The Games at the Penny Arcade Expo

The first game we tried was the simple Sushi Bumper Sumo Fun Game Champion!, whose mechanics can be picked up in less time than it takes to recite the title. You control a dinner plate and the goal of the game is to hold onto a piece of sushi for as long as possible, while the other plates attempt to knock it out of your control. It's a little weird, and a lot fun, even for a work in progress. The game even has local roots, coming from Vancouver's Tinderbox Entertainment, who was also showing off Cutthroats, a tabletop card strategy game. Also hailing from Vancouver is Nexon's Sugar Rush, a multiplayer arena brawler akin to Super Smash Bros.

One of the games we enjoyed most for the day was Facebreaker, a boxing game due out in a week from EA. It was cartoony enough to remind us of Mike Tyson's Punchout from the NES era, but obviously with current graphics. As it turned out, we played against the art director for the game, who told us about the design goals of the team, and how the gameplay developed. Lucky for us he was focused on the art during development, since we were able to win our best two out of three tournament with him, a testament to how easy it is to pick up. It's pretty brutal, but one you'll want to check out when it's released.

Other upcoming games of note being shown off were Spore and Starcraft II. Spore feels like it's been in development since the dawn of time, and it looks like the time paid off. On one screen we saw someone creating a creature, while on another, someone was traveling the universe for new planets to dominate. We're looking forward to the upcoming plummet in productivity that the game represents. Likewise for Starcraft II. We played the original in college, and the new version looks like more of the same (in a good way).

There are plenty more titles to be enjoyed, but rather than go into each, we'll reiterate our call for you to attend. There's so much there's bound to be something you'll like. Hell, you can even get yourself a haircut (a promotion for Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway has you getting a haircut for a free copy of the game). More to come.