By Jeremy Hannaford (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: September 11, 2013
Another year has come and gone and it still hurts to know that it’s over.
Once again, the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle (PAX Prime) has come to a close and once again I have a different outlook on the event and how it has grown and changed over the years.
Even though the event was four days long (a first in its history), that didn’t slow the buyout rate at all. With all badges (over 70,000 attendees) selling out in less than seven hours in April, PAX has certainly become a global hub of the gaming community.
Passing through the doors into the massive Expo Hall, I felt familiar feelings of excitement, curiosity, and claustrophobia. PAX-goers were already forming hour-long lines to try out the new games. With the next-generation consoles (Xbox One & PS4) present, the lines for Forza 4, Infamous: Second Son, and Ryse: Son of Rome were long and painful.
Twisted Pixel’s booth, however, offered short lines and great fun with their LocoCycle game about a self-aware state-of-the-art motorcycle evading evil corporations all the while dragging a poor Latino janitor. They were even giving away an Xbox One on Monday afternoon!
But these booths were not attracting everyone in the hall. The independent game market has really taken hold of PAX, so much in fact that its prominent Indie Megabooth was constantly jam-packed with PAX-goers checking out what indie developers had to offer.
One game in particular that was attracting a lot of attention was a four-player game called Super Pole Riders. It was one of four multiplayer games that made up the complete product called Sports Friends. In short, each player is an Olympic vaulter and must vault into the air to push a coloured ball along a zipline into the opposing team’s net. What made the game so entertaining was catching the opposing players off guard and coming down to knock them out. Some turned it into a game of knock-out vaulting rather than of scoring goals. Little things like that are some of the reasons why the independent games at PAX are so intriguing. Simple yet extremely entertaining features can come a long way when assembled correctly.
Panels have always been a major part of any fan expo. From comics to games to television shows, panels featuring prominent members of the products’ development always draw a crowd. So imagine the attendees’ surprise when they saw that the schedule was full of subject-related panels. Subjects included, “What’s Your Gamer Type?,” “Why the Zombie Genre Still Holds Our Attention,” and “Foreplay: Romance in Games.”
The list went on and became more intriguing and at times bizarre. In total, the ratio of subject panels to game presentations worked out to about 10:1. The number of panels I wanted to see was overwhelming. For the zombie genre panel, I listened to developers from The Walking Dead, Left 4 Dead, State of Decay, and DayZ discuss their interest in the genre, their inspirations, and what they see in its future. The community brought a plethora of questions including if anything could happen to zombies similar to what Twilight has done to vampires. The panel was great, and DayZ creator Dean Hall’s constant wish for glitch-free zombies always brought laughter.
As always, many members of the PAX community were cosplayers and brought some creative and interesting costumes to the event. From the entire ensemble of the original Power Rangers to a Hello Kitty version of Marcus Fenix, there was no shortage of originality. I’ve been curious as to what all the fuss was about for several years so I finally gave it a go as a classic character from my childhood: Indiana Jones! While it may seem odd to some, it was cool to dress up as someone else and embody the character. I had my photo taken with people and even got asked to sign a badge with my character’s signature. My favorite cosplay moment was when a PAX-goer passed me by and simply said, “Doctor Jones.” My inner nerd was shaking with excitement.
As for major publishers, Ubisoft really blew it out of the park. They were giving presentations about their highly anticipated Watch Dogs featuring the “second screen” application. This featured a tablet player competing with the console player in a race challenge. Since Watch Dogs is about the interconnectivity of electronic devices and people in Chicago, the tablet player was able to cause much distress for the console player as he tried to reach the destination. From changing traffic lights to directing police to setting off underground gas pipes, the challenge was too much for the console player, who in the end was killed by a hit-and-run accident. While some are still viewing the “second screen” function of next-gen consoles as a gimmick, this feature could really grow into something extraordinary.
Another game that drew my attention was The Crew, an MMO racing game for next-gen consoles and PC. The players will be able to drive across a scaled-down United States reported to take over five real-time hours to cross. At first it looked like another Need For Speed World. But on closer inspection, I saw the amazing graphics, realistic and challenging driving mechanics, and extremely deep customization abilities. All the way down to the pistons, you can receive and change pieces in your car to make it into a souped-up racing machine or an off-road death on wheels. The Crew was the definitely most interesting game for me at PAX.
I can certainly say I came to PAX 2013 with a more sombre feel. Since it was four days long, I didn’t feel as rushed as in previous years. I could really take in the sights and converse with other PAX-goers about the event and the booths. The last panel I went to was Inside Gearbox Studios. The appreciation CEO Randy Pitchford displayed towards the fans of Borderlands 2 was astounding. The nearly full Paramount Theatre roared as he continued to show off more content his team was making available for fans. His emotion and the crowd’s reaction melded together to make one of the most iconic moments of PAX in the history of the event.
