Well, just to get this out of the way early, this year's convention was even better. First of all, Beckett and I committed to going to all three days of the show, instead of just one day. This was so clutch, in that even though we were trying to scurry from place to place on our first day trying to see everything, we knew that we still had two more days to double back. This also allowed us to see the Friday Night Concert as well, which consisted of The Protomen, MC Frontalot and Metroid Metal. The Protomen, a group whose songs are based loosely off the tale of Megaman, had their amps turned all the way up to 11. It was a good thing that the Enforcers, the volunteer security force of PAX, were handing out earplugs because if I didn't have those, I am pretty sure I would have gone deaf. They are essentially a metal band, so there was shredding and general ear exploding done on their part, which I might have liked a little bit better if they weren't so loud. MC Frontalot on the other hand was pretty awesome. Being a nerdcore rapper, as only he can be, he covered topics like Xenobiology, Goth Girls, Diseases, Star Wars, and then song a remix of the Penny Arcade Theme Song, like he does every year, this time to a backing track of Katy Perry's California Gurls. It was Amazing.
After that, we decided to skip out on Metroid Metal, as we weren't really feeling like getting our ears assaulted again, and we made the long trek back home to get 3 and a half hours of sleep, before getting up and making the trek back to Boston. At this point, I should also mention that due to the overwhelming success of last year's inaugural PAX East, this year the convention was moved from the Hynes Convention Center to the much larger Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. With a total attendance of 69,500 people over the three days, the place was packed.
Yours truly at the top of the escalator down to the show floor, and the show floor itself.
Day 2 was a lot of the same, running, gunning. There was this year's Make-A-Strip panel, where Mike and Jerry script and draw the comic strip for that Monday, as well as a lot more exploring and buying merchandise from booths. But we also took some time out to wait in line for the exclusive Portal 2 preview, as well as wait and play a game of Dungeons & Dragons for beginners. Can't even lie to you, it was a great time. And if you're thinking, "Why is Dungeons & Dragons at a video game convention?" Well it is because PAX is more of a nerd convention than a video game convention. While yes, a lot of it focuses on the new hot video games, there's also a huge portion dedicated to tabletop games like Magic The Gathering and D&D. While waiting in line for the Friday Night Concert, the kids behind Beckett and me invited us to play a game called Munchkins. It was actually pretty cool and it was just one of many indie card and dice games represented at PAX. Once again, that night's festivities included the 3rd Round of the Omegathon and the Saturday Night Concert. This year's 3rd Round of the Omegathon was THE MOST EPIC GAME OF JENGA EVER PLAYED. There is absolutely no way a more intense game of Jenga has ever been played. Two sets of Four Two person teams competed against each other with "Omegablocks" instead of the little baby blocks regular people play with. Only allowed to use one hand at a time, the first game was incredible. As was the second game. Words can not describe how the tremors literally shook one girl's arm to the point where it was visible from the back of the theater, and then how much applause she got when she successfully freed and replaced the block from the tower. Simply incredible.
An Omeganaut in the midst of a pull while other Omeganauts watch with bated breath in the background.
Following that intensity, the Saturday Night Concert of Video Game Orchestra, Paul & Storm, and Jonathan Coulton reprised their roles from last year's concert. Video Game Orchestra and Paul & Storm played a lot of the same stuff, with some new stuff, and overall were just as good if not better than last year. Jonathan Coulton on the other hand, as opposed to last year's acoustic set, this year he came out on an electric guitar with a bassist and a drummer. He played rock versions of a lot of his hits, as well as some new songs from his upcoming CD which sounds like it should be pretty good.
After Jonathan Coulton finished his set at about 2AM, Beckett and I walked from the Convention Center to Cambridge. It's about a three and a half mile walk. And then with the time change, it ended up being about 4:30 in the morning before we got to my sister's place where we crashed for the evening. Getting about 3 hours of sleep, Beckett and I made our final trek back to the Convention Center the next morning, waiting to see Bill Amend, creator of newspaper comic section favorite, FoxTrot. Then the day just flew by, and after waiting for about an hour for a 20 minute demo of L.A. Noire, we got in line about 2 hours early for the closing ceremony, where the final round of the Omegathon played out in a two on two match up of the crazy game Ikaruga. After that Mike and Jerry said their thank you's and goodbyes, and PAX was concluded.
As I said last year, PAX isn't for everyone but for three days out of the year, I can let my freak flag fly. I fully intend on going next year, and every year because at PAX you can do no wrong if you follow the cardinal rule: Don't be a dick. Clearly I skimmed over a lot, like the QR code quest, and playing the Nintendo 3DS, but just know that for 72 hours, I had one of the best times of the year. If you think you want to, or can handle the intense nerdism, I encourage you heartily to try it. I'll be back for three days next year, and if you'd like to join me on one or more, do yourself a favor and do it.
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