I feel that it is safe to say that E3 is no longer the holy ground for gamers that it once was. Gone is the wonder and fanfare of the industry only convention, and Penny Arcade Expo has risen to take its place, and in a sense become everything that E3 was and more.
To be honest, as i walked around the Seattle Convention Center, i’m not sure if PAX has become what it originally was planned to be. From the creators of Penny Arcade, the webcomic/blog of 2 guys who have a lot of well informed opinions and a sarcastic sense of humor, what might have once been a gathering of fans of the webcomic has now become a weekend celebrating all that is gamer culture. Everything was represented from console, PC, Table Top, and Hand Held. Indy developers lined up along side Sega and EA and there was enough companies and crowd to go around that no gamer or developer left feeling unloved.
Where other conventions would have rows and rows of Xbox 360’s hooked up for fans to play, PAX had working versions of games that weren’t even in Beta yet. I watched fans line up to play the latest build of Star Craft 2 (which i would like to note is STILL in pre-alpha), a first build of the next Need for Speed, Gears of War 2, and of course the biggest draw… Rock Band 2… on a stage for all to see of course. (and of course i will be going into more detail on all these games soon)
This is of course only one part of the convention though. There were movie rooms showing gamer related movies (yes, they had the wizard), 2 floors that they referred to as “the hand held lounge”, no less than 6 rooms for open console gaming, Rock Band 1 on a separate stage, and 2 nights of concerts for con attendees. Oh, and have i mentioned that unlike E3… PAX is open to everyone.
Without a doubt, for every gamer who has missed out on the glory days of E3, PAX has grown each year and it isn’t showing any signs of stopping.
Chris Hori
Tags: PAX Overview
