Who Was There: The Halo: ODST panel held during the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo, titled aptly enough "Prepare to Drop," featured a small battalion of Bungie crew. On hand to represent the studio were creative director Joseph Staten; design director Paul Bertone; composer Marty O'Donnell; executive producer Curtis Creamer; community director Brian Jarrard; cinematics director CJ Cowan; art lead Michael Woo; and senior designer Lars Bakken.

What They Talked About: Halo 3: ODST is locked and loaded for a September 22 release on the Xbox 360, and judging by the popularity of its 2007 predecessor, the title will be more than a bit of a big deal. With that release date looming,...

Though Forza Motorsport 3 is every bit the simulation racing game its two predecessors were, developer Turn 10 Studios has added a number of features designed to ease in novice players, including the ability to rewind time after a crash and enable assists that handle all the braking for you. But if you go a step further, there exists a side of Forza 3 that has the possibility of appealing to players who aren’t into driving at all. Forza 3’s artistic side comes in...

Fat Princess was released on the PlayStation Network this past July to mostly positive critical reviews. Though the game had its fair share of flaws--especially when it came to online connection issues--the overall experience proved to be an undeniably charming twist on typical class-based online action games. It swaps standard capture-the-flag scenarios for obese princesses who are in constant danger of being kidnapped by cutesy but deceptively...

Who Was There: Hothead Games creative director Ron Gilbert delivered the keynote address at the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo. Gilbert is perhaps best known as the creator of such seminal adventure games as Maniac Mansion and the Monkey Island franchise as a designer and programmer at LucasArts in the 1990s.

What He Talked About: A staggering crowd of PAX attendees lined up early to hear Gilbert deliver the opening remarks at this year's PAX, filling a turnstile that spanned the breadth of an entire cavernous exhibition hall. As keynote speakers are wont to do, Gilbert began his address by relating the early experiences that...

Back in February, we had our very first look at Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the highly anticipated sequel to Naughty Dog’s 2007 action adventure title about a treasure hunter named Nathan Drake. The first game earned acclaim for its excellent cinematics, well-developed characters, and harmonious blend of cover-based shooting and acrobatic platforming. Uncharted 2 appears ready to improve upon its predecessor in just about every way. But until now, everything we’ve seen--with...

Nintendo is showing off several WiiWare titles during the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo, and one of them is the continuation of the addictive and colorful retro-style Bit.Trip series called Bit.Trip Void. The game once again tests your quick reflexes, sense of rhythm, and tolerance for crazy visuals. The mechanics have also been changed, but we're happy to see that it's just as engaging as the previous games and can't wait to play more. Instead of shooting targets and shuffling paddles, you're now using the nunchuk's analog stick to collect and...