I know you all are eagerly awaiting our write ups on some of the cool things we saw at PAX East 2013! In the meantime, here’s a quick look at some of the most exciting news from PAX:
- Blizzard Entertainment has officially announced their new free-to-play collectible card game HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft. This new game is focused around 1v1 and also allows for matchmaking through battle.net. This online capability will allow players to duel with other players, and will also allow for medal ranking boosts. There will be 300 cards based on the character classes from their game World of Warcraft (WoW) available at launch. You can purchase cards in packs for about $1 each. The beta will be available this summer for PC, MAC, and even iPad gamers. The actual game will be available at the end of 2013.
- Capcom has announced that they are resurrecting Duck ales and will be remaking the original game from Nintendo into a game available for PSN, Wii/WiiU, and Xbox Live that will be called DuckTales: Remastered.
- Ms. Splosion Man, a long-awaited iOS game created by Twisted Pixel, will be released by the end of this month. Joystiq says this version will have power-up capabilities, one of which will let you skip levels if they are too difficult for you. The game is $10, and will also be available on Steam and Windows Phone.
- Assassin’s Creed Creative Director Jean Guesdon and the team at UbiSoft Montreal talked about what motivated them to take the game to the sea. Jean Guesdon stated that the idea behind making the protagonist in Assassin’s Creed IV a pirate was the fact that it was an incredibly interesting time in history with compelling characters. One of the characters you can look forward to seeing in the new game is none other than Blackbeard. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be hitting the shelves on October 29, 2013 and is currently available for pre-order for $59.99.
- Marvel Heroes will be released on June 4th. Marvel Heroes is a free-to-play MMO set in the Marvel universe. Marvel Heroes combines the core gameplay style of action RPGs and MMOs with the expansive library of heroes from the Marvel Universe. In the game, players can collect and play as their favorite Marvel superheroes, and you can even go further and customize your character. It’s F2P and will have PvP at launch.
- A Mass Effect retrospective video was released today by Bioware. It includes memories from a ton of people who worked on the games.
- Red 5 Studios discussed their MMO Firefall (currently in beta) and also announced the development of a brand-new channel devoted exclusively to gaming. The channel will be called Stage 5, and can be found both on YouTube and the Stage 5 website. The channel will soon be available in app form for iPad, Android, and Ouya. Read all about their thoughts on Firefall, the industry, and their new channel here.
- The nineteenth EVE Online expansion, Odyssey, was announced today. A website has been launched, and it will be out on June 4th. Odyssey will focus on exploration and will “shake up the status quo.”
- Dust: An Elysian Tail is coming to Steam and might be available as soon as next month. The game was originally only available on the Xbox Live Arcade. Creators Dean Dodrill and Alex Kain also discussed Dust 2, with both saying that they have lots of ideas for the sequel.
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be coming to Mac on April 25th and will include all of the previously-released extra content for the game. It will also be released for iOS devices this summer, and will be a complete port of the console and PC/Mac game (minus some maps, due to file size limitations on iOS). Work on the port began a year ago, and the team is really happy with the touch controls. Price is unknown beyond being “premium priced.”
- Fuse will be released at the end of May – May 28th in North America, May 31st in Europe. Fuse is a four-player co-op shooter from Electronic Arts and Insomniac Games. You play one of four agents – Dalton Brooks, Izzy Sinclair, Jacob Kimble, and Naya Deveraux – each of whom has their own unique skills and weapons. You’ll be able to get it for PS3 and Xbox 360.
- Blizzard announced that the PlayStation 3 version of Diablo III will feature an in-game menu that allows players, both online and offline, to trade items between each other, as long as they are in the same game. This new system will be making up for the lack of the auction house from the PC version. Diablo III will also have online and offline co-op for up to four players on its console version. There is no release date yet.
- Blizzard’s Rob Pardo talks to Chris Grant from Polygon about the company’s new game, Hearthstone. Check out the video.
- Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will bring a new spin to the series. Techland shows us a mix of myth and truth in this downloadable title. Some of the “based on real-life” characters you will see in the game are Pat Garrett, Wild Bill Hickok, and Billy the Kid. With arcade-like action, new environments, and an old west style, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger sounds very promising.
- The Elder Scrolls Online boasts new character advancement. This new MMO is just what fans of Elder Scrolls and MMOs have been waiting for. The game will feature PvP, lots of action in the combat system, and skills that level with use. Build your characters the way you want with use of any weapon or armor, but also gain item-specific abilities with each one you choose. The game launches later this year.
- Borderlands 2 has a new playable character: Krieg the Psycho. This melee-based character is based on the psycho enemies in the game. Your action skill for Krieg is Blood Axe Rampage, which allows the character to regain health while dealing damage with your Buzz Axe. Krieg will be out in May, and is a $10 standalone DLC. Read more about him here.
What was your favorite part of PAX East 2013? Let us know in the comments!
