So if you missed out on PAX this year you missed out on a grand time. I was able to catch the keynote with Wil Wheaton (hilarious by the way), the “Pitch your game idea in 45 seconds” panel, watch a few bands, and of course explore the exhibition floor.

Unfortunately the lines were long for pretty much every game and I wasn’t willing to stand in them to get a chance to play some of the cool stuff that was there, but some of the things that jumped out at me that I did want to try include: Rock Band, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, Precipice of Darkness, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (which has since been released and I’ll be picking up in a couple of weeks). Luckily for me we had Marble Blast Ultra (networked between four machines), Torque X 3d, and Blockland at our booth and we were able to get some good gaming time in with the fans.

Here are some pictures from the lovely event.

I also got to meet some people from the GGE community which was pretty flippin’ sweet. These people were Mr. Daigle and Badazz. I’m sure there were more GGE members there, but you didn’t mention your names to me. Perhaps next year.

And by the way, if you’ve ever considered going to PAX and then passing because, well maybe you thought this won’t be fun, or something ridiculous like that. Please take a moment, reconsider, and buy a ticket. It’s really not that expensive and well worth it. HILARIOUS!!

That’s a wrap.
-Dr Wiley

The people over at HermitWorks Entertainment have announced a playable preview of Space Trader. Because I’m tired and its getting later in the day I’ll just post some snippets from the Press Release below:

“HermitWorks Entertainment Announces playable preview of Space Trader™

Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada (August 8, 2007) - HermitWorks Entertainment, an independent game developer, has announced today the playable preview of their action-trading game Space Trader is now available to the public. Space Trader’s innovative game design lets players experience fast paced trading with intense combat.

About Space Trader
Players assume the role of Space Trader in an alternate future universe. Their goal is to make as much money possible within a time limit. Players make money by leasing cargo ships, traveling to planets and trading with merchants. Merchants trade anything from iron ore to organs, finding successful trade routes between these merchants is the skill of the Space Trader. On the planets surface shady informants reveal the location of black markets while legitimate merchants are extorted by underground gangs. Players can turn a blind eye to these transgressions or hunt down the gangs for rewards and return stability to the markets.

Pricing And Availability
The playable preview of Space Trader for Windows is available at http://www.playspacetrader.com .

The full version of Space Trader is available for Windows and can be purchased at http://www.playspacetrader.com for $19.95 (USD).”

Now that you all know, you should play the demo. Strange, I don’t have anything else witty or funny (at least in my mind) to add to this post. Guess it’ll just be informative.

The GarageGames official blog launches today cleverly dubbed GarageBlog. There you’ll find coverage on cool new games, GarageGames news, interesting information, GGE coverage, analysis by some of the super geniuses of the game world and much, much more.

Check it out, keep checking it out, and let us know what you think. It’s pretty spiffy and you’ll get the heads up on what’s going on in the world of GarageGames and beyond.