PAX East Day Three (Sunday 8th March)
Got up lost an hour due to daylight savings that annoying time thief. I think all time shifts should give you more time not less. I know that would eventually make day time in the night but thats why Swan invented the light bulb. We had gotten sandwichings the previous day so we made up sandwiches of cream cheese salami and corned beef on the smallest slices of bread imaginable. We also lost a third of a slice of corned beef it just evaporated somehow.
We took the T in and then walked the last section rather than take the bus which was busy. It is noticeably warmer today I didn't need gloves and was feeling quite hot riding the T. The ice over the harbor was starting to melt at the edges a bit and the huge banks of frozen snow were diminishing. It was still cool but the bite in the air that was present when I first arrived had gone.
We got there about 940 and joined the gearbox line which was already longish. We were still in the first half so plenty of room.
As we entered the main theater and took our seats there were some nice fan art works from their games on display.
They had Mikey Neumann a few others, whose names I forgot, up on stage and then as they progressed they brought out various people to discuss this project and that. They started with stuff on dlc for the pre sequel which was inside claptraps brain which looked ok.
It turned out Randy Pitchford couldn't make it so he gave a video message thing which turned into a magic trick where he had predicted the outcome of some fan contest they did on stage. It seemed to work out so that was cool
After that they talked about telltales tales from borderlands ep2. They had the two main voice actors come out and they showed some clips then had various cat stories.
Then they talked homeworld discussing their work on the remastered edition and then joked about possible merch including a homeworld branded jet ski and baby sling.
Next they showed two characters (Claptrap and Nisha) in a harmonix dance game Dance Central. This got the biggest cheer of anything.
Last they talked about the handsome edition a re-release of borderlands 1 & 2 and pre sequel with all the dlc on the ps4 and x-bone with 4 player coop. The split screen thing is interesting as even 2 player split screen is very rare these days so 4 player is basically unheard of. I’d consider getting that just as it’s something I could play with others when they come over.
They finished up and we went to eat our prepared sandwiches. Which were tasty.
Next we lined up for acquisitions inc which was filling super fast it got to 2/3 with an hour and a quarter to go. They were handing out pipe cleaners and the gentleman next to me used a single pink pipe cleaner to make a second set of glasses frames round his original ones.
The live DND was great fun carrying on the story from last pax prime but with less pageantry and props. They had the usual crew of Jerry Mike Scott and Patrick Rothfuss with Dungeon Master Chris Perkins and it was very entertaining. A lot of the Acquisitions Inc games are recorded and up online for people to watch and they are worth checking out.
After we grabbed some refreshments then we wandered the rooms around the conference main floor. Jen fondled a super Famicom in the classic consoles room. We wandered down to the show floor and towards the tabletop area saw an upright non beanbag beanbag you could lean on shaped like an aubergine, magnetic dice towers, and several games.
Then we began queuing for the omegathon final round. During this process someone serenaded us with journey on a ukulele.
We got in and took our seats the stage was shrouded in mystery the final game always a mystery. With PAX East they play as teams so it was the final two teams left one the runner up last year. The prize a trip to Germany and a games conference held there.
The final countdown by Europe played and Mike and Jerry took the stage introducing the teams. Then finally the game was revealed a rare machine, 4 player Pacman Battle Royal where when power pilled up the players could devour not just ghosts … but each other. Though it was 4v4 game they played it in teams as a 2v2 game.
It was an intense game with surprises upsets and amazing levels of skill throughout. The competition, narrated by Jerry and Mike, had the whole room on the edge of it’s seat. During the three rounds of the game the teams battled it out and everyone was enthralled. In the end last years runners up were victorious and left the stage triumphant. Jerry and Mike wrapped things up and wished us well till next time we made our way to the exits elated tired and a little sad for the experience being over. Such is the way of PAX.
We walked back to the T having missed the shuttle making our way back to the normal stop. We then wandered into town a bit to locate some food. We looked for a cheesecake factory but when we passed a P.F. Changs we settled for that. A short wait later we tucked into first a nice soup Hot and sour for Byrnie and I wonton soup for Jen. For main Coconut Vegetable Curry, Pad Thai, Crispy Honey Chicken, and some brown rice. It was delicious washed down with a Kirin Ichiban a very good Japanese lager. We finished off with a slice of salted caramel cake for Byrnie then Jen and I had vanilla and chocolate raspberry wontons we each had one of each. They were interesting things tasty little sweet filled pastrys.
Well fed we made our way back home watched an episode of family guy then retired to bed worn out.
It’s been a great PAX with some good panels. It’s always an exhilarating exhausting enjoyable experience and it will be good to recover a bit. Now we have some time to enjoy Boston and all it has to offer which should be great fun. But first rest.
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