PAX East 2011
Last month I went to the 2nd annual PAX East held in Boston. This has the special distinction of being the first non-furry convention I've ever been to. It was definitely a blast and well worth going to. If you're into gaming of any type, I would certainly recommend this as something to go to if you can.
First off, the expo floor was quite huge with tons of game demos and such.
Hello PAX!
Whoah
There were game demos such as:
Duke Nukem Forever - I didn't even know it was coming out so soon!
The new Mortal Kombat using 3D glasses
Children of Eden - definitely a Kinect game I am curious about
Portal 2 - There were long lines for this one
But the thing that excited me most getting to try out the 3DS for the first time, about 2 weeks before it was about to come out. They had stations for Kid Icarus, Nintendogs, Zelda OOT, Steel Diver, Pilotwings, Dead or Alive, Street Fighter 4 and the AR games. It was my first time checking out the 3D effect and having just seen a 3D home TV with glasses a week before, the effect seemed very much the same to me just smaller.
The control in Kid Icarus made the system hard to hold. Aim with the stylus, move with the analog pad and shoot with the L button. It was definitely kinda unwieldy. I hope it gets fixed up before the game comes out because it looks so pretty and awesome otherwise.
Zelda was another interesting demo. Was cool seeing a game I've already played in 3D. It really lets me see the difference it makes. Using the slingshot by moving the system around was kinda neat.
The always packed 3DS demo area:
A tradition they have at PAX is a series of events called the Omegathon. They randomly select a group of attendees from a ton of people who sign up. The thing is, you don't know which games you're playing until AFTER you sign up and get chosen. You are then split up into teams to play a series of random games throughout the weekend. To give you an idea, this year it was:
Round 1 - Katamari Damacy
Round 2 - Bananagrams
Round 3 - Jenga
Round 4 - Operation
Rounds 1 thru 4 are revealed right before the convention. Round 5 is revealed at PAX right before they had to play and it turned out to be a score attack on Ikaruga for Dreamcast O.O
I got some footage of Jenga played from outside the main ballroom where it happened. Worth watching for the way it ends =)
The convention also had a bunch of video game rooms. Some for LAN, another for console play and they even had an old school arcade. The room had music playing, a bunch of arcade cabinets as well as descriptions of the game next to each one. Bad ass :3
This con also had a number of panels, one of which was a live taping of X-Play that I watched and actually found entertaining, even though I haven't watched X-Play in years. There was a very large board game area where you can try out a lot of games. Some free play areas for Rock Band and Dance Central that were on stages so people can watch you play. And who can forget the cosplay:
What I also noticed was that just about everyone with a DS (and that was a lot of people) where playing Pokemon. It had just come out like a week before and it was everywhere at PAX. With the social aspect of the game being what it is, PAX is actually the perfect place for that type of game. Glad I had my copy with me!
One thing I have to say is that the Boston Convention Center is HUGE. They were close to 70,000 people who went to PAX this year and it never felt too crowded. Though sometimes, the show floor was busy. Overall, I'd say this was a fantastic convention and I am definitely booking early for the one next year.
Oh yeah! I caught a rainbow outside the convention center while there!^^
First off, the expo floor was quite huge with tons of game demos and such.
Hello PAX!
Whoah
There were game demos such as:
Duke Nukem Forever - I didn't even know it was coming out so soon!
The new Mortal Kombat using 3D glasses
Children of Eden - definitely a Kinect game I am curious about
Portal 2 - There were long lines for this one
But the thing that excited me most getting to try out the 3DS for the first time, about 2 weeks before it was about to come out. They had stations for Kid Icarus, Nintendogs, Zelda OOT, Steel Diver, Pilotwings, Dead or Alive, Street Fighter 4 and the AR games. It was my first time checking out the 3D effect and having just seen a 3D home TV with glasses a week before, the effect seemed very much the same to me just smaller.
The control in Kid Icarus made the system hard to hold. Aim with the stylus, move with the analog pad and shoot with the L button. It was definitely kinda unwieldy. I hope it gets fixed up before the game comes out because it looks so pretty and awesome otherwise.
Zelda was another interesting demo. Was cool seeing a game I've already played in 3D. It really lets me see the difference it makes. Using the slingshot by moving the system around was kinda neat.
The always packed 3DS demo area:
A tradition they have at PAX is a series of events called the Omegathon. They randomly select a group of attendees from a ton of people who sign up. The thing is, you don't know which games you're playing until AFTER you sign up and get chosen. You are then split up into teams to play a series of random games throughout the weekend. To give you an idea, this year it was:
Round 1 - Katamari Damacy
Round 2 - Bananagrams
Round 3 - Jenga
Round 4 - Operation
Rounds 1 thru 4 are revealed right before the convention. Round 5 is revealed at PAX right before they had to play and it turned out to be a score attack on Ikaruga for Dreamcast O.O
I got some footage of Jenga played from outside the main ballroom where it happened. Worth watching for the way it ends =)
The convention also had a bunch of video game rooms. Some for LAN, another for console play and they even had an old school arcade. The room had music playing, a bunch of arcade cabinets as well as descriptions of the game next to each one. Bad ass :3
This con also had a number of panels, one of which was a live taping of X-Play that I watched and actually found entertaining, even though I haven't watched X-Play in years. There was a very large board game area where you can try out a lot of games. Some free play areas for Rock Band and Dance Central that were on stages so people can watch you play. And who can forget the cosplay:
What I also noticed was that just about everyone with a DS (and that was a lot of people) where playing Pokemon. It had just come out like a week before and it was everywhere at PAX. With the social aspect of the game being what it is, PAX is actually the perfect place for that type of game. Glad I had my copy with me!
One thing I have to say is that the Boston Convention Center is HUGE. They were close to 70,000 people who went to PAX this year and it never felt too crowded. Though sometimes, the show floor was busy. Overall, I'd say this was a fantastic convention and I am definitely booking early for the one next year.
Oh yeah! I caught a rainbow outside the convention center while there!^^