This year, for the first time, I went to the Penny Arcade Expo.  It was actually a surprise gift from my wife, for our 1 year wedding anniversary.  As I whiled away the days that led up to PAX, I grew more excited.  The last (and actually, first) conference I went to was SXSW Interactive, so I wasn’t completely sure how it was going to play out.

Although I didn’t do a whole lot of preparation, I did download the PDF that showed the locations of the conference rooms and other special events, as well as the panel schedule.  I identified several panels that looked interesting to me and planned on getting there early the first day to register.

The Problem: The Lines

The first day for PAX is the longest.  The bulk of the morning is taken up with waiting for wristbands and when the doors open promptly at 2 PM.  I got up early and walked the 6 or so blocks from my hotel to the Seattle Convention and Trade Center.  When I got there, I was happy to note that the line was still fairly short – only a hundred or so.  The room was mostly empty.  I soon realized my wait would be upwards of 4 hours.

The first thousand or so folks get a wristband that gets them priority access to the evening’s concert.

What I realized later is that most folks that go to PAX go in … well … packs.  These packs usually have a guy who wakes up early and gets a good spot.  Then, when the late risers wander in around noon, they have a good spot and the first guy can go and get something to eat.  Since I was there alone, I ended up having to do the time without a break, pretty much.  Then, when I did get someone to promise to save my spot, I decided to come back near 2pm.  As it turned out, I got there right at 2pm, and the doors had already opened.

Let me explain why this is a problem.  Everybody goes in at 2pm.  Thousands upon thousands of attendees.  All waiting in an extremely long line.  Of course, by getting there right as the doors opened, I wasn’t able to get back to my spot and had to start all over again from the back.

It took me around an hour to go from the back of the line into the conference floor, steadily walking the whole time.

This was the first of many long lines I was about to experience.  My experience at SXSW was very different – there were hardly any lines to speak of.  Not so at PAX.  However, there was hardly any complaining.  Attendees happily sat around for 20 minutes, an hour, 2 hours or more for a free T-shirt, a chance to see an unreleased game demo or even to get their chest signed by Wil Wheaton.

The Solution

At first, I was totally confused by this apparent lack of planning.  Then it hit me.  Everyone had a Nintendo DS.  It’s true.  Everybody but me had a DS, or a Sony PSP, or a Game Boy Micro.  Something to while away the time.

There are entire floors dedicated to game enthusiasts sitting on canvas bean bag chairs completely oblivious to the world outside their DS.

I forgot mine.

Actually, I gave mine away last year as a Christmas gift.  The only DS in the house is my wife’s pink one and of course, I couldn’t bring that!  Right?  In fact, I could and should have brought it.

At least I had my digital camera and my new iPhone, which were pleasant distractions.  But as you know, using the iPhone all day leads to fast battery death.  I ended up having to go back to the hotel room to recharge after a few hours.

Stuff To Do

Unlike SXSW Interactive, PAX has only a few HUGE things everyone wants to do:

• The Keynote:  This year the keynote was given by Warren Spector, creator of such games as Wing Commander, System Shock, Thief: The Dark Project, and Deus Ex.  This was so popular, I didn’t want to wait in the giant 3-hour line and as a consequence did not make it in the room.  It was that full.  They didn’t have it on closed circuit TV either, so I had to watch it later as a webcast.
• The Expo: In the biggest hall in the building, literally an entire floor of the convention center, is dedicated to booths from many, many game developers.  Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Bioware, Nintendo.. probably close to a hundred booths with computers, games, and other stuff on display.
• The Competition: A constant thread happening all over the convention area were game competitions.  PC-based, handheld, console… heck even card and board games had their own annex!  Skill ladders were set up and matches ran from noon until 3am.
• The Panels: With so many other things happening, the panels were pretty hit or miss.  Some of the more interesting panels drew a crowd, but I went to a couple that were pretty deserted.
• The Slacking: As I said before, I saw people standing around, sitting around, and laying around everywhere.  Most of them had some sort of portable gaming device.  Also, most people came with a number of their friends, so there were a lot of roving groups.

One thing I noticed was a lot of people have a very clearly defined idea of what they want to do at PAX.  Some go straight to the expo floor and grab as much schwag as possible, waiting in line for hours for their turn to play LittleBigPlanet or get a T-shirt.  Other people disappear into the FPS competition, playing Team Fortress 2 for hours.  Yet others go mostly for the big concerts on Friday and Saturday nights (featuring performers such as Jonathan Coulton and Freezepop), that start at 6 and play until closing time.  Oh, and of course, the ever-present line of people waiting to speak with either Wil Wheaton or the folks from The Guild (especially Felicia Day).

Some Helpful Tips

If you plan on visiting, let me give you some sage advice which will make your visit really worthwhile:

• Absolutely LOVE all types of video games, and go with a bunch of like-minded people.  This is key.  Your group will help you camp in lines, grab food, provide discussion, planning and competition.  Going alone, unless your are famous or really gregarious, is a bit of a bummer.
• Bring your Nintendo DS.  Bring one game.  Even if you get sick of that game, there are always people chatting wirelessly or swapping game cartridges.  I can’t stress this enough.  If you don’t have a DS, buy or borrow one.
• It’s OK to go to PAX for only one or two of the several events happening.  There are so many people, that it is perhaps better to get really involved with a group of like-minded people over a game of Magic: The Gathering or Halo 2 multiplayer than to drift from event to event.
• Certain things, like the keynote and the music, are going to be incredibly popular.  Staggeringly popular.  Make sure someone in your group is in the right line 2 to 3 hours before those events begin.  You will be glad you planned ahead.
• Don’t bring your laptop.  It will just slow you down.

Wrap-Up

While I had a good time, and did find some fun things to do, I felt a bit disconnected from it all.  Luckily, I had my digital camera to take pictures of the crowds and the people in cosplay.  Also, I liked the expo a lot, I spent quite a few hours on very expensive gaming PCs (like Alienware desktops or HP Blackbirds) playing the latest games at max resolution.  The graphics were gorgeous and I had a really good time.  Having reps there to answer questions really helped me get a good idea of some games that I would normally never consider buying, like EVE Online or Sins of a Solar Empire.

It was nice chatting with the creator of Audiosurf, and MC Frontalot, and a bunch of other people while waiting in lines.

You can find the pictures in this article and more in my PAX 08 Flickr Photoset.