PAX East 2012 Round-up

Over the weekend I attended one of the biggest gaming conventions in North America, The Penny Arcade Expo aka PAX East.

So what exactly is PAX?

PAX is for the fans. It’s a place where the biggest gaming developers give you a chance to get your hands on the industry’s most anticipated titles before anyone else and you would not believe what people are willing to do for the privilege. Shaved heads, real tattoos, and dance competitions are just a few of the hoops I witnessed people jumping through for free games, beta keys, special in-game items, and SWAG!

More below.

Brief History:

In 2004, the folks at Penny Arcade decided they wanted a show exclusively for gaming. Sure, comics, anime, and other nerd hobbies were cool, and those activities all had their own shows… so what about games? From that idea spawned a small 4,500 person event in Bellevue, Washington, focused on the culture and community that is gaming.

Since then, the show hasn’t looked back. Doubling in size each year until venue capacities were reached, in 2010 the show expanded into Boston for PAX East, drawing tens of thousands of attendees in the inaugural year. The shows in Seattle and Boston represent the two largest gaming events in North America!

Out of all the conventions I’ve attended this one was the most intense. Aside from the amazing costumes and behemoth sized booths PAX also offered a wide array of interesting panels, tournaments, LAN parties, and concerts. Three days was not enough time to see everything PAX East had to offer but I damn sure made it my mission to try. Protomen, MC Frontalot, Video Game Orchestra, Jonathan Coulton, and Metroid Metal were some of the bands that blew the roof off the convention. Unfortunately, I was too damn exhausted from walking the show floor all day to actually attend the late night concerts but from what I hear they were goddamn epic.

My favorite part? Break dancing zombies.

Even with the marathon line-ups I got a chance to check out Borderlands 2, Lollipop Chainsaw, and The Secret World. You can check out my mini pre-review of Lollipop Chainsaw, here.

Bottom line, PAX East was a ton of fun and I can’t wait to go back. See you next year!