Getting to PAX East from Roslindale Village was not too bad. It was in the same vicinity as Arisia 2013. A simple trip on the Orange Line to the Red Line to South Station. By the time I exited South Station, I already saw people on Summer Street already headed towards the Boston Convention Center. People were going in droves. I knew PAX East was big, big enough to get gamers out of bed on a Saturday morning. I got the Westin and checked into the hotel. I changed into Azusa in her marching band from Idolm@ster to represent my love of the franchise. I made it a point to hit up all of the rhytmn game places at this event.

The Exhibit Floor

PAX East took up the entire Boston Convention Center. The exhibit hall floor was made of massive displays. It reminded me of the Anime Expo glory days - teetering towers, giveaways at the top of the hour, promotional displays that put you into the world of the game - there was always something going on somewhere. At this point, I felt very overwhelmed and I had no clue where to start. I just browsed around.

There were definately a lot of things to look at. However, it took a while to wait to test out new games and watch trailer presentations. I thought about checking out the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag presentation, but it was an hour wait and I could only take so much of the same UBISOFT trailers being looped. I did catch sight of a few booths hosting their own cosplay contests - League of Legends and Twitch - just to name a few.

Other than video game companies showing off upcoming products, the show floor also had PC gaming products from headsets to video cards. As someone who wants to upgrade to a video editing and gaming desktop, I was much more intrigued by these displays. One particular booth had a contest on who can build the fastest desktop. If anyone was taking commissions for onsite desktop customization, I would have placed a down payment right then and there. You certainly had a lot of the best of the best tech to enhance PC gaming. For the most part, eccentricly dressed pepole were recieved well at PAX East.

Cosplay At PAX East

One of the biggest concerns I had at PAX East was what type of cosplay is welcomed at the show. I want to go off on a limb and say that all cosplay is welcomed, so as long as it is family friendly. However, a majority of cosplayers represented video games and anime that had video tie ins. Idolm@ster, the series I was cosplaying from, started off as a video game and is now a popular Japanese franchise. You also had your typical Lolita fashionistas and ravers running around the floor.

People were generally friendly to the cosplayers. I have not experience or known anyone who experienced any trolling or any kind of harrasment through the weekend. Cosplayers were very friendly about having their photos taken and were ready to strike up a conversation. What I liked about the PAX East cosplayers is that they were very laid back and there was no sense of elitism. If you cosplay and are considering attending PAX East, you are more than welcomed there.

Saints Row IV Press Preview

This was a very unusual turn of events. I was casually chatting with Square Enix and because they loved my Idolm@ster cosplay, they decided to let me check out the Saints Row IV press conference. It was very kind of them to let me cover the Saints Row IV demonstration. We were introduced to gameplay of the upcoming Saints Row IV game. I was quite intrigued by the over-the-top themes of the world. I think my favorite aspect is the dub step gun - aim at the target and and they'll be a slave to the wub wubs. The inflatable gun also had laughs - shoot and the target's head will go explode.

Saints Row IV's protagonist is now the leader of the free world - the President of the USA - and has to fight off aliens. While Saints Row is known for not taking itself too seriously, people are wondering if alien invasion is too much for the franchise. We shall see in August of 2013.

Video Game Journalism

PAX East had plenty of panels that I wanted to check out, but a majority of them were on Friday. While Scarlet Rhapsody does have a small video game review section that's manned by Miguel, I thought it would be interesting to check out these guys' perspective. The panelists shared ancedotes of do's and don'ts. They discussed about how to use social media effectively with a focus on Twitter. The panelists also talked about horror stories working with companies. One such story involved "a French company" being unclear of what materials from the press packets could be published publicly and what is not.

The panel reaffirmed a few things I already knew as a convention blogger - keep an air of professionalism and mantain a thick skin. Though this panel aimed to educate nubile journalists and future game reviewers, it was also entertaining. The panelists had very good chemistry and always made humorous remarks.

Dance Central: Open Stage

It took me a while to find the Dance Central free play area. Once I escaped from the wub wubs of the Mag Fest room, I was able to find the open stage for Dance Central. PAX East had two open halls where you could play Dance Central and Rock Band. Unfortunately, PAX East lost a bid to Rave Rave Revolution in Rhode Island. Had Pax East won the bid, PAX East would have recieved more dance and ryhthm games such as Beat Mania, Para Para Paradise, and Dance Dance Revolution.

However, I was a happy idol with Dance Central 3. There was a short line for Dance Central 3, so I decided to do two songs. The first time around, the person next to me in line wanted to do "Firework" by Katy Perry. Suffice to say, it was our first time dancing to "Firework"'s routine. The second time around, I wanted to do "On the Floor," but the control messed up and set it to "Poison." Though I wanted to change it, the crowd wanted me to try "Poison" anyway. It was nice bring back some early 90s funk to PAX East.

Dance Central: Main Stage

At PAX East, to get swag, one must earn it. Dance Central on the main floor had about a 45 minute wait. However, it was still fun to watch people bust a move. Microsoft had a stage set up where you could either play with a friend or play with their hired Dance Central professional. It was really fun to see all types of people come up to the stage - cosplayers, casuals, gamers both young and old and in between, etc. If you did go up on stage and dance, you would win arm warmers, a gym bag, and a water bottle. It was so worth the wait.

I ended up doing "On the Floor" by J.Lo on medium. Let me tell you that it was hard keeping up with the moves when you're wearing gogo boots and wearing thick layered twill. However, it was still fun to show off to J.Lo and to dance like an idol in front of people. I just wish someone could have taken video.

Curse's Wildstar Party

The final event of the night was a special after party that my comrades at Anime Jam Session nudged me into going. They mentioned last year had drinks all around and a pretty awesome DJ. If the anime convention nightlife could be summed up into an endless dynamite rave, the Wildstar party was like a night club complete with a VIP section, PC gaming, free food, and a free drink. There was an air of class to it - people got dressed up for it. Had I known this was something you could wear club wear too, I would have dressed up a bit more than just looking like a marching band geek.

What I did like about the Wildstar party was being able to network with local Boston podcasts and local geeky press crews. I sat down with Anime Jam Session and Electric Sisterhood where we had our mini dinner (sliders and fries) and drinks. The DJ started spinning some tunes. It took the "Harlem Shake" to get people on the dance floor. Mackelmore's "Thrift Shop" begun and everyone started getting groovy. However, some people felt the playlist was too top 40 and too mainstream. I did not mind it because I actually like to 40 music, but I could have done without Miley Cyrus.

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