PAX--Penny Arcade Expo

[wickedwords]

I think PAX is like comic con, once upon a time. It's a gaming convention, in the sense that all the panels are linked to gaming in some way, but it's about the gaming industry, not how to play a game; it also has a side of internet life attached, and I must have seen 10-to-15 different web media outlets, like yahoo news, covering the thing. They've been growing steadily over the last 6 years, and this year, about 30K people were expected. We went for a bit last night to get our bearings, and listened briefly to a group discussion of episodic games, but I wanted it more from the dev side rather than sales and marketing. Oh, and they added a keynote speaker, so we got to see Will Wheaton a lot, every time we passed the exhibit hall, as the line to talk to him and get his autograph was right out side.

The funniest thing for me is that at least 70% of the people have a handheld device with them at all times. It's entire roomfuls of people exactly like my son, heads down on a game while joking with their friends and listening to someone talk about the gaming industry. We have a rule about 'no walking and gaming' at the same time, but for the event, we've suspended it as everyone there is doing that same thing.

*cough* as am I. Did I mention that I got one of the pink gameboys and Rune Factory (a farming and hacking monsters game) for my birthday? Yeah, so that's what I'm playing when I am waiting in line. The poor registration boy didn't know what to do with me when we picked up our stuff. Everyone was given a chance to get a bottle of 'Bawls' energy drink, and he could not say 'would you like some Bawls?' to someone who looked like his mom. He was in real, visible pain, trying to force those words out of his mouth, and ended up mumbling and waving me toward the stacks of the things.

(My son says that jokes about this particular brand have been banned at his school, as about the 10,000th time someone says 'I love the way that 'Bawls' feels in my mouth', it gets a little old. By the 1000th time I had overheard that comment, I could see what he means.)

Anyway, we hit the exhibit hall this morning, so we could pick up a pass to see Johnathon Coulton at the nerdcore concert tonight. He's the second set to play, and it should be a lot of fun. I think the minibosses play first. *g*

Comments

[trobadora]

and he could not says 'would you like some Bawls?' to someone who looked like his mom. He was in real, visible pain, trying to force those words out of his mouth, and ended up mumbling and waving me toward the stacks of the things.

That just cracks me up. *giggles*

[fluffyllama.livejournal.com]

listened briefly to a group discussion of episodic games, but I wanted it more from the dev side rather than sales and marketing

That's why I stopped going to this kind of thing in the end. Granted they were industry only, so you expect a bit of sales and marketing stuff, but they took over a little more each year.

Are you in games? It's hard to tell from this post. There are a few of us around LJ :-)

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

It cracked me up too. *g* I felt so sorry for the poor kid.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not really in the industry, just someone who's around on the edges. We did the 'guy in a garage game company' think back in the 80s, and it totally tanked. So I just play now. *g*