In keeping up-to-date with the gaming industry I’m currently reading all about the Awesomeness of PAX East. PAX East is a Geek convention, held over three days in Boston, MA. PAX is a convention that can satisfy every geek from board and table top games, to video games, to cosplay. PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) is the brain child of Penny Arcade, it has been growing since 2004. 2013 marked the first year PAX expanded its convention beyond the USA, to Australia, in fact. Which naturally excited Aussie fans, who often feel they get the short end of the stick when it comes the gaming industry.
For those of you who PAX is unfamiliar, is it on opportunity for industry bodies (publishers, producers, developers, marketers, etc) to exhibit wares, release new products, market to a new demographic, and mingle with their audience, and end-product consumers. It is also an opportunity for fans and consumers to immerse themselves in the culture over a few days, meet new friends, and see what is happening in the industry. While exhibitions serve as a major part of the convention it is also a place of learning and sharing, with a full schedule of panels and talks, given by a variety of speakers including developers, artists and prominent people in the gaming media.
There are some great things happening in table top gaming. The Escapist Magazine covered most of the Tabletop exhibitors (link). It is really good to hear that indie developers are getting as much attention as some of the bigger guns in the board gaming industry (like Iello and Mayfair Games). The slew of successful Kickstarter campaigns have obviously helped in boosting the variety of products entering the market. These kickstarted companies included Soda Pop Minatures (Publisher of Super Dungeon Explore), Japanime Games (well known for Krosmaster Arena), and Cool Mini or Not (famous for the Zombicide Series). While other indie developers seek to develop without the assistance of Kickstarter, with a wide variety of themes and games (link).
There were lots of video games, and video game announcements at PAX, naturally as a main stay of the convention. The one for which I found myself most excited is Blizzard‘s announcement of a Story Mode for Hearthstone – Curse of Naxxramas, coming in US Fall 2014. Blizzard had only just recently released an iPad version of Hearthstone for Canadian and Australia (&NZ) iPad users, which I imagine brought back more than a few players to the game. Hearthstone is a free-to-play electronic card game designed by Blizzard Entertainment based off the popular World of Warcraft story line. This online only card game features one on one battles against different live players in real time. Each player choosing a different class to play, which has inherently different play styles (Mage, Warrior, Shaman, Priest, etc), so there is something to suit everyone.
To encourage diversity in a somewhat controversial more PAX introduced the Roll for Diversity Hub and Lounge. News is still coming out about how this helped or hindered PAX. One brave trans person shared their experience in a new blog about diversity issues in the gaming industry. As I write this their is a ragging conversation happening on Reddit. I’m sure more experiences will be shared over the next week or so as the glow and high of the convention dies down.
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