PAX 2010 Packs Seattle's Washington State Convention Center Over Labor Day Weekend

Dedicated gamers have a reputation for enjoying solitude, but that wasn't the case in Washington State over the Labor Day Weekend. In Seattle, the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo, also known as PAX10, attracted a sell-out crowd of gamer players and industry professionals. Mixed in with all the graphics and computer-generated explosions, attendees could participate in panels and other activities that didn't take place on a computer screen:

Massively Multi-Player Games open doors for the disabled. It has taken game companies a while to catch on, but massively multi-player games, also known as MMO's, level the playing field for everyone, especially those who have some form of disability.

At a Saturday afternoon panel discussion, Mark Barlet, President and CEO of the AbleGamers Foundation said one reason for this is the gaming industry's slow "churn rate". "Once you become a gamer, you stay a gamer. You guys are here because you are gamers," Barlet said. "In 15 years, you are going to be gamers. In 50 years, you are going to be gamers--but some of you won't be here anymore."

Barlet, who was wearing his first pair of trifocal glasses, said that gaming companies finally starting to think about visual conditions like macular degeneration, which affects the center of the retina. "One of the reasons we asked Paul Barnett on the panel is that he's disabled and the game he made, Warhammer Online, is a very accessible game," Barlet said. "He's colorblind and he's hard of hearing, so he made sure that when you look at your maps, they are not red and green. They are like this ugly green and this ugly other color."

Tossing out some "Star Wars" candy. Thirty-three years after "Star Wars" arrived in theaters, George Lucas' influence still reaches far beyond the movie screen. On Saturday, September 4, PAX 2010 attendees lined up around Seattle's massive Benaroya Hall to get an advance look at some changes in the Star Wars gaming universe.

LucasArts' "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II," due in stores on October 26, continues the saga of Starkiller, Darth Vader's skilled apprentice. This time, however, Starkiller's former master betrays him, and, in the opening sequence, the angry Sith warrior makes a bloody escape from Vader's minions.

"Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II," lets Starkiller wield two lightsabers at the same time, and the animation lets him wield his weapons with surgeon-like precision. He also has the ability to go one-on-one with Imperial attack fighters, which creates some wild, even humorous effects when a damaged fighter goes out of control.

Bioware also was on hand at Benaroya Hall to show some more details about "Star Wars: The Old Republic." This MMO game contains a lot of back history, including why the Sith Lords broke away from the rest of the Jedi. Players also get more choices on their characters and abilities.

Creative videogame marketing. In preparation for the release of "Assassin's Creed Brotherhood," Ubisoft had a group of young people protesting outside the Washington State Convention Center. Their signs mentioned "stopping a friend from cutting," which brought to mind a certain psychological disorder. As it turned out, their literature actually was a series of post cards intended for gamers to send to their friends after "knifing them in the back" during a game.

The future is here. Twenty-five years ago, "Back to the Future" rocked the box office. In honor of its achievements, Telltale Games is releasing a new "Back to the Future" game, with Christopher Lloyd reprising his role of Dr. Emmett Brown. Telltale games also set up a display featuring a time-traveling DeLorean, which had a flux capacitor but lacked a Mr. Fusion power source.

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