PAX East 2023: Day One

My girlfriend says I move around a lot in my sleep. We thankfully own a king size bed, so I have lots of room to kick and not wake her up. There are two beds in our hotel room, and they are not king sized. Someone’s sleep is about to be ruined.

Fortunately, one call to Shaina and she suggests the correct solution: A roll-out cot and blankets that miraculously fits between the two beds. It only cost us $20. One wonders where the rest of our money really went if a cot was that cheap.

Thus ended our journey to Boston for PAX EAST 2023. I took the train again this year (worth every penny). Not only that, but I booked the same departure and return train with both Jay and Andrew, meaning I got to catch up with both of them during the long ride up.

I mostly got hypnotized by the passing scenery while Andrew got busy configuring a rats nest of wires to get his Steam Deck to play multiplayer games with Jay. Not five minutes after they got set up, the power reset on the train car and they lost controller connectivity. I wish I were joking.

It’s a cold Boston morning. The Dunkin’ Donuts is packed. All items requiring the oven have a long wait time. Andrew gets a coffee cake, Jay and I settle for a banana.

I’m not a line chaser, but since we’re waiting here for the con floor to open we figure we’ll check out the THQ Nordiq booth first. Jay gets hit in the face with a volleyball. I hate this line.

THQ Nordiq is showing off 5 games this year, and we’ve got time to try them all out:

• Wreckreation: The sequel to Dangerous Driving by none other than Alex “We’re only seven people” Ward of Burnout fame. It’s passable racing game but still lacks the charm of Burnout, in my opinion.
• Outcast 2: A sequel to some sort of cult classic game that Jay enjoyed. Open-world Mass Effect with a jetpack, glider, and a more light-hearted storyline.
• Untitled Train Game: This is, inexplicably, more like a Company of Heroes game and has absolutely nothing to do with trains.
• Tempest Rising: An RTS that feels like a replica of Command & Conquer 3. My only problem with it is that I’ve already played Command & Conquer 3.
• Alone in the Dark: This was the most appealing game at the booth, but the demo they chose was just the prologue, which is a walking simulator with some scripted button prompts. The end of the demo teased the actual gameplay and characters before cutting off. Still optimistic about how this might turn out.

While I’m there I spot Dead Island 2 at the booth next door. The con floor has only been open for 30 minutes, but a line has already formed around it.

Shit, I gambled on Dead Island 2 in our Fantasy Critic league and then got locked into the pick. The first game was a flop, so it was risky. I hate waking up early for the line, but is it worth actually trying out the game at the convention to see if I’m fucked ahead of time? Only time will tell.

I lose track of Jay and Andrew so I break for a pretzel and coffee then get in line for a panel on why the Nintendo Gamecube was the best console of all time. It feels good to sit. I spot Jay way ahead of me in line. Andrew soon joins me towards the back, but Jay saves us seats.

The panel is less a thesis on the console and more a nostalgia binge on all of the cool things it did. The second half is a “Top 15 Essential GameCube Games” list compiled partially by the panelists and then the audience.

I get in line to suggest Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, but its the second addition to the list and have to switch my suggestion. Time Splitters 2 is at the top of my mind. Jay suggests Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door and it makes the list.

The line gets cut two people ahead of me, anyway. The final list is more a hodge-podge of fan favorites than any sort of objective analysis, but that was already to be expected.

It’s time to break and wander. My first stop is a bathroom and then a spot to relax. It’s only 1pm and I’m ready for a nap.

While scoping out the con I pass by the Nintendo booth, the other big presence at the convention this year. Behemoth is also back. I should stop by there tomorrow and ask about Alien Hominid: Invasion, a game I played several years ago here at PAX which still hasn’t seen a release.

Alfred tells me that Dunkey is here at the con for his new publishing company Bigmode Games. I head their booth and don’t spot him, so I just get in line for their debut title Animal Well. It’s a MetroidVania title with tight controls and interesting puzzles. It was good, I liked it.

Just as I’m leaving, I hear another attendee mention Dunkey’s name. He’s actually a few feet from me. I consider grabbing a selfie with him (something I’ve enjoyed doing with developers in the past). But just as I approach him, another group swoops in and surrounds him, and asks me to take a photo of them together. Twice actually.

I reflect on how many times he’s going to be asked for a photo op this weekend and opt to simply say hi and congratulate him on his success. He seemed very delighted by all the attention, in spite of how shy he is supposed to be. By the way, he sounds exactly like he does in his videos.

Another rest, some more water. I feel like crap. These conventions are a young man’s game.

Randy is disappointed at the final Gamecube list from the panel. It’s missing a lot of essentials, and he’s right. Metroid Prime isn’t even on there. Resident Evil 4 isn’t on there. Both games just got remade and are two of the highest rated releases this year.

I wander into the indie game section and decide that I’ll save the exploration for tomorrow and hit up Devolver first. This year they’ve got a massive showpiece; they’ve gone from carpets and cabinets to an entire mock-up theatre. However, there are just three games to demo: Terra Nil, Cult of the Lamb: Relics of the Old Faith (DLC), and Angerfoot.

I never got around to Cult of the Lamb last year, so the DLC is no for me. Terra Nil was one of the highlights of my trip last year and I’m still eagerly anticipating it, but a replay is not worth waiting in line. So that just leaves Angerfoot, a game estimated for release later this year that I first heard about when Austin picked it for our Fantasy Critic league.

While in line I strike up conversation with the fellas ahead of me. One of them mentions a game called Gigabash where you fight as giant monsters (“Titans”). They just added Godzilla as a DLC character.

The 4-player local multiplayer sounds a lot like the chaotic rounds of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters! that Randy and I used to enjoy way back in middle (high?) school. This guy really enjoyed it. He also recommended Eastward, some sort of pixel RPG, from the Chucklefish booth next door.

Angerfoot is great. This game is fucking fun. It’s Hotline: Miami but in first person. Blink and you die sort of combat. There’s also a pounding bass line playing in the background, giving it a rhythm game vibe. The enemies dance when they kill you. Wise pick, Austin.

Just about the only bad thing I notice is that awfully overused Shining carpet that shows up everywhere now. I hate that god damn carpet.

Hmmm, what’s that familiar feeling kicking in? Is it nostalgia? Anticipation? No wait, it’s hypoglycemia.

A quick blood sugar check just before snacking shows I’ve been barely above board all afternoon. Turns out walking all day on just a banana and a pretzel isn’t great for a diabetic. No wonder I’ve felt like crap all afternoon… and here I thought I was just getting old and out of shape.

I buy a soda and some small tacos from a vendor downstairs for $6 each. I briefly reflect on how I used to buy the exact same tacos from a tiny cart in Jersey City for $2 a pop. Actually, I remember the Jersey City tacos tasting much better. At least it my blood sugar is rising again.

Just as I’m walking back to the con floor, I over hear another attendee say “I tried Dead Island 2, it was a lot of fun.” Maybe I’m not as fucked as I thought.

I also spot a cosplay for Doug Dimmadome (“owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome”) just as he cowboy walks up to a group of admirers. Dear lord, some people just take their cosplay to the next level.

Resolving my low blood sugar eats up the better part of my last hour here. I figure I have enough time to make a beeline for Gigabash, but without the name of the publisher I would need to look them up on Google and then hunt for their booth on the map. Too much effort, too last minute. It can wait until tomorrow.

Instead, I grab Castlevania Anniversary Collection from Limited Run for Alfred per his request. Great choice, honestly – that’s the exact game I bought for myself last year and its worth it if you intend to revisit the old games with some modern comforts (like save stating, for example).

Some retro game stores in the next row catch my eye, and I indulge in some window shopping with my last few minutes of time. Battalion Wars came up in conversation on our train ride. It’s apparently $200 for a factory-sealed copy….woof.

Well, I guess thats better than the $400 factory-sealed copy of Metroid Prime 2 sitting right next to it. I may be sucker for this stuff, but there’s something evil about never even opening a game because it would devalue a $400 investment. Yikes.

Interestingly, the VGNY store nearby is advertising physical copies of indie games. That’s exciting – I strive to buy physical copies of games over digital these days, but that can be hard to do when the only physical copy is a Limited Run print that’s been scooped and scalped for double its price. I discuss the problem of artificial scarcity with the vendor for a bit… it seems like we’re both on the same page.

And that’s the bell. The PAX Enforcers are insistent this year. Leave. Now. One of them is even waving some bells as he slowly pushes us down the aisle towards the exit, like some mystic of old chasing away evil spirits. I get the message, fellas. I’m going.

One final walk back to the hotel and I’m ready to eat and write. I nearly fall asleep on the cot back at the hotel room but think better of it. One debrief with Andrew and a phone call to Shaina later, and I’m finally at the bar awaiting a burger.

This year, I say, I’ll get an early start on the write-up. I won’t go to bed at 3am like last time, I say.

That went out the window when I struck up conversation with Jared and Eric sitting beside me, two guy who run their own sci-fi podcast and are returning to PAX East since their first visit in 2011.

Jared and Eric spent so much time discussing sci-fi that they considered recording and sharing that passion with the world, but were initially hesitant because of how crowded the space already was.

Thus The Crowded Space Podcast was born, and now they’re back at PAX East to check out sci-fi gaming and where its at these days. I can think of no other podcasts that got started this way. Especially not any that I’ve been a guest on or wrote scripts for.

2011 was the second year of PAX East. It also happened to be my own first time attending the convention. I told them about my blog and my write ups for the past, uh… 8 years? They were impressed with my passion and consistency. So impressed, in fact, that they suggested I could even do a panel next year covering “PAX: Now & Then” with 3 or 4 other long-time PAX attendees.

That is admittedly a very compelling idea. My writing and experience certainly wouldn’t cover every memorable thing that has happened here since 2010, but with the right set of panelists and some research and fact-checking, we could come up with something pretty decent. It probably wouldn’t make the primetime 7pm slot, but I’d settle for even a mildly attended mid-afternoon panel.

It would be impossible to even paraphrase everything else we discussed without writing until dawn. We talked about the state of reboots and remakes in both the gaming and film industries, topics they’ve covered on their podcast, good finds at the con, and pursuing creative endeavors in general.

“This is the last thing I have to say”. Then 30 more minutes go by. Then another. And another.

I practically had to peel myself away from the conversation at 10pm to get started on this write-up or risk being up until 3am yet again. Not that I did myself much good – It’s already late and I’ve got a funny feeling history is about to repeat itself.

A short list of things to revisit tomorrow:

• Dead Island 2: To see if my Fantasy Critic gamble will actually pay off.
• Gigabash: On the recommendation of a fellow congoer.
• Eastward: Per the same congoer.
• The Nintendo Booth: Not super invested in what I might see there, but it seems worth visiting as the other big presence at the con this year.
• The Behemoth Booth: Ask about Alien Hominid: Invasion?

Other than that, I expect I’ll be wandering most of tomorrow. Hit every open booth that I can. Fingers crossed I stumble upon a gem!