went from being a very personal tale, where the fallout of Katniss' actions isn't fully realized until Book 2, to a shared experience with very powerful shockwaves and repercussions emanating from the action in the arena. We see the reactions of the commentators, the people in the districts, and even the resulting political fallout. The game could take it a step further, really communicating the range of reactions to each in-game slaying so that we feel empathy or at least mixed emotions.

"During an emotional scene about two-thirds of the way in to the movie, one guy said, 'Dude, are you crying?' His buddy replied without hesitation: 'No shame, bro.' If the game reaches even a few dudebros, it would be worth it."

When we saw The Hunger Games in the theater, there were a couple of guys sitting next to GrrlGotGame. During an emotional scene about two-thirds of the way in (you know the one, right?), one of the guys said, "Dude, are you crying?" His buddy replied without hesitation: "No shame, bro."

If it reaches even a few dudebros, it would be worth it.

To work, every battle would have to be winnable by all characters. There would have to be games where Katniss is picked off early, and Cato takes home the prize. What would this mean for the winning district? What are the consequences for the families, friends and homes of the losers? How does the injustice make you feel, as the player controlling Cato and those who fell before him.

The Hunger Games as a strategy game.

This raises an interesting quandary: What to do with the early fallen in a long match? Sure, they could watch as spectators. But why not put them randomly in the role of gamemakers and the district mentors, so they could take an active role in influencing the outcome by adding challenges in the arena and providing gifts. Their allegiance to their own fallen persona stripped away, they can take a hand with the power to either give or take away. This mechanic would need a lot of work to balance, but it could be the best part of the game. There could even be a mode where all players take on the roles of gamemakers and mentors, and then battle for control of the arena to achieve a specific outcome without actually playing as a tribute. It would be a real-time strategy game like no other (well, maybe shades of Peter Molyneux's Black & White).

In terms of scope, there could be up to 75 arenas, but that's awfully ambitious for a retail game. I would imagine there would be a respectable number including the 74th with Katniss and Peeta, Haymitch's year, and a few others that could be entirely fictionalized since they were never covered in the books. Additional years, including the intricate island arena from Catching Fire, could be added as DLC down the road if the game takes off and proves worthy of continued development. For battles without established Tributes, the player should be able to create their own - which would deepen their investment in their characters.

So, what do you think? Is a multiplayer Hunger Games something you would like to play? Do you think such an approach could alter how people think about games and, perhaps, the world in general?

Busy Gamer Review - Indie Game: The Movie

2012-03-28T17:56:11Z

We don't review movies often (though there are notable exceptions!). But one film that's clearly fair game for busy gamers is Indie Game: The Movie (not rated, but definitely for adults only due to very coarse language - these developers curse worse than Anthony Bourdain's line cooks!).

This movie popped onto our radar a few months ago, when we heard a rumor on Twitter that HBO had hired the filmmakers, Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, to write a sitcom about the game industry (they've since reported that it's not really going to be a sitcom). Since we wrote and just published our own pilot script, Click to Play (on the comedy inherent in today's high-tech workplace and the game industry specifically), we were intrigued and started following them.

Last Friday, I got to see Indie Game: The Movie at a special industry-packed screening in Seattle. It's a remarkable film, and I recommend you see it with an audience if you get the chance. (There will be a DVD release, but probably not before summer based on the Q&A discussion after the movie.) You can check for nearby cities and showtimes on the official site.

Here's my brief review:

Despite a few minor grievances, Indie Game: The Movie shows remarkable insight into both game development and the mindset of those who commit themselves to their passions and make deep sacrifices for their art. It follows three games, all released or near release on Xbox LIVE Arcade:

Braid. Delivered in 2009 to unprecedented acclaim, we learn how creator Jonathon Blow actually recoiled from the positive reviews and attacked sites that enjoyed the game but didn't fully grok its deeper meaning. One of the highlights of the film is when a celebrity is shown loving the game for all of the wrong reasons. The game opened the door for edgier, more personal stories to garner mainstream attention from game publishers and gamers alike, so Blow is portrayed as a pioneer who opened the door for small dev teams who continue to push the envelope on what constitutes a game with titles like Limbo and Journey.

Super Meat Boy. Team Meat developers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes raised a stink when their game wasn't given immediate promotion on the Xbox dashboard, and you can see why after living through excepts from their excruciating development cycle with them in this film. Still, the issue (quite possibly a server hiccup) was resolved in a matter of hours and didn't seem to impact their success. The punishing gameplay in Super Meat Boy isn't for everyone, and that's by design: They made it for younger versions of themselves, and if you don't like it they don't really care. That said, I can honestly say that I had more fun watching them make the game than I did playing it.

Fez. Due later this year (it was just certified this week!), Fez has been in development since 2007 by Phil Fish and various partners. One ex-partner's unwillingness to sign a separation agreement nearly scuttled the project at a pivotal time last year, and the film lingers a bit too long (and uncomfortably zooms in) on Fish during a moment of pre-PAX East desperation. You may recall that our PAX East 2011 correspondent, Collin Moore, reported his impressions. Clearly he didn't play it on the first day, when the demo build kept crashing!

Overall, Indie Game: The Movie is expertly edited and presents a side of the game industry that few see, even those who work for game companies and publishers (as we have). While it would have been nice if they had pulled back the curtain on more types of projects - mobile apps, PSN, WiiWare and PC games for instance - the filmmakers promise the eventual Special Edition DVD release will include interviews with more coders, including the makers of thatgamecompany's Journey and the iOS title Eliss.

On a related note, the music for Indie Game: The Movie by Jim Guthrie is largely drawn from his score for Sword & Sworcery, which we're giving away as part of the Indie Game Music Bundle 2 (enter to win by March 31!).

You can get a small taste of Indie Game: The Movie from this trailer (may not be safe for work, depending on where you work):

Indie Game: The Movie Official Trailer from IndieGame: The Movie on Vimeo.

A BGN Original - Our "Click to Play" game industry TV script

2012-01-02T02:39:58Z

Once in awhile, we find the time to do something extra special. A few years back, I made a video satirizing the contextual responses of non-player characters in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - and it's just recently broken 160,000 views on YouTube.

Back in the late '90s before we even conceived of Busy Gamer News, GrrlGotGame and I wrote a TV pilot set in the wild and woolly world of Internet startups. We were inspired by both our own experiences and deep ensemble comedies like The Larry Sanders Show to write something with more weight than your classic joke-a-minute sitcom. We envisioned cameos in each episode by famous (at least to geeks like us) folks in the technology scene. Mainly, we wanted to see people like us reflected in the pop culture - which, even today, happens rarely and then usually warped far beyond reality.

Alas, before we could shop our story around, the Internet bubble popped and we realized it would be a futile endeavor to try to get it made.

Fast-forward about a dozen years. A chance comment from a colleague convinced us to dust off the script and update it to take place in the videogame industry, where we've worked off and on for many years now. The situations had to be adapted a little, but the characters fit remarkably well - truth be told, a bit better than in the original! We put some work into tieing the threads together so they really meshed, registered the copyright with the Library of Congress and then entered the contest. If by some miracle it wins, we might actually get the show produced - but that seems a long shot (we should hear in February one way or the other).

But rather than just file it away again, we thought: Why not share it? Some of our friends have published novels, essays and even plays on Amazon's Kindle store. Perhaps others will connect with the story and, even if it never gets made into a TV show, they can experience the concept and perhaps inspire us to write more of the series. We have a lot of ideas on where this could go, if you're interested enough to coax it out of us.

We priced Click to Play at the cheapest Amazon offers - $1. We even enrolled it in the lending library program, so if you have an actual Kindle device (sorry, mobile apps won't work) plus Amazon Prime, you can read it all for free for the first 90 days (and we'll get a little money for that too). We don't anticipate we'll make much off of our screenplay, certainly not enough to cover all of our time invested in researching, writing, updating and formatting for Kindle (that last part was actually much harder than you'd expect!). But if we entertain you with our take on modern geek culture and what it feels like to work in the game industry (sometimes), it will be worth it.

If we see enough positive and constructive feedback, we'll see if we can bring Episode 2 to life. So at least read the first two sample scenes and, if you like what you see - let us know!

Penny Arcade Expo 2011 - 2nd Annual Busy Gamer PAX Tweetup and where to watch for PAX Prime coverage

2011-08-26T02:20:27Z

If you're at Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle this weekend, you can meet up with us and score a button and maybe a t-shirt and other goodies!

We're still sorting through the prize closet, but stop and say "hi" if you see us in our Busy Gamer News tees and/or buttons and we'll give you something cool if we can! Here are the places we plan to be for sure:

1:30 p.m. Friday: We're going to try to get into Wil Wheaton, so look for us in the queue for the Pegasus Theater.
9 a.m. Saturday: Busy Gamer News tweetup breakfast at Blue Water Taco Grill at 515 Union, a block from Sheraton (NOT the one at Union Square). Same place as last year! You don't have to actually be attending PAX - so if you're in the neighborhood, drop by!
1 p.m. Saturday: Join us in the queue for the Irrational Games panel in the Unicorn Theater.
9 a.m. Sunday: Look for Gamewatcher in the queue for the Halo 4 panel at the Paramount Theater.
2 p.m. Sunday: We're going to the PopCap Party at the Hard Rock Cafe, maybe you can drop by too? Sounds like it's going to be awesome.

Visit our Busy Gamer News page on Facebook for pictures and notes as we post them from PAX. Follow Gamewatcher and GrrlGotGame on Twitter or more specific details on where we are - well, whenever we can post them. We hear the Edge network is more reliable, so turn off 3G (if you have an iPhone) to access it if you're anywhere near this geek fest.

We'll post impressions and roundups to the site as we can, and we're recording audio for the Busy Gamer Podcast.

A Busy Gamer Manifesto

2011-08-10T22:07:28Z

I sometimes get asked what exactly the "Busy Gamer Movement" is. We don't mention it much on the Busy Gamer News site, but it's referenced in my Twitter profile. It's not a constant crusade, though it does underscore everything we do here. So I can see why you might be curious.

It seems a (fittingly) brief Busy Gamer Manifesto is in order.

A brief history

Busy Gamer News was founded in 2003 as Gamestay and later renamed to better reflect the primary mission of the site. At the time, it was a creative outlet for me as I tried to keep my finger on the pulse of the game industry, which I have since joined in various roles: product manager, community manager, copywriter and now consultant (aka "gun for hire").

"Punishing games for people with fast reflexes who live in the land of liquid time and disposable income? There's a seemingly endless supply of those."

The common denominator in all these roles has been customer focus. I find that seeing things through the customers' eyes leads to more "win-win" solutions. You (the customer) get what you want or need while the business achieves its goals - but with an added bonus: customer satisfaction and the potential for real long-term loyalty.

But back to 2003. Even then in the frontier days of gaming journalism, there were lots of sites that tracked seemingly crushing quantities of gaming minutiae. And most of it bored me to tears. Screenshots don't say much about how fun a game will be to play. Videos only give a little taste and so often deliver prerendered non-gameplay visuals, NOT what you'll get if you buy it (hint: if it lacks health bars and/or a HUD, it's probably promotional). And news such as miniscule game delays and backend partner deals affected my day-to-day life as a gamer very little.

Who has time for all of that noise? I just wanted the stuff I could use right now, plus enough interesting buzz to be able to contribute at the watercooler.

But I'd wade through it anyway, and figured I'd share any news that I found actually useful or at least compelling with anyone else who wanted to keep up with thus stuff. Rather than just quote back what others had reported, I put my daily newspaper journalism training to work: researching the details that were absent from the press release and deciphering any complex and confusing instructions to make them as complete and clear as possible.

Along the way, GrrlGotGame joined the party. We actually met on a newspaper, married and have an 8-year-old son ("Pikachu Fan"; you can hear him occasionally in our Busy Gamer Podcast). We realized that busy gamers like us were being mostly ignored by the game industry, so we started advocating for this not-so-vocal majority.

Punishing games for people with fast reflexes who live in the land of liquid time and disposable income? There's a seemingly endless supply of those. But how many games take into account the needs of the working stiffs with limited gaming budgets and increasingly constrained time to play? Not nearly enough for our taste. You could say we usually get the fuzzy end of the lollipop after core gamers have had their way with the sweet, flavorful part.

"We believe games are good for you. They offer benefits such as mental acuity, stress relief and skill development."

Busy gamers are...

We're not casual gamers, though we play casual games. More and more, we're playing games on our phones though we're not strictly mobile gamers either. We enjoy games on consoles, PCs, Macs and portables when there's time - though family, work and life often limit our opportunity here.

We believe games are good for you. They offer a variety of benefits such as mental acuity, stress relief and even real-world skill development. GrrlGotGame credits videogames with giving her a sense of direction. She had a hard time with directions and maps until she started running missions for the Mob in Grand Theft Auto 3. Now she rarely gets lost even when driving without a GPS.

Busy gamers need...

We don't want to be pests, but we’d greatly appreciate it if the game industry recognizes our point of view when developing games and game systems. We don't want games to be dumbed down or lowest common denominator, just accessible to us as an audience.

Here are a few areas where game designers can help accommodate busy gamers:

Save points. The best save system is "save anywhere." When the baby wakes up from nap or you hit that middle of the night exhaustion wall and need to be at work early and refreshed, you don't want to have to ditch your hard-earned progress. Life's too short to have to replay boss battles or tricky timed jumping puzzles just because the designer thought you should have the mad skillz to go 30 minutes and 10 difficult encounters between save points. If save anywhere won't work for some reason (such aqs technical limits or game balance), at least offer frequent checkpoints. Game designers are starting to segment in intelligent ways with innovations such as limited save slots only at higher difficulties. That's a great solution: Increased challenge for those who want it, but it's optional.

Portable game designers may think they get a pass since you can typically shut the lid or flip a switch to suspend your game, but we don't want to be locked into keeping your game in the device for days or weeks on end as we struggle to finish it. And, yeah, we sometimes forget to plug our portable in. Many mobile game designers have learned to save anywhere to accommodate unplanned interruptions such as incoming phone calls. Peggle for iOS can resume your game midshot! Why can't all games move to this?

Consistent, easy-to-pick up controls. Every time we need to learn a new control scheme, it adds to the learning curve. And if we can't learn a game quickly (or jump back in after a taking a break for a few weeks or even months), we're probably going to ditch your game. At least let us remap the keys/buttons so we can select a control layout that works for us. And include full control details and help in the game so we don't have to root around in the dark for the manual when trying to remember how to play (I'm looking at you, Dead Space!). Bonus points if you let us optionally re-enable the in-game tutorial prompts!

Limited updates. I know that jailbreaking mobile devices and homebrew on consoles and portables is a big deal to companies like Apple and Sony (especially Apple and Sony, it seems, though everyone seems to be playing a variation of this game now). But, on the whole, everyday gamers could care less. All we know is that every time we go to buy a game or watch a movie on Netflix, it seems we have to download another patch or accept a new Terms of Service. We frankly don't have time for this sort of thing, so please limit these forced activities to truly critical updates - not just something someone in your Legal department thought was a good idea to cover their behinds.

Also, play through the customer experience before launching a patch. Is there a way to streamline things so we don't have to, say, wade through 15 screens before watching a movie? The customer you save may be your own. I recently had a terrible experience trying to recover my HBO Go profile, and now I don't even want to look at the app. I'm sure I'll just lose my watchlist and movie/show progress yet again. Why bother going through it when Netflix has more instant play content and fewer problems?

Multiple profiles/save slots. Just assume that the whole family wants to play every game you make, or at least 2-3 members of it. Games that lack profiles or have only a single save slot limit your game's appeal. The same is true for co-op games that don't offer a splitscreen option. There are very few games that we'll buy multiple copies of. Yours probably isn't one of them. You certainly shouldn't base your marketing plan on this idea. Instead, make us feel like we get good value out of your games. Then we'll not only be more inclined to buy that second copy if we really want it, we'll watch out for your next game.

"We want games and consoles and portables and phones that do amazing things, and when the price is right and we're feeling good about the product, we'll buy it."

Don't market to us, sell to us. It's amazing how many people fall into the 99 cent trap. $9.99 is closer to $10 but I see people frequently round down to $9. That's 99 times the one penny it would take to round up. The way this age-old scam works is that the mind tricks you into believing something really is a dollar or sometimes $10 or $100 less, which is why we always round up in our news reports.

I recently got into an argument with someone who said, "It's only a $1, does it really make that much difference?" By that logic, all 99-cent items are essentially free, no matter how many of them you buy. Those dollars really do add up. Look at it this way: Are you rich enough that you'd pass by a dollar lying on the ground, or would you pick it up? Thought so.

The fact is: We want games and consoles and portables and phones that do amazing things, and when the price is right and we're feeling good about the product, we'll buy it. All game designers and marketers need to do is make sure we're clear on the cost, the benefits and that we'll have a good time playing, whether it's for 8+ hours or only 15 minutes per gaming session.

We'll evaluate the deal on its real merits and, if everything checks out, we'll buy it. Don't try to trick us or conceal the true cost through points or credits. That just makes us have to do extra math in our head, and if we get confused or feel like we're being tricked or scammed, we'll walk away.

The busy gamer bottom line

For whatever reason we play, we're gamers. We want to try your game. We want to have a great, life-altering experience with it. But if it becomes too much work, we're out of there. We already have jobs. We have families that need us. And we do need to sleep a bit more than we used to.

Oh, we'll still play games - with or without you. So why not include us in your plans. We think we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement: You make a hit game, and we'll help make it a hit.

If you don't like Sucker Punch, you're watching it wrong

2011-04-20T07:15:17Z

Multiple personality disorder isn't normally this pretty. But that's one of the keys to this misunderstood art/action film.

We've waded through a lot of hateful reviews of Sucker Punch, both on Twitter and from established film critics. And we have to admit that - thanks to misguided marketing - it really wasn't the movie we thought we were going to see.

In many ways, it was much better. That's not to say it was particularly fun to watch. It provoked intense emotional distress and disgust. But, ultimately, we connected with its message - something that most people seem to have missed amidst all of the bursts of machine gun fire and panty flashes.

"If you're going to hate Sucker Punch, hate it because it's a pretentious art film - not a hollow action movie. Hate it for the right reasons."

If you left the theater scratching your head, you were probably not in the right mindset to comprehend what was really going on. It took us some time and a couple of viewings to work it all out. And, honestly, we don't care if you love the movie as much as we've come to, appreciate it on its merits or continue to revile it. But if you're going to hate Sucker Punch, hate it because it's a pretentious art film - not a hollow action movie. Hate it for the right reasons.

And if you are going to give it a fair shot, don't go in with the expectation that it's a special effects thrill ride full of hot chicks doing racy stuff to make you and your paramour get all hot and happy. This is not a sexy date night film, or even a slinky action flick. You will not enjoy it because there is no real joy in it. It's an artistic statement - a deep, dark and visually stunning diatribe if you will - about abuse and its effects on women. See it if you want to have meaningful discussions afterward, but don't expect it to induce a wild night of romance.

Consider this your guide to "getting" Sucker Punch. I'll keep the plot spoilers to the bare minimum while providing the context to understand and appreciate the message of the film and removing any biases you might have going in.

]]> First off, the title Sucker Punch is deliberately ambiguous and really refers to how director/co-writer Zack Snyder wants you to feel after viewing the film. If you comprehend its full meaning as we did, you'll feel like you've been slammed in the solar plexus, which - at best - might leave you feeling intellectually stimulated (if not a little nauseous) as you grapple with its layers of connotation and message.

Many of the people who shared our most recent screening walked out discussing their love of the "awesome battles with zombie steampunk Nazis" or how "the action sequences were banal." You'll note the very polarized reactions, but the common denominator? Neither party in this discussion seemed to have a clue about what was really happening. Likewise, many reviewers have mistaken the fantasy action quests as a statement on female empowerment. This misses the point entirely.

"Babydoll's view of the grungy hospital reminded us of BioShock 2, where a key character sees Rapture in a very idealized manner rather than the gruesome reality."

Babydoll is a schizophrenic. Years of abuse by her stepfather have caused the 20-year-old woman to lose her grasp on reality. She goes to other places when reliving horrible, sometimes humiliating memories during public therapy sessions on stage at the Lennox House for the Mentally Insane. Our take is that the men are riveted to graphic descriptions of the stepfather's rape of her - just as they might be to an erotic dance, which is how Babydoll imagines it in her stylized bordello fantasy. This emotionally honest visualization gives her the necessary distance to share these painful moments in the real world of the asylum, just as these types of escapes may have helped her survive the acts themselves. Babydoll's stylized view of the grungy hospital reminded us of a similar sequence in BioShock 2, where a key character is shown to see the world of Rapture in a very idealized manner ("Look, an angel, Daddy!") rather than the gruesome reality.

In Babydoll's case, she views the patients' objectification for what it is: prostitution. People pay the orderly to have sex with the girls there, probably while they are heavily medicated. Shortly after her arrival, Babydoll envisions the asylum in slightly more palatable terms simply by seeing the truth of the place. While ostensibly there to help the girls, it's devolved through abuse of power and corruption to become essentially a brothel. As the doctor/Madam says to the orderly/Blue in Babydoll's fantasy, "I teach them to survive you."

But Babydoll isn't merely escaping. If you look at the clues planted in the beginning scenes, it's clear that years of abuse have driven her mad and then her deadly mistake pushed her over the edge, right into a psychotic break from reality. The pain of her memories is too much for her to face directly, so she slips off to another level where she battles her demons with all of the fragments of her personality on a journey to escape the pain of her existence.

That's right, I said Babydoll does all of the fighting. Sweet Pea, Rocket, Amber and Blondie, all of the girls who assist her in her fantastical escapades? They are all the same girl. They're all Babydoll.

Obviously, the movie is open to interpretation, but that's our take on it - and the only one that really makes sense after the big denouement. All four girls who join Babydoll in both levels of her escapist realms are based on real people at the asylum. But they are not involved in her real world actions, though one does benefit if you take the doctor's word as truth at the end. Inside both the bordello and the battle scenes, the four ladies represent different aspects of Babydoll - her inner strength, her weakness, her protectiveness of her sister - and she uses them to work through her internal struggles as she acts out in the real world. Ever wonder how Blondie got her nickname when she's not even blonde? It's starting to make sense now, isn't it.

"The talismans Babydoll collects to attain her freedom each symbolize a stage in the Kübler-Ross grief cycle."

And here's the real key to the whole thing. The talismans Babydoll collects to attain her freedom each symbolize a stage in the Kübler-Ross grief cycle:

Denial (Map)
Anger (Fire)
Bargaining (Knife)
Depression (Key)
Acceptance ("mystery item")

The Wise Man (played by Scott Glenn) lays it all out: "You will need 5 items for this journey... The fifth thing is a mystery, it is the reason, it is the goal. It will be a deep sacrifice and a perfect victory. Only you can find it, and if you do, it will set you free."

Oh, and if you're wondering, we believe The Wise Man represents a favorite uncle who no doubt spouted all sorts of little clichéd wisdoms at each holiday visit, such as this chestnut: "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

Director Zack Snyder has said that the movie was nearly taken away from him by Warner Brothers, and that he recut it himself to preserve what he could of its integrity while creating an edit that met the studio's criteria for release. This includes the more marketable PG-13 rating, though honestly even the current cut of the film should be an R. We saw a number of parents taking their very young kids to see Sucker Punch, probably expecting something more along the lines of Dragonheart than Hard Candy. To be fair, most of the movie's subtext sailed right over the heads of the adults in the audience, so it's doubtful the kids picked up on it. Still, the movie is intense and gruesome in places. I saw one child clutching his head and looking shell-shocked during a particularly difficult scene.

"It's not pretty. It's not fun. You may not even like it. But that's not what Sucker Punch was meant to be."

No doubt, all of these compromises designed to broaden Sucker Punch's audience muddled the movie and delivered poor word of mouth and ultimately a strong bias against the film by those who did decide to give it a try. Our hope is that the promised director's cut DVD - along with viewing on smaller screens, which will make it less immersive and easier to keep some analytical distance - may improve Sucker Punch's comprehensibility and help it find an audience that grasps its true purpose.

Our own second time with Sucker Punch was much more interesting because we were actively engaged in discerning its depths and meaning. But, again, it's not meant to be a fun film. Rather, it's perfect for late-night debates on the finer points of its interpretation and how it comments on the role of women in what remains a male-dominated, media-fueled, highly sexualized society.

Yeah, it's not pretty. It's not fun. You may not even like it. It's certainly not enjoyable. But that's not what Sucker Punch was meant to be. It's intended to hold a mirror to the ugliness that is abuse. In its compromised state it may not fully succeed, but it's still an interesting mess that you might find compelling. If you look at it right.

Updates delayed

2011-01-13T17:28:17Z

My primary computer crashed last night and does want to boot. Looks like the hard drive is dying. Updates will be delayed until I can get back up and running and catch up on my consulting projects.

Penny Arcade Expo 2010 - Busy Gamer PAX Tweetups and where to watch for PAX coverage

2010-09-03T07:33:36Z

If you're at Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle this weekend, you can meet up with us and score a button and maybe a cool prize to boot - rare tees, maybe a game or even an awesome Halo 3 messenger bag or Rockstar duffel!:

~~9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 3: Breakfast at~~ ~~Blue Water Taco Grill at 515 Union, a block from Sheraton (NOT the one at Union Square!). We'll be lining up for the Harmonix Rock Band panel at 10 a.m. right afterwards!~~
~~Saturday, Sept. 4: Find~~ ~~Gamewatcher~~ and win swag! I'll tweet my appearance and then throughout the day (as I can) where I'm hanging out. Find me and pick an item of swag from my Rockstar duffel bag. The person who gets the last piece of swag also keeps the bag!
9:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 5: We're going to meet and give away more prizes in the Convention Center near the queue room for the Exhibition Hall, so you can stop by on your way to get in line for the final morning rush.

Visit our Busy Gamer News page on Facebook for pictures and notes as we post them from PAX. Follow Gamewatcher and GrrlGotGame on Twitter or more specific details on where we are when we can post them. We hear the Edge network is more reliable, so turn off your 3G (if you have an iPhone) to access it if you're anywhere near this geek fest.

We'll post impressions and roundups to the site as we can, and we're recording audio for the Busy Gamer Podcast. It's going to be a wild ride!

The Busy Gamer Guide to PAX (Updated for 2010!)

2010-08-30T00:17:40Z

Welcome to the Busy Gamer Guide to Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). Although we are completely unaffiliated with PAX, we feel that the large amounts of time and dough we've put into every single one qualifies us to share our opinions and guidance. Meydenbauer 2004 peeps – holla!

Seriously, we've been at this rodeo six times before, plus we live in Seattle. So trust us when we say... no one can give you all the info you need. But we can give you enough to help you make the most of your opportunities.

But first you have some decisions to make.

Start a mission

To enter PAX, you must possess a pass or ticket. Alas, if you waited this long, you're pretty much out of luck since all badges are SOLD OUT. Bookmark PAXSITE.com and try again next year at PAX East in Boston in the spring or PAX Prime in Seattle next fall. (You might get lucky winning a badge on Twitter but the odds are against you.)

If you pre-ordered a 3-day pass, it should have arrived in the mail by now. (If you haven't received it, contact pax_questions@paxsite.com.) Report to the mission start point (Washington State Convention & Trade Center or the main theater at Benaroya Hall) on Sept. 3 with your badge.
If you will be picking up your badge, report to mission start point Sheraton Hotel first to pick up your badge. (This is different from previous years! It is NOT the Hyatt as we previously posted.) Badges will be available starting at noon Thursday. Go early to beat the inevitable rush for a first-day mana boost!

Peruse the schedule and decide which quest lines interest you. There are core gamer, casual gamer, MMO gamer, tabletop gamer, game industry wannabe and geek culture quest lines. In addition, some players simply pack up their gaming PCs and spend the whole event leveling up on "Multiplayer LAN Party." The choice is yours, though it is a good idea to enter with a game plan.

Choose an alignment

PAX 2007: Wil Wheaton says,
'Don't be a dick!'

PAX is a real-time, real-world, free-will game that permits you to choose either a positive or negative alignment. Like other alignment-based games, choosing the negative alignment ("Dick") may result in visible physical changes (Quest lines: "Black Eye," "Bruises," "Broken Bones") that will remain with you for the entire game. It is also more likely to result in early resolution of the main quest (Quest line: "Thrown Out of PAX by a Burly Yet Amicable Enforcer.")

If you are determined to enhance your negative alignment, select the "Grab a Strange Woman's Ass" quest line. Yes, this actually happens but will most likely result in immediate facial enhancement (Quest line: "Boyfriend Beat Down") and abruptly end your main quest.

PAX 2008: Girls at PAX - look but don't touch!

Selecting a positive alignment offers the opportunity to acquire loot ("SWAG"), expand your guild, get invited to parties and generally enhance your overall PAX experience.
As legendary guest speaker and leveled-up PAX attendee Wil Wheaton says, "Don't be a dick." (If you don't know who Wil is, then your first quest line has already begun!. Also look up founders Jerry Holkins (aka Tycho) and Mike Krahulik (Gabe) plus bonus points for knowing musicians Jonathan Coulton and MC Frontalot - you will hear their names A LOT at PAX.

Tips for enhancing your positive alignment:

Respect the lines: Yes, you've been waiting forever. So have we.
If someone asks you to save their place, do so. Eventually, you will need to pee, too.
If you want to take someone's pic (say, a bodacious cosplayer), ask – she'll probably turn around and smile and everything!
Don't be a SWAG hog. Or if you must, wait until late on Sunday. Vendors would rather give you multiple key chains and posters than schlep them home.
Turn your cell phone ringer off. We really don't care which song you chose just for your mom. (If you fail to do this, why not try one of our fun Busy Gamer Podcast ringtones - at least you'll be distinctive!)
Bathe. Daily. With soap.

Manage your inventory
Inventory bags will be available during the side quest "Exhibition Hall" (see "Select a quest line" below), but we recommend bringing your own inventory bag to the main quest - ideally one that is large and heavily reinforced. Backpacks are popular. The following items should be in your inventory slots before beginning a quest:

(I'm just sayin') Purell. Last year, we geeks at PAX were introduced to infectious diseases, namely the H1N1 virus (aka "swine flu"). Bring a bottle of hand sanitizer and use it before and after every gaming session that requires you to touch something or someone - basically, everything except for Kinect games! If someone you meet doesn't want to shake hands with you, they're not being rude - just prudent. Perhaps now would be a good time to devise your own cunning salute!
Map. You will be provided with a mission map (aka program/schedule) at the beginning of the main quest. Retain this in your inventory at all times. If you want to be ahead of the curve, download and print the map now. Some venues have been added, notably the Main Theater is now Benaroya Hall for keynotes and other big sessions and the Pegasus Theater is at the Sheraton.
Nintendo DS, PSP, iPhone or other portable gaming device. Because you'll be standing in line. A lot. And you might find a buddy to play an ad hoc multiplayer game with. Side note: If you have an iPhone, don't count on AT&T 3G. In fact, you may want to set it to airplane mode so your battery isn't sucked down in the first hour. Make sure to bring charging cables and backup batteries. There are places you can plug in to restore your juice.
Bottled water and snacks. Buy ahead of time and bring them with you, either at a local store or Starbucks. It will still cost less than at the Convention Center.
Cash. Yes, many merchants will accept your credit. Some will not. To avoid the side mission "ATM hunt," bring sufficient gold with you to cover incidentals and acquisitions. You will want to buy stuff, so set a budget and expect to bust it.
Camera. Photo ops abound. People in outlandish costumes, Internet celebrities, games that haven't been released yet, items you can't afford to buy but want to remember longingly.
Cell phone. If you have texting (more reliable than Twitter or any other 3G-dependent app if you have AT&T service), use it to communicate with friends. You won't be able to hear them on the floor, and you will have your quest ended if you take a call during a session. If you don't text, you can try to use Facebook, Twitter or phone messages to communicate - word is that only AT&T's 3G network is traditionally taken down (try turning of 3G to save battery and access Edge!). If you have another service provider you may be OK. Also, you will rarely be able to hear your phone during side quest "Exhibition Hall."
Costumes (optional). While PAX isn't all about the cosplay, there is a lot of it about and you're welcome to join in the fun! GrrlGotGame is attending in costume for the first time this year. If this topic interests you, you may want to take this side quest for some tips and techniques: Operation Little Sister. You can also find the Operation Little Sister audio diaries in our Best of Busy Gamer Podcast.

Select a quest line

PAX 2008: Make a beeline for Rock Band!

PAX offers a variety of quest lines to meet every interest and need. Experienced players know that planning what you want to see and do is just the beginning. There are several factors to consider, including locations, timing and event popularity. Some events will require long wait times: Evaluate your situation on an ongoing basis, and adjust accordingly. A willingness to adapt and, in some cases, abandon a quest line will help you reduce frustration and increase satisfaction with your overall main quest progress.

Tips for new players:

Review the panel descriptions online well in advance. Choose your must-sees and make a note of where and when they are scheduled. You may have to leave one quest (session) early to make it to another one on time!
Certain quests are guaranteed to fill up. So if you wish to add the keynote, Penny Arcade, Wil Wheaton, Rooster Teeth (Red vs. Blue) or major developer sessions such as Bungie or Harmonix to your quest line, arrive early and get in line. This is no longer a small event where admittance to anything you might want to do is even remotely guaranteed. You will have to make sacrifices, so prioritize your quests before you arrive!
The early bird gets the concert bracelet. To unlock the concert mission, you must first complete the "Acquire a Wristband" quest. This closes immediately upon distribution of all bracelets. Arrive at the designated map point as soon as the mission becomes available (before the day's events begin) for your best chance to complete this popular mission. If you miss out, show up anyway - usually some people with wristbands exhaust their health points and must regenerate them offsite, leaving openings for walk-ins.
Save a couple of hours to complete side quest "Exhibition Hall." Part sales floor, part game demo, all fun. Lots to see and buy ranging from developers you've never heard of to the Big Three – many of whom will let you play a game if you're willing to wait. This is also where you'll find the most loot. As a bonus, old school games can be found in remote corners by players willing to explore.

NEWBIE TIP: Feeling overwhelmed? Pick 3 things that you really want to do that aren't too close together on the schedule. You'll probably get to more, but you'll have both achievable objectives and free roam time. Don't worry, you'll have fun!

PRO TIP: Want to play Rock Band 3, which we've been assured will appear at this year's show? Head straight to the Exhibition Hall when it opens and make a beeline for the booth. Lines at the Harmonix booth are always long!

Attend with a guild

PAX is a social game offering the chance for brief interactions ("Chatting in Line"), party quests ("Meeting up with Friends") and Escort missions ("Insert Own Joke Here"). Attending PAX with one or more members of your guild will enable you to cover more ground and potentially see or at least hear about more sessions. Keep in mind that there is a fine line between clever and obnoxious. To avoid accruing negative alignment points, follow these guidelines during guild quests:

Don't wait until the last second to join your guild mates. It is acceptable to send a scout ahead of time to get in line – just don't wait until session time to appear. It artificially inflates the line and aggravates those who have been waiting longer.
When the session leader says the doors are closed, release any saved seats. This can, and will, happen. When you hear that no one else is getting in, assume your friend missed out – and move your inventory bag. (Also, see previous bullet.)
Don't assume your cell phone will work. You won't be able to hear it ringing on the show floor, and forget about hearing anyone trying to talk to you. Use text-based messages and clearly state when/where/how you will attempt to communicate again. Again, avoid 3G if you use AT&T. (Yeah, we hate them - especially at PAX - but love our iPhones.) PRO TIP: Set a time/location to meet up and check in so you don't have to depend on technology.
Want to know what people are buzzing about during the show? If you can get to the Internet, point your favorite Twitter client at #PAXPRime. Share your own tips and useful observations there as well! Also, be sure to follow PAX LINES and official_PAX just in case you can access Twitter during the show (or at least when walking between venues and other excursions to regenerate health).

PRO TIP: If you are a single player, you may wish to add a new member to your party during PAX. To increase the odds of a successful speech challenge with another player, we recommend completing the side mission "Shower" on a daily basis.

Regenerate health

PAX 2008: Cosplay is encouraged,
but know when to take a break!"

There are a handful of health stations located throughout the main PAX map. Choices include "Taco Del Mar," "Subway," "Tully's" and "generic exhibition hall pizza" map points. Creative players may select the add-on maps that open up new areas including "Pacific Place," "Westlake Center," "Pike Place Market," "Starbucks," "Ruth's Chris Steak House" and other nearby health restoration points.
Cheat codes are available to help unlock map locations quickly and easily. We recommend:

Urbanspoon for dining recommendations; available as an iPhone app.
Open Table to make reservations at some of the classier joints; iPhone app also available.

PRO TIP: The Seattle Monorail picks up at "Westlake Center," a few blocks from the main quest area. You can take the Monorail to "Seattle Center," which opens up both a variety of new restaurant map and tourism opportunities: Fast food available in the Seattle Center or, really getting off the main quest line, look up "Belltown" in Urbanspoon. As a bonus, the Monorail ride also opens up an optional and wholly geek-worthy side quest, "EMP/SFM."

Save your game

It is important to save your game often in order to maintain stamina for late afternoon quests. You may save your game at any time by sitting down and drinking water, vegging out on the array of provided bean bags or returning to your hotel. Stealth save points are available by ducking into sessions. You might accidentally learn something, too.

Complete the main quest

You may choose to end the main quest line at any time. Keep in mind that the game itself expires at approximately 5 p.m. Sunday, when the final session is scheduled to end. The Exhibition Hall quest is likely to end earlier, so get in last minute shopping and looting earlier in the afternoon.

We hope you have found this guide both entertaining and enlightening. There is much to see and do, and no doubt you will find a quest that was not touched upon here. Good luck, have fun and last but not least, don't be a dick.

See you at PAX! We're planning a tweetup and have some cool prizes to giveaway, so follow us if you want to say "Hi" and maybe grab a pin, shirt or maybe even a game!

--GrrlGotGame and Gamewatcher

Gamewatcher - Child's Play Charity Auction, Year 6

2009-12-09T07:11:27Z

Mario quilt at Child's Play 2009 auction (more and bigger pix)

Another year, another Child's Play charity auction. We've attended every one to date (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) because it's a cause we truly support and believe in. This year we felt the economic pinch and expected to walk away empty handed.

Apparently we weren't the only ones - overall bidding seemed low with no $10,000+ items. As a result, we actually won some goodies in the silent auction (our first bids got away, but we did finally prevail with the PopCap and Ubisoft game and goody bundles. This marks the second time we've won Peggle at an auction (the first was in 2007), and now we're swimming in games, Chuzzles and other surprises that we'll share in future Free Stuff Friday giveaways.

8-bit Resident Evil art - the one that got away!

But back to the auction. Big hits were a Super Mario quilt ("An opportunity to wrap yourself in your own childhood," quipped co-founder Jerry Holkins) that went for $4000 and a $6,000 seat at the Penny Arcade guys D&D game ("Anybody want to be murdered, by me?" taunted Mike Krahulik.)

A fully loaded Xbox 360 with every Rock Band song released so far, plus all of the Rock Band games sold for $1700, and another 360 that includes every Xbox Live Arcade game to date landed $1900.

PopCap pack - one of two prizes we won at silent auction!

Some lucky winner with a spare $2000 gets to be an honorary member of the Xbox Live Enforcement Crew during a 6-hour tour of Xbox HQ. Mike noted, "You can spend the day there ruining people's lives."

The cheapest live auction item was a $400 custom decorated Ragnaros Noob from Blizzard. A Bungie Studio tour to preview Halo: Reach netted $2700, a skeeball machine was worth $4600 to someone with a lot of free space, a $2000 Mystery Box proved to be a 52-inch TV and the annual PA strip appearance was had at the bargain price of $6900 - down from $10K last year and $20K in 2005. Finally, a $6500 song written by the PA crew with Harmonix musicians will be immortalized in Rock Band and proceeds from its eventual sale via the soon-to-launch Rock Band Network will benefit NEXT year's Child's Play. Awesome!

The total evening's take was only $191,000 - a bit less than the $200K+ raised at past year's dinners. Seems like the high rollers and big corporate sponsors stayed away, or made their donations and called it a day. The bigger news was that the overall campaign broke $1 million BEFORE the auction started, which is a welcome first! Grassroots efforts seem to be really making a difference. Last year, the auction pushed the total just above the $900K mark (they ultimately broke their $1 million goal by year's end).

Still, a good night for a good cause. It was fun, and they finished early (before 9:30 p.m).

Busy Gamer Podcast - Week of Oct. 25, 2009

2009-10-25T20:58:43Z

This week we look at Rock Band for iPhone, preview the forthcoming Xbox 360 Facebook and Twitter features (which we were invited to try just before recording this), explore GrrlGotGame's on again/off again affair with the Halo series, whine about The Beatles: Rock Band DLC codes (which we'll be giving away!) and more.

This week's podcast is a minute shorter than the first, yet packed with more content. (You be the judge, but I think we're getting better!)

Our goal is to provide 10-15 minutes of news and helpful commentary every Sunday so that you'll have a great jumping off point for your busy gamer week. Here's what we pack into each episode:

The week's game releases
A quick look back at the previous week's releases, news and downloadable content highlights
What we're playing/mini-reviews
Giveaways
Comment of the week

All in a tight package you can easily consume during even the shortest commutes!

Please share your own thoughts and comments about the podcast here. We'll continue to refine our show over the coming weeks!

Download the podcast here or, if you can, please subscribe at iTunes!

Busy Gamer Podcast - Premiere Episode: Week of Oct. 18, 2009

2009-10-18T17:10:14Z

So we finally did it. After weeks of talking about it and pestering our friends at Seattle Geekly for guidance, we're launching our first Busy Gamer Podcast.

Our goal is to record and post 10-15 minutes of news and helpful commentary every Sunday so that you'll have a great jumping off point for your busy gamer week. Packed into each episode will be:

The week's game releases
A quick look back at the previous week's releases, news and downloadable content highlights
What we're playing/mini-reviews
Giveaways
Comment of the week

All in a tight package you can easily consume during even the shortest commutes!

This week we highlight a couple of time-sensitive offers that expire Monday, so you may want to listen to it right away! We also talk about Fallout 3, iPhone games Skee-Ball vs. Ramp Champ, Hasbro Family Game Night and the Brutal Legend and Guitar Hero 5 demos.

Please share your own thoughts and comments about the podcast here. We'll continue to refine our show over the coming weeks!

Download the podcast here or, if you can, please subscribe at iTunes!