If there’s one event that really brings out the best in the video game community, it’s the Penny Arcade Expo. In fact, it’s grown so much in popularity that the organizers hold more than one event per year, with the Prime event in Seattle, an East event in Boston and, most recently, the announcement of an international show in Australia.
Up first is PAX East 2013, which will take place from March 21-24. (And, yes, some of our staff are definitely attending.) When you come to these events, there’s a great deal of community-oriented stuff to enjoy, including geek-oriented panels (Gearbox Software’s is always a huge draw), demonstration areas for upcoming games, an interactive Rock Band stage, and parties.
But the real draw? Tournaments. Every year players bring their best gaming skills across the board, no matter what type of game they’re taking part in. And it all wraps up with the Omegathon, a festival-long tournament that closes out the show, with an on-stage competition featuring games that literally come out of left field. Even the contestants don’t know what they’re playing until the absolute last second.
If you’re a competitive gamer, what kind of contests can you take part in? Here’s a rundown of some of the more popular events from PAX East 2012…
PC Tournaments
Obviously, PC gaming is huge at the PAX Events, with League of Legends taking a firm spot in the lead. Players from around all sorts of places compete for top prize in the tournament, mainly through a 5 v 5 Single Elimination Bracket. A map is usually chosen beforehand, where players can practice and get the lay of the land, to see how it use it to their advantage. (For last year, it was Summoner’s Rift.)
In addition, tournaments for Magic: Online and Starcraft II also took place, with their own particular rules and minimal requirements (such as, for instance, your own StarCraft account). And for you Minecraft fans, PAX organizers were gracious enough to host a get-together, taking part in a Scavenger Hunt in groups.
What will this year bring? Well, Blizzard already confirmed that it will be in attendance at the event, showing off Diablo III for both PlayStation 3 and 4 for the first time, so you can probably expect some Diablo and Starcraft-based tournaments. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a gamer event without some LoL to keep the masses challenged. Expect this to be a huge draw, as it has been in previous years.
Tabletop Gaming
PAX East isn’t just the home to video gaming and PC-oriented tournaments. It’s a place where the classic tabletop player at heart can really show off their skills, while also picking up vital new game pieces to their collection – and maybe even a few friends as well. The PAX organizers set aside a huge space for players to get together and take part in their favorite games, be it Castellan, Zpocalypse, and, as expected, the official Penny Arcade card game, Rumble in R’lyeh. (For that matter, the adult-oriented card game Cards Against Humanity is also a tremendous draw, even if it’s not meant for younger players.)
For 2013, you can expect this trend to continue, with not only some older favorites returning for competitive play, but a few folks bringing new games for players to try out. That’s part of the excitement of PAX events, discovering something new that becomes a full-blown addiction. And even if you feel like just playing Cards Against Humanity, there’s plenty of opportunity to take part in a match, either officially at the show or afterwards at a bar. (That’s how we met some great people last year at Prime.)
Classic Consoles and Fighting Games
Obviously, the competitive spirit remains alive and well at PAX events when it comes to classic games. A lot of these skirmishes come from fighting games, ranging from more popular entries like Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Street Fighter IV to oddball favorites, such as Dead Or Alive 5 and even Neo-Geo stuff like Samurai Shodown and Art of Fighting. You can expect even more of these in full force at PAX East, and, hopefully, WB Games will make the trip with some Injustice: Gods Among Us in tow as well. (After all, it releases just a month later for consoles.)
Classic games also take prominence at the show. A game room is dedicated to celebrating the games of old, whether it’s SNES, NES or even the Sega Saturn. These rooms are home to some great face-offs against gamers, whether it’s something as classic as Tetris Attack, or a full-blown battle in StarFox 64. PAX East 2013 will have no shortage of these, so bring your retro skills.
Omegathon
Finally, there is no bigger competitive event at PAX than the Omegathon, which takes place throughout the show, with random contestants taking on each other in surprise games, only to move up in the ranks and eventually face off in front of a live audience, in one of the last scheduled events of the show. What’s great about the Omegathon is its sheer unpredictability, as sometimes a popular game – like Smash Bros. – will be chosen, while other times it’ll be an utterly ridiculous (yet still highly playable) choice, like the one that closed out last year’s event, Tetris Evolution on Xbox 360.
The crowd really gets into these events, and the sheer glory of taking home the victory in Omegathon…well, that just stays with some people forever, being recognized as one of the mighty “Omeganauts”. So if you get your chance to take part – even if you have a little bit of stage fright – don’t miss out, because there’s truly nothing quite like it.
Something For Everyone
No matter what your competitive forte, or even if you’re just attending on a casual basis, both PAX Prime and PAX East (as well as the forthcoming PAX Australia) are events that shouldn’t be missed. Tickets are rather scarce for the East event, but keep your eyes open for last-minute sales, as well as full availability for Prime.
We’ll see you there. (You can find us over by the Bust-a-Move arcade game.)
Learn more about PAX at http://www.paxsite.com.
