PAX 2007: Day 1
So much to do, my ADD might turn fatal.
Tags: Penny Arcade Expo 2007 Categories: Features, Tech Features
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Aug 25th, 2007
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As you ride the escalator up to the fourth floor of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, you feel eyes on the back of your neck. Glancing around nervously, you meet the eyes of huge poster. The man on the poster has his hands clasped ominously in front of his chin. No it isn’t an Orwellian art installation, it is one of the most popular faces on the Internet, Tycho: half of the webcomic duo Penny Arcade. Once you’ve crossed this threshold, you are in their world now.
This is Penny Arcade Expo 2007, and it is bigger than last year. What makes PAX special is that there is a huge amount of offerings for every member of geek, nerd, or dork. Right next to a booth offering you a chance to win your weight in ramen for a Naruto promotion there is a booth selling an array of import games, and around the corner from that is a booth selling Anime toys and Japanese snacks.
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Pocky in hand, I attended Wil Wheaton’s keynote address. There was a huge crowd in the main theater. Wil really knows how to work a crowd, keeping the cheers raised through his stories about the social aspect of gaming. Overall, Wil proved the bloggers can deliver more than just a verbal rendition of their last blog entry. This might be due to his background in Hollywood, but it was nice to see him engage the crowd on their level.
PAX is huge this year; there are over four floors of activities that can only be described as geek paradise. Tabletop gamers are spread throughout the convention center playing games such as D&D or Axis and Allies. CCG’s are everywhere too, I got see a couple of people playing Munchkin. I was going to try and embarrass myself playing with these guys, but there are four different handheld lounges. These are areas littered with Sumo beanbag chairs, and one can lie back, and anonymously embarrass themselves playing an array of games. I spent several hours losing at Meteos before my battery died. I checked out the free consoles to play, killing a few hours playing the Wii. Yeah, I know the irony of being a thousand miles from home, and playing the same system I do everyday.
After traipsing around the convention center all day eating manna from geek heaven, I was worn out. So I didn’t get a chance to jump around much during the concerts at day 1. The opening band was the One Ups, who played classic 80’s video game themes. They had a funk and ska vibe to their music, which meshed well with the playful music of the era. Optimus Rhyme was up next, and put on a pretty good show. The Freezepops are an 80’s synthpop trio complete with keytars. Although these bring back horrible flashbacks of childhood, the band was a crowd favorite. They closed the show with a cover of “The Final Countdown” and left the crowd still chanting for them as the next band set up. The NESkimos closed out the day, another instrumental band covering classic video game themes. Although they only work with Nintendo, and have a metal vibe, it was hard to see a pretty similar act. Their version of the Legend of Zelda theme was impressive; making you think Link could have been a rampaging Viking. The atmosphere was very rave like, but in place of glowsticks kids were dancing with lightsabers. Day one is down, I am so exhausted.
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Tags: Penny Arcade Expo 2007
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Aug 25th, 2007 and is filed under Features, Tech Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
