Hey all. I think I finally recovered from my term paper and Pax East. Thus I bring you, with great fanfare, my thoughts, pictures and fun times at Pax East. It's getting bigger, and if you can't go I guess this is the next best thing (Unless of course you, you know, like video games more than analogue stuff).
My Journey began quite suddenly a month before Pax East when I decided to help my home boys ( and girls) from Cool Mini or not out. These guys are so much fun plus they got me in for free ( I even got to wear the coveted exhibitor badge for a little while so I could come in early and stay late for break down).
I have to tell you, the gaming convention is way cool before and after hours. The booths are all empty and all the exhibitors are hanging out with the press and playing each others games. You sooooo wish you were as cool as me right now.
Anyway I started my time out with the CMON guys at their booth. Anna, Travis, Ross, and Kevin were great. I brought my Super Dungeon Explore stuff to demo with and I actually got tired of people saying I was a good painter. That's right, those are my minis in that case!
This is how you know you've made it.
When your miniatures end up in the Cool Mini or Not cases at a con.
Anyway I did rapid fire demos of Super dungeon explore and Relic Knights for people during my shifts. They seemed to enjoy it and I even got to kill a few Heroes (which if you are a consul player is one of the greater joys in life). We had some really great minis at the booth, and I even acquired a few relic knights minis.
You don't want to hear about my demos though, you want the hot cosplay girls right?
Ross got really excited when Jessica said Hi to him at the CMON booth.
But he had a fanboy moment so he didn't get a pic with her.
Rock Man and Roll mega babes.
Some Ghost Busters made an appearance too just in case any pesky ghouls were around. Good thing too considering the Stay Puft Marshmellow man was wandering around.
I ain't afraid of no ghost (Zombies are terrifying though!)
The video game area was always hopping. The league of Legends booth was packed to the brim with narrated battles on big screens and people wanting exclusive skins. I tracked down a few for my friends (since I don't play) and while doing so found $11 on the floor. Score! instant Karma, just add intentions.
I was really excited to play this game called "Dino Go Home" but it really let me down. So I headed over to the Nintendo booth and tried out Kid Icarus 3-D. Awesome. If I played anything more than Galaga on my 3DS I would probably buy it....
Kid Icarus here was a great cosplayer. F you Medusa!
The Aliens booth was pretty cool too.
I'd bring you more but I had a strict no lines policy at Pax
and there was a very large line.
There was a great vendor there too. I wanted to buy something from them but I just didn't have the funds. Go check out there T shirts and pins. My favorite is a Zelda shirt that looks like the cover to the Giving Tree. It has Link under the tree and it says "The Deku Tree". They are here.
Geek Chic was also there sporting, as usual, the most amazing furniture I have ever seen. I would never do their products justice so just go check it out.
Now the stuff I really want to talk about.
The gaming area. Wow. This place was packed all the time. I didn't really understand what Pax East meant to gaming distributors. Apparently it is primarily used to recruit new players to games. New demographic and all. Talking to the guys at Steve Jackson Games I learned they only lose money going to Pax East. They don't sell anything, they just go to demo. That is some powerful branding right there.
Speaking of Steve Jackson Games, it is rare that I can bring you a truly inside scoop but here it is!
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Ogre:
So Ogre was the very first game designed by Steve Jackson. He put it out in 1977. It is a two player game. One person controls a literal army and the other a single, very large ogre. They fight. It is epic. And everything in it (according to my sources) was very balanced.
Anyway Ogre is slated for release. It is going to be a $100 dollar game that is packed to the brim with stuff! In fact there is so much stuff in it currently that the company will be losing thousands of dollars. Steve doesn't care though, in fact, he loves the game so much he wants to put MORE in the box. It is probably even going to go up on kickstarter for all you fanboys who might want to help the game out. No matter what happens though, Ogre promises to be a good release and definitely worth the money you put into it. Sorry I don't have any pictures for you but it wasn't at the con. Here are some Dino Hunt dice though!
Dino Hunt, by Steve Jackson Games. Don't get stepped on.
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Guess who I got to meet at the con. Nope, wrong. I met David Sirlin! The master mind behind Yomi, Puzzle Strike and Flash Duel! This guy is like my board game hero. He is totally indy and takes great care to balance his games.
On that note I managed to observe the Puzzle Strike tournament where my friend did abysmally ( you know who you are :P ) and then I almost won the Yomi tournament with Setsuki- speed of the fox!
Ya it's from flash duel, wanna fight about it?
Sadly, I did not get a picture with Mr. Sirlin, he was only there Friday. Thankfully I did get him to sign my copy of Flash Duel!
Also got to demo Miskatonic School for Girls. Basically you and your friends at the all girl school are trying to stave off the insanity forced upon you by faculty who are actually poorly disguised elderich horrors. This was a fun quirky card game. It is a deck building game where your opponents basically build your deck. It's not a matter of who loses/goes insane, it's a matter of who does it the slowest. I had a great time playing this game and ended up with a copy utilizing my awesome connections.
You will lose your sanity. Just try to do it slower than others.
Well that was my time at Pax. I had a lot of fun, if you can get down to Pax East do it, it's definitly worth it if you don't spend all your time in line. As I was walking out the door (after helping to break down) I noticed this little gem of a cosplayer too.
So long until next year Pink Ranger. Fly that Pterodactyl Zord high.
One thing I learned while at Pax East was that I am, at my heart, a retro gamer. My favorite video game booth was the stand up arcade console booth. I got to play Galaga, Extreme Asteroids, as well as some others. All for free. Yup, the arcade experience for free, with no lines. Guess everyone else was too busy waiting in line to play the Assassin's Creed demo. Atari and NES forever.
Until Next time all you readers out there in Internet land, keep on gaming. Be it analogue or video, it's all good in the hood.
- Steve (Voltron is the better)
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