PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, and Melbourne. Previously, it was also held in San Antonio.
| PAX | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Gaming (video game, tabletop, CCG, role-playing) |
| Venue | Various
|
| Location(s) | Various
|
| Country | United States Australia |
| Inaugurated | PAX West: August 28–29, 2004 Other PAX(s)
|
| Most recent | PAX Aus: October 11–13, 2024 Other PAX(s)
|
| Next event | PAX Unplugged: December 6–8, 2024 Other PAX(s)
|
| Organized by | Penny Arcade RELX |
| Website | www |
PAX was created in 2004 by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show exclusively for gaming.[1] The shows include a keynote speech from an industry insider, game-culture inspired concerts, panels on game topics, exhibitor booths from both independent and major game developers and publishers, a LAN party multiplayer, tabletop gaming tournaments, and video game freeplay areas.
History
editThe first Penny Arcade Expo was held on August 28–29, 2004, at the Meydenbauer Center, and was attended by about 3,300 people. Renamed PAX, it became an annual event. Attendance grew rapidly, topping 9,000 in 2005 and 19,000 in 2006.
Outgrowing the Meydenbauer Center, the event moved to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, where it drew some 39,000 in 2007,[2] 58,500 in 2008, 60,750 in 2009, and 70,000 in 2011. The show stopped reporting attendance numbers in 2011, citing difficulties in tracking attendance in a multi-day event.[3]
In 2009, Penny Arcade partnered with ReedPOP.[4][better source needed]
PAX Prime 2013, the first four-day PAX, was held on August 30 – September 2, 2013; passes sold out in six hours.
Expansion to more cities
editIn 2010, the first PAX East was held at the Hynes Convention Center on March 26–28, 2010, drawing 52,290 attendees. The first PAX Prime drew 67,600 attendees in 2010. PAX East moved to Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in 2011; a 2012 agreement cemented Boston as the home of PAX East until 2023.[5]
The first international event was PAX Australia, first held July 19–21, 2013 at the Melbourne Showgrounds. The following year, it moved to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, where it remains.[6]
The first PAX South was held in San Antonio, Texas, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on January 23–25, 2015. It set a PAX record for highest attendance for an inaugural year.[7] But the event saw little growth in later years, and was cancelled in October 2021.[8]
Specialty events
editFrom 2011 until 2020, Penny Arcade held PAX Dev, an annual event meant to allow the game developer community to "speak freely and focus entirely on their trade".[9] Unlike other game-developer events like GDC, PAX Dev did not allow press. 750 people attended in 2011.
At PAX South 2017, Penny Arcade and ReedPop announced that a new event type, PAX Unplugged, would be held on November 17–19, 2017, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The event focused on tabletop games, a type that was only incidental in other PAXes.[10]
Name of PAX in Seattle
editPAX was originally known as the "Penny Arcade Expo", but quickly became known by its acronym "PAX". Seattle's PAX was renamed PAX Prime in 2010 and PAX West in 2015.[11]
Activities
editPAX consists of the following activities:[12]
- Freeplay, further broken into: Console, Classic Console, Handheld, PC, VR, and Tabletop.
- Tournaments, further broken into: Console and Tabletop. Some PAXes feature additional tournaments hosted by vendors.
- "Bring Your Own Computer" or BYOC, a LAN Party.
- Panels, talks, signings, and similar events.
- Concerts.
- PAX Arena, an eSports tournament.
- The Omegathon.
- An Exhibition Hall, which includes game studios, merchandise, and the Indie Megabooth.
The Omegathon
editEach PAX features an event called the "Omegathon", a festival-long tournament consisting of a group of randomly selected attendees competing in a game bracket for a grand prize (which has varied from a large game bundle, to a trip to Japan, to a trip to any PAX in the world). The final round of the Omegathon makes up part of the closing ceremonies of PAX. Past games for the final round of the Omegathon have included Tetris, Pong, Halo 3, and skee-ball.
Enforcers
editEarly PAXes were largely run by a large group of volunteers, which the show calls "Enforcers". Now a paid role, most Enforcers are still not professional conference organizers or temps, but rather selected from an application available to attendees on the PAX website.[13]
Events
editActive PAX Events
edit-
PAX West (Formerly Penny Arcade Expo, then PAX and later PAX Prime) has been held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 2004. -
PAX East has been held annually in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, since 2010. -
PAX Aus has been held annually in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, since 2013. -
PAX Unplugged has been held annually in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, since 2017.
Former PAX Events
edit-
PAX South was held annually in San Antonio, Texas, United States, between 2015 and 2020. -
PAX Dev was held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, between 2011 and 2019. -
PAX Online was held virtually between 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Timeline of PAX Events
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ "PAX East History". PAX East. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016.
- ^ Magrino, Tom (August 29, 2009). "PAX 2010 descends on Boston". Gamespot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
- ^ Ellis, Tim (May 13, 2015). "How Penny Arcade manages PAX ticket sales – and why your crazy idea to fix them won't work". Geekwire. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- ^ Venables, Michael. "How Pax Became The Biggest, Greatest Fellowship Of Gamers, Geeks And Civility in the World". Forbes. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ^ Herald Staff (February 15, 2012). "PAX East commits to Boston for 10 more years". Boston Herald. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- ^ "PAX Australia on Twitter". Twitter. March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
- ^ PAX South Attendance Breaks Records. IGN. January 25, 2015.
- ^ Rodriguez, Megan (October 30, 2021). "PAX South gaming convention in San Antonio canceled for 'foreseeable future'". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ "PAX Dev FAQs". dev.paxsite.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
- ^ "PAX Unplugged - Philadelphia, PA Nov. 17 - 19, 2017". unplugged.paxsite.com. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
- ^ Khoo, Robert (November 18, 2015). "@skelevader b/c if i make an announcement people will read too much into it. Besides, press releases are lame. PAX WEST FOR LIFE". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 26, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
- ^ "PAX West 2017 Guidebook". Guidebook. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- ^ "Enforcers - PAX West". PAX. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
External links
edit
Media related to PAX (event) at Wikimedia Commons- Official website
