I have now attended PAX West 16 times. There have been some good times at this convention. I remember my first time in line waiting to be let in the main expo hall. There a forum you could see on a projector screen that you log into on your phone. You could post whatever you wanted on it for everyone to see. Just something fun to do while you waited. I also recall some kid reaching out his hand as some of us are walking by him to give him a five as we are walking into the expo hall. Then we have the main attraction, being able to experience first-hand the most anticipated games before they are released to the public. Some of my most exciting moments have been when 343 Industries have been there to talk about Halo. Being able to play Halo 4 there also added to my excitement.
This year’s PAX was another good one to be part of. However, in recent conventions, I’ve been noticing a decline in major gaming companies being present there. Sure, Nintendo is there every year with there hit games, and some major gaming companies all gaming systems are there too. Compared to when I first started going, it has not been the same. Microsoft and Sony continue to not be present. It certainly would have been so exciting to have Halo Infinite there to play back before the game came out. In-person conventions restrict what companies can and can’t do with a limited time frame. Sadly, that is part of what made the Electronic Entertainment Expo not exist anymore. So many major game companies are being criticized with the flaws that are being seen in many of the games today. I think if they appeared in public and had their own panels and just tell what has been going on, followed by Q&A sessions, I think excitement would be there again among many consumers.
Indie games have very much dominated much of the show floor in recent PAX conventions. This year was certainly the case. I again played more of those than major games. I remember when indie games weren’t as big and they had a smaller section on the floor above where the main expo hall is. There would maybe be a few indie companies in the main expo hall. PAX has gotten so expensive overtime. If it’s going to cost me $240 after tax to attend for 3 days, we need more of these major companies back. It would have been so cool if Rockstar was there just to even talk to us all about GTA 6.
I cannot believe how much board games have grown. There used to be a few little conference rooms on the sides of the lower floors of the main convention building. Now there is a whole floor in the Summit Building dedicated to board games. I don’t spend much time in it, but it’s good to see and it really helps too after being tired from standing most of the time doing about everything else. The whole Summit in general has made this convention a place where there is something for everybody. I still think about the room I saw if you want to play games in a quiet environment. Or the family gaming lounge I spent some time in. I now have Donut County installed on my Xbox because I played it in that room and liked it. It’s just a game where move a hole around and get everything you see to fall in it. It’s available on Game Pass.
If we can just more major game companies back into the mix like before, it will make future PAX conventions that much more exciting. We need that energy going into games again like Halo. Having an appearance at PAX will do that.
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