For a first timer at the PAX South, there was a lot to see and experience. Known mostly for the presence of tabletop gaming, PAX had many panels, a ton of tournaments to get in to, games to try and a massive amount of vendors to shop from. There is literally a little bit of everything for everyone when going to a PAX convention.
My experience in Texas was definitely a whirlwind of different activities and hardcore scheduling. Panels are a personal favorite to go to, next to playing games (of course). Along my journey through the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center there was a lot of cosplay to see and many quirky things to do while waiting for whatever event is coming up.
Upon arriving Friday, my goal was to check out some panels that I was interested in. The first being the opening ceremony panel that featured Cory Barlog. You might know him as the director of God of War. His panel regaled a personal story of not giving up through his career, and a message of “follow your instincts,” since these instincts will lead you where you need to be in life. He’s a very funny man who knew where he wanted to be in the industry but had a lot to learn before actually getting there.
After the first panel I immediately jumped in to the next one about insider tips on how to get great deals. This panel is like that crazy coupon show only not so wild. The wildest part about this panel is that the hosts (Cheap Ass Gamer) raffled off some of their items collected and an NES system with controllers was one of those prizes. Who walked out with this NES? Me! It was quite the shock walking around PAX on day 1 with an NES in my arms. This was truly a great way to start the show.
Days two and three were very much alike and left me a lot of time to walk around and check out all of the booths, tables and upper levels of the convention center. PAX usually has stations set up as well for a scavenger hunt during the convention for patrons to participate in, so I was in search of those too! There was a lot of tech being sold and shown, like an awesome looking Mario headset and controller, most likely a custom creation. Computer cases that now have digital displays on the side, and toys of course. Among the games were many indie developers but the biggest release of PAX South was the Layers of Fear 2 trailer and you better believe I was there for it!
Players of the original Layers of Fear by developer Booper are going to get a treat when the second game comes out. The guys told us all where they drew their inspiration from and how it will all tie in to the game as a whole. All we know right now is the story consists of an actor on a ship, unlike the original story of a painter. The developers, working with Gun Media, were very unwilling to share anymore details of the script so spoilers didn’t happen before its release. Either way, the panel was super exciting and the trailer looks great. Catch the trailer on YouTube now as well if you haven’t already seen it.
Last but not least, one of the common themes of PAX South that was everywhere, were the mass amounts of tabletop gamers. Magic The Gathering released a new card pack during the weekend and let players come together to try it all out. There were many many other tabletops games (and tons of merchandise for all of your tabletop needs) as well, but Magic had a weekend long tournament going on just for the fun of it. Other tournaments were digital and included a PUBG $5,000usd winner. Sadly, I’m not sure who won but many people entered to show off their skills. Smash Bros., 007 Golden Eye and Mario Kart 64 were all there as well for tournaments against other fans just for the fun and nostalgia. Overall, there are always too many things to mention when it comes to conventions such as this. Everyone was super friendly including the other patrons. Around the San Antonio area and the convention center was a perfect medium for the convention and those that wanted to shop and try new things. Of all of the events I’ve gone to, I highly recommend looking in to PAX South for next year.