Why I’m excited for PAX Prime 2013

I have a confession to make, one which I have carried in silent shame for years: As a hardcore geek/gamer/nerd/etc I have never, EVER attended PAX. Well that is finally about to change, because this week I am going to PAX Prime for the first time! Woot Woot! There is so much to be excited about: the schedule is crammed with interesting panels (there must be hundreds in total), the show floor will feature some awesome vendors, and I can’t wait to see some of the awesome cosplay costumes.

In case you have been living in a cave in the Himalayas for the last 10 years (or just were apparently on every gaming site that DIDN’T mention this event like myself), PAX was started in 1994 in Seattle as a celebration and hands on event and social gathering of gamers – table top, video, mobile, etc., by the folks over at Penny Arcade. It has grown in popularity since and has spawned other PAX events such as PAX East and PAX Australia. In 2012, Pax Prime had around 70,000 attendees! We are expecting just as many at the Seattle event this weekend.

I was lucky enough to get tickets when they went on sale in April (and promptly sold out in a matter of hours). Now that the event is approaching, and the schedule has been published, it’s getting more exciting than ever. Here is what I am MOST excited for at PAX this year:

Panel discussions:

• A Byte of Seattle: The rise of Seattle’s Gaming Industry (Seattle is more than just the home of PAX Prime. The greater Seattle region is a major hub of the gaming industry. But how did that happen? Is it really because of the rain? This year, Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) teamed up with the Smithsonian Institution to explore the history of how this area has become a place of invention in gaming. In 2015, this story will be part of an exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Get a sneak peak of this project at PAX Prime!
• Gay’s in love (With their RPGs) Save the world, fall in love, and look amazing doing it, what isn’t there to love about Role Playing Games?  Gays and RPG’s are the perfect couple, join the gentlemen of Gaymism.com in a discussion on how these games drew us in and what they do to keep us together.
• Queers in Gaming Places like PAX have brought gamers together, and a robust gaming community has formed as a result. Now with the creation of things like GaymerX and the increasing prevalence of queer content in gaming, a new gamer subculture has formed. Gaymers. Is this new subculture a positive development, or does it fragment the larger community? Why has it formed in the first place? Join a panel of queer gaming professionals as they discuss this recent development.
• Three decades of Video Game Music  Four corners, four well-known game composers. Old-timer Grant Kirkhope (Goldeneye 007, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning), young blood C418 (Minecraft), lean and mean Big Giant Circles (Puzzlejuice, Mass Effect 2), and superstar dannyB (Super Meat Boy, Binding of Isaac) span three generations of game music and go head-to head in this fun-filled, action-packed, free-for-all fight to the death (not really, they’re all friends, just roll with it)! Find out who has the skills to survive as well as join the discussion (led by Jason “MANvsGAME” Love of Twitch.tv) about the evolution of writing music for indie and mainstream games over the past decades as well as general topics like breaking into the industry, contracts, coping with piracy, and other FAQs. Q&A and giveaways to follow!

Expo floor:

• The big game publishers: EA, 2K, Bethesda, Ubisoft
• The crowdfunding golden child(ren): Virtuix (featuring their Omni treadmill) and Oculus (featuring the Rift)
• The hardware guys: Sony and Microsoft (sneak peeks of PS4 and XBone!)

And what I am most looking forward to is the excitement and camaraderie of tens of thousands of geeks all in one place, doing geeky things, at the same time. What are YOU most looking forward to at PAX this year? For those who aren’t going, what do you want Dorkadia to check out and report back on? Let us know and we’ll do our best!

Stay geeky!