It's day two of PAX East 2011, and I'm standing in line with my friend Jon waiting to play some brutal action of the latest Mortal Kombat. The line is mercifully short since the booth attendants limit people to one match at a time.
A guy ahead of me nudges my shoulder. “Isn't that Morgan Webb?” he asks, pointing across the booth.
I nod and note that Adam Sessler is standing right next to her. The two hosts of X-Play talk with mics in hand and a camera rolling nearby. Even though I'm starstruck, my mind is still focused on the game I'm minutes away from playing.
That and the giant Pikachu hanging from the ceiling across the show floor. I fish around my bag looking for my Sony Cybershot to take a picture of it, but after several minutes I'm unable to find the camera.
"Shit," I say to Jon. “I think I left my camera at the handheld lounge.”
“What are you going to do now?” he asks.
I shrug. “Go back and see if I can find it," I say. "Right after a quick match, of course.” Clearly, I have my priorities straight at this place.
Mortal Kombat
If you have any reservations on the latest Mortal Kombat entry insofar as to the level of brutality it will offer, you can put your mind at ease. Developer NetherRealm Studios and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment understand what the fans crave: bone-snapping moves, gallons of glorious red vino, and plenty of familiar faces to uppercut.
The attendant waves my friend and I forward and places us right in front of an actual arcade cabinet, much to my friend's chagrin. “This is going to be an easy win,” I think to myself. “Jon never plays using arcade sticks.” The two of us choose our character. I pick Kung Lao, my go-to Shaolin badass, while Jon takes the mysterious Noob Saibot. I grin when I hear the familiar “Toasty!” sound clip play when Noob is selected — a nice touch! Before I can reminisce any further, however, the fight begins, and my friend launches into a frenzy of button mashing.
Poor Kung Lao is overwhelmed by the onslaught; nothing can stop the shadowy figure Jon controls. By the time I get my bearings (and remember that MK uses a block button), the first round is over.
“How did you do some of those moves?” I ask Jon.
“Beats me,” he says with a sheepish grin. “I'm just pressing the buttons.”
That cheap bastard!
Round two starts in much the same manner, but this time I join in on the asynchronous attacks. The match is closer and tighter, even though the two of us are “playing it wrong.” Within a few moves, I toss Lao's death hat right into Noob's stupid chest. The hat flies into the foreground of the screen followed by a trail of blood.
I'm feeling confident. I might have a chance to win this thing.
Then Jon breaks out a button combination that ruins any delusions of grandeur I have.
The camera pans and zooms to Noob Saibot punching Kung Lao in the shoulder — an X-ray view that shows the bone-crunching details — followed by another back-breaking punch by Noob's shadow clone, and then another punch to the gut from the real assailant. Lao doubles forward in pain, spewing forth a stream hazy brown and yellow vomit.
“Ewww! Did you see that? He just puked all over my character,” Jon laughs.
I can't help but share in the cheers my misery. A few short jabs later, the iconic words “Finish Him” pop up, and Jon ends the battle with a stiff uppercut. The two of us are all smiles despite the fact I lost battle and still need to find my camera.
“Come on. Let's hurry back to those beanbags. Maybe my camera is still there,” I say to Jon.
It's day one of PAX East, and I'm standing alone at the Boston Convention Center. Outside the weather is so foggy no one can see the city from the windows. The expo floor has just opened its flood gates, and eager gamers surge forward to form snaking lines for the hottest games. Almost every major preview event is full: L.A. Noire, Portal 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and so forth. The sensory overload makes my head spin like a top.
Just then, a small kiosk catches my eye. I do a double take. The small blue device looks like a 3DS, but how is that possible? Not a soul is even fiddling with the 3D slider or analog stick. So faster than the Roadrunner to bird seed, my sweaty palms finally hold the latest kit from Nintendo, packed with Capcom's new shiny blood sport, Super Street Fighter 4 3D Edition.
Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition
My mad dash to the open kiosk grabs the attention of another onlooker. In a matter of moments, the two of us are locked in combat. My opponent goes with the standard choice of Ryu, while I take a chance with Cody.
The on-screen action looks very smooth from my end. I'm no frame counter, but I don't see that much of a drop during the fight. My left thumb shifts between the D-pad and the analog stick. I guess my brain can't decide which is more comfortable. Even on a fighter such as this, the two both feel just right.
Still, my Cody is getting his ass beaten by Ryu. I should have went with someone I knew the move set to.
The kiosk worker hints to me that you can use the touch screen for quick special moves. Unfortunately, my adversary heard the tip, too, and before I can pull off an attack, he beats my character down in a fury of kicks and uppercuts.
Even though I'm soundly defeated, I'm glad to simply spend a few minutes with the 3DS. I shake hands with my opponent, then go to find the nearest hand-sanitizer station.
Back on day two, I'm frantically tossing aside the multicolored Sumo Lounge beanbags in search of my missing camera. As I reach the bottom of the pile, I near the point of abandoning all hope.
“You sure this was the spot we stopped by this morning?” Jon asks. I nod.
There's only one last place left to look: PAX East Enforcer desk for the handheld lounge.
“Excuse me,” I say to the two red-shirted Enforcers, “I lost my camera when I was here earlier today. Did anyone happen to turn it in?”
The two of them give each other a sideways glance. “What does it look like?” one of them inquires.
“It's a Sony camera, in a black case. Kinda small, gray….” Before I can finish, the guy hands me a black case. “Holy crap! That's it!” I thank them and head back over to Jon.
“I can't believe you found your camera!" he laughs. "If this was any other type of event, you would've been screwed.”
He makes a good point. If I had lost my camera at some other event, I probably wouldn't have even bothered to look. But the gamers, cosplayers, and other self-proclaimed nerds who attend PAX have their hearts in the right place.
So to the person who found my camera and decided to turn it in: Thank you! Thank you very much!