So what the hell did we get up to on the first day of PAX Aus 2015?
Following an interlude in the Queue Room where Bethesda was giving out Vault Boy masks and ice cold cups of actual Nuka-Cola (which was actually pretty good as it turns out), the morning began with a keynote address/Storytime with legendary game developer Warren Spector. Even if you don’t know his name, you’ll know or may have played his games. He was the driving force behind games like Deus Ex, System Shock and (though he claims he is given too much of the credit) Thief. He was also involved in Epic Mickey and Epic Mickey 2 on the Wii, games that were maligned by the hardcore but embraced by Disneyphiles everywhere.
Spector’s whole thing is player agency. He loves to give you a room with a puzzle in it and then drop in a hundred different items. Some may help you solve the puzzle, others may not, others may help you solve the puzzle but only in a very particular way. Spector’s goal is always for you to come up with a solution of your own because he believes that whatever solution you reach will be more interesting and engaging than anything he could have come up with for you to do.
His keynote was a sort of State of the Union address from the perspective of someone who has been making games since the eighties. Given his predilection for choice and consequence, it should come as no surprise that Spector believes the industry is in a rut right now. While he believes that games like Uncharted and Call of Duty, that guide you through carefully scripted, linear campaigns have their place in the hobby, he believes that the industry has become too reliant on them. Spector would continue to echo these sentiments throughout his other appearances at the show, and we’ll talk about those in a bit.
The Expo Hall was rather tidier in it’s layout this year, though still became quite choked at peak times. It felt like there were fewer developers and more retailers and PC part manufacturers hawking their wares this year. It was quieter than last year’s oppressive sonic howl, though when the Wargaming.net showcase or Smite championships kicked up it could get pretty noisy. Microsoft, Nintendo and PlayStation all had sizeable booths with a number of great upcoming stuff to play – Rise of the Tomb Raider, PlayStation VR, Street Fighter 5 – as did developer Ubisoft, with Rainbow Six Seige and The Division playable. Bethesda had a large theatre occupying a substantial piece of floor space but their presentation consisted largely of Doom multiplayer alpha footage and Fallout 4 footage we saw at E3.
The indie section, this year rebranded PAX RISING, represented probably the largest space in the hall with indie devs from Australia and around the world getting the chance to show off their work. Some games like Bearzerkers were at last year’s show but the vast majority were fresh faces.
The panels this year were among the best and most diverse the show has ever produced. The Deus Ex: Mankind Divided panel, hosted by Jess Citizen from Player Attack, featured narrative designer Mary DeMarle, who is a lovely dork. Mary had a lot of talking points she wanted to hit and she referred to her notes a bit but was clear was that she was genuinely pumped about the game, the Deus Ex universe and the fact that she gets to fly all the way around the world to talk about it at a convention and someone is willing to pay her for that.
We were shown a couple of new trailers for the game, which is heavy on themes of cyber terrorism. The menus in the gameplay video looked tight – radials nice and clear, the HUD was only the most important info. New moves like the Icarus Dash (similar to the Blink ability from Dishonoured) open up vertical movement and player choice and tactics even more.
In a bit of a surprise for the crowd, Jess brought Warren Spector himself onto the stage to discuss the history of the series from its beginnings to the present and how he believes ethical decisions about augmentations may be something we have to look at within our lifetimes. He and Mary chat brightly about the Deus Ex universe and Jess has to reign them in a little and bring them back to talking points, saying that they were jumping all over. A guy in the crowd yells “That’s Deus Ex!” which earned a laugh of approval from Warren. Mary also dropped a bit of a bombshell saying that, in her original version of the Deus Ex: Human Revolution story, she had intended to kill hero Adam Jensen before being convinced by the developers that his story wasn’t quite over yet. She also claims that that is actor Elias Toufexis’ real voice coming out of Adam’s mouth(!!!).
Tabletop was bigger again this year with a huge Magic: The Gathering tourney, among many others like Star Wars: X-Wing and Warhammer 30K, and plenty of vendors from Australia and abroad pitching their new games. Locally produced game Suddenly Drunk was doing a roaring trade every time I passed their booth.
PAX Aus continues to be the warmest convention in the nation, the atmosphere welcoming and comfortable from the moment you walk through the door. The excited buzz of the crowd becomes pleasant background noise and it’s so easy to make new friends while waiting in line for a panel or preview. It’s also the only time of the year you can wander into a city bar and find a group of people loudly debating Rocket League plays with the same fervour as the average Western Bulldogs supporter.
The Twitch after party was a total blast with many fans and attendees getting to hang out with guests from the con, cosplayers and each other.
Onward to Day 2.
Author travelled to PAX AUS 2015 courtesy Tiger Airways, with accommodation courtesy Accor Hotels and YHA Youth Hostels.
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