I just finished my third day of the Penny Arcade Expo 2010. This was my first year attending PAX, and like all conventions it was exciting and draining. It's a long read, and this is still condensing it. Sorry for my butchering of the english language, grammer was never my strong point.

Photobucket Album
*Note: The Japanese Superman VHS pic was actually taken at a nearby store.


Day 1:
After hunting for parking in downtown Seattle I had to hunt even harder to find where to pick up lanyards and swag bags. Eventually made my way into the right line to do just that, only to turn around and head back out towards my first panel at a nearby hotel ballroom. Hal Halpin (President of the ECA) and Adam Sessler (Host of X-Play) discussing video games and the industry and politics involving them. Not a bad panel at all, just wish it had been longer.

Then making my way back to the convention center for my second panel, Overclocked Remix. The admins and mixers behind my favorite (and only) videogame music website. Not a lot of news outside of updates and remix albums they are working on. Great atmosphere and lots of energy for a panel about a website though, it was a lot of fun.

After lunch it was time to finally hit the expo floor. Wow! I didn't expect PAX to be just like E3. Most big publishers had enormous booths showcasing their latest and greatest games coming to market.

I made my way back to the Bethesda booth to get my hands on Fallout New Vegas. First, they had the best booth presentation on the floor, a 30-foot tall T-Rex motel sign stood dominating the surrounding area with a New Los Vegas sign next to it. It looked incredible. Anyways, I tried the game out and was not disappointed. It looks and feels just like Fallout 3, but more polished, and *gasp* blue skies!

The rest of the day was spent wondering around and checking out booths. I wanted to stay for the concerts but by 5pm I was already beat.

Day 2:
Found nearby parking this day! I arrived just in time to get in line for Bungie’s Halo Reach panel. It was mostly them just talking about their history of the franchise and things they never had a chance to try but would have liked to. It was obvious that they put a lot into Halo and will miss it.

Back to the expo hall. Checked out Geek Chics tables, which were awesome. I was actually considering putting in an order for one until I caught that their base price increased by over $500. Ouch... at least they're pretty.

Next to them was Chessex's booth. I hardly got close to it because of the mass of buyers mobbing them. No big deal, I buy all my dice from them online anyways.

Also next to Geek Chic and Chessex was Privateer Press. Of all the table top game companies they had the best showing. A giant inflatable monster stood at one corner of their booth. Monsterpocalypse was all over, with great looking displays and demos going. I gotta admit that Voltron set looked very appealing.

More walking around... saw a taping of X-Play in progress and tried to get close but couldn't hear anything with all the noise. It was right in the middle of the Bethesda booth. There were huge promotional signs for Rage, but not a single video or demo of the game in sight... disappointment.

The wife and I crashed out on a Sumo beanbag while checking updates on my phone. I ran one of my favorite Google map searches, comic book stores. I found out that Zanadu comic book store was only a few blocks away. After a few minutes of navigating the concrete jungle I found a nice gem of a comic book store. I ended up picking up a promo poster of DC's "Day of Judgment" storyline, a favorite of mine. I also picked up the Jonah Hex action pack before walking back to the show.

[Missing part where I almost witnessed a stabbing]

After getting back to the expo I saw some other con goers carrying around these awesome Halo Reach posters. They were signed by the Bungie and 343 Studio staffers that worked on the game, and printed on stamped cardboard to give features that 3D look. Metallic paint and a glossy finish put them over the top, I HAD TO HAVE ONE. But quickly learned that the signing had passed and I missed the opportunity [Insert tears of unfathomable sadness].

I did find out where Microsoft was hosting demos for the firefight mode of Halo Reach. A half hour wait was well worth the 10 minutes of four player co-op. (I'm super pumped for this game if you can't tell). Participants also got Xbox Live avatar items, I guess these things are in high demand.

On day one I had noticed an enclosed booth for Duke Nukem Forever. At first I assumed it was just another teaser for a game I never expected to see or hear from again. But after getting home and learning that it was a playable demo I really wanted to get my hands on it. By the time I got to it on day two the line had already been cut off by security guards and nobody else could get in line.

Same story with the Saturday night concerts, I wanted to go but couldn't imagine standing in line for three more hours, going to the concerts, and then driving an hour and a half home.

Day 3:
I arrived a little later today. I went to get in the Duke Nukem line again... it was already four hours long. Pass.

I went back to Halo Reach firefight. While I was playing my wife was talking to one of the guys working the booth. Turns out that they were planning another poster signing in 90 minutes [Insert tears of unfathomable joy]. After 90 minutes of waiting at the front of the line of 200+ people that had formed I had my poster.

Did lunch, realized there was absolutely nothing left I wanted to see and headed home.

What I missed:
Blizzard/Activision was a noticeably missing presence. I was hoping to see Diablo 3 in action. Ubisoft still had nothing about a new Rainbow Six game either, a favorite franchise of mine.

The only heroclix I saw at the show was a single vendor that had an orange Foom and Watchmen set for sale. Not even a mention of it or Wizkids at a convention that's half about table top gaming. They weren't the only ones missing though, Games Workshop was also an obvious MIA (I just don't care about them though).

What wouldn't have been missed:
Both Microsoft and Sony reserved plenty of space to show off their motion controllers. Nobody cared.

That's about the gist of it. Now I can't wait for Emerald City Comic Convention in March!

Sounds like a blast! Nice write-up!

I missed PAX this year.... but I usually go! This year I just wasn't motivated enough to go for some reason.

Gorghadra! One of the Planet Eater monsters. And Voltron is a great game. Looks awesome, plays great, and totally worth the price of admission.

Aw, you missed the Protomen on Friday night. They're basically the one reason I went.

If I was staying at one of the downtown hotels I definitely would have. It's just having an hour and a half commute to and from the convention ended up putting the kibosh on that, especially when the wife is with me. Nearly every day of the convention I would think how nice it would be to have a hotel room next door so I could grab a power nap in the afternoon.