A poem written by my dad, who attended PAX this year along with my brother and I. Thought that this would be as good a place as any to post this:
PAX 2009
Once upon a Gamer's urging, tens of thousands were converging,
To a sleepless ocean hamlet, in numbers never seen before.
I was there with schedule mapping, while my sons their DS tapping,
In the Queue Room with Gamer's clapping, clapping echoes from the floor,
High five's were constantly slapping, gathered there amongst the hardcore,
There was this, and so much more.
Once released the crowds did scatter, for where to start made no matter,
Exhibitor booths left and right, games aplenty you can't ignore.
We played them all as no tomorrow, last in line and filled with sorrow,
Yet knowing that there was tomorrow, made it worth the waiting for.
Off we went to lunch then panels, six levels waiting to explore,
This is what we had come for.
Movie and concerts filled the night, so little sleep yet such delight,
Morning light renewed our passion, after crumpets down by the shore.
Back again to resume our quest, on to the Expo Hall with zest,
My gaming talents - none impressed, aimless wandering on the floor.
Since I came to hang with my sons, not a gamer was I before.
Here to bond and nothing more.
But in the weekend rapid blur, a strange conversion did occur,
Immersed among the fervent crowds, and thrust into this gaming lore,
I could not help but seeing, gaming captures the human being,
To that I found myself agreeing, that gaming was so much more,
Could this be the gaming fever, the fever I could not ignore?
No, 'twas Swine Flu - nothing more!
We should have a Kotaku parade up to PAX East... Just rent a bus and pick up any kotaku readers wanting to go to boston. (People on the I-95 Corridor anyway)
Wait, if the badges sold out and only around 60,000 people were there, does that mean that 15,000 pre-paid attendees didn't show up or that they estimated for 15,000 more people than were officially allowed to come?
Maybe my comprehension is getting worse in my old age, but it seems that a lot of gaming news, on Kotaku and other sites is pretty poor when it comes to clarity.
And yet only a few hundred got Swine Flu. Put in perspective like that, PAX flu was probably only a threat to the fine folks actually at presentation booths.
@Archaotic: Yeah. And they're presenters. They've got booths and everything. I even heard they had something or another to do with the set-up for the con.
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Edited by WhiteMage Says Fix the Promotion System at 09/12/09 5:35 PM
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@Theoutlet: Oh, I guess it's just...poor writing, then. It doesnt make sense to say "While" in that sentence, unless you also include the information that it's less than expected.
Wouldn't "Despite being less than expected, it's still taken as a strong showing, going slightly over last year's attendance" make more sense?
I was having trouble understanding what was being said, is all.
@Ad-hominem: But if they sold out, how could they have not reached the desired benchmarks? If they couldn't sell 75k tickets, then who was estimating that attendance figure?
While everyone knows PAX is awesome, we also know that it is dangerously getting overcrowded....
I love that we can get such a great community together and it's really a great time. But the sheer amount of people will start to make things go downhill.
@Deus-Ex: I have been to both E3 and PAX the last 3 years and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that PAX is 100x better than E3.
PAX is about geek culture while E3 is about business and bullshit. Big companies like Blizzard were exclusively at PAX. They aren't part of the ESA any longer and won't be at E3.
In a couple of years, developers will be using PAX exclusively instead of PAX for their big announcements.
I live like 4 T stops from Hynes right now. I doubt I will next year, though, so I'm not gonna pre-register until I know where I'm living in March '10. Oh well.
09/12/09
PAX 2009
Once upon a Gamer's urging, tens of thousands were converging,
To a sleepless ocean hamlet, in numbers never seen before.
I was there with schedule mapping, while my sons their DS tapping,
In the Queue Room with Gamer's clapping, clapping echoes from the floor,
High five's were constantly slapping, gathered there amongst the hardcore,
There was this, and so much more.
Once released the crowds did scatter, for where to start made no matter,
Exhibitor booths left and right, games aplenty you can't ignore.
We played them all as no tomorrow, last in line and filled with sorrow,
Yet knowing that there was tomorrow, made it worth the waiting for.
Off we went to lunch then panels, six levels waiting to explore,
This is what we had come for.
Movie and concerts filled the night, so little sleep yet such delight,
Morning light renewed our passion, after crumpets down by the shore.
Back again to resume our quest, on to the Expo Hall with zest,
My gaming talents - none impressed, aimless wandering on the floor.
Since I came to hang with my sons, not a gamer was I before.
Here to bond and nothing more.
But in the weekend rapid blur, a strange conversion did occur,
Immersed among the fervent crowds, and thrust into this gaming lore,
I could not help but seeing, gaming captures the human being,
To that I found myself agreeing, that gaming was so much more,
Could this be the gaming fever, the fever I could not ignore?
No, 'twas Swine Flu - nothing more!
09/13/09
09/12/09
Fahey can drive.
09/12/09
Maybe my comprehension is getting worse in my old age, but it seems that a lot of gaming news, on Kotaku and other sites is pretty poor when it comes to clarity.
09/12/09
09/12/09
And they're not real people, right?
09/12/09
09/12/09
09/12/09
It and Comic Con seem like the only conventions worth going to as a fan/consumer.
09/12/09
I don't understand why it wouldn't be taken as a strong showing if it's more than last year...Is that a grammar error?
09/12/09
09/12/09
From PAX '08 to PAX '09, they only had a growth of 2,000 attendees. Projected attendance was much higher. So, it could be considered a slight failure.
However, the showing was still strong, despite the fact that it didn't reach the desired benchmarks.
09/12/09
Wouldn't "Despite being less than expected, it's still taken as a strong showing, going slightly over last year's attendance" make more sense?
I was having trouble understanding what was being said, is all.
09/12/09
My mistake.
09/12/09
09/12/09
That's not how economies work.
Just because the benchmark isn't possible doesn't mean people won't project to that number.
09/12/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
PAX, E3, and GDC all have their purpose and are each geared toward specific areas.
As a general gamer, E3 is the most exciting because that's where all the great announcements come.
GDC is a great place for developers that know each other to get along and swap stories.
PAX is just an awesome celebration of games and their fanbases... and I wouldn't have it any other way. (More room would be awesome though :))
04/23/09
04/23/09
i am SO THERE.
(i'll be there regardless, though, so this works out nicely.)
04/23/09
I love that we can get such a great community together and it's really a great time. But the sheer amount of people will start to make things go downhill.
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
yeah he's right. Just because they screwed up once or twice doesn't mean it sucks.
04/23/09
04/23/09
PAX is about geek culture while E3 is about business and bullshit. Big companies like Blizzard were exclusively at PAX. They aren't part of the ESA any longer and won't be at E3.
In a couple of years, developers will be using PAX exclusively instead of PAX for their big announcements.
04/03/09
04/03/09