PAXAMANIA 2015!

I have zero interest in wrestling and find it absurd that either the entire videogame press loves wrestling or are somehow getting swept up in the storm of a minority. It's just weird how this became a thing and not some other sports games. Having said all that I'm still gonna watch it.

@flameboy84: Aside from there being a fairly large crossover of video game fans and wrestling fans, wrestling games work well in this for several reasons. Firstly, they have a lot more opportunities for match variety than most 'sports' games. You can have 1-on-1s, 2-on-2s, 30-person free-for-alls, 3-on-1s, 6-person hell in a cell matches, and much more. Secondly, half the fun (maybe even more) of it is the drama and storylines that develop around the matches. Character turns, alliances and rivalries forming, cutting promos... all of these provide a ton of entertaining moments (not to mention the opportunity to hit people with a variety of objects in a - relatively - safe capacity) and they fit perfectly in with the tone of pro wrestling.

@y2ken: With the best of three match Shawn pulled the Run GFB shirt out of his fanny pack, and then choked the Underdraker. It wasn't handed to him.

Hmmmm I'm still convinced. Whilst yes it may appear there is that crossover in this community I'd say to say there is a fairly large crossover as a broad term doesn't sit well. I mean if you were to take that stance then why not soccer? Look how many millions upon millions of copies of FIFA sell. There are plenty of gamers out there who have likely never watched wrestling in their lives. Also you listed all the types of matches this most recent PAX show had one 8 player match and everything else was 1-on-1.

As for the story stuff sure I guess...I'm more a fan of sports where rivalries naturally occur by what happens rather than all this shouting and screaming. Also none it's particularly entertaining, Jeff is a really funny guy and instead he has this character than seems a complete waste of his talent. I just don't get why the games press have rallied around this and made it a thing, I feel like they could put on something fair broader and funny rather this that only a minority will really get a bang out, a few will get mildly enjoy and the rest are left scratching their heads.

To answer the statement I put in bold, because the majority of "press" that have rallied behind it all have a history or interest in some wrestling related things. Or at the very least some knowledge of it. Do you see Brad Shoemaker joining in on the fun? How about Vinny or Drew? Hell even Danny O'Dwyer who seems to have a minor interest in wrestling and loves doing dumb shit still hasn't really done one of these.

The select group of video game enthusiasts who also enjoy wrestling or don't enjoy wrestling but enjoy seeing these guys get in character, cut promo's and do stupid shows like this is enough to fill a theatre and have a good time. So why can't they have it? It's a clear cut case of the video game press who dig wrestling/dig the promo aspect and character stuff wanting to role play and have some fun with this stuff. So they do.

@flameboy84: I think @devise22 did a pretty good job of covering a key point. Not everyone is getting involved in this, only a select few who are particularly into it.

This is all about the flamboyant characters and attacking each other outside of the game - that just wouldn't make sense if they were playing the likes of FIFA, NBA 2k, or even NFL Blitz. Could you do a bit where one player in a 2-vs-2 FIFA match scored an own goal out of nowhere and "turned" on their teammate? It just wouldn't really make sense. This has become more a character/story-driven thing, it's not really a serious "competitive gaming" thing at this point. Plus we get regular, fantastic-ass Jeff Gerstmann (and the like) the rest of the year, so having him step into this other thing for a few hours every couple of months isn't really detrimental and offers something a bit different.

Of course it won't ever appeal to everyone. You make a good point about the 1-on-1 stuff this time around, but given that this whole thing started with a 30-person Royal Rumble I'm not sure it would have happened with something else (also it allows for stipulations like No DQ). The nice thing here is that wrestling games are pretty much fighting games, and as such are easy to understand. Not only for the crowd, but for the participants. I'd imagine it's way easier to get someone to join in with this where the rules are very simple, versus a more complicated game such as FIFA. As much as I love soccer, there's going to be a ton of industry folks (remembering this is largely US-focused) who have no idea how to play a football game (which is a much steeper learning curve). Additionally, matches in wrestling games are far shorter than just about any actual sports simulation.

Personally I'd love to see more actual games competition as well. Remember the MK Scrub League? Bring that back! But I (and I'd imagine the people who choose to get involved in it) are there to watch people cut wild promos, shout a lot, ham it up to the audience, hit each other with fake bottles, tell their dumb stories, and just have a good time along the way.

@limond Thanks, amended. I was a little confused as to what had happened, so made a slight assumption.

@y2ken said:

That's the way I see it. The press who participate enjoy doing it and that is why ist fun. People enjoy watching it. And, obviously some people live for this event happening at each PAX. However, this content will not be for everyone, and even GB knows that because it occupies it own venu and show. This year more than any other you can tell the showmanship and the pure theater of it was tickling the participants a lot.

And, people should admit it when Samantha beat Dr Tracksuit it was a lot of fun...that BY FAR was the main event for me. As much as the Wolf vs Dan was built up and the "main event" for the whole thing, it was obvious afterward that the Dr Tracksuit vs Samantha was where the real action was happening this year. Happy accident or not. that was a lot of fun to watch those two go head to head.

This was such tremendous fun to watch live. The energy in the room was excellent, and almost all of the participants had the right attitude and schtick for this kind of silly and absurd show (although a few of the Gang Beast fighters could've used some coffee). Some of the scripted back-and-forth felt a little stilted in places, but frankly it didn't matter with everything else that was going on. When they're able to just fire out quick on the fly cuts on each other, themselves, the teams, the crowd, whatever, it worked great. I lost my shit when Doc Tracksuit started hitting himself in the face with the guitar just so it would break properly.

Wish I could've seen Dan go through the table, though.

Also I'm just remembering how great it was to see Rich. His bit with the increasing percentages and the purchased Fixie was pretty great.

I think they are gonna have to hire Drew, Jason, and Vinny to film this.

Also, I'm waiting for Jeff to shed the Tracksuit, or better yet, what if Jeff is the new Mick Foley? Jeff as Dude Love? Duder Love?

I think this image I made awhile ago is now applicable.

I put together a Youtube playlist of all the PAX wrestling shows and promos I could find. I figured it may come in handy if the series continues.You can find it here.

The gamebomb one was a last minute thing. I'm pretty sure he had the RUN GFB stuff planned for a bit.

Definitely. The ILC vs Run GFB stuff has huge potential, I've been really enjoying their rivalry so far. I still can't decide who I prefer, think I'm swaying ILC although with Navarro joining GFB I'm not so sure anymore... I guess that's not too unlike real wrestling shows though; I've watched plenty of PPVs or been through months where the title match isn't the most interesting thing to me.

@flameboy84: It is a fun thing that both the gaming professionals involved and fans alike can enjoy. By no means is everybody involved like you suggest, nor is it hindering the work of the professionals who are involved. What is so 'absurd' about this event? The fact that it doesn't align with your personal hobbies?

If you are really wondering why 'another sport' isn't being used then you are really missing the point. The characters wouldn't be present, games couldn't be staged, and the tone of the event would be totally different.

This isn't E sports. This is sports entertainment, Damnit.

Isn't not just sports entertainment.

It's E sports entertainment. It's a new thing, and it is glorious.

Paxamania was a blast,

I appreciate how ridiculous and dumb these PAX wrestling panels are getting, but if this in any way reflects how actual professional wrestling is then I think I'm good continuing to never watch a second of pro wrestling in my entire life.

The Harmonix guys I talked to said they had a few volunteers offer to record PAXAMANIA more professionally than just the static Twitch cameras, as well as some behind the scenes stuff. We directly compared it to Beyond the Mat.

So expect something like that soon, with hopefully out of character interviews and a better shot of Dan going through the table.

We need to create a stable for @danryckert. Just him and the fans. Call ourselves the "Disciples of Dirty Dan", or Triple D haha.

Also, any idea if this is coming back? I didn't realize the campaign ended so quickly. http://teespring.com/bopped

For all that might have missed the actual table "bump", here is a quick vine from the spot:

Thanks, brother.

Hey guys, so I was at PAXAMANIA, and it was an amazing time. I took a few pictures and I thought you guys might enjoy. A lot of them were blurry(it was just too hype or keep still!), but I got a few okay-ish shots. Hope you enjoy! I tried uploading onto this website but it gave me an error so I just put them up in an Imgur album.

I made the mistake of watching the archive on Youtube, where the top rated comments are berating Kalman for daring to have armpit hair.

I fucking hate people sometimes.

@h83r: wow those were better pictures that i expected. Had to be from a quality camera and not some phone right?!

I feel like I need to write a column on this show and have a feature of some of the "superstars" Seriously, that last photo of tracksuit leaving the arena looks dramatic! Totally reminds me of all those old montages from wwe's excellent video editing team.

Hey! Thanks man! Yeah, it's definitely not a phone. It's a Canon something or other that I stole off my dad for the trip. The camera took beautiful pictures. The blurriness of most of those pictures are 100% my fault and not the camera's. When held with a steady hand, my other PAX pictures came out great!!

Aaron Trites uploaded Paxamania (in high quality and with added post-production flourishes!) + an interesting look behind the scenes earlier:

Cool! I shot and edited those videos. I was going to make a separate thread to get some critique since we are shooting the Rumble too and I want to crush it! We'll be doing more behind the scenes stuff too, probably two cameras running around instead of just the one like in the above video.

@erock: Thank you for your hard work. I really like how you managed to capture the mood of the event with the compilation at the end of the behind the scenes video.
If you want to create a thread or public blog post to get some critiques or tips for the next Paxamania, don't let me stop you.