« The Hyphenite's Social Calendar: Diaspora & Jazz, What's Crackin'? |
Main
| '#5 Angry Red Drum' by Phillip Kan Gotanda: If Beckett Were Asian American... »
The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is one huge gamer celebration. Taking place every Labor Day weekend since 2005 in Bellevue, WA, PAX is the convention in the US representing the gaming community. It's a fast growing community at that. Nearly 61,000 attended in 2009, up from 55,000 last year, with an eyeball estimate of at least a quarter of attendees being Asian. Convention attendee and volunteer Albert Park from Berkeley, CA, sent in his event photos with some captions and commentary. It's a fascinating glimpse into a world of passionate people.
"Twenty-something year old Robert Khoo
is the man who created the Penny Arcade Expo from the ground up. He is
lovingly referred to as rkhoo by attendees. He's easily recognizable as
one of the only people sporting a pinstripe suit, and
always in a rush to get somewhere. Khoo has been a gamer since a
Japanese uncle brought him a Famicom (what the NES was
called in Japan) [before it was] available in the US."
"The beloved exposition hall is a monstrous 125,700 square feet filled with gaming industry vendors, showcasing the latest games via playable versions, demos, and the developers themselves. This is one of the most popular parts of PAX, as demonstrated by the fact the entire floor is jam packed from 10 am to 7 pm all three days of the convention."
"Cosplay is considered a fan activity, but the vendors often employ professional cosplayers to attract attention to their booths."
"It's not all video games. PAX really does encompass every aspect of gaming. Console, PC, table top, board, collectible card, etc. This is one of the many World of Warcraft: Trading Card Game tournaments hosted by Upper Deck. For a small fee they provide a playable deck and an official judge to teach, as well as help you through the tournament. What was supposed to be a quick visit to the tournament ended up being a multi-hour battle causing us to miss dinner."
Sounds like an intense weekend of all things gaming. Thanks for the wrap up, Albert!
October 14, 2009
Photos from PAX: Gamer Heaven
The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is one huge gamer celebration. Taking place every Labor Day weekend since 2005 in Bellevue, WA, PAX is the convention in the US representing the gaming community. It's a fast growing community at that. Nearly 61,000 attended in 2009, up from 55,000 last year, with an eyeball estimate of at least a quarter of attendees being Asian. Convention attendee and volunteer Albert Park from Berkeley, CA, sent in his event photos with some captions and commentary. It's a fascinating glimpse into a world of passionate people.
"The beloved exposition hall is a monstrous 125,700 square feet filled with gaming industry vendors, showcasing the latest games via playable versions, demos, and the developers themselves. This is one of the most popular parts of PAX, as demonstrated by the fact the entire floor is jam packed from 10 am to 7 pm all three days of the convention."
"Cosplay is considered a fan activity, but the vendors often employ professional cosplayers to attract attention to their booths."
"It's not all video games. PAX really does encompass every aspect of gaming. Console, PC, table top, board, collectible card, etc. This is one of the many World of Warcraft: Trading Card Game tournaments hosted by Upper Deck. For a small fee they provide a playable deck and an official judge to teach, as well as help you through the tournament. What was supposed to be a quick visit to the tournament ended up being a multi-hour battle causing us to miss dinner."
Sounds like an intense weekend of all things gaming. Thanks for the wrap up, Albert!
Posted by Andria at October 14, 2009 1:19 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/cgi-bin/blog/mt-tb.cgi/1780
2 Comments
Leave a comment
Hyphen is a nonprofit mag with an all-volunteer staff that does it all for the love. Support us by subscribing!
i want to go to there.
Man you guys are nerds...
I'm so jealous I wanted to go!