You ever ask yourself, “What did I do last night?” This is exactly how I felt after my 1st Day of PAX East and the effect didn’t wear off till the middle of my 2nd day. With all lessons learned from day one experiences, I took a deep breath and ventured forth onto the grounds of PAX for a second run.
The Swag, The Lines, and The Panels
Now I know what some inexperienced expo goers are saying, “What could you possibly have missed the first day?” I say to you, there was plenty more to see and cover that I didn’t get a chance to my first go round.
From individual booths I either missed or didn’t know about, seeing some of the many Indie games I didn’t get a chance to play (Monster Invasion), and tons and tons of panels of all different shapes and sizes.
The biggest part of my day was the panels, as there were many great ones going on! Two of which were video game journalism/writing panels that held a special interest. One by members of the online gaming scene talking about the realities in the industry, and the other hosted by IGN discussing how it was possible “take their jobs”.
I did manage to catch booths early on, such as Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs showing of two new videos, one a message from head developer discussing the goals behind WD and how things such as mobile phones will be used to interact with the game world, as well as in-depth explanation of the footage released just a few weeks back.
Also catching some game time with Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, getting to watch gameplay of Remember Me, and some hands on time with a few indie titles, my day was pretty well capped with greatness.
Music and Gaming Intertwined
Since the expo floor closes at 6 PM every day, the booths have a time frame in which they can and cannot be accessed. The natural way to counter this is by having the panels like they do, but one of the more popular events that passes plenty of time, and has great entertainment is the Concerts.
Attending last night, I caught sight of MC Frontalot, the tail end of Sam Hart and one of the quirkiest men alive, Jonathan Coulton. I hadn’t been certain if I was attending this event, but was fortunate enough to meet up with another group of people who convinced me it was a good idea to go.
From Nerdcore hip hop to straight up Odd musical styling, the house was brought down around the throngs in attendance. Humor was the setting for the show, as all the acts on stage brought their own set of comedy chops to the table.
There may have been some moments where the acts were caught off guard or choked up a bit, but nothing major that fans couldn’t forgive.
Best moment of the concert was pretending to be a zombie during “RE: Your Brains” with Johnny C. It does rival with the episodic break down MC Frontalot had at the beginning of the set.
The Whole Experience
While I intended to stay all 3 Days, real life has gotten in the way and keeps me to a schedule I must meet back at home. I had a blast, both Boston and PAX East have opened my eyes to a part of myself I never knew I had buried.
I will do a more in depth summary of the expo’s events, once I get home and gather my thoughts from this weekend’s major events.
I want to thank Boston for having me, PAX East for inspiring me, and all the new friends I met within those expo center walls. Definitely looking forward to next year guys!
