This weekend sees Seattle play host to PAX West. It’s been 15 years since the first Penny Arcade Expo, and the event has become one of the major summer tentpoles for geek culture, featuring all the big names and hundreds of indies showing their stuff, along with panels, parties and other events.
While we’re a little disappointed that the planned live demo of CD Projekt RED’s much-hyped Cyberpunk 2077 won’t be happening, there is plenty of other good stuff to do this weekend in Seattle. Here are 11 things we consider must-sees at PAX West. Maybe we’ll see you there.
Playdate
The handheld gaming market isn’t what it used to be now that we all have phones that can play just about anything, but Panic Inc’s bizarre handcrafted portable console might be a big disruptor. The Playdate is a yellow box with a black and white screen, a NES-style D-pad and a crank on the side. It retails for $149 and fits in the palm of your hand at just 3 inches square. Instead of buying software, new games will be automatically delivered to the device every Monday for 12 weeks. PAX West will be the first opportunity the public has ever had to playtest the device and a new game from Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamary Damacy.
Warp Pipe Pass
Lines at PAX can be truly epic, so we recommend taking any shortcut you can get your hands on. If you have a Nintendo account, sign up right now for a Warp Pipe Pass. This special token will let you cut in line at Nintendo’s booth and play Luigi’s Mansion 3, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield before the plebs do. There’s absolutely no reason not to do it, so unless you like making awkward small talk and taking three steps forward every five minutes, get yourself in this Warp Pipe before you head to the show.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Square Enix have been working on a modernized version of one of the most influential console role-playing games of all time for what seems like decades, but Final Fantasy VII Remake is just about ready to pop out of the oven. They’re going all out at Pax West, with an exhibit booth designed to look like Sector 1’s train station and a massive model of Midgar’s Mako reactor. The first part of the remake is scheduled for release in March of last year, but you’ll be able to get your hands on the playable demo from E3 at Square’s booth. You can also get a photo of yourself on Cloud’s badass motorcycle.
Supergiant 10th Anniversary Concert
Music is a big part of PAX, and this year’s Jamspace delivers several days of chiptunes and more. But the must-hear concert for the weekend happens on Saturday night, when development studio Supergiant delivers a 10th anniversary show with a number of musicians playing tracks from their games Bastion, Transistor, Pyre and the upcoming Hades, which is currently in early access. The company has long been known for their incredible game music, and there’s a full orchestra on the bill. Nerdcore rap legend MC Frontalot opens.
Predator: Hunting Grounds
Getting your hands on new games for the first time is a huge part of PAX, and one title that we’re hyped for is upcoming asymmetrical multiplayer shooter Predator: Hunting Grounds. Based on the classic action franchise, it lets one player take control of an alien hunter armed with invisibility and massive strength while the others form up a fireteam and try to accomplish objectives before the beast picks them off one by one. Initial impressions seem wildly positive, and we’d bet the lines to play this one on the show floor are going to be very long indeed.
True Dungeon Abyssal Swamp
Sure, you go to PAX West to get the latest on video games, but why not test your skills in something a little more physical? True Dungeon has been running fantasy-themed escape rooms since 2003, and their offerings just get more impressive year after year. They’re bringing Abyssal Swamp to the Grand Ballroom at the Westin Hotel for PAX. Teams of ten enter the seven-room dungeon and have only 120 minutes to solve puzzles, defeat monsters and loot the temple of an “ancient apocalyptic death cult.” Live actors, animatronics and more make this an escape room like no other. Definitely worth checking out when you need a break from the main convention floor.
TEPPEN Invitational
GungHo and Capcom’s bizarre free-to-play card battler TEPPEN is a lot better than the concept would lead you to believe, with some interesting strategic layers involved in collecting and deploying characters from across the company’s many franchises. The game has exceeded 2 million downloads in the month of its release, and September sees a “Day of Nightmares” expansion coming with Resident Evil goodies. The companies are flying in a number of fighting game legends to compete in a one-day tournament, and it’s confirmed that Marvel Vs. Capcom legends JWong and ChrisG will be on hand, among others, to vie for a $23,000 prize pool. Will their skills translate to the card battling realm? Only one way to find out.
Borderlands 3
Gearbox has been embattled in recent years as president Randy Pitchford alienates former co-workers and gets sued seemingly every day, but we’re still hyped for Borderlands 3. What can we say? The franchise has always blended humor and loot-grabbing shooter action into a sundae of addictive fun. The third installment is making a huge splash at PAX West, with a huge booth featuring 50 playable game stations where you can test out all four of the game’s characters. The booth, which they’re co-hosting with Nerdist, will also have plenty of swag and cosplay opportunities. Friday also sees a special presentation at 1:30 in the Main Theater.
IGN & Cyberpunk 2077 Cosplay Party
Even though CD Projekt Red won’t have their game playable on the show floor, it still remains one of the most anticipated titles on our release calendar. On Friday, August 30, 8 p.m., head down to the Showbox SoDo for a special event hosted by our pals over at IGN. This one caters to the cosplay maniacs that are one of the best reasons to go to PAX, offering the people who come correct in the most impressive costumes the chance to win $15,0000, a professional photoshoot that will be used on a magazine cover, and a trophy. Who said dressing up as video game characters wouldn’t ever get you anywhere?
Untitled Goose Game
The indie game we’re most excited to see this year is probably Australian studio House House’s Untitled Goose Game. The upcoming stealth title puts you in control of a pain in the ass bird that has to accomplish a variety of tasks while distracting humans with your honk and bite, among other goose skills. House House have teased a “special announcement” for this year’s show, and considering they had it playable on the show floor last year, this year we’d bet on a release date at the very least. We’re sure you’ll be able to have some time with a newer build as well.
Omegathon
One of the most ridiculously exciting events every year is the Omegathon, which takes randomly selected attendees and pits them against each other in a multi-day, multi-game tournament. 20 players compete in two rounds a day, with the lowest scoring eliminated until only two remain to face off in the final day’s mystery event. Some of this year’s picks include speed drawing board game Doodle Rush, wildly addictive fireworks arena shooter ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS and 2000 puzzler Super Bust-A-Move. It will test players to their utmost, with only one being able to claim the grand prize. It could be you!
More on Geek.com:
- Treasure Trove of New ‘Shovel Knight’ Games Coming to PAX West
- The Coolest Games at Gamescom 2019
- The 10 Biggest Games of E3 2019
