Okay, it's been more than a week since the Penny Arcade Exposition so most of this is old news for anyone who was there or was following it on gaming websites. Those people and those sites probably snagged better photos and have better recounts of the event, but I will attempt to recall what I did during those two days. Whoopee!
I ended up going solo to PAX on my first day since my friend Tim was scheduled for work and Matt was low on funds. I skipped the first half of the first day because I wanted to hang out with Matt because I hadn't seen him in a while, and we played some GTA: Vice City and a weird frog golf game called Ribbit King. Let me tell you, Tim's got some interesting titles in his game collection.
After Tim got home, both he and Matt left for a going away party, and I headed for scenic Bellevue.
The Meydenbauer Center is located in what had to be the cleanest urban area I've seen in a while. Downtown Bellevue has that sort of sanitized atmosphere that you can find at Disneyland. Except in Bellevue, you'll find yourself looking up at huge corporate offices instead of Sleeping Beauty's castle.
I found a free parking spot about three blocks away and headed toward the center. I knew I was getting close when I passed two people carrying plastic bags filled with what looked like promotional materials for upcoming video games. Outside the center, people were milling about with their cell phones or sitting on the steps and enjoying the weather.
Inside the center, were the geeks.
Ah yes, they were all there: the Penny Arcade fans in their geeky glory. Gamers of all shapes, sizes and colors. The console gamers, the PC gamers, war gamers, D&D players, and DDR fanatics. Everywhere I looked there were people wearing videogame related/anime/comic-related T-shirts. There were even a few in costumes. There was also the slight tinge of B.O. in the air. Apparently, deodorant is kryptonite to some geeks.
Game Boy Advance SPs were also out in full force as people waited in line for something, but I wasn't sure what.
It was quite a sight.
After making sure that my name was on the list of pre-registrants, I wandered around the center and checked out the various activities.
I hopped into the main theater really quick to see what was going on. I think it was a panel consisting of video game industry types discussing the development process of games. Not interested, I clicked a few pictures and went off to explore the rest of the convention.
A friendly volunteer on the bottom floor showed me all the tabletop games people were playing. D&D, Warhammer and Magic the Gathering were among the games spread over several tables.
Upstairs, I checked out the PC rooms where gamers were indulging in matches of various first person shooters on computers loaned for the event by Lanwerx. In another room, gamers had set up their own machines, proudly showing off the custom cases they built, which is not unlike people showing off their cars.
A different on the other side of the center was filled with consoles and TVs. Gamecubes, PS2s, and X-Boxes littered the floor, and each was connected to several TVs. One side of the room had a raised platform that was being used for the final stages of tournaments, with an announcer and a projection screen so people farther from the stage could see the action. I was surprised to find that people had even managed to customize their consoles with special paint jobs. Also surprising was the fact that no one was locking up his or her machines in any way. I guess there was enough trust among the attendees not to nab any equipment and there were several volunteers keeping an eye on things, though I read later that a couple of consoles were stolen.
I managed to catch a couple of Omegathon contestants being interviewed by a small crew with a TV camera, but I didn't find out who they or their interviewers were. I missed out on the Omegathon events on both days, and although I could've watched the Doom portion of the contest, there was little room to stand around four computers. Next year, PAX organizers will probably make the contest a little easier for spectators to view.
Unfortunately, the exhibition room was closed for the day and the PC and console rooms were busy with tournaments so I had little to occupy myself with. Refusing to embarrass myself on the DDR arcade game, which was the only game that was open, I headed back downstairs to see if there was a tabletop game I could jump in.
Downstairs, I was surprised to hear my name called and I looked to see where the voice was coming from. It was Max, a friend of Tim from the Commentator, who was playing Warmachines with his friend James and a couple of other people. Max and James were going to participate in the Mario Kart tournament on Sunday, which I would also unfortunately not be able to attend so I'm not sure how they did. They were also the proud possessors of some of the last tickets to be given out for the musical show. Ah, so that's what all those people with the GBAs were waiting for. I chatted with them for a bit and then hopped into a game of D&D that was just getting started nearby. Hey, I wanted something to do.
It was a large session with eight players and a Dungeonmaster. Being a newbie, I had to ask for help a few times when required to throw certain dice or figure out what skills to uses in a battle with a lightning-breathing dragon. Playing a half-orc barbarian though is pretty easy as all you really need to do is smash stuff.
After an hour or so of play, I was getting a little bored and I had just received a call from my friends who had returned from the party. So, I excused myself from the game, which was fine because it was an open session and people could come and go as the pleased, and headed back to Redmond.
On Day 2 of PAX, I went with Lauren and we arrived just in time for the Penny Arcade Q&A in the main theater. It was pretty cool to see Tycho and Gabe, the two guys responsible for creating the comic.
The duo seemed comfortable on stage, trading insults with each other and fielding questions from the audience. They talked about all sorts of things like the games they were looking forward to, the legal battles that they've endured, and the achievements that they've accomplished (like Child's Play).
At one point, someone in the crowd asked if the two would like to eat his Wheat Thins. Tycho was for it, but Gabe asked, "Uh, weren't we warned not to eat things people gave us here?"
Tycho, undaunted, took that box backstage behind the curtains and began to eat the snack crackers rather audibly, probably with his microphone held close to his mouth for greater effect. He came back with his mouth full. An audience member came up and planted a Dr. Pepper at his feet. PA fans are so helpful.
After the session was over, Lauren and I took a look at the exhibition room where game companies had set up demo booths of their upcoming games. There was also a stand that sold all sorts of Japanese goods like Pocky, anime figures and even a Catbus from Totoro.
We took a look at Dungeon Siege 2, which looked pretty good and then we waited patiently to try out Fable, which will come out soon for the X-Box. In Fable, you play a character as he grows from a child into an adult. Along the way, you have to make decisions that can be good or evil and going along either path will change the way the story progresses, how people react to you and even your appearance. During my play session, I had to do good deeds in order to earn gold from my father. My first good deed was to watch over some boxes for a man who had to take a bathroom break. Instead, I snuck into his warehouse, smashed a few of his barrels and found a gold piece. Ha! Another situation placed me between a bully and his target and naturally, I beat the crap out of the bully. A moral dilemma came up when I was charged with the task of finding where a woman's husband had gone off to. Running all over town, I finally found him behind a house making out with another woman. Caught in an awkward situation, the man tried to bribe me with a gold coin in order to keep my mouth shut. Instead, I told his wife what he was up to and was rewarded with some more gold from my father. Lauren said I should have taken his bribe and then gone off and told his wife. Would that make me good or evil?
Unfortunately, we had to leave PAX early in order to get back to Eugene at a decent hour, but Lauren managed to spot two people wearing Kingdom of Loathing shirts. Turns out, they were Jick and Mr. Skullhead, who had announced that if they were spotted at PAX, that they would give out free stuff. Yay for free stuff! Lauren and I got KoL stickers and they took our photo for some nefarious purpose. Of course, I took a picture of them.
That was it! That was PAX. Sorry for the long, boring recap. Next time I promise more photos, and maybe even a few tournament stories. I think my youngest brother and I should work on our Halo or Mario Kart skills for next year.