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Penny Arcade Expo East 2016, was held this past weekend (April 22-24) in Boston Ma. And this is just my impression of the event, asking the rhetorical question, “Is PAX for you?”
Selling out very quickly, PAX is a very sought after event for its celebration of games and gamers with various halls showcasing upcoming tabletop, console and computer games as well as holding conference panels, music concerts, free play areas as well as classic gaming rooms. The expo takes place over three days, which truthfully is needed if you want to attempt to see it all. This is much like Disneyworld for gamers. With long wait times to get a few minutes of demo/beta play of soon to be released games and content, you cannot experience the entire event in just one day. Specifically if you want to see panels that are being held throughout the day, which some require waiting in line hours for due to the popularity (I waited an hour and a half just to be dozens of rows back during the Acquisitions Inc. live Dungeons and Dragons play).
So is the wait worth it? Yes and no. The wait to sit in the full gaming rig made up for a Rally Racing game (Sebastian Loeb Rally Evo) was very much worth the wait since I will most likely never own a professional gaming chair (which was also on display from DXRacer), or the massive 16-foot T-Rex that the team at Ark: Survival
The Panels have been a large part of PAX’s four shows a year. But I felt (and have read on some forums and from other PAX goers) that this year didn’t have the most exciting of panels. With conferences hosted by “celebrity” Twitch/YouTubers, I wasn’t too thrilled with the majority of the panels. However there were other ones that drew my attention, such as “Adventures in Game Writing” which was a conversation with panelists who have worked on giant AAA titles or the wildly fun PAXAMANIA or Kaiju Big Battle. The downfall with this, is that some panels overlapped with
Compared to an event like a Comic Con, regardless of the location and size of Con, PAX was very much more about the attendees. Almost every game developer I talked to offered water to make sure everyone was well hydrated, and if you passed by the Bucking Couch (gamers sat on a large couch that was a red cushioned version of a mechanical bull while trying to beat the previous high score of gold rings collected in Sonic the Hedgehog, which was hysterical and a blast to watch) you could grab some free Totino’s pizza bites, among the food trucks outside and food court inside the building as well. At most Conventions I have gone too, about two-thirds of the
One rule I found partially funny, but very much appreciated, was that PAX did not allow “Booth Babes”. Male and female hired models or cosplayers to stand at booths to grab attention by their revealing outfits. PAX guests, at least the hours and areas I roamed, didn’t seem to have too many Cosplayers, which I am confused if I liked it or not.
Finally, the PAX Arena area was an audible and visual jaw dropping moment. The crowds of fans gathered to watch the ESL season finals of Gears of War and Rainbow Six as well as the invitational for Halo. Seeing Pro-Gamer battle it out on massive screens with full commentators and cheers and jeers from the crowd was very exciting. (Though I think I could take a few of the
So I bring it back to the beginning question, is PAX for me (you)? It is and it isn’t. I am very much thankful and glad I got to go play some World of Tanks and utterly destroy the other team (thus winning a free shirt), and meeting all the great indie developers and tabletop gamers (my true gaming passion). I was and still am very impressed with everyone’s business cards I managed to trade with. Nearly every one of their business cards looked like a card that belonged in a game and had that sticking memory that I will be sure to remember when I am going through my interviews and reviews. And just interacting with other gamers while there made it feel every bit the community PAX set out to achieve at its first expo. I would highly recommend any gamer go to a PAX show (East, South, Australia or Prime) at some point, any type of gamer such as; hardcore PC Gamer, the sociable console player, the average tablet or phone gamer and especially the tabletop/CCG fan. Will I go again? Just for the indie developers alone absolutely, but again you need to commit to the event just for the event itself regardless of who (games/developers/panels) will be there. And you need to understand you will be waiting in lines. You won’t be able to experience every booth and talk to every exhibitor unless you are there from show up to show down all three days.