Never been to PAX before but long to in your most inner parts? We’ll let you know what to expect, courtesy of our PAX East adventures.
Musclebound professional wrestlers aren’t the demographic that comes to mind when one thinks of highly enthusiastic cosplayers, but Eric “The Smoke” Moran isn’t one to let macho flexing prevent good times. This gentle giant–a man who has has wrestled in professionally in the ECW, WWE, and NWA–spoke to us during PAX East 2011 about many a nerdy thing, including cosplay, 8-bit ties, and overall geek culture.
Keith Apicary may have been the first person that we interviewed at PAX East 2011 about the date-ability of a person wearing ThinkGeek’s 8-bit tie, but he wasn’t the last. We ran into Stella (a Team Fortress 2 cosplayer) on the main video game hall, who was happy to discuss the badassery of the ties, as well as what it means to be a geek in 2011
If you didn’t get a chance to hit up PAX East this past weekend — or if you didn’t see everything you wanted to — never fear! We’ve got you covered with more pictures from the exhibition floor. Here you’ll find nerds, geeks, cosplayers, booths, Scroll down for PAXy goodness, and don’t forget to check out our other PAX East photo set. You’ll be very glad that you did.
I saw an Alpha version of the game that nicely informed me at the beginning that the final version of the game might look nothing like what I was about to see. The game opens when Jackie Estacado – now head of the Estacado crime family – comes to from black. His hand’s being pounded into a plank, crucifixion style (blood spatters across the screen as the nail crunches through flesh and bone; if you didn’t know this game was visceral, Hello!), and some creepy-looking ugly dude with a cane attempts to persuade him to give up The Darkness. Creepy guy does this by triggering memories in Jackie – and those memories form the game.
Note to video game journalists who think they have enough hours in the dojo to wax any challenger: You will lose to a developer and lose with much embarrassment. After selecting Reptile, my de facto Mortal Kombat character, I began exchanging blows with a dev that clocked over a decade’s worth of MK fighting expereince. The result wasn’t pretty, but revealed some valuable information.
Back at New York City Comic Con, I proclaimed ThinkGeek’s 8-bit tie the ultimate geek accessory due to the way that ladies flocked to the piece of cloth. They pointed, they stared, they said that it was one of the coolest things ever. Today, as PAX East 2011 kicked off, we decided to test that proclaimation by polling random attendees (which you’ll see in detail in an upcoming clip). But as we made our way through the BECE crowd, we found someone with a rather strong opinion regarding the 8-bit tie. As we queried the crowd, we encountered Talking Classics infamous Keith Apicary, the man best known for a series of hilarious retro gaming YouTube videos, and being booted out of nearly every major video game convention in the nation. In this clip, Keith proved that the 8-bit tie gives gamers an extra dose of geek machismo and the ability to sweep a lady off her feet.
I thought I lost the footage. After returning from PAX East 2010, I realized that I’d misplaced a memory card that contained footage of Playdead’s Limbo. I sobbed the manliest tears I’d ever sobbed, and chalked up the missing card as being a martyr to the awesome that was the PAX’ debut east coast show. Then I found it!
There were plenty of choice titles on display at PAX East 2010 (such as Limbo), but the game of the show was undoubtedly Klei Entertainment’s Shank. The GDC trailer looked bad ass, but after the team got extensive hands-on time with the game, we can confirm that it is bad ass. Shank, according to Klei CEO Jamie Cheng, is designed to be the modern successor to beat ‘em up classics like Double Dragon. The combos flow freely as you tap the weapon buttons that are mapped to the controller’s face. In fact, in the multiple sessions we had with the title, we discovered new combos that not only visually impressive, but hard-hitting.
The inaugural PAX East was remarkably awesome! And so were the cosplayers and the few booth babes. Here’s a selection of the best of the best here for all of you to check out gathered together in one massive image gallery. Super heroes? Check. Video game characters? Check? Randmo oddballs? Check! Enjoy.
