(Editor's Preface: This was written two days ago and should be going up tomorrow so if you see any time anomalies on anything I may have written here, blame the TARDIS. -- Nex) 

In 1842, the city of Seattle was founded as an outpost for fur trappers, and anglo-saxon missionaries intent on converting the heathen natives from their lives of naked, sexy sin to the much less naked, much less sexy life of Christianity.

Fast forward a century and a half and Seattle is home to the annual Penny Arcade Expo -- a convention  that combines the technological fetishism of a Neal Stephenson wet dream with the sort of psuedo-socialist, hippie-commune sensibilities of a 1973 Grateful Dead tour. People have come from around the world to spend a weekend basking in the collective euphoria of being amongst their own, and the smell certainly attests to that fact.

I'm actually writing this from a train car speeding towards Seattle last Thursday, as I intend to be too drunk to read for most of the time I'm there, but I thought you guys would like to know just what I intend to see at the event. Here's a short list:

Rock Band: The appointment we have with them is my first chance to play Rock Band and I fully intend to melt all of your faces. With any luck we'll have some video up for you guys, and I want to warn you now to keep your elderly relatives and small children away from the screen, lest I actually ROCK THEM TO DEATH. (Editor's Note: Um ... it didn't quite go down like that ... you'll see ... -- Nex)

Aaron Linde: As much as I'm generally a hermit, venturing out of my solitary existence only to smooch pretty girls and fight dragons, Aaron is my definition of everything that is good and right in people who adore gaming. He's knowledgeable, intelligent, and can bench press a Buick.

*cue heartwarming piano music* ALL OF YOU! Seriously, any of you who aren't here are severely missing out, and you should make your arrangements now to be here next year. I'd send you a postcard with a picture of a sad puppy on it, but honestly, all the puppies here are WAY too happy.

Here's what the editors have been playing this week. Expect lots of BioShock with a 20% chance of precipitation.

Colette Bennett:
Boring, but true - just lots and lots of BioShock. It's so much better than I ever could have imagined. I also just started the reissued FF1 for PSP, which will come in handy on my flight to PAX tomorrow.

Dick McVengeance:
It's moving time for me, so I've only gotten in a bit of Lament of Innocence. I can't wait to get my hands on Metroid Prime 3 damn soon, though.

Leigh Alexander:
Um, duh? BioShock?

And Persona 3 and Pokemon. Both are such massive time eaters I can't seem to finish either. Especially because, y'know, BioShock.

Nex:
I put a lot of EXTRA time into playing World of Warcraft this week. Even with my main at the maximum level, I've still got so much stuff to do. On the upside, I just got my epic flying mount and am finally decked out in full purples again, so I'm no longer lagging behind my guildies.

Also, I played a lot of Heroes of Might and Magic V. When I bought it and its expansion a while back, I only barely played it, and even then it was all custom games, so I'm finally playing through the campaigns.  I'm about 70% of the way through the first (of 9), and with the amount of time I've already put into it, and how zen the entire thing is, I think I can enjoy the title for another 100 hours or so, even without any multiplayer or custom gameplay.

BlindsideDork:
BioShock ...but I was hoping to sink my bullets into Operation: Vietnam on the plane ride to Seattle but no store carries it. So I am taking Rebelstar and some other DS titles I haven't beaten like Custom Robo Arena.

Orcist:
On the way to and from Seattle, I'll be wrapping up Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Final Fantasy III for the DS. Unfortunately, that'll be about it until I get settled in at school since moving will take a considerable chunk of time out of my post-PAX week. After that, I'll try to finish Shadow of the Colossus all quick like, and maybe dive back into Legend of Dragoon.

Topher Cantler:
I still can't get enough of Taiko no Tatsujin DS, and I played a little Sam and Max Hit the Road this week, too. Looking for some good DS games to get me through my horribly long flight to PAX, the most exciting of which is sure to be Can a DS battery make it from Baltimore to Seattle??; which was known as Let's sit still for 8 straight hours! in Japan.

Jim Sterling:
"Oh la de da, we're all going to PAX, we're all big old bum chums who will bum each other up the bum with our bums, tra la la." You all, for the record, make me want to wretch. In other news, I've mostly been playing Oblivion with a mind to finally getting as damn near completion as I care to. I'm making good headway, too, so it won't be too long now. By the time this goes up, I will hope to have had BioShock delivered as well.

Dale North:
BioShock ... until my Xbox 360 died. It seems like we're hearing more about Xbox deaths since the game came out, but it may be my imagination. Puzzle Quest PSP and Daigasso DS for the plane ride!

Chad Concelmo:
I took Niero's wise advice from a few weeks back and purchased Kororinpa: Marble Mania for the Nintendo Wii. To put it mildly, I am enjoying it ever so much (seriously, the game rocks!). Oh, there is also a little somethin'-somethin' I like to call BioShock. Quick, how many times was the word BioShock mentioned in this post? Answer: 74.

Faith:
I've been playing Heroes of Mana on the Nintendo DS, Eternal Sonata Demo on Xbox Live, the BioShock Demo on Xbox Live and that's about it. I've been too busy this week to play a lot of games. I did get to ride the Tomb Raider roller coaster and that was freaky.  More on that later.

Rev Anthony:
Starts with a B, ends with an -ioShock.

Savant:
I am currently playing the sequel to BioShock that's set in Mississippi -- BayouShock! In the game, you fight these big, hulking "cajun daddies" with hot sauce guns. Yeah, it's pretty intense.

In all seriousness, I am playing BioShock until my good eye bleeds.

Gameboi:
I've been playing some game called Bio.. something.  Pardon my poor memory, but my mind is blown. Maybe once I reach the end of the game, everything will come back to me.

.tiff:
My personal phalanges have only had time enough recently to pawn over Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin on my commute to work. On the side, I've been giving over-the-shoulder advice to my brother as he's re-playing LucasArt's adventure game The Dig, but he pretty much knows what he's doing.  No time for BioShocks though.  Layme.


That's the end of it! What have you kids been playing this wee? BioShock perhaps?