Hi Everyone!
It's hard to believe another PAX is upon us! As always... an incredibly energetic and enthused crowd! I love this show! It's one of my favorites.
While I didn't see all the vendors there that I would have liked to have seen; there are still some stand outs at this years show. If you're in the area, and lucky to enough to have bought a ticket in advance, then these are the things i'd steer you towards as key highlights.
1) Destiny 2 - At the Paramount Theater.
2) Ashes of Creation - First chance i've had to take a look at this game. As a fantasy MMO, and only in early alpha, this is shaping up to be an incredible new entrant!
3) Marvel vs. Capcom - This game just looks like a ton of fun! Can't wait!
4) Dreadnought - This is a captivating Sci Fi capital ship combat style MOBA. Definitely addicting if you haven't tried it out yet.
5) Middle Earth - Shadow of War - One of the most anticipated games of the year. And, there's a cool dragon you can get your picture taken on.
6) Indie Mega Booth - The games coming out of the Indie crowd will blow you away. This is a must see booth area and a great way to support grass roots game devs!
7) Xbox One X - For those not fortunate to see this at E3, this is a great opportunity to get up close and personal with the next gen Xbox. Take a look!
8) Kinesis Freestyle Edge keyboard - I'm not kidding - this is an incredibly comfortable keyboard; and extremely innovative. Get your hands on one of these. Literally!
9) Asus Zephyrus Gaming laptop - LOVING the shape, size, design, and specs of this puppy. Only downer? High price tag. (OEMs beware the specs of Xbox One X)
10) The PAX gaming audience! - I guarantee that if you don't see one person, cos-player, or otherwise that'll crack a smile out of you i'd be surprised. This is the most diverse, and fun crowd from all walks of life you're likely to ever see.
There's a ton more to say and unpack about PAX, and little time to say it. There are a few other key trends, and developments that i'd like to call out that are noteworthy in my opinion.
VR - Seems to already be dwindling a little. Yes, it was being shown in the Sony booth, Bethesda, and a few others; but the stupidly long lines of people willing to wait and try these out are now a fraction of what they used to be. All in the span of less than a year. This really shouldn't be a surprise though.
AR - Not really seen much at all on the show floor.
Gaming Laptops - Appear to be a slowly growing trend. I can't get over the drool-worthiness of that Asus Zephyrus. I love how thin & light these things have become. However; there continues to be one major gotcha. The price. Cost is king, and any vendor that ignores that does so at their own peril. I pointed this out about the specs of the Xbox One X by comparison. When you do a side by side, (obviously negating the cost of the display) then why can't we get 6 TFLOPS of graphics horsepower for a semi-comparable price? $500 for Xbox One X. Try getting a gaming laptop with comparable specs for even twice that? Need a more apples to apples? Then try getting a gaming desktop for even double that price at $1000. I don't think it's going to happen. Pity.
On a bright note. What an amazing PAX West - Seattle! Again.. if you've never been. It's something that is definitely a must gamer bucket list item. Go check it out!!!
