PAX East recap - Part I

 

I've decided to break my PAX post into two segments. There was so much to see and do that trying to fit it into one post would be insane. In this first part I'll be focusing on the stuff - showroom, games, swag. For the next post I'll talk about the people and panels.

Amazingly enough, I was able to accumulate a ton. I scored a bunch of shirts, game-related pins and buttons, posters, beta codes, and some exclusive in-game items. Aside from the goods, what's so cool about PAX is how it's geared towards the fans. There were games galore on the showroom floor, most of which are being released later this year.

The only downfall...the lines. When it came to the waiting times to play games, it felt more like getting your license renewed at the DMV rather than a game expo. It seemed that every other attendee had the same thought that I did about getting the chance to play games that haven't been released yet and because of this, the wait for some games, Gears of War 3, L.A. Noire, and Portal 2 just to name a few, stretched out as far as three hours. I guess that's the price you pay for the opportunity to check out the games before anyone else.

Despite this complaint, I was able to try out some cool games like Red Faction Armageddon, FEAR 3, and BRINK. Playing BRINK was by far the highlight of the trip. Maybe it was because I played the game at a cruise terminal or maybe it was because the first 200 people got to play the game with the developers. See, publisher Bethesda Softworks and developer Splash Damage decided to throw a special event in honor of their game. The event was held on the waterfront at the Boston cruise terminal and gave gamers the opportunity to try out the game and play it with some of the development team. Genius idea. In order to ensure I would be one of the first 200, I decided to show up about three hours early. Crazy, yes, but I wasn't going to miss it. My extreme punctuality payed off, as I was first in line. Not only did I get a shot at being the first to play the game, but I was able to meet the Lead Writer at Splash Damage, Edward Stern. Totally worth it.

While I didn't get to play all of the games I wanted to, I was still able to try out a few and at least watch gameplay of others. The BRINK event more than made up for anything that I missed. After attending PAX, I'm pleased to let you all know that based on the different games I saw, we, as gamers, should be excited for what's coming in the near future.

Stay turned for Part II of my PAX recap, where I'll let you in on the different people I met and what they had to say.