Long Post PAX Post Pt.1
PAX East was absolutely incredible. Sure, there were glitches throughout (mostly scheduling issues), but for the most part the con rocked my world. Gonna recap below, but it probably won't be brief. ;)
Actually, after writing for a while, I've decided to break this up. Part one here includes thoughts on travel to and from, the hotel, registration and panels. I'll update later or tomorrow about the expo hall and the games, people and swag there in, cos-players, and other odds and ends. Heck, I might split those into two further posts. We'll see.
I've decided to try to break this up be category as opposed to days. It might be easier for me to compartmentalize. Also, if you're uninterested in something (for example, the panels), you can avoid reading that section.
Travel
We decided to take the bus from Madison Square Garden to Boston's South Station. The trip took about 4 and a half hours and cost a whopping $28.50 for round trip tickets for my brother and I. Not only was the bus super cheap, but it also had a WiFi connection. o_O The WiFi didn't work on the way home, but this guy John from Pennsylvania who had also attended the con sat with my brother, Kai and I and we chatted for the entire 4 hour ride home. It was pretty awesome! The only crappy part (other than the con being over) was we came home during this massive rainfall that we're still experiencing so some of my con swag got a little damp. :/
Hotel
The place was interesting, to say the least. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Brookline on Beacon Street. It was incredibly convenient to get from there to the Hynes Convention Center. A simple 6 stop ride on the Green Line C Train. There was a pool and a whirlpool though I didn't have the time to try either. None of this sounds interesting, so I'll tell you what was. I don't know if it was the case or not but I think the pool area was outdoors at some point and they later decided to add a roof. From the outside, the hotel looked more like a terrarium than anything.
Of course, seeing as it was a con hotel, most of the people staying there were attending PAX. This worked in my favor as, while I was waiting to hit up the vending machine so I could get some tylenol to combat an incredible headache, one of the other attendees overheard my need and offered to get me some meds. Yay for not sinking $5 on two pills. :) I also met a couple of other folks there and we exchanged gamertags and all.
Not only did the hotel house us though, it also played host to a sorority party, a family reunion AND a bar mitzvah. There certainly was plenty to see!
Registration
This was the easiest part of the whole thing. As long as you already had your badge, the con enforcers shuffled you into the queue room where you picked up a bag largely stuffed with ads and a lanyard. Clip your badge to your lanyard and registration was done. After that, they tell you to go wait on this GIANT LINE. Seeing as the con didn't start till 2 and we were there at 11, I asked the enforcers what the line was for (entry to the expo hall on one side, Will Wheaton on the other) and decided, along with my brother and Kai to just go grab lunch instead.
Panels
There was a really nice variety of panels presented. There were two problems however, though neither had to do with the panels themselves. First, the panel rooms were way too small. They did a good job of scheduling half hour gaps between panels, but because the rooms were so tiny, if you weren't on line an hour before the panel, you wouldn't get in. The fire marshals also decided at the beginning of the second day to not allow any more standing room spots, so that cut even further into the tiny size. The second problem was that the schedule got changed around quite a bit. Of the 5 panels I went to, 3 of them suffered from a time change that wasn't reflected in the con program.
Ok, A brief word on Panels, from my favorite to least, though that's not really fair since they were all cool
Misadventures of PB Winterbottom
-The panel was about going from student game to XBLA title. The powerpoint presentation was excellent, they showed tons of footage of the game at various stages in development AND there was a pie-eating contest. They had extra pies at the end, so they gave them away. My brother got a lemon meringue pie. Most unexpected piece of conference swag ever.
Dead Space Universe
-This was probably the most core panel we went to. Many panels were about indie titles or game topics but there were three (this, Prince of Persia, and Uncharted) that were panels where big reveals might occur. The presentation was pretty entertaining (the bit about the lighting differences in horror and sci-fi movies was really intriguing), but the best parts were easily the guy dressed in Isaac Clarke's new outfit and the 30 seconds of Dead Space 2 footage they showed. It was definitely memorable to be part of that "You're the first to see it" crowd!
American Classic Arcade Museum (ACAM)
-ACAM is the world's largest arcade and it operates out of New Hampshire. This panel brought together 6 of the minds from General Computer Corp (the guys behind Ms. Pac Man) and basically just let them talk it out. From a purely informational standpoint, this was my favorite panel of the con. People can wear all the T-shirts they want about knowing their roots and representing, but these guys were THERE. I know more about my roots and represent far better for having been in their presence for an hour.
1UP Podcast- Retronauts
-A panel of 4 people, lead by 1Up's Jeremy Parrish, discussed how they went about developing their personal game collections. Interesting stuff, but not terribly applicable to me. I mean, I own a lot of games (my personal collection is probably in the 150-200 range), but these guys had numbers in the thousands and were talking about collecting really esoteric things. Once again, it was entertaining, but I didn't get much from it.
Behind the Marketing Machine
-This panel is only placed down here because the formal made it inconsistent. Unlike all the other panels where it was a presentation followed by Q&A, this was straight up Q&A. When people asked general questions (How do you feel about the concept of paying a site to give you higher marks?) it was interesting, but when they asked core advertising questions (let's talk about data-mining), I was totally lost. It didn't help that this panel was on the last day. I was definitely experiencing a little con burn out!
There's much more to write about, but I am at work and I should actually attempt something work related. Hopefully I'll get to the rest later!
Actually, after writing for a while, I've decided to break this up. Part one here includes thoughts on travel to and from, the hotel, registration and panels. I'll update later or tomorrow about the expo hall and the games, people and swag there in, cos-players, and other odds and ends. Heck, I might split those into two further posts. We'll see.
I've decided to try to break this up be category as opposed to days. It might be easier for me to compartmentalize. Also, if you're uninterested in something (for example, the panels), you can avoid reading that section.
Travel
We decided to take the bus from Madison Square Garden to Boston's South Station. The trip took about 4 and a half hours and cost a whopping $28.50 for round trip tickets for my brother and I. Not only was the bus super cheap, but it also had a WiFi connection. o_O The WiFi didn't work on the way home, but this guy John from Pennsylvania who had also attended the con sat with my brother, Kai and I and we chatted for the entire 4 hour ride home. It was pretty awesome! The only crappy part (other than the con being over) was we came home during this massive rainfall that we're still experiencing so some of my con swag got a little damp. :/
Hotel
The place was interesting, to say the least. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Brookline on Beacon Street. It was incredibly convenient to get from there to the Hynes Convention Center. A simple 6 stop ride on the Green Line C Train. There was a pool and a whirlpool though I didn't have the time to try either. None of this sounds interesting, so I'll tell you what was. I don't know if it was the case or not but I think the pool area was outdoors at some point and they later decided to add a roof. From the outside, the hotel looked more like a terrarium than anything.
Of course, seeing as it was a con hotel, most of the people staying there were attending PAX. This worked in my favor as, while I was waiting to hit up the vending machine so I could get some tylenol to combat an incredible headache, one of the other attendees overheard my need and offered to get me some meds. Yay for not sinking $5 on two pills. :) I also met a couple of other folks there and we exchanged gamertags and all.
Not only did the hotel house us though, it also played host to a sorority party, a family reunion AND a bar mitzvah. There certainly was plenty to see!
Registration
This was the easiest part of the whole thing. As long as you already had your badge, the con enforcers shuffled you into the queue room where you picked up a bag largely stuffed with ads and a lanyard. Clip your badge to your lanyard and registration was done. After that, they tell you to go wait on this GIANT LINE. Seeing as the con didn't start till 2 and we were there at 11, I asked the enforcers what the line was for (entry to the expo hall on one side, Will Wheaton on the other) and decided, along with my brother and Kai to just go grab lunch instead.
Panels
There was a really nice variety of panels presented. There were two problems however, though neither had to do with the panels themselves. First, the panel rooms were way too small. They did a good job of scheduling half hour gaps between panels, but because the rooms were so tiny, if you weren't on line an hour before the panel, you wouldn't get in. The fire marshals also decided at the beginning of the second day to not allow any more standing room spots, so that cut even further into the tiny size. The second problem was that the schedule got changed around quite a bit. Of the 5 panels I went to, 3 of them suffered from a time change that wasn't reflected in the con program.
Ok, A brief word on Panels, from my favorite to least, though that's not really fair since they were all cool
Misadventures of PB Winterbottom
-The panel was about going from student game to XBLA title. The powerpoint presentation was excellent, they showed tons of footage of the game at various stages in development AND there was a pie-eating contest. They had extra pies at the end, so they gave them away. My brother got a lemon meringue pie. Most unexpected piece of conference swag ever.
Dead Space Universe
-This was probably the most core panel we went to. Many panels were about indie titles or game topics but there were three (this, Prince of Persia, and Uncharted) that were panels where big reveals might occur. The presentation was pretty entertaining (the bit about the lighting differences in horror and sci-fi movies was really intriguing), but the best parts were easily the guy dressed in Isaac Clarke's new outfit and the 30 seconds of Dead Space 2 footage they showed. It was definitely memorable to be part of that "You're the first to see it" crowd!
American Classic Arcade Museum (ACAM)
-ACAM is the world's largest arcade and it operates out of New Hampshire. This panel brought together 6 of the minds from General Computer Corp (the guys behind Ms. Pac Man) and basically just let them talk it out. From a purely informational standpoint, this was my favorite panel of the con. People can wear all the T-shirts they want about knowing their roots and representing, but these guys were THERE. I know more about my roots and represent far better for having been in their presence for an hour.
1UP Podcast- Retronauts
-A panel of 4 people, lead by 1Up's Jeremy Parrish, discussed how they went about developing their personal game collections. Interesting stuff, but not terribly applicable to me. I mean, I own a lot of games (my personal collection is probably in the 150-200 range), but these guys had numbers in the thousands and were talking about collecting really esoteric things. Once again, it was entertaining, but I didn't get much from it.
Behind the Marketing Machine
-This panel is only placed down here because the formal made it inconsistent. Unlike all the other panels where it was a presentation followed by Q&A, this was straight up Q&A. When people asked general questions (How do you feel about the concept of paying a site to give you higher marks?) it was interesting, but when they asked core advertising questions (let's talk about data-mining), I was totally lost. It didn't help that this panel was on the last day. I was definitely experiencing a little con burn out!
There's much more to write about, but I am at work and I should actually attempt something work related. Hopefully I'll get to the rest later!