Hey, it’s the week of PAX! As per usual, that means that the Giant Bomb crew is going to be hustling and bustling around Seattle this weekend: we're gonna be shaking hands, seeing games, and talking about them during our Saturday night panel. The games, not the hands. Unless they're really exceptional hands, I guess. But there’s also some other stuff going on this week, whether you're attending PAX or not!

New Membership Sale

Hey, it’s time for one of those old-fangled membership sales...with a whole new twist. This time around, we’re looking to convert some non-believers, and, as such, if you don’t have a current subscription to the site, you’ll be able to sign up for the low, low price of $35, although that price does not include a $15 credit to the store. If you’re a current subscriber, you’ll still have the usual suite of upgrade/downgrade options for your membership. Maybe that huffs your chuff; if so, send me a message at support@giantbomb.com and we’ll work something out. (Just keep in mind that I’m on vacation this week up until I leave for Seattle, so I might not get back to you until after PAX.)

In a way, though, the poor souls who don’t get a store discount are missing out, because there’s a...

New T-Shirt And (Almost) Store-Wide Sale

Thanks to the inimitable powers of designer buzz_clik you’re now able to honor the mighty GBeast with this brand-new t-shirt. It’s on sale right now, so look for those discount codes in your inbox or on your account page and get one! (If you need someone to look up your discount code for you, email me at support@giantbomb.com, but, again, it might be a few days before I get back to you.) This is a smaller run of shirts than we normally do, but don’t worry if we sell out of your size; we’ll make some more when needed. Here's a look at the design:

What’s more, a whole slew of other t-shirts are discounted this week to the below-stupid price of $10! Equip one of these shirts for Wind Resistance +5 and Charisma +1! Get a bunch and the effects are cumulative! I am not a dungeon master and these statements are not legally binding!

• VinnCo Maglift Shirt
• Hot Dog Patrick Tee
• Giant Bomb Throwback
• Comic Vine Logo Tee
• GerstMannia Tee
• GB 2013 Member's Tee
• Giant Bomb Flight Club
• Lincoln Force Tee
• Whiskey Media 2012

Most of these older tees will not be re-printed when we sell out, so get while the gettin’s good.

Premium PAX Party

We'll be having a little get-together on Friday the 29th at Metropole, a restaurant near the Seattle Convention Center. If you RSVPed, you should've gotten an email about this already to confirm your spot. (Subject line was "Giant Bomb Premium PAX Party - Complete your RSVP!" Check your spam filter if you missed it.) If you were on the wait list, we'll reach out to you no later than Thursday night about attendance. If you didn't get on the list or the waitlist, we'll let you know via the Giant Bomb twitter shortly before the event begins if there's any extra room, but it's a pretty tight space and it's likely we'll be full. If you can't attend, we'll be streaming the event in our chat room, starting around 9 PM Pacific on Friday night, and if you can't catch the stream, we'll have the archive up sometime in following few days.

If you're at PAX, we'll be keeping our section of the Metropole open as an all-day rest spot, with wifi and places to plug in your precious electronics. GameSpot will be doing livestreams on Saturday and Sunday at noon, so please feel free to come by and check that out, or just swing by anytime and relax for a bit. We'll be open on Saturday until 7 PM and Sunday until This is likely where I'll be spending the bulk of the show, so follow me on Twitter and I'll let you know when to join me over there for some board and card gaming.

If you're not at PAX, keep in mind that we'll probably just keep our chatroom up for most of the weekend with a variety of feeds from the main PAX theaters. Swing on in when you get a chance!

Giant Bomb Panel: The Giant Bomb Guide to eSports Victory!

Saturday the 30th at 8 PM will be the start time for our official PAX Panel: The Giant Bomb Guide to eSports Victory! If you're of a mood to attend, you'll want to find the Sasquatch Theater and get in line comfortably early. We've basically been right at capacity for the last couple of shows, so don't risk getting left out by showing up right at 8 PM! We're not entirely sure if Sasquatch is one of the rooms that has a streaming setup in it, but if it is, we will of course stream the panel directly to our chatroom. Whether it is or isn't streamed, though, we'll have the archive up shortly after everyone returns from PAX.

Exclamation points for sale!

! ! !

"If you’re a current subscriber, you’ll still have the usual suite of upgrade/downgrade options for your membership."

What does this mean?

Damnit, I live in Seattle but couldn't get PAX tickets. I'm bummed that I'll probably miss out on the Premium PAX Party, I've always wanted to meet the crew.

Oh well, looks like a fun event! I'm definitely rooting for Dan to win the Rumble and usurp Alex.

I have to work this weekend but I'll try my best.

@jeff

We'll have some fWe'll be open on Saturday until 7 PM and Sunday until This is likely where I'll be spending the bulk of the show, so follow me on Twitter and I'll let you know when to join me over there for some board and card gaming.

There is probably something wrong with this sentence.

There's never been a better time.™

This is the most important Panel at PAX =D

Lookin forward to all the good Giant Bomb stuff there and also meeting a buncha cool people!

That shirt is pretty insane. Love it.

@rorie not sure what's going on here but it seems like two sentences rolled into one

"We'll have some fWe'll be open on Saturday until 7 PM and Sunday until This is likely where I'll be spending the bulk of the show,"

@substance_d: I don't understand it either and since my subscription runs out in a couple of weeks, it'd be nice to resub now!

@substance_d: As an monthly member you can upgrade to a yearly membership and vice versa. At least, I think that's what @rorie means by that.

@rorie: so if my membership expires in a month it's probably cheaper for me to cancel now and get the deal as I don't really want to buy merch. That's kind of dumb if you ask me.

That new shirt is fresh as hell.

I tried clicking the link for the subscription in order to re-sub and the discount isn`t up yet. Is it only going up during PAX?

Don't forget the industry rumble on Sunday! Tracksuit, Big Breakfast, Drake, the Wolf, Air Force Gator - it oughta be wild!

Busy weekend downtown with Bumbershoot and PAX

aww, no worldwide shipping on the new shirt? :(

Two more shirts for the collection. Awesome! Thanks Guys!

I might just go Premium. Not for the extra content, but because I feel guilty about consuming all the free content for, um, free. I don't use AdBlocker on the site, but a billion ads for Call of Duty are wasted on me.

I didn't get into PAX this year (even worse now that I live within 45 min of Seattle), but I wonder if I could swing by that Metropole place during the weekend? Is it only PAX attendees? I mean, I probably can't anyway since I don't have a car just yet....Or a job...Or friends....

But it's the thought that counts, I guess. I'll definitely try to go through the whole rigamarole next year.

I thought Rorie was on vacation? Also, nobody shake anyone's hand. That's how you get sick.

Well as I'm in the UK, the cost of merch with shipping tagged on top doesn't make this offer very appealing.

Fingers crossed there's another sale on around the time that my renewal is due.

@eduardo: It looks like this sale is for new subscribers only :/

@springfart: It's something @jeff knows about and is apparently getting fixed.

I guess a GB hoodie would look nice on me. Still too hot to be wearing hoodies though. Will definitely order one when the time is right.

Pretty excited for all the upcoming stuff!

When does the sale end?

I won't have anymore money until the 1st, but I would totally get another year on top of the two years I already have if I did.

"We'll have some fWe'll be open on Saturday until 7 PM and Sunday until This is likely where I'll be spending the bulk of the show, so follow me on Twitter and I'll let you know when to join me over there for some board and card gaming."

I counted like three sentences mashed into one there.

@jstaunton: It's just like he talks in real life!

I kid!

Does the shirt not come in 5x at all or did they really just sell out that fast?

Man I want to go so badly this year. Looking at my empty bank account and sighing.

Wish you'd lower the price on the Paypal one too.

Never ended up getting the event invite. Was there something I missed?

The payment page is unfortunately not Android friendly. I can barely enter my details then my card declines every time

I do believe that it's t-shirt time!

Unfortunate and weird that they're not opening the discounted sub price to all users, since it's never been an issue in the past. This is the only site I subscribe to, and have for the past 3 years, would be nice to get some recognition for that when the deals are happening.

There used to be a page somewhere about what benefits you get for being a premium member, is that page still knocking about? Not that ad-free GB isn't enough, I thought you get more than that.

So if I subscribe for 35$ on PAX Sale, will next year's renewal going to be full price?

@rorie What about a regular shirt with the GB logo on? Please make it happen!

Ordered a VinnCo shirt finally. Hopefully it fits if there will be no more reprints

This makes me want a GBWest shirt with Godzilla attacking the Golden Gate bridge.

I'd pay more for the shirts if they weren't printed on those horrible American Apparel shirts. As it is I don't want anymore GB shirts because of the low quality of the shirts.

That restaurant doesn't require a PAX badge to attend. You should be able to get in just fine.

Just gonna throw out there that I would really appreciate an extra-small option on any future t-shirt designs. I know I'm pretty much the only one asking for that so it's not likely to happen but, y'know. Just expressing my interest.

Great design all the same, top work @buzz_clik!

No, as I understand it you can re-up your subscription with this sale. But because of site limitations you have to e-mail Rorie to do it. So if you e-mail support@giantbomb.com with a request to get an added year, Rorie'll sort you out.

Edit: Seems I'm wrong here. A CBSi engineer clarified on GAF that the sale is only for people without a yearly membership.

Ah, that's nice. Hmm. Now I need to seriously think about it.

SQUEEEE!!!!!

I think it means that if you click that link, you won't be directed to a site with a discounted price, but with the normal price (which is what I'm seeing). You'll have to e-mail Rorie's support e-mail to get a discount on a re-up subscription. It could've been worded more clearly.

Edit: Seems I'm wrong here. A CBSi engineer clarified on GAF that the sale is only for people without a yearly membership.

So if we already have a membership we can't get the discount? My premium ends in about 35~ days, and I'm not big on the store coupon because shipping a shirt to Canada usually costs about as much, if not more than a shirt. I'd much prefer to just save the $15 and put it towards a second year of membership.

I'd like to order a couple of t-shirts but even with the sale, shipping to Sweden is real expensive yo.

I normally wear a large size shirt. Has anyone really had a difference in their shirt sizes and needed to up to a Xlarge?

Suddenly bummed I won't be going to PAX Prime, that private party for members sounds like a ton of fun. Not to mention the usual panel craziness.