©2009 Jennifer Diane Reitz
All rights reserved worldwide
PAX 2009
Here is my visit to
When Eldenath and I arrived in Seattle, we found the line already in
progress, and it was immense. The line of people waiting to be admitted wound around the grounds of the convention center like a great Amazonian python, the longest line I have ever seen in my life, including my trips to E3.
I found out later that over 50,000 people went to this PAX.
The most amazing thing always was that everyone was utterly polite and nice. I've never seen such a thing in such a situation before, ever.
This is only the tiniest portion of the line, perhaps a fiftieth part of the whole.
It was beyond long.
Despite this, when it finally moved, it moved quickly, much to my surprise!
Everwhere in PAX were thoughtful touches designed to make the experience better; this was one of the buskers -performers- provided to entertain us while we waited in line.
This man's schtick was to play samples from videogame soundtracks, asking the audience to try to guess the games the tunes came from. I recall the theme from M.U.L.E. as one that made my ears perk up; these people know their games.
This sort of thing really helped while waiting in line.
The line went on, and on, and on...
Once in the doors, things really started moving. I have never seen a people move in as rapid and orderly fashion ever. By this time I had walked more than I usually do in an entire month, and I was already exhausted. I had to stop many times, and many times I checked my heart rate. Since my heart attack,
I never feel confident in such situations.
That blue screen you can see in the background was another nice touch, it had comedic images, writings and parody bits playing on it, all related to games. Just another way they made things more entertaining!
Inside the exhibitor room, things looked more than a little like E3, which is just fine with me. However, it was much better - the people from the game companies were nicer, and seemed happier. There were no corporate executives acting like asshats, and no jerks in suits. Just people who loved making games being excited to share with the people who love and buy their work.
The emotional feeling was just really incredibly good.
