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It’s the final countdown…

Can you believe that PAX East 2014 is less than 60-days away?

I’m really looking forward to it this year. Once again I’ll be doing media coverage. Even though it’s only a freelance gig, I have to consider myself extremely lucky to be given such an opportunity. Last year, I was able to cover and gain insight on some of the biggest games to come out. Some of these games included: “Saints Row IV,” “The Elder Scrolls Online,” and “Diablo III” for the console. It’s funny. As I think back on things, I remember when they announced “Hearthstone.” Needless to say, I was initially unimpressed with the game. As it turns out, I was very wrong.

While it was really great that I got the chance to cover some of these high profile games, one thing I missed out on was the tabletop gaming side of PAX East. This year, I’m looking to find the right balance between video games and tabletop games.

I’ve been doing this media thing for, roughly, a year now. PAX East 2013 was my first time covering a convention. I literally threw myself into the fire as far as a learning curve goes. In the fall, I covered the Boston Festival of Indie Games. When I initially signed up to cover the festival I didn’t think much of it. In fact, I was rather hesitant, thinking it wasn’t going to be anything close to what PAX East was, and that I shouldn’t waste my time with it. I was wrong about that too. I seem to be wrong about a lot of things.

The Boston Festival of Indie Games (also known as the “BFIG”) taught me a lot, I think. In 2013, that was the second year for the festival. They had to run a Kickstarter campaign earlier in the year to cover some of the festival’s expenses because they had outgrown their original base of operations. They had gone from the classrooms of M.I.T. to taking over the athletic center and student center of campus. Based on what I saw, I’m sure they’re looking to move to somewhere bigger next year.

The festival was a huge success. There was a ton of people, and it caught me off guard. I think it caught me off guard because I seemed to take the festival for granted. I didn’t realize how much people were so into independent games and developers. The best part of the festival was that it covered video games and tabletop games. It was essentially a mini PAX East.

At PAX East, last year, remember, I said I was able to cover some of the higher profiled games that year. Well, it should also be mentioned that by working with these big named studios  I also had to work with some serious PR people. Now, for someone like me, who was new to the industry, those people are scary. I had only been doing the journalism thing since December of 2012.

(I know I’m jumping around a bit, but I’ll get to my point soon.)

Back to the BFIG. Basically, when it was all said and done, I walked away from the festival with a greater sense of confidence in what I do as a journalist. I realized that these folks want to talk to me as much as I want to talk to them. Media outlets are a great opportunity for them to get the word out about their product to a larger audience, and, even though I am not as well established as some out there, that any help counts.

All this brings us to PAX East 2014. I’m hoping to bring this new found confidence and better my PAX East experience. I didn’t have a full schedule of meetings with many companies. It was partly because I didn’t want to have a full schedule and partly because I didn’t get contacted by many companies I wanted to talk to. This year it will be different. I’m looking to make a fuller schedule and open up to companies even if they’re not working on a triple “A” title. In fact, a couple of the best places to be at PAX is the Indie Megabooth and the Indie Showcase which highlights some of the best independent games to be showcased at PAX East for that year.

I also want to cover more tabletop games this year. I spent a lot of my downtime in the tabletop gaming area instead.

This area had it all. There was a section to paint miniatures and learn how to pain miniatures. You could rent one of the many board games donated by attendees and play with your friends. There was a huge area to play “Magic: The Gathering” and there were tables slotted for official “Dungeons & Dragons” campaigns held by Wizards of the Coast employees. There were also tons of vendors.

I, of course, could be found by the Battleground Games & Hobbies booth. They will be there again this year; hopefully, bigger and better than last year. I joke with them every year saying that they should aim to be a bigger booth each year with the eventual goal of looking like one of the video game exhibits like Wizards of the Coast or “Wildstar” had last year. Maybe they should just get a mech suit that people can jump in and take photos of.

Who’s coming to the party?

According to the forums, there are only a few confirmed exhibitors as of right now. As the event draws near, we’ll have a better idea as to who will be there. With all this in mind, what are you looking forward to at PAX East 2014? Is there anything you hope will be there? Let me know.

One thing I’m looking forward to are the Stephen Riley master-class game demos. “Zombiecide” anyone?

I’ll be there all weekend long, and I was also able to snag a stay in Boston during the convention. So if anyone wants to meet up the night before. I’m available. People in the forums are planning the second annual board game night the Thursday night before the event. I plan on being there for a bit. Maybe we can play a game or two.

That’s it for now. If you’ve got a comment or question, then leave something below in the comment section. If you like what you’re reading then don’t forget to like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

About the author

Simeon is an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

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