Warren Spector is one of my personal heroes in the game industry, and when I heard we were given an opportunity to sit in a roundtable session with him to talk about Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, I jumped at the chance. We were treated to an hour-long discussion and hands-off demo of Epic Mickey 2 and learned just how much of a Disney nut Mr. Spector is.

We went eyes on with Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault during PAX 2012 while members of Insomniac demoed some of the PS3 exclusive's features for us.  The game is the next in the Ratchet and Clank series but instead of doing a straight sequel, the team has decided to mix things up quite a bit by adding tower defense sections to the game as well as a full out versus multiplayer mode.

We're still churning through the video footage from PAX 2012, the latest coverage we've unearthed is from the recently announced free to play Action / RPG from Gazillion Entertainment and former Diablo developer David Brevik.  Marvel Heroes brings players into Marvel's Universe and allows them to take control and customize an impressive cast of characters from Wolverine, The Hulk, all the way to the more obscure like Emma Frost or Squirrel Girl.  

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, the updated version of the classic RPG, has been delayed until November.  The game was originally slated to be released this coming week, but an official post on the forums cites a team decision to hold off the game's ship date so the team can polish the game a bit more.

While we were partying it up at PAX we managed to get some hands-on time with Medal of Honor Warfighter. We've been trying to nail down any possible co-op details since it was first announced back in February. The good news is that the game will include a compelling single player campaign which explores some of the hardships professional Tier 1 operators (very, very dangerous people) face on and off the battlefield. There will also be several multiplayer modes, one of which uses two man fireteams. 

The Indie videogame scene absolutely exploded at PAX Prime 2012.  From the huge Indie Game Mega Booth that occupied a quarter of the hall to various devs going "door to door" showing off their latest game, PAX was a hot spot for indie developers.  One such game we saw was called Colour Bind.  No, that's not a typo.  The game is a gravity and physics puzzle game where players have to get from point A to point B by manipulating switches, jumping over obstacles, and maneuvering objects all while managing up to three directions of gravity.

We had a chance to talk with Chris McQuinn from Drinkbox Studios at Penny Arcade Expo. They were showing off Guacamelee! which is based on something we all love, luchadores. Chris described the game as a "Metroidvania brawler" which features two player co-op, rooted in Mexican culture. 

One of my favorite reasons for going to trade shows is getting to meet folks I email or chat with on a regular basis via the internet.  One such person is Tim Keenan of Misfits Attic, the creators of the recent co-op puzzler A Virus Named Tom.  I've been corresponding with Tim for the better part of the last two years now, so getting to meet him in person at PAX 2012 was definitely high on the list of things to do.

September 20th, 2012.  Torchlight 2 finally has a release date thanks to a big announcement by developer Runic Games at PAX.  They definitely didn't want you to forget it as it was plastered all over their booth on the show floor.  With the game's release imminent, we sat down and played through a near final build of Act 2 in the game.  

Left 4 Dead popularized the co-op action zombie game genre for sure, but the series certainly isn't the only game in town.  Killing Floor started as a Half-Life mod and moved into full blown territory shortly after and Contagion looks to do the same having come from the creator of the Half-Life 2 mod called Zombie Panic: Source.   We went hands on with the game at PAX Prime 2012 and came away impressed with some truly unique gameplay elements.

There's only one Company of Heroes game (technically an expansion) that had co-op, and that's Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor.  But given the opportunity to see Company of Heroes 2 at PAX I had to jump at the chance.  I'm a huge fan of the series which has been developed by Relic, creators of Homeworld, Dawn of War 2, and many other amazing real time strategy games.

The PAX content just keeps rolling in, the latest is our surprise interview with Justin Korthof of Robot Entertainment.  Mike and Nick found him roaming the show floor and decided to hit him up to chat about Orcs Must Die! 2.  We gave the game a solid 5 out of 5, but the rest of the internet may not have been so kind, so we got the details on what he thought as well as the new Fire and Water DLC.

For me, The Cave was one of the standout games I saw at E3, in no small part due to the fact it's an adventure game by Ron Gilbert and Double Fine. Sure, there's some pesky platforming involved, but don't be fooled: this is an adventure game in the old style, complete with logical-yet-nonsensical puzzles and the trademark Double Fine humor. We weren't able to put hands on the game at E3, but when we heard a more recent build would be playable at PAX, I told Nick we needed to make an appointment post-haste.

It sure seems like we've been talking about Monaco around these parts for a long time, and we have! The first time we put hands-on with the game was shortly after PAX '10, which might as well be an eternity ago. The good news is that Monaco is almost done, and creator Andy Schatz couldn't be happier.

Right before PAX Prime kicked off, Monolith invited Co-Optimus to their studio in Kirkland, WA to check out the latest build of Guardians of Middle-Earth.  The game was a surprise to us at E3, bringing the MOBA genre to the console while combining it with the LOTR license.  So Mike and Nick braved the Washington traffic and headed into the studio eager to see how the game has progressed...and hoping to get a glimpse of a SHOGO sequel.  One out of two ain’t bad.