Editor's note: PAX East sounds like it was a ton of fun. But Pete thinks it's even more than that: He thinks it's a place that fanatical gamers can call "home." -James
I'm from the UK, and we don't really "do" conventions — at least not on the same scale as in the US. So I was both excited and terrified to make my way to PAX East, which was my first experience attending one. The last time I'd been to anything even vaguely similar was when I went to the European Computer Trade Show. To give you an idea of how long ago this was, Leeloo (from The Fifth Element) was a booth babe costume…yeah.
It's fair to say I wasn't sure what to expect at PAX. A number of my buddies had attended Seattle's PAX Prime and had been suitably enthusiastic about their experiences, and I knew that I really wanted to try and make it to Penny Arcade's geekfest. So I dropped everything — including my job — and flew off to Boston to nerd out for a weekend.
And I definitely didn't regret it.
As you may have guessed, this is a deeply personal gush about my first experience at a convention. I am not going to discuss individual games here — other people will see to that. This is all about how going to a convention as a noob feels like coming home.
Unfortunately, I missed Wil Wheaton's keynote speech. But since then, he's been kind enough to post some of the topics he discussed on his blog. One of the points he made that particularly resonated with me was this:
All of the things that make us weird and strange in the real world? Those things that people tease us for loving, those things that we seem to care about more than everyone else at work or school? Those things make us who we are, and when we’re at PAX, we don’t have to hide them or explain them or justify them to anyone; instead, we celebrate and share them.
We have come here this weekend, and we will go to PAX Prime in Seattle in August, and we will be back here in a year, and back there next year, and the year after, and the year after that, because just playing games isn’t nearly as fun as playing them – together – surrounded by thousands of people who love them as much as you do. The next 72 hours are going to go by faster than you realize, so make sure you stop and look around a few times every day and appreciate this time. It will be over before you know it.
I knew that I was going to have to savor every moment I was in Boston. My people surrounded me — people who understand and respect the thing that has interested me since I was a young boy. Games.
The most astonishing thing about PAX was the sheer number of people around who shared the same interests as me. About 60,000 people wandered around that convention center over the course of the weekend, and I didn't feel uncomfortable in the crowds even once — contrast this with the experience of a busy mall or a sports match where I'd want to leave immediately. Seeing other people interested in the same things as me — and who don't think discussing of the artistic merits of Heavy Rain is a boring conversation — was an incredible thing.
One of the best opportunities at PAX was the chance to hear numerous luminaries of the industry discuss their relevant specialities. The Death of Print and Podcasting for PR panels were particularly fascinating and insightful, and the screening of the interactive fiction documentary GET LAMP was both interesting and heartbreaking.
But by far the greatest thing was the opportunity to meet up with people who have only ever been online handles to me — and to have my suspicions that they are all awesome people confirmed. Online meet ups can be good or bad, and it's always a nerve-wracking experience to make the jump to face-to-face interaction — especially if you're flying several thousand miles to do it. But as Wil Wheaton said, everyone at PAX loves games, so everyone always has something to talk about — or Pokémon to trade.
Perhaps the closing ceremony best displayed this come-together feeling. It coincided with the end of the Omegathon games tournament that had taken place throughout the course of the weekend. Several thousand nerds sitting in a large theater and cheering at the top of their lungs for people playing Super Mario Bros. is the definition of what PAX is.
It does my heart good to know how many people support PAX because that means that gamers will always have a place to congregate and nerd out without shame. Even as gaming becomes more and more accepted by the mainstream, certain aspects of it will always be considered niche. It's important that people who enjoy games — from those who like a quick game of Modern Warfare 2 to the one person in the world who enjoyed Unlimited SaGa — have place to come together.
And for them, PAX is home.