What went down at Pax East 2016

This year’s PAX East is held in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center during April 22nd – 24th.

Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is a series of gaming festivals and conventions created in 2004 to celebrate the gamer culture. Every year, PAX is held in Seattle, Melbourne, San Antonio, and of course, Boston. Thousands of gamers, geeks and cosplayers from all over the world swarmed into Boston to geek out, trade Pokemon and battle each other on various consoles. When I say “swarmed,” I meant it, literally.

Giants of the gaming industry like Sony, Ubisoft, Riot Games, all have booths and panels at the convention. Events like PAX gives these companies an opportunity to showcase their developing games, products and new consoles. While being overwhelmed by the crowd, giant jumbotrons, and everything else, I was amazed by how far the gaming culture has become: from a stigmatized subculture just for the “nerds” and the “losers” who have no life and no friends, to a celebrated, commercialized, and competitive scene. Since I was totally unprepared for this event, I wandered around the convention center and test-played a few upcoming games.

Besides playing games and talking to awesome people, there are a lot of things you can do at the convention. Here are just a few examples.

Bump into famous Youtubers

Watch a collegiate tournament

Ohio State University Buckeyes vs. Michigan State University Spartans. Come on BU, why don’t we have an E-Sports team?

Take Pictures with awesome cosplayers

AND LOOK AT THIS GIANT PIKACHU!!

Kirby just chillin

Looking at GEICO-sponsored events, thinking “What does Geico have to do with gaming?”