Preamble
With Day 1 ending like it did, it wasn’t easy waking up for Day 2. Despite my hangover however, I managed to get myself out of bed to venture out into the brisk Boston winter weather to find a massive coffee and some doughnuts from Dunkin’ D. Once this quest was complete I was promptly on my way back to the convention center.
Day 2
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| My view from outside the hostel I was staying in. You can't see it, but there's a Dunkin' D down there! |
Games Journalism
I started the day with a journalism panel entitled Why would you WANT to be a video game journalist? featuring big wig journalism representatives from various games industry publications. The panelists were as follows:
Justin McElroy - Managing Editor - Polygon
Dale North - Editor-in-Chief - Destuctoid
Kyle Orland - Senior Gaming Editor - Ars Technica
Jason Schreier - Writer - Kotaku
Dennis Scimeca - Freelance Writer
Alexander Sliwinski - News Editor - Joystiq
There were the normal soft ball questions to panel members regarding how they first got into the industry, what keeps them going, and how they like it. And then there were a variety of questions investigating the “not so fun” parts of the job.
The majority of panelists seemed to say that the combination of viscous inter-publication politics, the breadth of news and games there are to report on, and the furious pace at which they work at to keep up are the main detriments of the job.
One part of the panel I found of particular interest was when someone on Twitter asked how often they still play games, for personal enjoyment, not for work. I think all but one of the panelists claimed that they almost never play games in their free time. This was always something I wondered about when I thought about entering the industry; “Will I still have time to be a consumer of this media? Will I even want to?” I’m sure it’s different for each individual, but this panel seemed to confirm that once you start working on this stuff for a living, you almost always sacrifice it as a personal hobby.
On the Floor
Up until this point, I had only looked at the Exhibition Hall from a distance, so when I saw there was a lull in interesting panels midday Day 2, I jumped into the madness that is the Exhibition Hall.
Overall, the hall was very similar to other PAX events that I’d been to in Seattle. Massive, elaborate booths, with 2-3 hour lines to play the AAA games. This year there seemed to be an exception... the indie area! The indie scene is always decent at PAX Prime in Seattle, but the turnout here at PAX East was unlike any I’d seen before. I didn’t do any real measurements, but it felt like a good 1/3 of the Expo hall was filled with indie titles.
I was hugely impressed with the indie turnout, and because there was so much to see, I spent most of my expo time roaming around this area. Far too many good looking games to name, so I’m just going to mention the ones that I actually got my hands on.
Charlie Murder
From the team that brought us The Dishwasher games comes a 4 player co-op RPG brawler brimming with punk rock style. It was really cool to meet the Ska Studios team which is comprised of the husband and wife duo, James and Michelle. They were super nice, and I was blown away by the quality of games they've managed to produce with just two people. I loved the Dishwasher games, and once I got my hands on Charlie Murder, I knew it wasn't going to disappoint. Keep an eye out for this if you're a brawler fan!
Bootsnake Tactics Prototype
Bootsnake Games came out of nowhere last year with their hit puzzle game Containment. This year, they are showing off a new project that has been in the works for only a few months, and doesn't even have a name! It's an ambitious project that can only be described as a hybrid between the latest XCOM, FTL: Faster Than Light, and Sid Meiers: Pirates. Needless to say, I could have sat there all day playing what they had at their booth, and it was very early in production. This is going to be one to keep your eye on. Also, I drank with the Staltman brothers who own this company, and they're awesome! Support these guys!
Mercenary Kings
After a great Kickstarter campaign last year, Tribute Games' new title Mercenary Kings looks to be shaping up quite nicely. In short, it's a co-op 2D action game with an emphasis on crafting and weapons. I'll definitely be picking this one up on release for a great looking co-op multiplayer experience.
El Chupacabra
From Asinine Games comes a comical action platformer for iOS devices. I really wanted to like this game as I played it on the display iPad, and maybe it was the clunky case on the device that was detracting from the experience, but the game did not seem good to me. Great idea and hilarious concept, but we'll have to wait and see if Asinine will clean this up before release. It seemed very unfinished and rigid to me.
Shovel Knight
Another Kickstarter game (currently being funded!) that looks to be coming along wonderfully. Shovel Knight, an 8-bit mash-up of Mega Man, Castlevania, and Dark Souls. If that combination gets you excited, then definitely keep an eye out for this game. The classic art mixed with the shovelrous mechanics looks like a blast. Looking forward to playing this one on my 3DS!
TGS Live Podcast
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| TotalBiscuit was taking a picture of me... So I took a picture of him! |
I spent the last of Day 2 watching the TGS Live Podcast, which I was a little skeptical of at first, but turned out to be one of the coolest PAX panels I've ever been to. I walked by the theater about an hour before the panel and the line was already overflowing out of the initial queue room. The line kept growing and growing and growing. I'm glad I got there when I did, because there were a large number of people who got turned away from the event altogether.
As excited as all of us in the audience were to see the TGS crew, the coolest thing was seeing just how blown away John (TB), Jesse, and Dodger were by the turnout. The place was PACKED and they were super excited about it.
The podcast was far shorter than there usual 3+ hour ramblings, but it was still awesome. The topics were gaming (obviously), YouTube content creation, and then of course some questions from the audience. It wasn't all that informative of a podcast, but it was downright entertaining. Classic back and forth between Jesse and TB mixed with audience participation made for a great show. All the while, the excitement and happiness on the TGS crews' faces truly made the experience of being there special.
If you're interested in watching, you can see it here... See if you can find The Thomp!
Conclusion
With that, Day 2 was brought to an end. The remainder of the night was spent attempting to get into the Curse - Wildstar After Party, which required us to stand out in the freezing Boston weather for hours, and thus did not happen.
It turned out to be a blessing though. My group randomly ran into the Bootsnake Games crew again, who we had a few drinks with. I then had a random encounter with Justin Amirkhani, the writer who hitchhiked across the country visiting game developers (see Day 1 post). We then ended the night partying with a bunch of Eclipse-con goers from Germany (the leader of which had worked with one of my professors at U of A!).
Lesson of the day: It's a small world, and when plans fall through, the things that happen as a result can be even better!
Day 3 coming soon...
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