It feels pretty familiar after the first time I went last year. Lots of games, lots of cosplay, and a very positive environment all around. This is the gaming community that I know and love and I wouldn't trade it in for anything in the world.
The first day was mostly just scoping the place out. I didn't get to go to many panels as I would have liked, but being the first day of PAX and having so much to look at, I would have rather familiarize myself with the layout first before anything else.
The expo hall was not to disappoint. So many awesome games on display in both the major retail and indie fields. Games like Boarderlands The Pre-Sequal, Watch Dogs, Wildstar, and Wolfenstien: The New Order. But that's not all as some developers like to come in later in the convention and show off games, so it's not always the same games twice.
Of course what is a convention without some celebrity sightings, or in this case, more from the YouTube front. I got to hang out a bit with slowbeef and Diabetus from Retsupurae, and other members of the Something Awful LP forums like Psychedelic Eyeball (making his first public appearance), and thevoiceofdog. My first run in just happened to be on the street before I even entered the convention building, and that was with James Portnow from Extra Credits fame (also professor of DigiPen Institute). While heading out of the expo hall I caught Jerry Holkins, one of the co-founders of Penny Arcade. I'm sure I'll be seeing these guys and more later on and will keep you posted. I had also met a good friend who I've known for roughly 7 years for the first time. We met over the MMO, Audition Online Dance Battle. It was a really nice meetup to say the least, and because we live pretty close I'm hoping we'll get to hang out more often.
Lastly there were the variety of games found in the classic console and console free play rooms. Most of my time was spent in the classic console room where they has a challenge station setup for beating the first level of Super Mario Bros 3 in the fastest time. Me and a couple other guys took turns perfecting the route and managed to get the ingame timer down to 291. Points were also included if there was ever a tie in matching the fastest time. I managed to tie the record both in time and points, and got very close to beating it at one point, but unfortunately it was getting late and I had to catch the train back to my hotel room. I also had the privilege to play against slowbeef at Street Fighter Alpha 3. He wasn't real great at fighting games but he did manage to get a 5 win streak before some who supposedly hasn't played the game managed to beat him. Later on I managed to get a turn in and beat him fairly easy. I felt a little sorry since my recent developed fighting skills with DOA were sort of carrying over to Street Fighter despite the difference between a 2D and 3D fighting game.
That just about sums up my first day at PAX East. Total blast to see the passion of gaming not be dead despite all the media saying otherwise. Hopefully the next two recaps won't be as long winded, but that just goes to show my excitement when it comes to a gaming convention.
