Sidewalk Hustle x Pax East 2014

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This year we had the pleasure of attending Pax East for the very first time! I must say it was certainly an experience to remember. Now Pax is a bit different then the cons I’m used to going to like Toronto Comic Con or Fan Expo. Where as these cons are more general focusing on all aspects of nerdom, Pax East focuses solely on games and gaming. And I don’t just mean video games, I mean all types of games. From board games to video games to table top games to card games. You can find just about any type of game you’re looking for at Pax. Another awesome feature of Pax is all the sneak peeks that are there for you to try. All types of publishers from indie teams to the big guys are there with demos of upcoming games that haven’t been played before, and are up for grabs for anyone to try.

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One of the big name games that was available for people to try was the Turtle Rock/2k game Evolve. Now Evolve was one of the few games we actually had a chance to try but I must say it was worth the wait. Evolve is a 5 player coop/versus game that pits 4 players against the last single player in a fight to see which team can overcome the odds and win. The four player team, also known as the hunters, consists of Assault, Tracker, Support and Medic. Each role has specific jobs either buffing and debuffing, or providing main damage. While each role might seem ‘useless’ on their own, as a team they work well together and each brings something different to the table. The hunters job is to work together and defeat the ever growing monster. The monster is the single player in the game whose goal is to level up, through eating smaller monsters found throughout the map, until he grows strong enough to take on the hunters. The map that we played also included two generators from which the monster could choose one to destroy and win the game. However, we found that it was a lot more fun to play through the map and have the monster actually try to take out the hunters four on one. The game was extremely enjoyable, and I must say I can’t wait for it’s release. Turtle Rock also promised many more maps as well as hunters for the players to choose from which will allow for even more gameplay. Evolve’s release is currently slated for Fall 2014 and we couldn’t be more excited after being able to try it out.

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Another great thing about Pax is the numerous different panels you can attend all throughout each day. There are panels for just about every subject related to gaming you could think of. From panels about upcoming games, to ones about the software behind it all, even ranging to panels discussing topics concerning games and gaming.

There was one panel in particular which we attended that got us pretty excited and that was the Wildstar panel. The one thing that stood out the most when the develops were talking about the game and it’s gameplay, was the end-game content. End-game is something that tends to lose a lot of MMO’s their subscriptions as people tend to get bored of limited content and don’t want to wait for new things to come out. However, Wildstar might have a cure for people’s end-game boredom. They plan on offering not only 40 player raids, but also 80 player ones. It will be very interesting to work through a raid with such a large group, and it’ll be very rewarding to successfully make it through those raids.

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Of course, what really stole the show at Pax was the cosplay. There were tons of great cosplayers all throughout the weekend proudly showcasing their hard work. As usual, they were a great community and very welcoming and willing to talk about their work. You wouldn’t believe the amount of hours put into most cosplays. Make sure to check out all the cosplay pictures at the end of the post so you too can appreciate just some of the amazing cosplay from the weekend.

When everything was all said and done, Pax East was an experience unlike any of the cons I’ve been too before. All the parts of Pax are what really makes it unique, from the exhibitors, to the panels, and especially the amazing community, each part makes for an awesome experience and fun time.

In addition, a huge shout-out goes to Telus Mobility and their new US roaming data plan which actually allowed me to stay in touch with the outside world while at Pax. This is something I am not used to when traveling to the States, and it was a breath of fresh air to have an affordable and accessible roaming plan for while I’m traveling.

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