By Jeremy Hannaford (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: September 12, 2012
The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX Prime, is a public gaming convention that is held every year on the Seattle Labour Day weekend. It’s a combination of big name video games, indie developments, board/card games, special speakers, development sessions, console free-play and after-parties. PAX has something for everyone, especially those who have the patience to wait in line. This PAX marks its eighth year of providing a haven for gamers and media personas alike.
One main change I noticed this year was that PAX featured far more indie games. In the past, the main expo hall was full of big name games and developers. While they were present for this event, the amount of booths they had was considerably fewer. The indie games had their own section and they featured multiple inventive IPs. A game called Catch-22 was one of the most unique indie games I saw. It was the winner of the 2012 Global Game Jam in Amsterdam and was made in only two days! Developed for the i OS, the game’s main feature is the player competing against themselves as they switch between two small spheres circling one large ball. When the spheres switch, the previous sphere repeats the actions the player performed with it – a simple but creative premise. It was one of my favourite games at PAX this year.
One particularly interesting big booth was Aliens: Colonial Marines. They were not only letting people play a demo of a new multiplayer mode against the developers of the game, they were letting people sit in a power loader similar to what Sigourney Weaver sat in many years ago in the hit film. The massive set piece was part of a photography attraction that let you stand in the loader which is being attacked by a massive Xenomorph. The game itself was also quite impressive. The featured game mode “Escape” had four human players racing to get to the other end of the level, while the other four players controlled the aliens bent on stopping them. While this was not Gearbox’s main game for PAX (Borderlands 2), they showed that they have put a lot of dedication into the project and are making a good quality game that will be a new and worthy addition to the Alien saga.
Panels are also a big thing at PAX. Key members of a game or production group will come onto a stage, discuss or present features for a game they are working on, and then take questions from the audience. I was able to see three big panels about Assassins Creed 3, The Walking Dead and Hitman Absolution. While some will turn away from the Q&A sessions, they miss out on some interesting questions. For instance, one fan asked the Walking Dead panel how it felt making the main character an African-American convict living in the southern United States. They were pleased that someone would ask such a serious question, and expressed that it was a concern of theirs throughout the entire production.
Everything from a massive Kirby to assassins to zombies to Zap Brannigan is possible when it comes to cosplayers at PAX. The amount of dedication and craft that goes into these costumes is incredible, let alone the courage/insanity required to wear it for eight hours straight! Some are hilarious while others are quite scary, such as an American McGee Alice I found outside the hall. I met with a few Mass Effect cosplayers, including a very impressive Kia Lang. Members of the group said they spent more than 70 hours making their costumes. Everything from plastic lid covers to LED lights to protective matting materials from school gymnasiums is used to make these costumes. But not all of these people are hardcore nerds. One Fem Shepard told me that she was a dedicated elementary teacher as well as being the founder of the Mass Effect cosplay group.
Only half of PAX goers actually intend to see upcoming games or meet game developers. The other half of people go there for anything and everything that is ‘free swag.’ Like hungry vultures, they circle until they find their prey. The perfect example occurred during a raffle for some computer hardware at the Cool Master booth on the sixth floor—nowhere near as crowded as the main expo hall—when the announcer mentioned the word “free shirt.” Swarms of people magically appeared and stormed to the front. And swag does not have to be a shirt either, varying from inflatable tomahawks to beta keys to potato hats. My friends and I stood in line for almost an hour to grab limited edition Plants vs Zombies hats. They are completely laughable, but they ran out in two days with lines of people spanning over 500 waiting to get them. Thankfully, this is not the case for everyone.
When the expo halls closed for the day, the atmosphere changes. People were far more friendly and social. The convention center became a place of casual gaming as convention goers play board/card games and converse about what they had seen and experienced. PAX had several areas set up for people to play PC and console free play with a large range of games and systems that were lent out by PAX goers. There was even a classic console free play area where people can play on the old systems they hadn’t seen in years, or even ever in their lifetime.
PAX is more than just a bunch of sheltered nerdy gamers coming together into one large building and trying to grab as much free stuff as they can. It is a collection of opinions, ideas and aspirations. Development seminars are held in theatres that give PAX goers the heads up on the gaming industry and how to promote themselves in the growing business. The conglomeration of action and idea never gets old for me. As the call went out that PAX was over, I felt the same sadness that I have felt year after year. I plan to go to PAX for as long as I can and experience the same feeling of excitement and curiosity that keeps bringing me back every year.
