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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Games Let's Talk about PAX, Baby

Posted by The Stranger Testing Department on Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 10:55 AM

We're polishing our d20s. We've got trail mix, flasks of whiskey, and at least one new backpack for sherpa-ing swag. Tomorrow's the big day: PAX Prime 2011, when over 70K gamers from all over the world descend on the downtown convention center for three days of long-ago-sold-out nerdly bacchanal.

We're excited to get our hands on the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection for the PS3, and to get a look at Skyrim—even though that's probably 200 hours of our lives that we'll never get back. (Too late, already pre-ordered.) We're going to talk to people about pico projectors, and see panels on Minecraft, online harassment, and the science of determining whether video games are Bad for the Children. We're planning to watch a Fallout fan film called "Nuka Break," camp out in the PAX 10 area until we're thrown out, and hopefully talk to cool local indies like TinkerHouse, The Behemoth, and Chromed. We're definitely hitting the Magic party Saturday night at the Showbox—and anybody can get an invite, you just need to solve a (possibly brutal) puzzle scavenger hunt.

We'll be posting more throughout the show, so if you have a good quick tip, picture, or timely anecdote, email it to std AT thestranger.com, and we'll try to share some of the best on the Slog. (And if you're not going to PAX, but you're really curious about something, let us know and we'll try to check it out.)

And a pro tip: Download the Guidebook app if you haven't yet. It's the renamed Conventionist from last year, now available on Android too.

Huey Lewis plays at PAX 2010.

Comments (10) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

so there.

Posted by sepiolida on August 25, 2011 at 11:43 AM

Wish I had the time/money to make the trip this year. Haven't been to PAX Prime since '09. PAX East was rad this year though. Have fun, guys!

Posted by BostonFontSnob on August 25, 2011 at 11:46 AM

Me. Want. Skyrim.

Posted by -ink on August 25, 2011 at 11:58 AM

Have fun, guys. I ain't goin'. Too many personal issues, too few dollars. I'm sure it'll be awesome if you're not me, though.

Posted by balderdash

on August 25, 2011 at 12:11 PM

tinkerhouse = the shit.

Posted by dale hotep on August 25, 2011 at 12:18 PM

Cool beans.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on August 25, 2011 at 12:28 PM

Protomen!

Posted by Valravne on August 25, 2011 at 7:10 PM

Not going to the con proper, but I'll be at the Protomen show at El Corazon.

Posted by DeaconBlues

on August 25, 2011 at 9:29 PM

Hey, a report from the Protomen show, please!

Posted by The Stranger Testing Department on August 27, 2011 at 12:20 AM

It was amazing. The crowd vibe was cheerful and stoked, everyone was friendly but still incredibly energetic on the floor, ElCor's staff was super nice and the Protomen put on one of the best (and long) shows I've ever seen, including finishing up with a cover of Take a Look at Me Now. Way better venue for them than Benaroya was last year. Killroy (their robot hypeman) remains one of the nicest, most gracious people I've ever met.

Posted by Valravne on August 27, 2011 at 2:06 AM