I’m seriously considering PAX.
Many of my friends will, no doubt, be at the Penny Arcade Expo. 30,000 of them, in fact.
Keynote speaker will be Wil Wheaton.
“I can also finaly announce this year’s headlining band The Minibosses. They’ll be joining The OneUps, MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton, Freezepop, The Neskimos and Optimus Rhyme. You can get info and listen to tracks from all this year’s artists on the PAX site.
PAX 2007 is really shaping up to be a show you don’t want to miss. We’ve got a massive new venue, a projected attendance of 30,000 people, more than fifty exhibiting companies, and the greatest line up of geek music ever assembled under one roof. Plus everything else you expect from PAX like Console free play, arcade machines, a huge Lan Party, panels with industry pros, the Omegathon and a ton of other shit I can’t think of right now. There’s just no other way to say it, this show is going to be fucking nuts.”
Man.
Only one thing (besides the cost of travel) gives me pause: I hear much of the “DS action” at PAX – will I be much like a man blindfolded, staring at the floor while a sea of gamers struggle in combat I know nothing of? A GBA, I think you will agree, is just not the same.
I hear much of the “DS action” at PAX – will I be much like a man blindfolded, staring at the floor while a sea of gamers struggle in combat I know nothing of?
Absolutely.
It seems a friend of mine is willing to let me borrow his DS for the duration. I imagine my compensation will be something signed by Jonathon Coulton.
PAX was awesome fun even without a DS and in the fucking venue where you couldn’t even breathe. I imagine it’ll be more fun than ever this year.
That’s excellent to hear. I was just told that the scheduling was a bitch last year, that some events were hours out of sync with when they were supposed to be. Was that your experience?
Part of my reason for posting this is to gauge who is going (guess I should have mentioned that in the post, eh?). I’m sure I’ll be looking for roommates, after I spill my blood to pay for the airfare.
What’s your air discount website of choice? All of my flights for the past year or two have been pre-arranged.
I look at expedia, hotwire, travelocity and priceline side by side to see who can do the best deal. I haven’t found that any one of them has been consistently the cheapest.
The time problem was a big deal last year, but I’m sure that was because of the problems with crowds, etc. The Enforcers couldn’t handle a mess like that, and when they tried to clear a room, there was nowhere for people to clear into. Pro staff at the convention center should help immeasureably.
I don’t think I can go this year, because if I don’t have a new job by then, I won’t be able to afford the airfare. If I do have a job, I probably won’t be able to get the time off, because I’ve already got a trip to Florida booked in July that I’ll have to take time off for.
Hotel rooms may be pretty damned booked already. Even locals are planning on staying in nearby hotels, due to heavy highway construction in that immediate area already. I think a friend of mine booked a room in case Scotty and I decided to come out again this year. If we don’t and you don’t have a place to stay, I’ll get her in touch with you.
Online third party travel sites (Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz) do things in such a way that you usually pay more on their website than just going through the original company (they all have their own taxes and commissions to heap on – this is why they’re inconsistent).
Also, many airlines and hotels will limit their inventory sold on such sites so it will appear that things are sold out when they’re still quite empty.
yeah, he won’t be able to see all the penii in pictochat
…so sad
Truly, you are this generation’s Hemingway.
I thought it was kind of awesome that “Hello” was replaced by “[picture of penisman.]”
Re: Truly, you are this generation’s Hemingway.
It just occurrd to me that considering this is Penny Arcade; the technically and medically correct term we should be using is “wang”.
Re: Truly, you are this generation’s Hemingway.
But Mr. Period calls him a penis man, so I’m sticking with canon.
I want to go to PAX so much. Unfortunately, I am moving that Friday. AND that weekend I amd ue at a good friend’s bachelor party in Montreal. Maybe next year…
I lost some respect for Wil Wheaton when he canceled on Penguicon at the last minute – twice, I think.
I’m sure he’ll be laid low by the awesome recounting by R. M. this year.
It was twice.
I will be there. I haven’t set up accommodations or travel yet, but I’ve already paid for access, and I wouldn’t miss it.
Will they be playing Halo 2 there? I need something I can play.
I don’t have nearly enough gamer-fu to consider going, even though I think a trip with you, et al, would be a lot of fun and I’d probably have a great time. And I could people watch, if nothing else. :)
Aww, you’d totally be down with it.
Possibly. I’m easy going like that.
I’ll be there this year as well. Haven’t looked at lodging or travel yet though. Looks like the hotels PA has deals with still have vacancy, but they are not nearly as cheap as what I found last year with Ariock showing me how to game priceline. :)