PAX East 2011: Friday (Tons of Pictures!)
PAX East has once again taken over the Boston area! Outgrowing the Hynes Convention in a single year, the event has relocated to the massive Boston Convention Center. GFBR assigned me the task of covering PAX East with daily photo blogs, and I gladly accepted the challenge. My first batch covering Friday ended up being a bit smaller than I would like since my various flight delays prevented me from being at the convention all day long, but I still managed to snap a whole bunch of pictures. Hit the jump to check out my Friday at PAX East.
Two planes, two subway cars, and three buses eventually lead me to PAX East.
The view I saw when I first entered the convention center.
A large BioShock Infinite display featuring the creature known as Him.
I was in awe at the size of this event compared to the little thing held at the Hynes.
BioWare cosplayers show off the latest Mass Effect and Dragon Age fashions.
Fans eagerly line up for their PAX East lanyards, programs, and swag bags.
The entrance to the Tabletop Freeplay lounge.
Crimson Viper and X-23 need one more character to complete their Marvel VS Capcom 3 team.
A signed PlayStation 3 was up for grabs to the best Swarm player at PAX East.
Duke Nukem Forever continues to be an extremely popular attraction.
As someone who loved the original, the Darkness 2 is definitely on my list of things I’m eager to try out at PAX East. Hopefully I’ll be able to beat the crowd and get a moment with the demo on Saturday morning.
The main portion of the Gears of War 3 exhibit.
If you pre-order 200 Call of Juarez: The Cartel pre-orders at PAX East, Ubisoft hands over a $20 GameStop gift card. You better believe that I jumped on the opportunity!
Your reservation also included a cool Call of Juarez cowboy hat.
Here I am, answering the call!
A large mob of fans gathered around the Irrational Games exhibit in order to win a free shirt featuring a dog in a wheelchair. While I’m not a big fan of the franchise, I would love to have one of those shirts.
A Rift banner makes a small jab at World of Warcraft.
The Plants VS Zombies cone hats were very popular headgear for attendees.
A group of Plants and Zombies takes to the Rock Band freeplay stage.
A glimpse of the exhibit hall.
“Would you like to buy some cookies?”
The Pokemon exhibit featured a giant inflatable Pikachu.
I can now say that I’ve shopped at Video Games New York while in Boston.
Up top, we have various components used for the creation of arcade sticks.
Various PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Saturn games sold by the company.
Limited edition arcade sticks and consoles, some of which are quite pricey.
If you chose to Like the new Earth Defense Force game on Facebook, you’d receive a fly swatter.
I loved the other Xbox 360 EDF game, so I’ll make sure to fit Insect Armageddon into my list of things to play before I return home to Seattle.
The Behemoth decorated their lair with faux arcade cabinets.
Child of Eden was one of the more visually stunning Kinect titles, and drew quite a crowd.
Travis Touchdown shows off his beam katana.
No PAX is complete without Harmonix’ official Rock Band stage.
Two models working for Mad Catz.
Based on the line, Rockstar’s L.A. Noire was one of the hottest games of the show.
Red Faction: Armageddon’s giant mech made an appearance.
I may have to buy one of these bad boys, which I was told are limited to 300 pieces.
The pillow on the left can be converted to the plush on the right.
The Avenger, which Conor also mentioned in his Friday wrap-up, is a controller attachment aimed at helping Xbox 360 gamers.
Statues of the dynamic duo from Bethesda’s Hunted: The Demon’s Forge.
Kalypso’s booth featured several new games, including the fourth Tropico.
A League of Legends cosplay group.
Tuxedo Mask and Tuxedo Unmasked.
U-1 and Kirah from the PlayStation 2 cult hit Gitaroo Man.
Another video game dealer, this one called Sudden Impact.
Mortal Kombat’s PAX East display wasn’t as fancy as the one seen at PAX Prime.
Of course, the 3DS was a major focus at Nintendo’s booth. Kid Icarus, Steel Diver, Pilotwings, and more were featured at several demo kiosks.
Nexon’s latest project is a free MMORPG called Dragon Nest.
Two models dressed as Dragon Nest characters.
Game Underground was a third booth selling video games from several generations.
They also sold Sanshee‘s amusing gamer shirts.
Portal 2′s popularity was no lie, unlike that cake.
The Witcher 2 exhibit featured a 3D photo op. This is obviously the 2D version.
Fans gather to check out a video of Star Wars: The Old Republic.
One of the fabulous pieces of wall art decorating the Old Republic’s booth.
Need for Speed Shift 2′s setup featured replica driver seats.
The exhibit for Autumn Games, publishers of the upcoming 2D fighter Skullgirls.
I took a brief moment to check out Skullgirls, and left impressed. The basic combat system and animation quality reminded me of the Guilty Gear series, except with more Americanized character designs.
A female member of the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood.
Devil May Cry’s Lady and Trish.
Twisted Pixel toys on sale at their booth.
Hail to the king, baby.
A look at the exhibit hall from the skybridge.
Each of these shots covers about a quarter of the main level.
Funspot transported some of their classic arcade games to PAX East.
The results were very nice. I’d love to see a similar arcade room at PAX Prime.
The rules of the Classic Console room.
Gamers gone retro.
Two units from Valkyria Chronicles take their turn.
Fangamer returned to PAX East and obtained another wall of colorful graffiti.
An excellent Star Wars cosplayer.
Carmine needs to get down unless he wants to eat a sniper’s bullet.
Turtle Beach’s PX5 headsets aren’t currently available to the general public. However, PAX East attendees could buy them now and save on shipping!
A game called Bastion, with artwork that kind of reminded me of Islands of Wakfu.
Bastion’s Twitter contest involved taking a photo with the bandanas they were handing out.
The humble booth of Aksys Games.
Wall scrolls featuring art from their upcoming releases Arcana Heart 3 and Record of Agarest War Zero. I wonder if these will go up for auction like the DeathSmiles and Record of Agarest War scrolls that were displayed at last year’s PAX East…
A Noel Vermillion cosplayer, who had a knack for the Aksys line of fighting games.
The Little Sister thinks this Spy is a Big Daddy.
Trophies from an upcoming SOCOM 4 tournament.
My ride back to the hotel was very convenient thanks to the free hotel shuttles.
That concludes my photo blog on the first day of PAX East. Be sure to check back tomorrow for even more photographs from the convention, as the busiest day of PAX usually ends up being the one with the highest photo count.
great job as always! cant wait for day2!
Awesome pics! Looks like so much fun, I’m totally jealous! Oh, and also, anyone who looks at those Duke Nukem girls and still tries to claim that PAX doesn’t allow booth babes is completely full of crap. Which is not to say I don’t love your pic with them, cuz i do.
In defense of the Duke booth, the girls don’t do the normal booth girl type of stuff. They just stand next that chair and pose.
The Mad Catz girls on the other hand…
Aaaaand PAX made Mad Catz put clothes on their models by 3pm.