By now, I hope you've had a chance to read about the journey I brought megaStryke and GamesAreArt on as well as its tragic end. What I didn't tell you before was that I had thought in the back of my head that something like this might happen, so I secretly visited the clone world of Kamino prior to my journey.


Doesn't look as impressive as I remember it.

The clone masters regarded me strangely as I presented the DNA of my targets. It would have been expensive to make perfect clones, so I allowed them to remove the color from the end product. The clones themselves probably wouldn't be happy about that, but a little brainwork ensured that they'd never know the difference.


Oddly, the clones seemed to have no personality of their own. It was like they were a blank slate on one side. I knew that wouldn't do, so I lent them my voice, and a message to spread.



Now that I had my clones, I needed a place to distribute them, to allow them to blend in with the rest of society. What better place than the meeting hall of the robot's army?

My work done, all I could do was wait. I saw signs of my efforts in some intercepted missives, but very little direct communication. It seemed my clones were rather like fish eggs, hundreds distributed to the wild in the hopes that a few would survive.









It was all right though, as I had an ace up my sleeve. I talked to the leader of the clone masters, a grumpy, turtle-like fellow with the flair of a true artist. He crafted for me two very special clones, far surpassing their brothers' capabilities.





When the tragedy happened, I knew I couldn't keep these special clones to myself. And so they have been carefully packed in carbonite for the journey to their unwitting donors. As a matter of fact, the transport ship is on its way now.


Nope, still not that impressive.




All joking and strangeness aside, thank you to everyone who took the time to help me show mS and GAA around PAX. I'd especially like to thank GrumpyTurtle for his awesome drawings, requested over Twitter and prepared in advance. I'm sorry we didn't get to hang out more sir, and I definitely feel like I owe you something special next PAX. If anyone has pictures they've taken with the clones that they'd like added to the post, it's not too late! Just send them to my email or add them in the comments and I'll make sure they're inserted into the post.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Destructoid for putting on a hell of a show at its PAX panel. It is because of my clone warriors here that I managed to snag the elusive "first post" at the Dtoid Live panel, and thus you, GamesAreArt and megaStryke, you are responsible for the completely awesome set of A30 Astro headphones that I took home. I was shocked and flustered at the outset, when I said who I was on the site and people cheered. That's certainly never happened to me before. And so thank you to everyone who was so nice to me at PAX, I had a great time meeting a lot of you, new faces and old. Thank you to Hamza, Niero, Jim, and anyone else involved with the amazing audio equipment I brought home. And thank you most especially to the community here who has accepted me and tolerates my half-assed ramblings on a regular basis.

And there's one more PAX blog I have yet to write. Sorry Sentry, but that one will have to wait for another day...

I'm not sure why, but I've been having a terrible time trying to get this blog written. Maybe it's the fact that I haven't done a non-recap blog since February (Lord, has it been that long?). Maybe it's the mental block, knowing that once my post is done, PAX will be well and truly over to me for another year. I suspect it's some combination of the two, but no amount of procrastination will allow me to turn back time; if anything quite the reverse is true.

This might be one of those situations where words aren't necessary, though. Well, maybe not so many words as I usually use. This will be a photo-heavy blog, so be fairly warned, Slowskys.

The choice of whose avatar to take with me to PAX was complicated, and required deliberation over several factors. OK, maybe not several, but a couple. Ok. One. One factor each. You happy now?


Tony Ponce (AKA Megastryke) made a truly amazing blog earlier this year wherein he took to PAX east the avatars of both myself and the lovely Beyamor (and I am justified in saying lovely, for reasons that might best go unspoken). For this reason, he was an obvious choice to bring along.


GamesAreArt is a little trickier to pin down. It was clear from this tweet that he desperately wanted someone to take him along, but was too cool to ask for it directly.

I can respect that. Also, he's a fellow recapper and general stand-up gentleman, as far as I can tell. Also also, his avatar is adorable.

We began our journey at the asscrack of dawn. (Alternate nomenclature: the taint of time.) I am no stranger to being awake at 4:00 in the morning, but I generally approach it as a good time to start thinking about going to bed rather than beginning my day. It is for this reason that I have very little to show on the way to Seattle.


Here you can see GamesAreArt by the windowzzzzzzzz...


When we finally did get off the ground, we launched in tandem with this Virginal plane. I certainly wouldn't make any jokes about that.


I've been to PAX for four years running now but I still don't know exactly how to describe the feeling you get knowing you're surrounded by literally thousands of like-minded people. It's lovely to have one weekend a year where geekiness is an asset rather than a liability.


Swag bag in hand and shell on head, the three of us went off exploring the show floor. The first thing to catch our eyes was this ugly customer. I certainly wouldn't want to run afoul of him, but my 2-dimensional compatriots were much braver. I believe I heard GamesAreArt threatening to give him a paper cut should he try anything funny.


The boys were impressed by this life-size TRON lightcycle, but both were too polite to deny the other the honor of the first ride. In the end, neither of them ended up on it.


Telltale had a pretty strong showing, promoting their upcoming Back to the Future game all over the place.


The boys had less trouble deciding who would get to try out Doc Brown's custom DeLorean. Sadly, the car had a speed-regulating throttle and could not be driven faster than 87 MPH.


It's hard to get angry when you're at PAX, even when a giant sign tells you to. GamesAreArt is an iconoclast, and he does a headstand just to tell the Man he won't be havin' any of that, thank you very much.


Tired by this acrobatic display, the lads decided to take a rest by this oddly-shaped pile of rocks.


But wait! That's no ordinary pile of rocks! In fact, it almost looks like...


A D-d-d-d-d-DINOSAUR? And it seems to be emanating a high amount of radiation! Holy eff, guys, let's get out of here right now!


Having left the show floor, it was time to meet up with some of our fellows. Like, about 200 of them, by my estimation. Our first attempt was very nearly lost to the ages thanks to an Enforcer who clearly liked the smell of his own farts. Still, you can see me and my charges over on the left hand side, near the middle.


Since we weren't sure the first photo had been taken (seriously, that guy was a jackass) we all moved outside. I hope I didn't block anyone with the guys, but you can see us up near the front and center. Behind Funky and DOMO, if that helps.


It was a little chaotic, but I think I gave my charges equal representation, at least.


After the big group picture, it was time to get some more, shall we say intimate photos. First up was the picture reserved for Cblog Recappers. Both of the guys qualified, so they demanded to be included.


Before everyone went their separate ways, we managed to get some pictures with several of the editors.
CrimeMinister and I double-teamed Chad for this shot. GamesAreArt and MegaStryke were happy to share Chad with UsedTabe, Manic Maverick, and LawofThermalDynamics. Chad looks happy too, but you never know with Chad. It's kinda like this.


After the sunniness that is Chad, we cleansed our palate with the abrasiveness you can only get from one James Tiberius Sterling, in full Jimquisition regalia.


Dale North and Conrad Zimmerman were surprised to learn that they both had a twin in another part of the country.


Jonathan Holmes recently mugged Zoey for her sweatshirt, but he took a couple of moments to pose with both of my boys.


Speaking of mugging... this picture is definitely one of my favorites.


What kind of person would I be if I went to PAX and didn't get a picture of our benevolent robot dictator? A lousy one. And I am. But I did manage a picture of the man behind the helmet, at least.


I managed to catch former editor Anthony Burch and his lovely wife just after the Gametrailers panel. Funny thing-- Papa Burch was standing right next to them, but he doesn't appear in my picture. My only theory is that the density of his awesomeness bent the light around him, preventing him from leaving a trace in my photographs.


Mikey and Stella were at the Gametrailers panel, too. So cute!


Much later, we caught up with the rest of Destructoid at the Rock Bottom Bar, and here I got a few shots with various members of the community. First up, I caught a shark.


A rather hairy shark, as sharks go.


Elsa was a little camera shy, so I promised I'd make some slight alterations to her photo. Nothing major, not in the least! Frankly, I cannot imagine why she'd want to cover up that face, as she is a damned handsome woman.


I got one more group shot with Funky, Tactix and JohnnyViral, and all of our adopted avatars. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Xzyliac is a very pretty girl.


ScottyG and WalkYourPath (originator of the Adopt-an-avatar program) shared an adult beverage with the guys before we broke for the evening.


Before we knew it, it was time to leave. I packed the guys safely away in my suitcase, little realizing the horrors that would await me when we touched down.


Uh oh. These guys have been stuck in my suitcase for the better part of a day, smashed up against my dirty clothes... particularly the stanky socks, rich with the sweat of three days tromping around downtown Seattle. I sure hope they're all ri...


Well, dammit. Sorry guys. I hope your last vacation was as much fun for you as it was for me.

As I mentioned in the recaps last night, last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend Destructoid's housewarming party in San Francisco. Dtoid San Francisco already posted their gallery, but I thought you might want to see my photos too since they show off a little more of how the house is decorated. My friend Scott who lives in San Jose came with me, which was great since I was tired from driving all day. Besides, he wanted to see what was up with this website I keep talking about.


As you walked in the door, there was a long strip of cardboard in the opening hall, and all guests were encouraged to sign in. I'd show you what I wrote, but it was less than stellar and I didn't take a picture. I decided from now on I'm gonna leave the art stuff to the real artists, though.

The new house is a two-story, tan colored Victorian on Utah street in San Francisco. If you've ever seen Full House, you know those things are packed together pretty tightly. You could see into a couple of the neighbor's houses from the various balconies and the backyard... I hope they didn't mind!

Like this! Except, you know. Not.

My friend and I got there pretty early, so we got a good look at the decor before there were too many people there.

The kitchen area was packed with food and booze, maybe not in that order. I was impressed by how the place was decorated-- it's like walking into the website. The walls, even the ceiling are covered in gaming paraphenelia and stuff Niero has recieved from the community. It's gotta be great to get up in the morning, pour yourself a bowl of cereal, and look over to the wall and see the poster ScottyG had everyone sign. I didn't take any pictures of the bedrooms 'cause frankly that's none of my business, but from what I saw walking by they're also a testament to the power of the internet.


This was the chandelier in the living room. Samba de Amigo is SO BAD.


The original helmet adorned this plastic fellow off in the corner. You may note that he is pantsless. It was that kind of a party.


The shelves above the food and stuff were crammed with awards and memorabilia collected from trade shows and conventions. Chad keeps some interesting company... Jenna Jameson, Vivi the black mage and Ron Jeremy flanked him.


Everywhere you looked you saw something related to the site. Here's the orginal Smoking Robot toy that started it all.


The candy choice was deliciously appropriate, no?


Like Bender Bending Rodriguez, this robot has an insatiable desire for alcohol. Fortunately the bartender was happy to oblige.


This picture was what you saw as you walked in the bathroom. I hope no one saw the flash from my camera as I took it... they'da probably thought I was a pervert.


Some charts and graphs were on the walls showing how Destructoid and the rest of the Modern Method sites have taken off over the last few years. Apparently Niero studied the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition in addition to coding and such.


This picture was on the wall between the kitchen and the living room. I don't know what it is, all I know is that it spoke to me.

We headed downstairs since that's where the games were. There were 3 TVs set up with Nintendo consoles hooked to each... it was on the way to Hamza's room, so every time he wanted to go in or out he damn near tripped over someone's N64 or Gamecube cord.


This Tomopop banner graced the wall on the way to the basement.


And this... this is an accident waiting to happen. This thing caused more bad trips than Alfred Hubbard.


We were mightily impressed by the Wall of Power that faced us as we came down the stairs. Nearly every console and accessory you can think of is readily accessible...


All the way back to the Atari 2600. Oddly enough, there's no copy of E.T. here. Can't imagine why. By the way, don't worry too much about the broken Wii in that previous picture. There was a perfectly sound one in the corner playing Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom all night.


This is CTZ and Hammershark playing a quick game of Mario Kart before the party really got started. The door in the back leads to Hamza's room.


The N64 got a lot more use than the Gamecube, actually. I realized I still had my old muscle memory stored from Mario Kart 64...


To say nothing of Goldeneye. Maybe it's the retrogoggles, but I think FPS's were better when you could punch your buddy in the arm if he killed you with a Klobb.


Rock Band was set up on a projection screen downstairs. It was going great until the drum set's kick pedal stopped working. >_<


To the left of the Rock Band stage was this spectacular arcade cabinet, containing more than 3000 not-emulated games. Obviously there have been some concessions to modern design: I'm pretty sure HALO never came out in the arcades. This was the highlight of the night for me, though... I never thought I'd get to play Smash T.V. or Battletoads on an arcade cab again.


Like I said, there was love for gaming on display everywhere you looked. This retro Link pillow was on the chair by the arcade cabinet.


Hamza's contribution to the decoration.


It got progressively more crowded downstairs as the night went on.


The basement is actually a converted garage, and you can see the garage door opener hanging down from the ceiling in this photo. From what I understand, there were well over 100 people that showed up. We didn't stay the whole night since I had gotten up at 6 for work, so we went back to my friend's place around Midnight.

Once again, I'd like to thank Niero and the rest of the staff for creating this site, and also for being so open and friendly. Niero really is one of the nicest guys you're ever gonna meet, and he was walking about the party constantly, trying to make sure everyone was having a good time. I had a blast at the party, it was well worth the drive from Sacramento to be able to welcome my internet friends to California. Thanks again Destructoid, and I wish you great success here in the Golden State!

-Q

With less than a week until the doors of PAX are thrown wide, I thought it might be useful to share some of the things I've learned by attending for the last two years, in a handy and simple do/don't format. Actually, most of this stuff is applicable to any convention you attend. Print one out! Folds up and fits right in your pocket.



DO:


Wear comfortable shoes. I can't stress this enough. During the convention, you're going to be on your feet a LOT. Whether you're standing in the concert hall , perusing the show floor or walking around downtown Seattle on a pub crawl, chances are pretty good your basic mode of transport is going to be the Shoelace Express. Do your feet a favor and wear some shoes that you've already broken in. There aren't too many maladies that can ruin fun faster than a blister.



Bring your portable system and a charger. PAX is a digital wonderland, and if you ever wanted to play multiplayer on that obscure Japanese game you imported, this is probably your best chance to find someone else as crazy as you are. You can also let your Nintendogs out to play, battle Pokemon, or level the hell out of your pins in The World Ends With You. You will be standing in a lot of lines, so take advantage of the time to get in a few games of Tetris DS or Monster Hunter. Just don't forget the charger, and make sure to power up every night.

Plan your day beforehand. At any given time there are 5-7 events going on simultaneously. It's simply not possible to see and do everything. You may have to make some tough decisions, but that's where the program guide you get when you register is your best friend. There's a graphical version of the daily schedule in the guide, so it's easy to circle what you want to do and refer to it regularly. And if something you thought you would like turns out to be less interesting than you thought, don't feel bad about leaving and doing something else for a while. The primary goal here is to have fun.

Plan on using plastic whenever possible. Normally I wouldn't recommend this, as I feel it's better to have cash in hand when you want to purchase something. However, the ATM in the convention center ran out of cash daily last year, and there's a $3 fee every time you use the thing anyway. So long as you pay back the balance before the end of the month, it's much cheaper and more convenient to use your credit card for whatever you buy. This isn't to say you shouldn't carry some cash, but plan on using it for food and gratuities, not souvenirs.



Speaking of food, that brings me to the 6-2-1 rule. PAX is a busy weekend, and it's easy to forget to take care of basic human necessities. During each convention day, you should do your best to get:
6 hours of sleep,
2 meals, and
1 shower.
You can try mixing up the ratio, for example getting two hours of sleep and eating six meals, or getting one hour of sleep, taking six showers, and eating a single meal. This has been attempted in the past, and is not advisable.

Bring a camera. Cosplay pictures, upcoming games, some freak wearing a blue shell hat... You won't be able to post pictures on your blog if you don't have it with you. Try to keep it as accessible as possible (shoulder/neck strap, man bag etc.) so you don't miss capturing something epic.

Last but not least, Wear deodorant. There will be more than 50,000 people visiting Arcadia over the holiday weekend, which means there will be, at a conservative estimate, 100,000 armpits. Even though you are certain that your sweat glands release the scent of fresh-baked pastries, please apply deodorant anyway. Everyone around you will show their appreciation by not gagging, turning white, or passing out.




DO NOT

Make an ass of yourself. The PAX rules are written on your badge, and they aren't hard to follow. Breaking them reflects poorly not only on yourself but on anyone you're with... like, say, a certain group of fun-loving bloggers.

Bring home consoles. I tried to do this last year and found out the hard way that most hotels lock out the inputs on their T.V.s specifically to block this sort of thing. Sure, it's a dick move on their part, but learn from my mistake and save yourself the hassle of shipping a console to yourself at your hotel or trying to take it through airport security.



Spend so much time at the convention that you miss out on meeting other people from Destructoid. I did this last year and I've been regretting it ever since. Last year I came up with a big group of friends and spent most of my time hanging out with them. I don't regret that, but only after did I think to myself, "Hey. I see these guys all the time. I just missed an opportunity to hang out with people I won't see for at least another year." If you're going, you really have no excuse not to check out the PAX meetup group's Cblog at the very least.

Forget to leave room in your bags for souvenirs. It's easy to get carried away, and there's a few things at PAX you can't find this side of Akihabara. You'll also end up with quite a bit of swag, some of it posters and other things that may not travel well. There's a Kinko's in the lower level of the convention center that can help with shipping it back home if that's what it comes down to... but it's easier just to plan ahead and leave some room in your suitcase.



Be rude to the speakers/other guests. If you need to leave a panel/movie/whatever, try to do so without disrupting other attendees. Don't slam the door on the way out, and wait until you're outside to start talking. This is just common courtesy, but unfortunately that seems to be less and less common every year.

Miss the next PAX. While this may be the last wholly unifying game show in Seattle, the fact that PAX is becoming a bi-yearly event means there's less excuse than ever to miss one. You will have to make sacrifices in time, money, and perhaps favors owed, but I can attest with no uncertainty that it's entirely worth it.

Q

Hey guys,


Savage Pikachu, by DeviantArt user Nocturnal Devil.

I'll admit there's been a lot less enthusiasm for this project than I had been hoping for. I'm going to give it a go anyway though in the hopes that perhaps we can build on the first season with a more widespread field of competitors in the future. To those who did sign up, thanks very much. I hope you'll have fun with this moving forward.

Seven people signed up including myself, so I added one bye for the first week of competition to even out the brackets. To ensure that the order of competition is as impartial as possible, I used The Golden Avatar's random name selection program to fill out the bracket. I'll upload the video if anyone has questions, but that seems like it might be more trouble than it's worth. Here's what week one looks like.



Remember, from right now you have ONE WEEK to meet up with your partner and battle it out. Rules are here, please e-mail me with your results as soon as possible.

I'll be posting results every Wednesday until a victor is crowned. Get to battling!

Q

Yeah, I used it before. I made it. I like it. I'm using it again.


Hey guys and gals.

I'm heading out of town this weekend but I wanted to let everyone know that signups are still open for the Pokemon tournament I'd like to run over the coming weeks. Why do I say "I'd like to run" rather than " I am running"? Well, that's where you come in.

As of right now I have less than 8 people who have signed up to participate. I'm not a math whiz but even I know that in a community with over 30,000 members, this is just barely on the shady side of 0.0%. Since a tournament is a large group of combatants systematically being reduced in number until only one remains, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to hold one when the number of participants is as close to zero as it is.

I've seen a lot of posts mentioning a desire to enter, but I haven't gotten information from those people. Please, PLEASE send it in, I've tried to make it as easy as possible, and there are three ways to do so. You can E-mail it to me (Qalamari {at} Gmail {dot} com), or hit up my previous Cblog or the forum thread devoted to the subject.



I'll sweeten the deal a bit. If you sign up, I'll send you a set of the special Johto starters I bred up to give away at PAX last year. Signups will be closed at the end of this coming weekend (Feb 22). If at that time there are still less than 8 people signed up, I'll have to call it off. If you have any interest at all, please sign up... I'd hate to have to cancel the tournament for lack of interest.

Q