DCC 2011 - Photos by Jim Brown.

There were several firsts at this particular Dallas Comic Con.

It was the first gathering in the spanking new Irving Convention Center. The new building is an impressive sight from the outside and even more so on the inside. The fans were out in force, even with the threat of the impending Rapture hanging over their heads. Fortunately, the Rapture was pushed back to October 21st so we can all stop worrying about that for now.

The other first was the Reckon Crew finally getting to meet Carrie Fisher. Call us fan boys if you must but we’ve been looking forward to this day for a very long time. I was there for Crutchboy when he nearly fainted when Carrie told him he was too short to be a Stormtrooper. I would have even forgiven him if he would have squealed and done that thing with his hands like an excited school girl. But he maintained his cool.

I met another one of my heroes, Leonard Nimoy, at the convention. I’d been unfortunate enough to miss him at some previous events so I made it my mission to meet him this time and get his autograph. My plans to tell him his face was “illogical” fell through, however, so there will be another meeting… Next time, Nimoy, next time.

Gamette Lhars Steck and cosplayers! Photo by Jim Brown.

We stopped by the booth of our two favorite Dallas artists, Terry Parr and Halo Seraphim. Terry and Halo have stepped up their game with their new project ShoNuff Studios. Their art gets better every time I see them and the “cleavage buttons” they’re offering are sure to be a hit with the gents.

Taffeta Darling was in fine form, braving the crowd to hang out with the Reckon Crew. She was a hit with the fans and dressed as Zantanna, I was able to forgive the crowds as they tried to get their picture taken with her. I was even able to forgive them for not knowing who I was.

Stan Lee was in attendance and in high demand. It was good to see him at another convention and I applaud the Dallas Comic Con team for landing him for this gig.

All in all, I continue to be amazed with how quickly this event has grown. The prior events were by no means deficient but my hat is definitely off to the gents at C2 Ventures. If they continue in their current direction, the next event should be spectacular.

As for the stun gun incident, well, here’s a little sneak peek…

Gritskrieg – End of Line

Yeah, Terry Parr's work kicks ass...

This Saturday, the Busy Gamer Reckon Crew will be appearing as exhibitors at the Staple! Independent Media Expo at the Monarch Event Center in Austin, TX. The event, now in its sixth year, is shaping up to be an excellent time for everyone involved. And our tables should be a party with the usual suspects from the Reckon Crew (Timothy Danger, Crutchboy, and myself) and one of our favorite artists Terry Parr and his guest Halo. Swing by for some BG swag.

Aside from the presence of our awesome selves, which should be enough for anyone to want to attend, there’s an impressive list of other exhibitors that will be there as well as some special guests. Among the special guests will be “Owly” creator Andy Runton who received an Eisner award for his comic in 2006. Artist Guy Davis who has worked on projects for DC, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and many other companies will be in attendance as well as Chris Schweizer and Jason Neulander.

Among the exhibitors will be some of our personal favs here at BusyGamer.com like Danielle Corsetto of “Girls With Slingshots“, Monica Gallagher of the website eatyourlipstick.com, and Vinh Luu of Space-Gun. You can get a complete list of the exhibitors here. There will be a lot of artwork to catch your eye, portraits and commissions to be drawn on site, and a whole lot of interesting people to meet.  So if you haven’t made plans for Saturday, head up to the Monarch Event Center for Staple! and we promise not to make fun of you, mostly. You’ll have a great time… If you don’t, you’re probably some kind of alien.

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STAPLE 2010 will be held at the Monarch Event Center (6406 North IH-35 Suite 3100 Austin, TX 78752) in the Lincoln Village Shopping Center at the corner of 2222 and I-35, right across from Highland Mall.

DCC : Rogue & Wolverine

This past weekend, the Reckon Crew packed up and headed for Dallas to visit the Dallas Comic Con and get some fan boy energy out of our system. We were excited to see the guest line up this year and managed to do some schmoozing with some friends of the site and meet some new ones.

The first person we had to visit, of course, was the talented artist Terry Parr. While we’ll be seeing Terry next month when he comes to Austin for Staple!, we’re always excited to see what he’s been up to and his new work is extraordinary. Once we’d taken up too much of his time and probably scared away more than a couple of his fans, we took in the rest of the sights the Comic Con had to offer.

In attendance this year were several big names. Among them were some names you’d know if you’re a Sci-Fi fan; Peter Mayhew, Herb Jefferson Jr., and Anne Lockhart. The list for the artists was no less impressive with names like Adam Hughes, Cat Skaggs, and Tim Sale. We were more than happy to peruse more than a few of their sketches. We even ended up with a couple of them in tow as we visited some of the other artists there.

Artist Terry Parr and Edward Scissorhands

We paid our homage to Adam West, the OB (Original Batman) and the Mayor of a little town called Quahog. That’s a “Family Guy” reference if you missed it. Pictures were taken, autographs were procured, and more than a little of that fan boy energy I mentioned was in effect at his table.

We were fortunate enough to attend the Q&A for Sean Patrick Flanery while we were there. I’ve been to more than a few Q&A’s and I have to say that Mr. Flanery’s was one of the best that I have ever had the pleasure to attend. Funny and self deprecating, Sean talked about his experiences on the set of Boondock Saints and the sequel, meeting George Lucas during his audition for the TV series Young Indiana Jones, and his favorite moments from the filming of Powder. The guy does a mean Christopher Walken impression as well.

We also met up with Jim Brown, a very talented photographer who has agreed to do some of the shoots for our lovely Gamettes this year. We were happy to finally have the time to get to know Jim and talk to him about matters ranging from photography to drinking misadventures. We’re happy to welcome Jim aboard and look forward to seeing more of his work.

All in all, it was a great weekend. We managed to defy death, meet some famous people, make some impressions both good and bad, and have a few drinks along the way… That’s just what we do.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

BG Reckon Crew - Crutchboy, Timothy Danger & Gritskrieg

They say you can take the boy out of Texas… But you can’t take Texas out of the boy. I guess we’ve been lucky the past two years to spread that little bit of Gospel all around the U.S… but there is one place the BusyGamer Crew hasn’t gone yet. So we’re fixing that this week.

I’m talking about the land of fame and excess. Movie stars and bad habits. Silicon chips and silicone… well y’know.

That’s right fiends, the Busygamer Crew is headed to L.A. for a little rest and relaxation, nerd networking, and of course, a little bit of what we do best… (it rhymes with “thinking??? but let’s face it I was never very good at that)

Hailey Bright - Gamette of the Year 2009

Of course, we do have a main mission. That is to put our beloved leader and bossman Amory ‘Gritskrieg’ Gritta on COIN-OP TV Thursday night. Oh that’s right… I didn’t stutter. Grits is going to be in the hot seat for one of the video game industry’s most popular interactive shows… What’s more… you can watch it and participate live while it happens. COIN-OP TV is much more than an internet show. It features a unique twist in which viewers can log in and participate with the shows by leaving live comments and questions in the chat room.

Grits will be talking about the website.. our lovely Gamettes, our mega cool Gamette of the Year contest, and of course will be awarding COIN-OP TV’s lovely co-host HAILEY BRIGHT the coveted GAMETTE OF THE YEAR title.

We are certainly excited to make the trip. LA is the epicenter for video game technology, gaming subculture, and home to countless other geek treasures (Not to mention some old school punk rock history). We can’t wait to make fools… er I mean represent Texas in a manner only gentlemen wearing the BusyGamer moniker can.

You can watch The BusyGamer Reckon Crew live on the broadcast of Coin-Op Tv here at www.thestream.tv/coinop 8PM PST / 10PM CST January 21 starring host Robert Welkner and Co-Host Hailey Bright. It’s live, it’s interactive, and you need to check this out! Send us some questions, we dare you.

Star Wars Fan Days III Promo Artwork

The Busy Gamer Reckon Crew is headed for Dallas and the Star Wars Fan Days this weekend. That’s right, for one weekend the Reckon Crew will be able to revel in its geekdom and go to a place where Star Wars quotes will not only be pervasive but most likely mandatory.

Held at the Plano Centre in Plano, TX, Star Wars Fan Days will be one of the largest collections of talent from the movies, artists, authors, and a whole gaggle of cosplaying fan bois and grrls to make them feel uncomfortable.

This will be the third Fan Days to be held in Plano and the list of attendees is impressive. Fans will be able to meet the likes of Dave Prowse and Peter Mayhew, arguably two of the most famous men of the Star Wars sage to have never actually shown their faces as Darth Vader and Chewbacca respectively. The infamous Ray Park of Darth Maul fame will be in attendance as well as Anthony Daniels, the actor who played C3PO.

Stephen Sansweet, director of content management and fan relations will be on hand for a presentation about the future of Star Wars on Saturday, October 24th. He’ll also be promoting his new book, “Star Wars: 1,000 Collectibles” and will also be available for autograph signings throughout the weekend. Go ahead, compare your Star Wars collection to his, I dare you.

Among the artists who will be attending are Adam Hughes, Steve Anderson, and Tony Harris. If you haven’t seen their work before, you may not actually be able to claim to be a true Star Wars fan. It’s okay if you didn’t know who they were, we won’t tell anyone. We’ll just mock you silently when you don’t recognize them. And point you out to the rabid fans. But we won’t say anything.

And if you’re more interested in some “lewt”, there will be a charity auction at 4:00PM on Saturday. There will be artwork, autograph cards, toys, action figures… Pretty much all the stuff from the Star Wars universe you ever wanted as a kid but didn’t have the cash to buy. Now you can get that feeling of being broke again except this time, you’ll have all the goods!

 All in all, it’s shaping up to be a geek-irific weekend. If you want to say hi to us, we’ll be the Star Wars geeks wandering around the Convention Center… You know, the ones who are just a little cooler than the rest of them.

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Star Wars Fan Days III, taking place October 24th and 25th, will be hosted at the Plano Convention Centre located at 2000 East Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, TX, 75074. Tickets for the event go on sale at 9am on Saturday October 24th.  For more information about the event, you can visit the Fan Days website here.

Commander Shepard comes in peace. His "little friend", however, is angry.

If any of you have seen my Gamertag on Xbox Live, you’ll know that I’m a Mass Effect fan. I can honestly say that Mass Effect is one of the perfect examples of a game that a Busy Gamer will want to steer clear of unless you have: A.) Vacation Time or B.) The desire to completely alienate your friends and family by disappearing for a couple of weeks while you beat the game.

Mass Effect is the only game to date that has inspired me to complete every achievement for the 360. Yes, I even beat the game on the insanity difficulty and yes, I am proud of that fact. There have been very few games throughout my life which could inspire that level of ambition. It’s been over a year and the N7 gamer pic is still flying proud on my profile.

Having explained all of this, it should be no surprise to you that one of the games I was most looking forward to seeing at PAX ’09 was Mass Effect 2. It’s possible that I may have even trampled a small child to get to the BioWare booth for a chance at the playable demo. And once I was done, I had to take a deep breath. While I was mostly pleased with the demo, there were a few things I noticed that made me wonder if I would have the same degree of enthusiasm for the sequel as I did for the original.

The good stuff:
The combat system is intact. Moving into a firefight, the controls felt familiar and I picked them up easily having committed them to muscle memory from the first game. This was Mass Effect at its best. BioWare didn’t fix it because it wasn’t broken. I found myself instinctively taking cover and waiting to line up my shots.

There are now heavy weapons in the game. In the original, you could count on having to use the hell out of your grenades for any kind of area damage outside of making a weapon nearly useless with explosive rounds. The weapons we saw were perfect for clearing out enemies who refused to move from cover. No more suicide runs to try and flank enemies solidly entrenched in an area.

Shepard lets his fear of crash test dummies get the best of him.

While there are new characters, there appear to be a few favorites returning. One of the new characters is a Krogan who doesn’t appear to have anything to do with Wrex. Perhaps the story will explain why we replaced our favorite foul mouthed Krogan with the new kid. Tali appears to be around but whether she will be joining our squad or not appears to be unknown at this time.

The choices we made in the first game do apparently effect what happens in the second game. While it does not appear that Kaiden or Ashley will be joining us to wreck alien life forms, it is being said that the human you chose to save in the first game will be present in the sequel.

The graphics look largely unchanged and if anything, look to be even better. The backgrounds and cutscense are still beautiful.

The enemy AI appears to have been improved in many ways. I watched as one enemy used an assault rifle to keep me pinned behind cover as another tried to sneak around behind my cover for a clear shot. The improved AI also allows for greater squad control by allowing us to issue individual commands to our squad mates.

The bad stuff:
There isn’t much I can say about the game that is negative. Although I could go on a rant about not getting Wrex as a squad mate again. But that’s a personal preference.

Weapons have to be reloaded now. Whether this is a result of overpowered weapons in the original Mass Effect (two Frictionless Ammo X mods on your assault rifle resulted in a “Spray and Slay” weapon with practically no worries about ever letting off the trigger) or something the community requested, I can’t say I like this. Yes, my Soldier character had the insane assault rifle but not having to worry about running out of ammo let me concentrate on commanding my squad and making sure they stayed alive.

Old friends and new friends, the Squad you choose can make or break you.

This is more of a fear than a bad thing but it looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot more of the Citadel in the sequel. In my mind, I had created entire subplots that could be carried out in the massive space station and only being able to travel to certain portions only fueled the fires of my imagination. Hopefully the mystique of the Citadel will be preserved while allowing us more access.

Overall, the game is shaping up nicely and with a predicted launch date of 2/1/2010, it’s actually closer to completion than I initially thought. I imagine the Reckon Crew will be mysteriously silent that week. Or not if the game fails to live up to our expectations.

We’re watching you, BioWare.

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Is that a gun in your hands or are you just hap... Nope, that's a gun. Never mind.

We played a lot of games at PAX ’09 that made us want to play more. We also just happened to come across one game that wasn’t playable that made us wish we could just play it for a few minutes. That game was APB (All Points Bulletin) and it’s looking to be the newest bad kid on the block. Published by EA Games and developed by Realtime Worlds, it is going to be impossible not to compare to Grand Theft Auto and harder so because of its origins.

Yes, it is the brainchild of David Jones, creator of the original GTA and yes, there’s the criminal aspect, taking missions to increase your ranking in the criminal world, driving cars haphazardly over pedestrians, and getting bigger, badder weapons to take out your enemies. That might be enough to compare it to GTA but APB throws a curve at the audience.

You can play as an Enforcer, the police in the world of APB. As an Enforcer, you take missions to safeguard businesses from the criminal element, also in order to increase your rank so you can get to the bigger and badder weapons and vehicles. You’ll follow criminals from a discreet distance in order to catch them committinga crime at which time you can choose to arrest them or put them down for the count with a well placed gun shot.

Still not convinced there’s a difference?  Imagine all of the above but in an MMO. Yes, now you’re on to something.

While the creators of APB are hesitant to call the game an MMO, there’s some of the best aspects of MMOs for flavor. You can group up with friends to wreck things as the Criminals or protect and serve as the Enforcers. Each group has its pros and cons but ultimately, it’s the gameplay that’s the draw.

The video we viewed showed actual gameplay footage. As the programmer gave a guided tour of the city, we saw firefights burst out in the street, we drove under an Enforcer and a Criminal opening fire on one another on a catwalk high above the street. We even saw one ill-fated group of criminals ran over as the demo began.

As the scenes unfolded, we witnessed gorgeous backgrounds, beautiful vehicles, and intense fights. As the programmer parked the car, another vehicle drove up next to him. The other vehicle had the radio on and as it pulled away, we could feel the bass of the track they were listening to vibrate our tailbones.

The screens may be from E3 but the images we saw were just as good looking.

The missions we were privvy to as the game played out were varied. There was an armored car mission with two Enforcers driving to different locations to pick up the items to be delivered. As the last item was loaded into the truck, the Enforcers were attacked and split up as the Criminals tried their best to steal the cargo. One gunned his way back to the armored truck while the other ran to the street and commandeered a vehicle. Able to meet back up on the road, the two fought to stay on the road to the delivery point while the Criminals engaged them in vehicular combat, trying to run the armored truck off of the road.

Once at the deivery point, the two jumped from their vehicles and a firefight broke out on the street. While the combat was short, it was savage. The Enforcers emerged the victors and managed to deliver the cargo to its destination.

We also watched as the Enforcers responded to a call for backup. Driving up, there were various Enforcers shooting it out with Criminals. Our two heroes jumped into the fray and shortly after, were able to assist their fellow officers in securing the area while arresting or killing the Criminals.

After the video ended, we were able to ask a few questions about highlights of the game and discovered the following:

-There will be “PvP” servers called Chaos servers where it’s every man for himself. Criminals can interfere with any Enforcer mission, attacking and even killing the Enforcers. The same holds true for the Criminal missions so it’s not a one way street.

-There will be no levels per se, only ranks achieved through the amount of missions completed and time spent in the game. No more level grind.

-Higher level weapons will become available to each of the factions as they progress through the ranks. The fights won’t be a matter of who brings the biggest gun to the party but a matter of tactics and numbers.

-Initially the game will only be available for the PC but there is more than a little work being done to bring the game to to consoles relatively close to the PC launch.

While it’s too early to tell if APB will be a hit with the masses, we can certainly say the Reckon Crew was impressed. We’ll be waiting patiently for our chance to trash some baddies, or goodies, when the game launches.

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You won't make fun of us for much longer. Goblin Crotch Punch, Activate!

One of the highlights of the Penny Arcade Expo this year was the playable demo of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. At least it was for the Reckon Crew since we’re big WoW nerds. We were able to play with both of the new playable races a bit and sat through the video Blizzard has put together showcasing some of the new features that will come with the expansion.

Two new playable races will be available with Cataclysm, the Goblins, who will join the Horde, and the Worgen who have decided to join with the Alliance. The Goblins you already know if you’ve been to the majority of the neutral cities scattered throughout the world of Azeroth. Engineering gurus, the Goblins racial abilities will be based on the technology they create. The first item, a rocket belt, will allow you to leap forward a great distance, similar to a warrior’s charge or more closely resembling the pounce ability of druids in cat form. They are also able to summon an assistant of sorts which allows them to access their bank slots.

The Worgen may be perhaps a little less known, having languished in the southern portion of Silverpine, the Greymane Wall, for some time since Burning Crusades became available. The Worgen are a group of humans with a terrible curse, that of lycanthropy. The quest for their humanity is foremost for the player when beginning in their starting area, eventually leading to the control of the curse. Able to take human form at will, the Worgen are unable to overcome their animal side when angered, changing into their wolf-like form when attacked or when initiating combat. Most notable of their racial abilities is a Sprint ability that is accessible in the wolf form.

Look, we're a couple, get over it. We have our differences but flea powder will always bring us together.

The story behind the events leading to the Cataclysm is that an ancient evil has risen from the depths of the Maelstrom. That’s the hurricane looking thing in the center of the map of Azeroth you’ve been staring at for the past five years if you weren’t sure. The ancient evil is none other than Deathwing himself, the most fearsome of the Aspects, the Dragonflights charged with protecting Azeroth. Somewhere along the line, Deathwing went mad and sought to conquer the other flights and has been hiding, or perhaps slumbering, for several hundred years.

As Deathwing is unleashed on the world, the face of Azeroth is changed by the destructive energy of his escape. The Barrens has been ripped in two by a fiery chasm, entire forests have been burned to the ground, and the islands near the Maelstrom have become unsafe. While much of the land is visited by destruction, some areas appear to have become fertile. Desolate areas such as… Desolace have become lush forests, life returning in force to those places that barely sustained it before the event.

The level cap will be raised to 85, a move sure to disappoint some players who feel they’ve barely had time to experience the Wrath of the Lich King content. Yeah, all that purple gear you’ve been collecting? There’s going to be some new greens that make your gear look like the attire of a country bumpkin.

Flying mounts will be able to take advantage of the new landscape, allowing players who have flying mounts to view the destruction and regrowth of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms from on high. And apparently the event will inspire the existing races of Azeroth to take up new professions. Human Hunters, Blood Elf Warriors, Dwarf Shaman, Tauren Paladins, the list goes on. Don’t get your hopes up too much though. Rogues still don’t allow anything with hooves to join the guild.

There’s a new profession in the works, archaeology. While there is little information in regards to the new profession, it apparently allows players to discover and use ancient devices and technologies that have been dormant until the recent events. Overhauls are in the works for the existing crafting professions, providing a much needed boost to the lower level items they create rather than just grinding through for skill points.

It’s been stated by Blizzard that there will be a minor upgrade to the graphics engine, however, if it was in place for the playable demo, I couldn’t see any major differences. There is an announced underwater area which was unavailable in the content we played through so perhaps that is where we will be seeing the upgrades.

Announced on the WoW site is overhauls for existing dungeons including level 85 heroic versions of Shadowfang Keep and the Deadmines. Hopefully, the overhaul will include upgraded content for some of the older dungeons as well.

While we had to manage our time and only saw a portion of what was offered by Blizzard at PAX ’09, we were impressed with what we saw. There are currently only rumors of a launch date for the new expansion but we’re hoping for just a bit longer with Wrath of the Lich King before Blizzard swallows our souls all over again.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

A two man Reckon Crew arrived in Seattle yesterday at 7pm.  After the long trek through the airport and managing to get our rental car with no human interaction whatsoever (weirdest geeky experience ever), Crutchboy and I went in search of food and booze… Of course.  This weekend will be the first offical outing in a long time without the presence of Timothy Danger and he will be sorely missed.  But somehow, some way, we will manage to drink in his absence and score some interviews.

There isn’t a whole lot to report at the moment aside from some very tasty food and equally tasty Bloody Marys at a local joint called Sharp’s Roasthouse off on International Boulevard.  It’s right around the corner from SEATAC so if you have the time, the gumption, and a bit of extra cash, I would highly recommend it.  Still running on Texas time, we’ve decided to call it an early night (2AM Texas time) so we can get an early start in the morning.  We’ll be running by to pick up our press passes and sightseeing but in the meantime, we’re posting up a quick video log of our first night in Seattle with more to come…  Stay tuned.  Your life may depend on it.  Maybe not.

Be sure to follow our antics on Twitter.  Just go to www.twitter.com/busygamer and follow us.

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Joust on the Movie Screen. Aww, yeah.

It’s not always easy to tell how we’re going to feel when we do an event. There’s hangovers to deal with, Texas heat, loading and unloading the swag, making sure we’re properly hydrated… So when we attend a well-planned, well-managed event, that’s something to write about.

This past weekend in Austin, we attended Game Over Videogames’ Classic Game Fest. As some of you might have read on Friday, the game for the event was Joust. What we didn’t write about, because we didn’t know at the time, was how smoothly the event would go once we arrived.

Bill Byrne of Painful Leg Injuries

We were set up just outside the door and the Game Over staff made us feel right at home for the event. Shortly after arriving and setting up our table the signups began. Once the preliminary round was completed, the action moved outside where Bill Byrne of Painful Leg Injuries served up some electronic music using a wii-mote, some Gameboys, and a laptop. It was some impressive stuff. After Bill, there really was a breakdancer who put on about a five minute show and I got winded just watching him.

After the performances it was on to round two which was played on a movie screen set up in the parking lot. The crowd was responsive as the players duked it out for their spot in the next bracket and the Reckon Crew had some favorites among the competitors as the event wore on. We kept handing out the swag while watching as the action played out on the big screen.

The final Three competitors with their prizes

When all was said and done, there were three finalists and only one of them could be the top Jouster. Finishing in third was Nathan McClellan, in second was Eric Graybill, and the first place victor was Alex Apple.

Due to a prior engagement,  we won’t be able to attend the next Classic Game Fest event on July 31st, which will be Dr. Mario if you were wondering, we’d encourage those who have a love for classic gaming to swing by Game Over Video Games that weekend if you’re in the Austin area. You can find them on the corner of Lamar and Highway 183. Swing by and tell ‘em Busy Gamer sent you. That’s always good for instant cool points.

Our thanks go out to David Kaelin and the rest of the staff of Game Over Videogames for making us feel welcome and putting on a great event.

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