This blog is a bit late, but it's been a busy week, and that aside, I wanted to let the experiences of PAX settle in before writing about them.  Of course, now I'm going to forget details, but c'est la vie.

I'll start by saying that there was a situation with my hotel reservations, which is a long story that I will sum up by saying I didn't have a room, and thus almost didn't go to PAX at all.  I tried to cancel my flights, but couldn't get a refund, so I ended up asking my coworkers, who were going up there to speak on a panel, if I could crash on their floor.  Pretty fucking awesome, right? 

They said no problem, and so, reluctantly, I went.

As it turns out, it was one of the best decisions I've made in a while.  The only way I can sum up the entire weekend is: fucking incredible.

Pwned Crew

First and foremost, I'd like to say thanks to Andy, Mike, and Mark, who are all great guys and all behind this fantastic site.  I spent a lot of my time at PAX with them, and to be honest, the entire experience wouldn't have been half of what it was if I hadn't.  Thanks again for some good memories :)

My new profile pic and Andy's new profile pic were taken in a club called The Last Supper, where CCP threw their anticipated party.  For those of you unfamiliar with CCP, they are the developers of EVE online, and now the White Wolf MMO.  When they throw parties, though, they really don't have anything to do with their games.  They are more a declaration of how they throw the best parties in the industry. 

And I had heard that about them prior to the party, so my expectations were high, and I can say that they were certainly met and exceeded.  The club itself was cool, the show was pretty crazy (check out my videos), and the drinks were free.  I met quite a few people there that I'm anxious to see again at the next event, too, which brings me to...

Charisma + 2

We had the pleasure of meeting Yvonna and Adelle at the CCP party (thanks Mark for bugging them until they showed up!), who are two intelligent, beautiful, and driven women - I'm looking forward to seeing what Charisma + 2 accomplishes in the future.  Check them out at http://www.charismaplus2.com/.

Starcraft 2

This was honestly the only game I was genuinely excited to see and play, and somehow I didn't get around to actually waiting in their booth until the final day.  The line took 30 minutes or so for me to get to play the first time, and I got cocky and threw the difficulty to Medium AI, because, you know, it's medium.  I should wreck it, right?  Right?

So everyone behind me in line watched me play it like a cocky asshat and early expand as protoss, which the AI exploited by rushing me out with a pack of marines.  So, frustrated and embarassed, I fell to the back of the line and waited another 45 minutes to play again without being a stupid jackass.  The second time around, I played Terran just to experience another race (and because I'd been watching mostly zerg for those 45 minutes).

Both protoss and terran felt exactly like they did in the original Starcraft, which made me want to cry tears of joy - I mean, we've only been waiting 11 years for this sequel.  But, every race has a super unit (Terran = Thor, Zerg = Queen, Protoss = Mothership), and from a balance & design standpoint, that concerns me.  I like RTS games with a solid level of macro-strategy but with a really high potential for battle outcomes to be swayed by micro-management ("uber micro").   RTS games with super-units or super-weapons usually fall apart into races for said units or super-weapons, and after seeing the Thor in action, Starcraft 2 seems to be adopting that, which is too bad.  I hope that when the game hits retail, these units are either really expensive/slow to build, such that we rarely ever see them in actual games, or they're taken out of multiplayer entirely and left for the single player campaign.

The game was a little rough around the edges, but that's to be expected with a late-alpha/really early beta.  It would chop up when scrolling, and targeting individual units by clicking on them was almost impossible.  Players had to drag boxes around units, even single units, to target them, but I can say with complete confidence that they will never leave the targeting that frustrating.  They'd have all of Korea sailing over here to storm Irvine, CA.

Fallout 3

I'm a huge fallout fan, so don't get me wrong above when I said Starcraft 2 was the only game I was genuinely excited to see and play.  I think I went into PAX less than enthused about Fallout 3 because I wasn't sold on the new twist to the gameplay.  I really liked it as an RPG. 

But, after watching people play it ('cause there was no fucking way I was waiting in more lines like I had at Blizzard's booth), I have to say I'm pretty pumped to get it.  It looked good (some of the animations aside), and the gameplay looked really fun.

Guitar Hero: World Tour

I didn't know this would be there, since I did no research what games would be presented at all, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it.  I love Guitar Hero, and I don't like Rock Band.  But, whenever I play with other people, of course they want to stick to Rock Band so that more people can play.  So, God bless Activision for giving us a game that incorporates the drums and mic while keeping the fucking guitar fun to play. 

At this booth we also had StarSlay3r, dressed up as Judy Nails, beating the shit out of player after player in a head-to-head competition.  That was fun to watch, and Andy and Mike convinced me to play her, which, of course, would have been a huge mistake if I were a sore loser.  My ego's just about fully recovered, though, so don't worry.

We also got to watch Tempest Fox take up the mic on the big stage they had set up there and flip the fuck out.  Check out my videos to see what I'm talking about - it was hilarious.

Mega 64

I'm not into Mega 64, to be honest, but I hung out with Kyle a bit at their booth, and they seem like they are genuinely funny.  Their booth had a wheel that people could spin, and depending on where the needle landed, they'd have to do various things, like freestyle rap in front of everyone, or take off their shirt and exchange it for another shirt, or get their photo taken for the Mega64 site I guess.  I'm not going to lie - I didn't have the balls to spin the wheel.  I had my Pwned shirt on, and hell if I was going to trade it for their crap ;)

Panels

I didn't go to as many of the panels I would have liked, but the ones I did go to were informative and/or entertaining.  I think that the complete focus on the consumer is what will keep PAX growing and rocking year after year.  Every last inch of the convention is tailored towards the gamers, so when it comes to panels, they were there to teach gamers important things like how to get into the industry, how to get their girlfriends into gaming, giving them a chance to pitch their game ideas (and have them eviscerated in front of a lot of people), etc.

Anyway, the days of the convention itself are a blur.  All I remember is enjoying every minute of it.  I'll close by giving some shout-outs to the people I hadn't met until PAX, and then I'll link some pictures and the videos I've uploaded:

Kyle - We've been keeping it on the real on vent and in WoW for a while.  It was good to finally meet you, for sure.  But remember: bros before hos.

Matt (aka: Cliath) - You're a silly bitch when you get drunk.  Watching you actually get up on the stage at The Last Supper and dance with the girl was one of my favorite moments of the entire trip, to be sure.

CiJi (aka: StarSlay3r) - I didn't have any idea I'd meet you at PAX, or play you in GH (and get my ass kicked), but I'm glad I did.  Your outfit and what you did for Activision at their booth was brilliant.  I know you work your ass off to get to where you want to be - don't ever give up :)

Dave (aka: Tempest Fox) - I had no idea I'd meet you, either, but watching you scream at the top of your lungs on Guitar Hero: World Tour had everyone around going "O.O" which, of course, had me laughing.  They didn't know what they were in for, and neither did I.  Thanks :)

Pics & Videos

Our beloved Andy in The Last Supper club in Seattle:

http://www.xenogenic.net/PAX2008/AndyInLastSupper.jpg

Cliath's tattoo he got from spinning the Mega64 wheel:

http://www.xenogenic.net/PAX2008/CliathTattoo.jpg

Me, Mike (G-NITRO), Andy, Tempest Fox, and StarSlay3r:

http://www.xenogenic.net/PAX2008/MeAndyMikeFoxCiJi.jpg

Starcraft 2 booth:

http://www.xenogenic.net/PAX2008/Starcraft.jpg

StarSlay3r taking care of another victim:

http://www.xenogenic.net/PAX2008/Starslayer.jpg

Visit my videos on my profile for videos of the CCP party, Tempest Fox & StarSlay3r rocking out, Cliath spinning the wheel, Cliath dancing with an alien, and more.

Thanks for reading.   Take care of yourselves.