Loaded Dices Season 2 Episode 5: Live From PAX, it’s DIVEKICK!
This is a special one. Whilst drinking ourselves into oblivion in our Boston Hotel Room, we decided to turn on the mic and record an episode of Loaded Dice Cast, live from PAX EAST. Derek and I made the trip, along with some buddies of ours who joined us on the cast. With a live studio audience, we spend about 25 minutes (not nearly enough time) talking about Dive Kick, the greatest indie game ever made. We talk about Con Culture, Cosplayers, and what makes PAX so darn neat. Special Guest Mikey C makes a nice point about the tensions between AAA Games, Free 2 Play, and indie games. We give you a sneak peak into some of the games we played, and douse with haterade where appropriate, including Dust 514, Hawken, War Machine, Battletech D&D Next and McDroid. A good time is had by all as we get preetty drunk on the finest beers Harpoon Brewery has to offer ( like you do.). From a technical perspective: On occasion I had to edit out some bits where we get a little weird, apologies. Also the audio is quieter on this one because we were using a fancy mic, so pump it up. Enjoy! See you next year at PAX!
Showing posts with label PAX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PAX. Show all posts
Monday, April 1, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Why PAX East is Important
On the last cast I told the story of Matty G taking me to my first PAX East, it ending with my scratching my neck like a crackhead, driving away from Boston, trying to get in a game of Magic Cards on the center console with his brother Stacks.
This was back in 2010, and I haven't looked back since.
For those of you not in the know, PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo, which started, as an offshoot of the wonderful web comic Penny Arcade, back in 2004 and has grown into a tri-annual, 3 day gaming festival attended by tens of thousands. You may be asking yourself how a gigantic gaming expo can grow out of a web comic, even one related specifically to gaming. Without giving away the answer, which inevitably will end up succumbing to the mundane nature of details, you should merely take in the broad strokes: This is something special.
PAX East is the Eastern wing of PAX (how shockingly well appellated) which started in Washington State and has spread as far as Australia. The first installment of East was in 2010, which I was lucky enough to attend, and it has grown exponentially since.
On a personal note, PAX East ignited not only a fire in me, but a larger understanding of myself. Although that is a personal journey that likely has little interest to you, dear reader, the result of that personal journey has put me in such a place that I am able to convey to you what makes PAX East, and really, being a nerd, so special. Or at least try.
The thing to know about PAX is that in a way that is incredibly authentic, and more or less singularly unique in my experience, it is a convention truly for the average neckbeard, nerd, dork, geek or whatever your preferred nomenclature might be. Compare this with the celebrated E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) and you'll see a stark contrast. E3 is generated by the industry to sell things to you. The industry is present at PAX, and they are very interested in selling things to you, but this is far from the focus. The "Expo Floor" of PAX takes up approximately 1/16th of the total space (number pulled out of my ass). In comparison, the area to play tabletop games, for FREE is possibly twice as large.
To put things succinctly: While attending PAX, you are a gamer. You are not a consumer, a customer or a target demographic. Not only does this transmogrification allow you to enjoy our mutual hobby without the shackles of that creeping feeling of gleefully pre-order a video game due to the sweet pre-order bonus (knowing that you're being suckered, manipulated or marketed to, willingly or not), but even more remarkably it allows you to experience something that our mutual hobby, due to its roots in isolationist behavior, social ostricisation and Player 1/Player 2 gameplay, is sometimes lacking: Community.
This was back in 2010, and I haven't looked back since.
For those of you not in the know, PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo, which started, as an offshoot of the wonderful web comic Penny Arcade, back in 2004 and has grown into a tri-annual, 3 day gaming festival attended by tens of thousands. You may be asking yourself how a gigantic gaming expo can grow out of a web comic, even one related specifically to gaming. Without giving away the answer, which inevitably will end up succumbing to the mundane nature of details, you should merely take in the broad strokes: This is something special.
PAX East is the Eastern wing of PAX (how shockingly well appellated) which started in Washington State and has spread as far as Australia. The first installment of East was in 2010, which I was lucky enough to attend, and it has grown exponentially since.
On a personal note, PAX East ignited not only a fire in me, but a larger understanding of myself. Although that is a personal journey that likely has little interest to you, dear reader, the result of that personal journey has put me in such a place that I am able to convey to you what makes PAX East, and really, being a nerd, so special. Or at least try.
The thing to know about PAX is that in a way that is incredibly authentic, and more or less singularly unique in my experience, it is a convention truly for the average neckbeard, nerd, dork, geek or whatever your preferred nomenclature might be. Compare this with the celebrated E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) and you'll see a stark contrast. E3 is generated by the industry to sell things to you. The industry is present at PAX, and they are very interested in selling things to you, but this is far from the focus. The "Expo Floor" of PAX takes up approximately 1/16th of the total space (number pulled out of my ass). In comparison, the area to play tabletop games, for FREE is possibly twice as large.
To put things succinctly: While attending PAX, you are a gamer. You are not a consumer, a customer or a target demographic. Not only does this transmogrification allow you to enjoy our mutual hobby without the shackles of that creeping feeling of gleefully pre-order a video game due to the sweet pre-order bonus (knowing that you're being suckered, manipulated or marketed to, willingly or not), but even more remarkably it allows you to experience something that our mutual hobby, due to its roots in isolationist behavior, social ostricisation and Player 1/Player 2 gameplay, is sometimes lacking: Community.
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