While I was at PAX 08, I saw a demo of South Peak’s Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Danger. I was surprised that this game was not getting the attention that it should be getting.

Raven Squad is a hybrid of first-person shooter and strategy genres resulting in a rare and distinct mix…

I realize that we have covered Fallout 3’s presence at PAX before, but I got a chance to experience it firsthand. Bethesda Software had one of the biggest gamer magnets at the Penny Arcade Expo this year.

It was tough getting through the crowd (which is where a media badge comes in handy). When I saw Fallout 3 being demoed…

EA had quite a presence at PAX 08 including entire booth devoted to Dead Space, a science fiction RPG being released around Halloween 2008. I got a chance to play a demo of the game while Chuck Beaver, one of the game’s designers, was standing by my side as a guide.

The booth where I was playing the game was completely dark, which is definitely how you want to play a game that reminds you of the tagline to…

As you can see from this photo I took from PAX, someone has given Left 4 Dead, a new game from Valve, the finger. Or, more accurately, the thumb.

Left 4 Dead takes place during that time that we all know is coming, when zombies walk the Earth. What makes the game different from other zombie invasion games is that this isn’t a first-person shooter game where you go through the same environments every time you play, with the inevitable goal to “beat” the game…

Some of you might recognize the above comic as Penny Arcade, whose creators also ran the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) last weekend in Seattle, WA (USA). While the above comic represents industry-focused expo E3, it does not at all summarize the fan-focused experience that is PAX.

One of the things I liked about PAX is that it really is a chance for a bunch of gamers, whether they play video games, card games, tabletop games or traditional RPGs, they all get together under one very large roof. As keynote speaker, Ken Levine said, “We are all just a great big bunch of nerds”.

This fan focus affected the booths, as they were definitely designed to…

I have to admire the way Gamecock set up its booth at PAX 08. It was enclosed with transparent plastic and in very low light, like arcades of the ’80s. To complete the illusion of a video arcade, players would even stand up as they played the game in arcade-style casings.

Click through for a complete list of the games available to play…

I had a great time at the South Peak booth, and I can honestly say that it has nothing to do with the lady in this picture. No, she represents one of several games that South Peak has available soon including X Blades, Ninja Town, Big Bang Mini, TOW and Raven Squad.

Click through to find out more about each game…

You’ve got to hand it to EA for creating a presence at PAX. They had not just one but three booths on the floor, plus several others related to them. Here are the games they had on display, some more prominently than others…

The entrance to PAX 08 had an impressive display of Jumpgate Evolution, a new MMO space combat game made by Codemasters Online and NetDevil. The moment I saw it, I couldn’t help but to compare it to Eve Online. It was hard not to, as it is an MMO game with spaceships.

Of course, no one can copyright the MMO space game and Jumpgate Evolution has one great aspect that sets it apart from Eve: Jumpgate Evolution skips through much of the boring set-up involved in most MMO games and puts you right into the action.

When I sat down and began playing, I was on a mission to…

Flying Labs, the developers of the MMO pirate game Pirates of the Burning Sea, had essentially the same demo of PotBS that they had at last year’s PAX (2007). If you haven’t played this game yet, then you really should.

Like any MMO game, you can custom build a character but the combat is a little trickier than most MMOs as you must use the number keys to attack with your sword.

The big selling point of PotBS is the ship-to-ship fighting with cannons…