RTX 2013: The Rooster Teeth Bite Back

"The game, the new gaaaame!" Ubisoft presents a hands-on preview of "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag" at RTX 2013 this Independence Day weekend (Image courtesy of Ubisoft)

It's the Fourth of July, which is about spending time with your family, right? So that means the Fifth of July is about getting as far away from them as possible, and playing as many games with total strangers as you can. Yes, it's time for Rooster Teeth Expo 2013.

Starting Friday and running through Sunday, the annual celebration of gaming by machinima innovators Rooster Teeth returns for a third year, This being Rooster Teeth's deal, no surprise that most of the cast of their Halo homage web series Red vs. Blue and New Zealand vacation A Simple Walk to Mordor will be there, as well as many of the firm's big-wigs, muckitymucks and hard workers.

But it's not just the teethy ones in attendance. The loaded schedule includes former xBox Live Director of Policy and Enforcement Stephen Toulouse (aka the head banhammer), local gaming icon/cosmonaut Richard Garriott and legendary gaming voice actress Jen Taylor (best known to the Halo crowd as Cortana. Yes, that Cortana. Master Chief's only real friend, and a: since she's an AI she's not real and b: she's only nice to him because she's programmed that way.)

And what about the games? This year, there will be a hands-on preview of the multiplayer mode of the eagerly awaited Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Digital Devolver will also be showing off two of their upcoming games: Their reboot of the 1997 first person cult classic Shadow Warrior, and the sequel to their sleazetastic topdown gangster grinder, Hotline Miami.

And then there's the normal panoply of companies, gamers, fan groups and vendors that'll be burning through your annual entertainment budget, including cosplay empire the 501st Legion, local developer GameSalad, boozy quizmeisters Geeks who Drink and more.

But lo and wait! That's not all. Better than bonus content, better than DLC, better than a hot coffee mod. This year the good geeks over at Spill.com are bringing the unhinged pleasure of Spill.con into the RTX chicken coop as a festival within a festival (like a chestburster inside a chestburster.) Expect the kind of glorious nerd love that only the Spillsters can provide, including the Spill film festival and a special appearance by the men least likely to get kicked out of the Alamo for talking, Master Pancake Theater.

And if you still have the energy, at 7am on Sunday head to the corner of Fourth and Trinity for a special secret event. Dress code, according to the site, is "your choice, but we suggest not wearing white. It might get wet and become see-through. We aren't making RTX Gone Wild."

RTX 2013 runs July 5-7 at the Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez. More info at www.rtxevent.com.