When Penny Arcade announced that they were bringing their suddenly legendary gaming convention, PAX, to the East Coast, we took it as a sign. How could the biggest gamer event in Boston manage without Overthought documentation?
The Overthinking It pictorial recap of PAX East, after the jump.
Like any big subculture event, PAX East brought its share of gaming movers and shakers.
Eric from Harmonix (HMXPope) serenades us in the Harmonix Lounge.
Scott Kurtz (PVP) and Kris Straub (Checkerboard Nightmare) do sketches and autographs.
The Protomen.
(Please note that the Protomen’s latest album, Act II – The Father of Death, boasts a cover that’s a clear shout-out to Cargo Cult favorite Streets of Fire)
Rich and Katie, two developers for Kings' Quest fan-project The Silver Lining, fresh off a round of interviews.
Brandon DeCoster and Scott Rubin of GeekNights hosting the Beyond D&D panel.
A few words on the “Beyond D&D” panel. I was surprised to see a panel on indie role-playing games pack out such a large conference room – nice work, GeekNights! The talk itself was big on enthusiasm but could have used a little more structure. The first 40 minutes was Brandon and Scott talking abstractly about abstractions: how D&D and games like it rewarded certain types of gameplay but didn’t give a lot of options for others. Then there were 15 minutes of examples, all of which were good: inSpectres, Primetime Adventures, Dread and Burning Wheel. 5 minutes of Q&A at the end (yours truly was the last to get the mic). In short, while there was room for improvement in the structure, the content was solid and it definitely found a good audience.
Half the fun of any subculture convention, of course, is snapping random pics of people dressed up as fictional people. We talk about the appeal of genre culture as a way of identifying with heroes in unusual situations. The advantage of geek icons like Solid Snake, Luke Skywalker and Iron Man are that you can very easily proclaim your allegiance by dressing like them. You couldn’t dress up as Jack Bauer and have it be instantly recognizable, unless you had a name tag that said “Jack Bauer.”
This doesn’t explain the guys who dress up like Stormtroopers.
from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
A Gears of War COG soldier. Definitely the most badass guy I saw this weekend.
Raccoon City cops. Usually all getting wiped out except for two or three officers, but watch out for those three!
I know he's from Final Fantasy; I just couldn't say which one.
Chewbacca doesn't have time for this.
Ah, some guys? On a quest? Help me out here.
Any good gaming convention will boast plenty of vendors touting products to a captive audience.
Star City Games (home of OTI guest writer and prolific blogger Ferrett Steinmetz) trading Magic cards. M:tG is apparently having something of a renascence, per our most recent podcast.
Red vs. Blue! We love these guys.
Is this from THE FUTURE or A POSSIBLE FUTURE?
Now this was kind of neat. Immerz makes this unit that plugs into the sound port on your console and translates the sound into vibrations. You feel the vibrations through the unit on your left, which you wear over your shoulders. It looks like it’s priced a little high for something that’s essentially a novelty, but it will (supposedly) work with any game. Somebody try it for Sim City on the Wii Virtual Console and report back.
Like True Crime: Streets of LA, but good.
The preview display for All-Points Bulletin, a new MMORPG set in a modern city with Cops and Criminals being the rival factions. Folks were lined up ten deep to play it.
Spartan? Anything but.
Now this caught your correspondent’s eye early. Geek Chic manufactures high-quality gaming furniture that bristles with utilitarian features. This gaming table, in addition to looking great, had fold-out leaves, railings in the side to mount cup- or dice-holders, and several small drawers. Definitely pricey, but it looks like you get what you pay for.
More Geek Chic furniture.
The line to play Red Dead Revolver, the latest from Rockstar Games. The preview videos looked gorgeous, but your correspondent didn’t have that much time to kill.
More ideas on this table than in a year's worth of console releases.
The Compleat Strategist, a franchise of gaming stores local to New York and Boston. I would not have expected them to boast this big a selection of indie RPGs. Burning Empires, Fiasco, Wild Talents, Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies … all gems. Color me pleasantly surprised!
(Note to RPG and video game vendors: Overthinking It is eminently willing to sell out and endorse your product or service. You have no idea how low we’ll stoop for money. Contact us today)
But more than anything else, PAX is about gamer culture. It’s a place where people who love games come to game, meet each other and explore. Krahulik and Holkins don’t need the money (does this make money?) and they don’t need the press. They do it because they like building communities. And also, because it gives them POWER!
Aww.