PAX EAST DAY 1

This weekend was the big Penny Arcade Expo at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Ma. I was able to go with good friend and fellow D-pad D-Bag Egan. I’m going to give a short run down of my experience with some broad and general strokes.

Friday, I met up with Egan fairly early. We hung out, scoped out the scene, and then got some eats. We sat at a bar, got a burger, a beer and watched CNN. CNN was running a story at the time about Korea being ready for a nuclear strike. After I mentioned that Korea had nukes, Egan said “Blizzard should just release StarCraft 2 as soon as possible to save the world from nuclear holocaust. “ I finished my MGD and burger with bacon. Bacon makes everything better. I was ready to head back to the convention center.

The large queue room was the next scene of our adventure. 10 minutes passed before the heat from all the people in there and the odd smell of humid August garbage got to me and I had to go get air. We walked towards the doors on Boylston Street and hung out as we saw the line getting longer and longer. Once the line got moving after 2 pm we were in the exhibition room in almost no time. We entered and took it all in.

Upon entrance to the exhibition hall, we were greeted with the Rockstar sign for Red Dead Redemption and the big 2kGames signs for Mafia II and Bioshock 2. We looked around for a few then started walking towards demo booths. I saw there was no line for D&D online, a MMO for PC. I stepped up to a station, grabbed the mouse, and fiddled with the key board and killed 2 big rats or something after 10 minutes of trying to figure out how to play. I have 0 MMO experience and found the controls to be non intuitive. I had no idea how to fix the camera so I could see what was in front of me.

The Developers Vs Journalist panel was our next stop. I found it very interesting. Some key things I took away from the discussion were Journalists communicate with consumers what to buy or not buy. Bad reviews are imminent if the writer is not a fan of the game or genre. The journalist will hate his job, hate his boss, hate the game and just trash it. They also touched upon something I found interesting when they discussed journalists writing reviews based on the individual experience. If a writer only played on easy mode, they should disclose that. They can write about general game play mechanics, but mentioning difficulty is a relative aspect to the writer, and the reader as well.

After the panel we hit the show floor again and wandered around. We stumbled upon the Monday Night Combat demo. We stopped right away and got sucked into watching other people play for a solid 20 minutes before deciding to get into line to try for ourselves. One of the loading screens has a piece of bacon giving a shotgun shell a high five. I was sold on the game right then and there. Bacon makes everything better. We spent another 30 minutes waiting our turn and when we were about to pick up the controllers the guy with the mic hosting the demo called for all people that signed up for the tournament. Neither Egan, nor myself were one of the people entered in the tourney. Defeated, yet determined we vowed to get back and get some hands on time with the vividly crazy arena combat game.

The Skate 3 demo area was our next stop after a quick lap around the exhibition rooms. We found out they were giving stuff away for getting 50,000 points on the “Beat the Meat” game mode. The “Beat the Meat” mode basically has the player trying to skate board off of a cliff, and inflict the most bodily harm possible. I waited in line, and got my turn and only hit 49,500 (approximately) I was the only person the whole weekend it seems, to not leave with a free skate deck. I did eventually win a free t-shirt at the Skate 3 demo booth, but I really wanted the board.

We also got to check out Breach. Why some one wanted to steal the code for this is beyond me. I found the game dated, and a cliché FPS. The developers at the booth were trying to upsell the fully destructible environment. I could not find much evidence of that. I also found it extremely difficult to use grenades. They did not show the grenade’s path so it was hard to effectively gauge the direction, arc, distance, and landing location of grenades. I understand that the game is in a pre-beta build right now with a projected $15.00 price tag, but I could find the same jollies playing some Team Fortress Classic.

At this point in the day, the venue started to fill up and lines got long. We took a lap around the third floor and peaked into the various rooms hosting various console and arcade game free plays. We also checked out what other attendees were doing. It looked like mostly lounging around on huge bean bags, playing Nintendo DS, engaged in some sort of CCG, or listening to music and snoozing. Egan and I then decided to get some grub and hit up Wendy’s.

When we got back to the Hynes, we had about 45 minutes or so before exhibit halls closed. We checked out the second large room. We were able to check out some of the nVidia 3D exhibits. I got to see Lost Planet in 3D I was impressed. I don’t know if it because 3D is foreign to me, and a totally new entertainment experience, or because it really is that good. Expect me to talk more about my feeling on 3D gaming and entertainment in coming weeks.

The Alienware area was where we decided to camp out next. We were able to get into a Modern Warfare 2 game on PC. I was excited and thought I stood a chance. I know the weapons and I’m familiar with the maps. I’m born to kill. I got smoked. I am a better console game by far. I am an absolutely horrible FPS player when I am on a mouse and keyboard. I had no idea what my secondary grenade key was, how to switch weapons, or how to duck.

After we got pwn3d, we checked out a crowd of people around some booth. The booth was set up by a graphics card company that was giving away free swag. Headphones, water bottle clips, processors, graphics cards, and shirts. One kid kept screaming “I’m Miley Cyrus” over and over and over again. The MC for the company got a cheap laugh the first time, and the kid in the crowd got nothing. So “Miley” kept doing this. I had a raffle ticket to win something so I wanted to hold onto hope and stick around in case my number was called. I should have realized I had no chance. “Miley Cyrus” kept yelling and screaming. Then some kid started trying desperately to out do “Miley” by repeatedly shouting “But I’m the world’s worst Ghost Buster!” After the booth announced that there were no more prizes, I took off. “Miley” went to the desk where the MC was closing up shop and was trying to barter for a free water bottle holster clip.

Egan and I ended up at Monday Night Combat again. I had images in my head that a mascot in a huge bacon suit was undulating around the crowd. I was hoping to find a huge strip of bacon willing to give me a high five, followed by a gnarly air guitar solo like Bill and Ted do. I was only greeted with a line to play the game soon before the exhibit hall closed. Egan and I stood there wide eyed watching others play this game until last call. I set a goal of playing Monday Night Combat and Skate 3 as we exited the exhibition hall.

Somehow we got corralled upstairs at 6:00 pm, just as a big panel was letting out of the main room. A huge deluge of gamers was ushered up the escalators instead of directed towards the exits. Egan and I wanted to head outside for some air, but this sea of people forced us upstairs with no way to get outside. The exit lay just on the other side of the escalator we were forced to ascend. We found a spot on the third floor hall way next to a window, against a wall with an Asian dude totally passed out next to us. Plenty of other gamers stopped to get a photo of this kid knocked out cold on the floor.

Eventually we got up and the classic console free play room was found. Holy Shit! What an excellent move. They had a Sega Genesis and NBA Jam T.E. for an epic win. Egan and I played out 30 minute allotment. I went 2-1. We then decided it was time for some beer and fun. We went to the Pour House for 2.5 beers. It was over crowded, too loud, and a mix of PAX run off and usual post 9-5er nickel and dimers. We then hit up McGreevy’s. We grabbed a beer at the back bar. They had an 8x11 plastic sign holder with a piece of paper that read “Official PAX gamer party!” Egan and I looked around and saw 3 people with PAX badges hanging around their neck and a few coats on bar stools. We pulled up two empty seats, and had a few brews before heading back to the convention center.

We planned on going to the “Losing should be fun panel” that was about an hour and a half away. We had time to kill, and did what any red blooded American gamer would do. We played some more games. We hit up the classic console free play again. And again, I went 2-1 on NBA Jam T.E. as expected. We packed up and went over to get inline for the panel. The panel was very entertaining and made some strong points. The hosts said games should be fun whether you win or lose. Essentially, losing should be fun. They got into some philosophic thoughts on how games should be fun. The player should have fun, not necessarily the character. How ever the story should progress and make sense for the character to lose in a situation, even if the player does not want to lose. I wish I took better, more legible notes but 4 or 5 Hoegaardens made me throw the rule book out the window and have some fun.

After the panel wrapped up there was still time to go to the console free play for current generation systems. I picked up Darksiders and Egan snagged God of War III for a while. I got 45 or so minutes into Darksiders. I played it on default settings and felt like I was progressing at a good pace. I enjoyed the art style, but was not too crazy on the actually beat em up aspect of it. If I had more time I would have stuck with it. I do plan on playing this game later, probably as a rental. I had to see what a lot of hype was about, but didn’t think 45 minutes allowed me much perspective. Time ran out on both of our sessions then we decided it was time to split. PAX day 2 Awaited!