PAXWEST 2017

[oldskoolboarder]

My son and I made it to our 2nd annual PAXWEST and had a great time. We both agreed that the shiny newness wasn't there like it was last year, but mostly because we were seasoned vets. BUT, it's still a great event and we plan to continue attending.

We went from Fri evening (haven't quite resorted to pulling him from school...yet) and left Monday afternoon. We did a panels, played games, and ate well. Here's some tidbits from much of the things we did.

We both realized that while we like to go try out the new, AAA titles, we find it even more enjoyable to visit the indie devs to play games that we normally wouldn't have touched. It's kind of cool to play the game and talk w/ the devs as they help you play or tell you why the did something specific in the game.

Social commentary
I wanted to note this here, especially as a parent of a nerdy kid. Life isn't always easy when you're not one of the cool kids, or if you're shy, or just don't like crowds/people in general. When I was young, being nerdy was rough. At least now, it's a badge of courage. Back then, it was a Scarlett Letter. Don't get me started on the hipsters co-opting the word 'nerd'. 'Nerding' out on vinyl is not being a nerd. It's being obsessed and that has NOTHING to do w/ being a nerd.

I'm glad there is a place like PAX for the nerds to gather. They can come out of their shells and be themselves at this kind of environment. I'm pretty liberal so it's cool to see things like gender neutral bathrooms, LGBTQ tables/meets/etc, cosplay of all kinds, all mingled together w/o judgement. If only the rest of the world could be like that.

Now on to PAX.

Panels
Talking Metroid: Samus Returns - Nintendo Minute Live at PAX West
We're both not huge Metroid fans but how could we resist anything Nintendo related? They recorded the panel for Nintendo Minute. It was cool to finally see the game. 2 guys got picked from the audience to go H2H and the winner would win the game, a Metroid 3DSXL, and a bunch of other gear. They tied and both won the same package. We walked out w/ the Nintendo power covers which were cool. Then again, I did get about 8 years of Nintendo Power magazines from a friend so I suppose that's a duplicate...



Telltale Annual PAX Crowd Play - Batman: The Enemy Within
We went last year and walked out w/ a Season 1 Pass for free, granted we already owned the game. We went again because it's always a fun time and we knew there was a good chance to score the new game. Last year, they tried to do live crowd play by using special Wifi access points. But w/ all the people, the access points got hammered and they had to do w/ old school style, by yelling. So this year, they just went w/ yelling. If you are a Batman fan and liked Season 1, don't hesitate, Season 2 Episode 1 was a GREAT story featuring the Riddler, including hints of additional characters coming in future episodes. And of course, we walked out with Steam codes for Season 2. SCORE.

IGN Panel - Let's Rank the Top Ten Nintendo Games of All Time
This wasn't HUGELY attended for a Sunday evening but those in attendance were AVID Nintendo fans. After a while, you do start to notice the Nintendo fans from the 3DS lounge, Pokemon booths, Nintendo booth, Nintendo panels, etc. Yup, those people were all here. It was run by IGN journalists who came up with their lists (live) of their top 10 Nintendo games of all time. It had to be a Nintendo title, not 3rd party and not a re-issue, any platform. They already had a veto list, including games that were NOT allowed to be Top 10. The only game on that list: Wii Music. HILARIOUS. After that, they allowed people from the audience to add games and place them in any order of the top 10. If a game was removed from contention 2x, it was on the veto list. Once the call was made, a line of guys ran to the mic. My son was 2nd in line. The 1st guy made a case for Super Mario 3 ereader, but he went DEEP and had to justify that one. Then Diego went up and suggested Super Mario Sunshine. He got quite a bit of applause and some agreement from the panel. They seemed to like his suggestion and he got to walk away w/ a cool IGN Swell metal water bottle for his debate. This went on for some time and I'll admit, it was entertaining. We weren't sure how this was going to end up, we thought it might get boring. But seeing nerds get angry and go deep with Nintendo game lore was very entertaining indeed, including the time when one guy added Fire Emblem at the top of the list, knocking down Breath of the Wild. We the audience, let him know what we thought of that...

Let's Make a List of the Top 10 Pokemon Together!
This was moderated by the lead podcaster from It's Super Effective, a Pokemon Podcast that my son discovered from this panel last year. Unfortunately, we only made half of this because we had to book to the airport.

Didn't play: These are a list of games we REALLY tried to play but couldn't get to because the lines were too long or the damn Playstation registration line ran out...
Detroit Become More Human
Moss - I REALLY wanted to try this, damn Sony.
Donut County - The line for this was INSANE, at least 60 to 90 minutes. I'd never even heard of this one before.
Steamworld Dig 2 - I saw the Nindie vid last week and tried to play it in the N room but line was too long.
Hello Neighbor (http://www.tinybuild.com/helloneighbor) - The concept is both funny and creepy to me. For now, I just downloaded the free alpha.
Wolfenstein II - So we tried this for 3 days but the line was too long. On Monday, we line up in the 'secret' line at 8:30 (doors open at 10 AM) that gets you fast access to the show floor, hoping to be in line early for this. We get inside the doors at 10 AM and make it to the Bethesda booth at 10:05 AM. Not only is there a line, but the overflow line is long. I ask how long. THREE HOURS. No thank you.
Destiny 2 - Bungie took over an entire venue, the Paramount theatre. We went to the main area to play and that line was insane. Even the merch line had hundreds of people in it. I even had people (strangers) ping me on IG to get them codes. Crazy.
Dauntless from Phoenix Labs - My FIL has a connection with Sean Bender from Riot Games. I've known about the company and the game for a long while and this was the first time at a show. I wanted to drop by and say high but the booth was MOBBED. Fortunately, I've already got founder codes so we can play at home.
Obduction - I was bummed to miss this one, they had PSVR demo'ing but the line was too long. I didn't realize it was from Cyan and I have a soft spot for Myst and Riven.
Yono and the Celestial Elephants: I wanted to play this at Nindies but a girl hogged it for about 20 min. Grr.

Played - These are the games we played. My reviews will be short, as I'm going from memory. And I'm old...

PC
Far Cry 5 - This was our backup to Wolfenstein II. I've never played ANY of the Far Cry series and for the most part, I SUCK at FPS. The only time I enjoy that aspect of gaming are the battle scenes in Uncharted, and those are pretty forgiving. I will say that I actually enjoyed the game play and the story seemed pretty intriguing. At the least, this will be a Gamefly title as I'd like to give it some console time. While we waited, the trailer for The Crew 2 looped. THAT game looks AWESOME.

Gorogoa - gorogoa.com
I am a SUCKER for point and click and I'd seen/read about this briefly. The visual 4 panel nature of the game looked intriguing and we finally got some play time. The visuals were great, I love hand drawn art in games, such a welcome break from the standard, rendered graphics in games. No text, no hints, just you trying to figure out what to do. As you click through and the panels change or you rmove them around, a story starts to unfold. I thought it was clever and beautiful. I will definitely pick this up on my iPad, that's a great platform for this game, though we played it on a PC.

Figment - www.bedtime.io/figment
Another point and click with hand drawn art. I really liked it, kind of reminded me of Broken Age. Definitely on my buy list.

Once Upon a Puppet - www.flatterthanearth.com, ,
We both agreed this was one of our top games of PAX. The sad part is that it was part PAX Rising, games that are on their way to be completed. Looks like it won't be done till mid to end of next year. It looks/plays a bit like Little Big Planet but is more of a puzzler. Awesome, amusing graphics and very challenging (I got stuck), but doable (Diego figured it out) puzzles.

Spy Party - www.spyparty.com
Cool 1 trick pony game. 1 person plays the spy, the other the sniper. The spy completes missions while the sniper watches from the outside and tried to figure out who is the spy. When you figure it out, you shoot the spy. I say 1 trick because it's fun to play the first time but I could see replay becoming an issue.

Xbox
Cuphead - FINALLY. After all these years, it's coming. We had to come back a 2nd time just to get in a line that wasn't capped. And it was worth it. The graphics were just like all the trailers and looks just like a Steamboat Willy cartoon. Kind of plays a bit like Super Mario U, where if you die, you can save your partner by touching them. Great game, we'll be buying this for $20.

Mulaka - www.lienzo.mx/mulaka/
I saw this on the Nindies trailer last week and was intrigued by the art style. I got to play it on the floor on a Switch w/ the dev. That blocky art style appeared on other games during the show, interesting how that's now a thing. Good game. Great? Not sure.

Pit People - pitpeople.com/game/
I'm just as good a turn-based strategy player as I am an FPS player. BUT, I'll hand it to Behemoth, they have the 'funnest' booths. We sat down and played this and I'll be honest. I REALLY liked it. My son already bought it on Steam (not bad for $15) and we'll definitely be playing H2H.

PS4
Kaiju Driving Range PSVR - blog.us.playstation.com/2017/08/14/kaiju-driving-range-coming-to-ps-vr-as-a-free-add-on-for-100ft-robot-golf/
TBH, the only reason we played this was because it was the only one were we could get a Sony pre-reg. It was OK and I wouldn't go out of my way to bother...

Knack 2
My son REALLY wanted to try this, now I wonder if that's mostly because of the Knack 2 meme's. He really liked it, I thought it was meh. Yeah, it's a platformer, but I didn't see/feel anything unique with it.

Switch
Kentucky Route Zero - kentuckyroutezero.com
I like story driven games and had seen this on the Nindies trailer. I was not aware that it was a PC title. I got to play it on the Switch. The story is both creepy and disturbing, in a good, slow, melancholy way. I'll probably get this game but I'll be a solo player on this one. Not enough action for Diego. The art reminds me of Sword and Sworcery.

Floor Kids - www.floorkids.com
Easily our favorite game of PAX. Granted, I used to be a b-boy and Diego is part of a boy's hip hop dance team and aspires to be a b-boy, so we're a bit biased, finally seeing ANY game feature b-boying. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet the devs (would've loved that) but we did get some serious play time. It's a rhythm game where you control a b-boy/b-girl. The longer you keep the rhythm, the higher points you score, the better moves you can do. The art was based on the devs background of making hand drawn flip books of his b-boying. I LOVE this game, the art just fits the game. AND, the accuracy and breadth of the dance moves are perfect. Highly recommend this one.

Sausage Sports Club - sausagesports.club
If you like Double Fine's Gang Beasts, you'll like this. TBH, I can't imagine how this isn't considered a rip-off. But it is pretty fun. In a 4 player match, there's going to be a lot screaming...in a good way.

Super Mario Odyssey
We did the fast pass deal w/ our My Nintendo Rewards and were able to get a time slot for this AND for the Nindies booth. We had limited time here so I pretty much did some free-roaming. The graphics are amazing here, I played 1 player on something like a 32"/40" screen. I climbed buildings/structures and scale was so good that I got dizzy with vertigo. Didn't get to play that much outside of the city section though. Of course, we're getting this...

Battle Chef Brigade - www.battlechefbrigade.com
This was a weird one from Adult Swim Games. I was only at the booth because they gave away a lanyard and an apron. Also because I had to kill time while Diego got stuck on Duck Game, AGAIN. It's a combination of fighter and match 3 game w/ an Iron Chef story background, complete w/ the guy eating a bell pepper. I'll be honest, this was a STRANGE game story-wise, but because the demo time was LONG, I was there for a while. Another hand drawn (or at least looked like it) game and visually looked AWESOME. Whether I need a cooking story to play Candy Crush? Not so sure.

3DS
Metroid Samus Returns
We got to play this before moving on to Odyssey. We had seem most of the gameplay during the Nintendo Minute panel. The parry mechanic is cool but hard to do in practice. Just like Breath of the Wild for me...grr. We both liked the title and it's already on my pre-order Amazon list.





Fortunately, Toad did not sit in front of me.







Nathan Drake I think.















My only time on the leaderboard, lasted 30 sec.



The closest I'll ever get to one...



























Destiny Merch Line

[dschroll]

Damn Oldskool.
First off, that was a fantastic write up. Thank you so much for putting so much details and photos. So great.
Second, I need to take lessons from you on how to go to PAX. I went to PAX East with Jincman earlier this year and it sucked. EVERYTHING had crazy lines. We basically walked around, looked at shops, and that was it. Anything we were remotely interested in had at least 1+ hour lines. Anything VR related was 2+ hour lines. It was just so crowded and neither of us felt like it was worth it to go back again. But then I read your write up and you got a ton of stuff in along with a ton of swag (we didn't get any swag at PAX East). You'll have to share with me some tips and tricks because I'm pretty turned off on going to the big expos. Constantly bumping into people and waiting in lines is just not fun for me. That being said, I will be at the NYCC in a few weeks, so clearly I'm a masochist.

[oldskoolboarder]

It's a lesson I learned from some in-laws years ago, re: Disney. To paraphrase, those people who go to Disney (-world or -land) and don't plan, are the ones who have a TERRIBLE time. Plan plan plan.

At cons and expos like PAX, I can see that if you don't plan, you just wander and get frustrated at all the lines and cool stuff you 'could' do but frankly don't have the patience to do.

Last year, I researched the Pax West forum (https://forums.penny-arcade.com/categories/pax-west) and read through all the 1st timer threads, suggestions, lodging, food, panels etc. I read it all. It gave me ideas on how to plan. I'm a planner. Kinda drives my family crazy on trips but everyone appreciates having it in the moment. The way I do it is have a plan, you don't have to abide by it to the letter, but use it as a guide. Sometimes, plans go awry and you want to have Plan B, C and yes, sometimes a D at busy places like PAX. We learned that last year after trying and failing to hit Rick and Morty VR for 3 days in a row, and Bethesda this year. I only found out last month that Rick and Morty was a bust because people w/ med badges got in early and filled up the line, prob the same for Bethesda. Shit happens, plan for it.

Sorry about your PAX experience, but IIRC, it was only 1 day. That’s REALLY tough because it’s hard to fit it all in from 10 AM to 6 PM.

For PAX specifically, here's what I did. You should be able to apply it to any con/expo.

1) Download the PAX app way ahead of time It has the schedule of panels, tourneys, etc, maps, exhibitor list, all of it. Use this as a basis to plan.
2) Figure out your can't miss list of games, demos, swag, panels, booths, parties, etc. Prioritize because there will be times when things happen at the same time and you will have to make a choice. My son and I discussed this for weeks, I let him take lead and decide what his can’t miss list was. We went from there and chose from items on the schedule, off site parties, 3rd party meets, meals, etc.
3) Use your list and make a straw man schedule.
4) Print the floor maps and use the schedule to plan your movement. That way you can be efficient about moving around the floor. This also helps when you are trying to use alternate plans when lines at a booth are too long. If your alternate choice is ‘next door’, score. This is important since the main building at PAX WEST covers 3 different floors.
5) Know how to efficiently navigate the buildings to get from place to place fast, when necessary. Sometimes your panels are close to each other and you have to move quickly, know the escalators/stairs and how to get there quick can be important. The forums can be helpful when you need find that ‘hidden’ path, sounds corny but it works. Yup, you need to ‘game-ify’ this too.
6) If you are into pins, make a list of the booths and the tasks that might be required to achieve those pins. Sometimes you just buy the pins, but sometimes you get pins for completing demo or beating someone at a game. There’s a Pinny list on the Penny Arcade page before PAX so you know what’s available. (https://www.penny-arcade.com/pinny-arcade/news-post/pax-west-pinpocalypse)
7) Plan your food. Places near PAX SUCK and are crowded. It’s nice to have a break from the crowds and have a decent meal. We also carry water and power bars/snacks as an emergency if we happen to catch a good line and can’t break away. If you have evening panels planned, plan restaurants nearby and get reservations. PAX West covers multiple venues around Seattle. Nerds don’t like to walk more than a block so if you can expand your circle, crowds disperse.
8) Plan your time in line. Some people carry stools (which we might next year). Carry your 3DS, Switch, batteries, cables, headphones. Plan to be in line for a while. Challenge folks in line to Pokemon battles, etc. The lines can be entertaining, granted much of it is anti-social folks staring at their screens but sometimes you get lucky. For me, the people watching is amazing.
9) Wear comfortable shoes. Standing takes a toll. My Nintendo Vans were terrible and my feet hurt. I changed to my Crossfit shoes and those were so much better.
10) Follow social media. I use Hootsuite and track all the PAX hashtags (#PAX, #PAX2017, #PAXWEST, etc). Sometimes you get outliers and you find #PAX also refers to vape pens… But I use Hootsuite on Twitter and Instagram and follow EVERYTHING PAX related. I follow all the vendors I plan to visit, I follow all the devs I like, all the journalists. I still use RSS and and keep an eye on all my gaming ones for PAX related news. I go on FB and follow the party threads, granted I have to watch for all ages because of Diego. In the PAX forums, there’s also a party thread. This is how I found the Double Fine party and heard about the Destiny and Lenovo parties. I didn’t go but heard they were decent. This is also how #Nindies at Night pre-PAX is announced. It’s a free Nintendo event before PAX, but we miss it because of school.
11) Get a place near the convention. We did a hotel last year and this year we did an AirBNB so we could make our own breakfast and use leftovers from dinner. It’s key to have a place literally a 5 minute walk to the convention line.
12) Try something different. Last year I tried the Duck Game tourney. I didn’t know the game and I suck at those type of fighter games. But it was SO fun. Go to panels you might not usually do. I thought the Nintendo Top 10 was going to be lame but that was SO entertaining. Even if something isn’t well attended doesn’t mean it won’t be fun for you.
13) Play games you normally wouldn’t. Hit the small guys, you’d be surprised how fun some games can be, especially ones you’ve never heard of before.
14) Don’t waste your time on games that are already released and you can get easily. Why waste your time on a game you can get on Gamefly?

[reaper]

Nice info! I heard about the IGN panel through the IGN podcast before I read here that you participated. I think they said they are going to publish the IGN panel as a podcast so I'll listen for your son!

I also have Metroid on order and was thinking about making a thread for it here. Are a lot of people excited about it? Metroid is probably my most favored game series of all time. So, I am looking forward to it very much! I also tried to buy my very first amiibo and unfortunately, BB was sold out before i could even place the order Does anyone know if they will come back in stock or are gone for good?

www.bestbuy.com/site/nintendo-amiibo-figure-2-pack-samus-aran-metroid/5931700.p?skuId=5931700

Nice shoes. Did you buy those there?

[oldskoolboarder]

Ha, careful w/ limited edition Amiibo. You know how N is w/ those. It 'might' come back, I'd just check the retailers. I think they've just into collector deals, I honestly don't think they make a ton. BUT, if it's anything like those damn Skylanders, give it time. People can't GIVE them away after a while...

For the shoes, got them at Van's last year, they had a few different versions. Not sure if they make them anymore.

I'd rather have these...

freakersneaks.com/portfolio-item/jordan-super-nintendo-iv/

Thanks for the heads up on the podcast. I'll add it to my list and watch for that episode.

[dschroll]

The Metroid game comes out this Friday. That's your best bet when to look for the Metroid amiibos. Just swing by a few stores and see if they have any available.

I don't think these are "limited" so I think they will be back again. But I don't think they will be offered long term, so I would try and get a set sooner than later if you're interested in them. I have a set on pre order, but only the one set. I will let you know if I come across another.

Also, if you have an original 3DS then it doesn't have NFC and you will need the NFC reader accessory that Nintendo sold for it. If you have a NEW 3ds then you're good to go as it has NFC built in.

[reaper]

Hrm... I have a 3DS XL. I presume that still counts as an "original". Kind of a disappointment but to be honest, I mainly thought the statues looked badass and wasn't even decided if I'd use the in-game cheati... erm, "functionality" just yet. If I have to buy more hardware, then that makes my mind up.

[dschroll]

Sept 12, 2017 12:30:45 GMT -5 reaper said:

Hrm... I have a 3DS XL. I presume that still counts as an "original". Kind of a disappointment but to be honest, I mainly thought the statues looked badass and wasn't even decided if I'd use the in-game cheati... erm, "functionality" just yet. If I have to buy more hardware, then that makes my mind up.

If you want them just because you like cool figurines, then knock yourself out. I have a ton of amiibos because I like the look of them and don't even use them in games. But if you're buying to use with Metroid, you will need one of these:

www.gamestop.com/nintendo-3ds/accessories/3ds-nfc-amiibo-reader/123181

Sadly, they're not so easy to come by. I bought mine from Best Buy on clearance for like $10 I think.
We rarely use it, but I figured on the off chance we might want one, I'd pick one up while it was cheap.

Speaking of Best Buy, don't forget your GC discount applies towards amiibos, so you do get 20% off of them if you find it there.

[reaper]

Yeah, I want to buy them from BB for that reason. But I was unable to pre-order and by the time I saw they were up for order, they had already been sold out. I see people on ebay selling them ... and they have like 75. Ah well...

[dschroll]

Go to Best Buy on Friday. They may have extras beyond what was sold online.

[reaper]

Podcast is up!!

NVC’s Let’s Rank Live at PAX: Top 10 Nintendo Games
NINTENDO VOICE CHAT
SEP 12 ⋅ 65 MIN
We enlisted the help of our fans at PAX West to rank the best Nintendo developed or published games ever made. It did not end well.

[oldskoolboarder]

Sept 12, 2017 20:59:17 GMT -5 reaper said:

Podcast is up!!

NVC’s Let’s Rank Live at PAX: Top 10 Nintendo Games
NINTENDO VOICE CHAT
SEP 12 ⋅ 65 MIN
We enlisted the help of our fans at PAX West to rank the best Nintendo developed or published games ever made. It did not end well.

AWESOME! He's at the 17:20 mark.

[reaper]

I'm about half way thru the podcast. Two questions so far.

1. Your son took a little flak for his suggestion but so did a lot of other people. Did he take it personally at all or was he able to see it was all part of the fun?

2. Does Alanah look this good in person? I have to say... she's fairly easy on my eyes anyway. I think the fact that she's a video game nerd really amps up the attractiveness too. She has some great insights on games and a pretty funny attitude and sense of humor. I really enjoy her participation in the podcasts. Her laugh gets me every time.

[oldskoolboarder]

TBH, he was more embarrassed having to listen to his own voice on the podcast. There was a lot more cheering in the background than the mike picked up. But they didn't hold back on him which was entertaining. In hindsight, he was bummed that his response wasn't more definitive but we got the impression that the panel/audience understood what he was trying to say. He rolls with it. I've always encouraged him to embrace his nerdiness/geekiness and he definitely wears it like a badge of courage, much to the dismay of his older sister. He knows how to dish and take it, no problem.

Alanah was cute, though these pix are definitely more glammed up that she was for the panel. But unless you're in cosplay, let's be real, if you're a woman, you don't have to try to hard around a bunch of gamers.

[reaper]

Cool, glad you guys enjoyed it.

I just ran over to BB and was unable to order or buy the metroid amiibo. when I got back to work, I check BB online and was able to order it for shipping. So, I did go ahead and place and order. Used a $20 gift card and my discount to get it for $4.

Will make a cool desk toy.

[dschroll]

Congrats reaper. Glad you were able to get them.