@natetodamax: Also, I remembered another reason to carry cash. I slightly referenced it in the Enforcers tip, but you'll want some $1's for the cookie brigade. These incredible people bake hundreds upon hundreds of homemade cookies and sell them for whatever amount you want to give. And at the end of Sunday, they turn over all the money to Child's Play.
@melcene: I always felt weird when E3 ended each year. They just turn on all the lights in the building and everyone just shuffles out into the street. But with PAX, the Omegathon Finals serve as a closing ceremony where everyone (well, several thousand) from the show comes together for one last event. I'll never forget the first year I went in 2008 when, as we snaked through the long line in the queue room, everyone was high fiving each other across the barriers as we passed by. I probably high fived some of the same people 5 or 6 times. After the H1N1 scare of '09, I don't think people will do that anymore, but it was still something I remember alot about my first PAX.
@MooseyMcMan: This is the second annual PAX East coming up. So far it has been in Boston, so yes, you should definitely go. They still have Friday and Sunday passes right now and they're only $35.
@buft: If you can do both, do it. Although I'd recommend PAX over E3 to the average fan of games, I fully enjoyed my times at E3 and it was an amazing privilege to be there.
@buft: As a fan of games, PAX is better experience overall. E3, despite the way it's presented online and on G4, is much more business oriented. Also, keep in mind that having a general "Exhibition Pass" to E3 does not get you into the press conferences. You have to have a media badge and/or an invitation to those. The basic E3 badge just gets you into the show floor. For the first several years that I went to E3, I had a VIP guest pass from Sony. There wasn't really anything VIP about it other than it waived the registration fee, which at the time was several hundred dollars. Having the basic badge at E3 means you don't get into behind closed doors stuff (for the most part) and anyone with a media badge can cut in front of you or even bump you off a demo.
At PAX you get an expo hall, not as big, but still quite large. You have access to everything at the show; the expo hall, the panels, the concerts, the card games, the board games, the console freeplay area, the PC freeplay area, the handheld lounge, the Rock Band freeplay stage, the keynote, and the tournaments.
@buft: PAX has a rule against booth babes actually. It's not strictly enforced, as the Need for Speed booth from PAX 2010 would show.
I can fully understand the bucket list desire to go to E3, but speaking as someone whose been to E3 ten times and to PAX four times, you will have more fun at PAX.
@PsEG: Starting last year, the Enforcers at PAX Prime wear blue now by the way. I always thought it was strange to put them in black when so many people are already wearing black t-shirts. Last year in Boston, the lines for panels seemed worse than in Seattle. I credit part of that to the fact that for many of the panels, it was the first time the people in the panels had done anything on the east coast (i.e. Mega64, X-Play). Maybe now that we're in a bigger venue and now that some people won't go to the same panels again this year, it will thin out a little. I just know that I got in line for Mega64 over an hour ahead of time at PAX East and that only got me to the middle area of the theater.
Yes, the official PA merch booth definitely takes cards. Some of the booths in the expo hall do as well, but there's no way to know for sure til you're there.
The Queue Room is where you line up each morning before the event begins. It is also where you would line up for any events in the main theater (major panels, concerts, Penny Arcade Q&A, etc.). Especially each morning you're going to be in there with thousands of other people. Since 2009, they've had this great company called Get In Line Games that have big projection screens set up doing all sorts of games where you can participate via texting on your phone. So even if you don't have a handheld system with you, there is at least some entertainment in there.
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