PAX this year was bigger and better. They sold out of capacity for the Washington State Conference and Trade Center before the event even hit, and though Craigslist suggested I could make $100+ profit on each of our two weekend passes, I had to go. This gamer convention is special to me most of all because it’s become a tradition for me and my sister to go every year together. At the end of August our conversations always ends up looking like this:
And there’s reason: we’ve had some good times. In 2007, we got to experience a legendary keynote by Wil Wheaton and joined a band of pirates in a con-wide game of assassins.
In 2008, we dressed up like characters from the Penny Arcade video game (ala 1922). We also played a hilarious 4 hour game of Munchkin that year consisting of 13 random strangers (a world record, I’m sure). At the end of it all it was so late it was early and we all went out to breakfast together.
| 2009 was packed full of fun as well. This year we got to go with CoDa, our gaming crew, and took lots of goofy pictures on the expo hall floor, with special effects added in thanks to some of the more creative booths. Pictured is one that even went the extra mile and emailed me the photo. Other booths printed out photos for us, I’ve yet to scan them. My favourite, of course, was taking photos at the area for Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare’s new KOTOR MMO. We donned Jedi robes and posed before a blue screen; Star Wars backgrounds were added in. Imagine my joy at discovering not only this, but also they had taken an entire room and turned it into a Star Wars cantina. Epic! |
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Some of the swag giveaways were really very creative this year. For instance, 2K Games had a special booth setup for their game Mafia II that looked like an old-style saloon. On their Facebook Page right at the beginning of day two they posted, “PAX attendees: Tell the bartender, ‘Joe said you have a package for me.’ Be discreet – we have a very limited quantity.” Harmony and I raced to the far side of the expo hall as soon as the doors opened to get to 2K’s saloon, then pulled the “bartender” aside and told him the code. He was totally in character with his thick 1920s Chicago accent as he leaned close and muttered, “Joey sent you, eh? Here’s the package…” he glanced from side to side and tapped his nose, “Tell him I send my regards.” He handed us some rather nice fedora hats which turned out to be the envy of other PAX attendees. But what really made it was how he stayed in character. Major props to 2K for making an extra fun experience for us.
Panel highlights included one from “The Guild” (watch it if you haven’t) and of course, drawing a panel with Gabe and Tycho. I went to a panel on how the iPhone is changing the mobile gaming market, and I’m hoping to share my notes from that after I get a chance to play some of the games mentioned.
Unfortunately, the after effect of PAX is more than just a homesickness for the friendly gaming community. It was easily noticed via the powers of Twitter that many, many people from this year’s PAX became ill shortly thereafter. Then it turned out that this particularly bad case of “Con-SARS” was perhaps worse than originally feared: the dreaded swine flu was confirmed. Luckily, I feel okay, as does my sister. News on #PAXflu is still developing.
Update: Wired is reporting “H1Nerd1″ has spread to over 100 confirmed cases.
