You may have noticed by now that we spent the weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo gaming, paneling, partying and having a generally kickass time. We had heard word that this year's PAX would be larger than last year's, and I definitely noticed that the show floor was quite a bit larger than it was in 2007, but it was hard to get a feel for just how many more people flocked out to the expo.
The final numbers have finally rolled in, and it's even more successful than projected: Big Download confirmed 58,500 nerds came to beautiful Seattle to attend the three day festival. Considering that 37,000 attended in 2007 and that projected numbers were between 45,000 and 50,000, this is a hell of a victory for Jerry and Mike's little shindig.
Robert Khoo, Show Director for the expo, commented on potentially addressing crowding issues for PAX 2009:
"Regarding the overcrowding, it was definitely a symptom of the popularity of the show, but not one that can't be overcome. At 2 or 3 of the main theatre events 3-4% of the line wasn't able to make it, but we hear those 3-4% loud and clear. We have a few ideas to manage that problem for 2009 including wristbands for popular events or just a straight-up hard count of people in line. The worst thing is if people line up for something and end up not getting in."
I never had any major trouble with crowding this year, although I did hear a few people mention that some games did not have a play time limit, causing lines of people waiting to play to be held up longer than they should have been. Did you attend and find this was an issue for you?
Contest:
7:04 PM on 09.01.2008
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Like myself D:
:(
got to love your female gamers!
But I agree with Qalamari, I didnt even scratch the surface of PAX...maybe next year! :D
My suggestion would be a bigger venue for next year! The Vancouver Convention Centre just up north past the border will be finished early 2009 in time for the Winter Olympics in 2010 and I'm sure would be big enough, including the old centre at Canada place as well: http://www.vcec.ca/
Although I'm slightly biased Colette, since it is my home town :)
Was Sunday less crowded? Wish I could have stayed for that.
Wow, I just noticed that. There is definitely a similarity. Product placement?
...wait for it...
wait in a line! To get wristbands to presentations!
And then we'll be kicked out of the lineup room, so we can turn around and get in line (but only if we have our wristbands!) to see the presentation we wanted to see!
Woooo! LineCon 2009! ROCK!
I'm not sure if there is much they can do, even if it's at a bigger place, I can see it making room for more people. I would hate it if PAX became as big as the San Diego Comic-Con. That place is way too huge.
I thought it was a convention for people who really enjoyed queues. The only waiting in line I did was for the bar.
...and thats why we win PAX.
yeah the Enforcers this year were disorganized shit. One pretty much told us we weren't in line for the Rock Band 2 thing so we followed him and then he was like "oh you were in the right place." There were barely any roped off areas for lines and people were allowed to play for as long as they wanted which was annoying as hell.
Didn't have to wait on line for Mushroom Men, Ninja Town, or Wario Land: Shake It though which was pretty awesome. The Guitar Hero World Tour area was set up so well though. Having a seperate stage area and "lounge" area was effing brilliant, and gave many more people the chance to play the game. They certainly made good use of the space.
I think that's really what it comes down to: this year was way more disorganized than last year. Some areas, like the New Puzzle Quest, had shit tons of space that was completely unnecessary. Gamecock's stand was set up perfectly; barely any lines and people could get in and out pretty easily. Left 4 Dead was also well prepared for the lines that formed. Then you had Rock Band 2 where there was no roped off area for a line so people ended up not knowing where the hell to line up. Also, Mirror's Edge and Gears 2 had no good way of letting people fairly line up for games. I just don't think anyone was prepared for the volume of people here.
Hopefully next year they can plan everything out a bit better.
I love a good convention just as much as the next person, but there's a point where there is just way too many people in one place to make the event enjoyable.