PAX started off today like a Jamaican sprinter as press were allowed back into the Washington Convention Center to sample the latest wares of the videogame industry.
Oh yes, and they were tasty.
I was given a generous amount of time with Fallout 3, while lesser mortals watched me roll mutants with baited breath, tears in their eyes at what has really turned out to be a great game. I also sat down with product manager Pete Hines who gave a great interview and had a lot to say about the game, his critics, and what’s next. Game of the Year material? Maybe. There are some great titles on the horizon, but it’s a contender that won’t go down without a fight.
Cosplay kiddies were also out in force. I had to double-take on a dead on “Yuffie” – of Final Fantasy VII fame – impersonator who looked amazing, complete with her giant shuriken. There was also a big guy with a cape that creeped me out as I tried to identify who he was dressed up as. In the end I decided that he really wasn’t trying to be anyone but a big creepy guy. With a cape.
I gave him a wide berth.
I also noted that a great many of the guys who went to PAX were in utili-kilts. Utili-kilts are a play on the traditional Scottish kilt that is a kilt made out of non-traditional cloth and without clan colors and designs. As a man of Highland Scottish descent, I have worn a kilt once and it was at the Scottish Highland Games.
These guys wore utili-kilts with band t-shirts. And had goatees. And had ponytails. And wore glasses. Is this a gamer fashion trend? Is this the official uniform for American gamers? For a brief moment, the fear took hold of me and I wondered if I had accidently wandered into a production of Highlander IIX, and that at any moment, Christopher Lambert would come to collect my head. This was a disconcerting thought. I need my head, though perhaps some of my colleagues may venture that I look better without it.
But I digress. I’ll be posting a wrap-up on Tuesday, but I at the very least wanted to entice the few holdouts who may be thinking about going but are on the fence.
Fence straddlers, prepare yourselves: Fallout 3 will be playable at PAX. That’s right, arguably one of the most anticipated games this year will be open for play to any and all who attend.
If that doesn’t do it, then how about playable Gears of War 2? Crysis: Warhead? Starcraft II? Wrath of the Lich King?
Why are you still reading this? Get going, and have some fun. It’s not every day that the crème of the digital crop come to Seattle.
If you get lost, just follow the nearest utili-kilt and you will be there in good time.
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