Gaming Keyword
SAX, bag stuffing fun
About a week before PAX is SAX. SAX is a day of bag stuffing, pizzas, introductions and hilarity.
This year the Enforcers banded together in production lines to stuff flyers, tshirts, buttons and other junk into over 20,000 swag bags to be handed out to attendees at the Expo. The stuffing started at 9am and didn’t finish until about 7pm, with only a small break in the middle which was staggered to allow people to grab some pizza.
While monotonous the activity was great fun and once your brain had fallen into a pattern of grab, stuff, pass it was easy to chat with those around you. Meeting so many new people all striving for a common goal was a great way to get to know the people I would be working with pretty much non stop for a week at the convention.
Next time you grab greedily at the bags handed to you at your next convention give a thought to the many hands that went into making sure you got all your stupid vouchers!
PAX 2009
I have been following the development of Penny Arcade Expo for many years. Created by Mike and Jerry from the webcomic Penny Arcade it is a convention by gamers, for gamers. This years convention, held between the 4th and 6th of September was attended by over 60,000 people making it their biggest yet.
Pretty much this whole adventure has been leading up to PAX. I mentioned it in the About the Odyssey section right at the start of the trip and have been excited about it since. I bought my pass well in advance, even before they were officially on sale and spent many hours reading and re-reading my ticket receipt, counting the days until I would be in Seattle and at the con.
I worked as an Enforcer (more on this later) at the Expo which gave me a great behind the scenes look at the whole convention from setup until tear down. I have never worked a more rewarding and exciting job. My main role was to be in Info Booth, helping attendees, VIPs and assorted other people who need help with what ever I could offer. We managed Lost and Found, handled checking in other Enforcers, gave advice where ever appropriate and generally looked after the welfare of the attendees.
I didn’t really see much of the convention per-se. I was working most of the time out of choice because I enjoyed it so much. I did wander about the convention a few times though talking to people and checking out new games. Brutal Legend looks great, as does Dantes Inferno, Diablo III and Star Craft II. I had a go on the PSPGo which was surprisingly light and looked at the new PS3 Slim, which is pretty much the same “size” as the PS3 Phat, just thinner. I helped Tim Schafer find his way to his booth, talked to people from Microsoft and Nintendo and oogled the gorgeous cosplayers that dotted the Expo Hall. I didn’t get a chance to check out any of the Panels, but I did say hello to Mike and Jerry, the former who I got a photo with at the after party. Jerry had a baby on the last day of PAX so there was no chance of seeing him at the after party. I really enjoyed the whole expo. The vibe that resonates through the whole place, emanating from attendees, exhibitors, speakers and staff alike is one of kinship and fun. Never have a I felt so at home at an event.
One of the funniest moments I experienced while in our little Info Booth bunker was being approached by an older lady who was trying to get in touch with her over excited 16 year old. The young man was supposed to contact his mother at 2pm but had been too busy / couldn’t be stuffed doing so and she was worried and came and saw us around 7pm. Unfortunately we explained to her, we had no way paging the centre, so she would just have to keep trying on his phone. As she turned away accepting her fate of waiting her phone rang and, answering it in front of us, she told us it was her son and proceeded to berate him down the phone. The first words out of her mouth were “YOU ARE SOOOO GROUNDED”. The whole booth started rolling around laughing and I grabbed a few sheets of paper and asked the lady to get him to come to the booth. This was the result when he walked around the corner. I have never seen a kid turn so red. Good times, good times.
Setup and tear down were real eye openers and in a moment of inspired genius while tearing apart left over swag bags we came up with the idea to collect up the LOTR:Online games and create a domino design. 3 hours and 1351 DVD cases later we came up with this.
Probably the best thing I take away from PAX is the great feeling of satisfaction I received in being part of something so great and all the friends I made along the way. I feel I have been truly accepted into “The Black” and I will be trying my damnedest to be back to help in 2010.
Also: Giant Connect Four FTW.
Ubisoft
Not much to say about my visit to Ubisoft Montreal other than I WENT TO FREAKING UBISOFT MONTREAL! The makers of some of the best games released in the past two generations: Splinter Cell, PoP: Sands of Time, Rainbow Six : Vegas and of course Assassins Creed.
Sure I was all sweaty after riding to the office, and too nervous to ask if I could take photos around the reception but I was polite enough to ask permission to take a few shots of the office doors. The building is a massive warehouse on St Laurent and the lobby looks pretty cool and industrial. There were people coming and going the whole time and it all looked pretty busy.
I am glad I managed to see it while I was here, a nice little experience for my gaming odyssey. Next big gaming related event? PAX, baby!
Mega Man Rap
This very cool Mega Man 2 video just rocked my socks. I can see them in the corner of my room. They’ve been rocked the fuck right off my feet. Cold appendages are the bitter side effect of such an awesome video. You have been warned. Fo’ realz.
Take a trip down memory lane, and learn a few 1337 stratz along the way. Keep an eye out for Mega Man putting his baby momma in her place! Oh, and hold onto your socks.
For those who aren’t quite sure how this internets shiznit works yet, the video is embedded after the jump. Just hit that little link down there talking about photos and videos and whatnot to see it. If you don’t see the link, you’ll be seeing the vid, so this point is moot. Moot Point. Moot.