For those of you that will be joining me at the Penny Arcade Expo East, you’ll be happy to know the official schedule has just been posted. With the full schedule listed, you can get to work planning the specifics of your trip. Here’s the list of what to expect for Friday, as a taste of what kinds of shenanigans to expect at the convention. I’ve also included the legend to correspond to location icons:
Location Legend:
Main: Main Theatre Jam: Jamspace Mer: Merman Theatre PC: PC Tourney Cor: Corgi Theatre
TT: Tabletop Pho: Phoenix Theatre TTT: Tabletop Tourney Sph: Sphinx Wyv: Wyvern Theatre
HH: Handheld Tourney Nag: Naga Theatre CFP: Console Freeplay Ara: Arachnid Theatre
CT: Console Tourney QUE: Queue Room ♫: Concerts
Friday, March 22:
10:00 am
Sph: Ask Us Anything – Successful and Upcoming Indie Game Companies
Mer: Con Costuming: A Survival Guide
TTT: Magic: The Gathering Convention League
Nag: Blizzard Entertainment Presents
Ara: So You Want to be a Monster Hunter?: An Introduction
10:30 am
Main: Storytime with Cliff Bleszinski
11:00 am
TTT: D&D Board Game Open Play
TTT: Magic: The Gathering 4 Booster Sealed Deck
TTT: Small World Tournament
Wyv: Winning the PAX East Game
11:30 am
Jam: Boston 8-Bit Presents: PAX 2013 Chiptune Showcase, Part 1
Mer: Game Designers Are Defining the Next 50 Years of Education
Sph: Games Journalism in the Age of Independence
Ara: Nerdcore Hip-Hop: Rising Up
Main: Penny Arcade Q&A
Nag: Recreating an Icon: The Talent Behind the New Lara Croft in TOMB RAIDER
TTT: Ticket to Ride Qualifier Block A Tournament
12:00 pm
TTT: Dominion Open Qualifier Block A
CT: Persona 4 Arena Tournament
Pho: World of Capcom
12:30 pm
TTT: Magic: The Gathering Sealed Deck from Standard Boosters
Wyv: Streetpass Network: Bridging Gamers Within the Community!
TT: We Make and Publish Our Own Games…and It Is Rad
1:00 pm
Nag: Final Fantasy PAX East Panel
Ara: Get Hired in Video Games Marketing
CT: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Ultimate Tournament
Main: Rooster Teeth
Mer: So You Want To Make Chiptunes?
Sph: The Return of the Return of Bill Amend
1:30 pm
Cor: Game Audio: From Hobbyist to Professional
Pho: Sportsfriends, Indie Collaboration, and Local Multiplayer
2:00 pm
CT: Budokai HD Collection Tournament
Wyv: It’s Dangerous to Go Alone – The Take This Panel
TT: The Future of RPG Design and Publishing
2:30 pm
HH: Mario Kart 7 Tournament
Sph: Return of the TURN-BASED GAMES!!! (Actually they never went away)
Ara: Strip Search
Mer: Want a Good Story in Your Game? Get an Indie!
3:00 pm
CT: Goldeneye Tournament
Cor: Press XY Presents: We Accept You… Just Don’t Use the Bathroom
TTT: Puerto Rico Tournament
Pho: WildStar: Journey To Nexus
3:30 pm
Wyv: Designing to Do Good
TT: Worldbuilding 101
4:00 pm
CT: Lumines Live!
Mer: Omegathon Round 1: Bomberman Live!
TTT: Race for the Galaxy Qualifier Block A
Sph: Rethinking Gaming Addiction
TTT: Settlers of Catan Qualifier Block A
Nag: The Shaft: Digging up all the Minecraft Nuggets
Ara: This (Boston) Indie Life: From Breaking In to Making It
4:30 pm
TTT: 7 Wonders Qualifier Block A
Cor: The Future of Dungeons & Dragons
5:00 pm
Wyv: Community: The Most Important Bullet Point Not on the Box
Main: Halo 4 Multiplayer: Past, Present, and Future
TT: House Rules: Taking games one step further
CT: Kirby’s Dream Collection Tournament
5:30 pm
Nag: Future of Online Games Panel
Mer: Gamification and Learning: Does Education Need Some ‘Stinking’ Badges?
Ara: Parents as Characters
Sph: What’s Your Gamer Type?
6:00 pm
Pho: Rock Band Behind the Music: A Music Gaming Tell All
Cor: RPGs Are Awesome
CT: Soul Calibur V Tournament
6:30 pm
Wyv: Dorks Vs. Sports
TT: Game Design Workshop
HH: Star Fox 64 3D Tournament
7:00 pm
TTT: D&D Next DM’s Challenge: Mines of Madness
Sph: From Playtest to 3-D Printer: How to Make Your Own Board Game, War Game, or Tamagotchi
TTT: Magic: The Gathering Foil Fest
Mer: Retro Games We Want to Love
CT: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament: Group A
Nag: The LoadingReadyRun Panel
Ara: Twister Tales: Breaking Into Gaming & Partying On!
7:30 pm
Pho: Mega64 Panel, Sorted!
Cor: Standard Action: the Webseries – Season 2!
8:00 pm
PC: Minecraft Tournament
CT: NBA Jam Tournament
Wyv: PAX East Indie Showcase
8:30 pm
TT: Audience Participation Murderous Ghosts – a role-playing game with ghosts and murder
Nag: Blankety Blank!
Sph: Dungeon World: Make Stuff
Main: Friday Night Concerts
Mer: Introduction to Curing Chemicals and Special Effects Costuming
Ara: No, the Monkey Should have a chainsaw: Design Choices in an Indie
9:00 pm
CT: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament: Group B
Pho: How To Energize Business and Millennial Brand Focus: A Giant Bomb Panel Eduknowledgement Experience
9:30 pm
Nag: Game Show Night: Jeopardy!
10:30 pm
Nag: Game Show Night: Family Feud!
For detailed descriptions of each event, as well as the rest of the weekend’s schedule, be sure to check out the PAX East site using the link posted above. Oh and for those of you who did a double take up there at the 2:30 schedule, that “Strip Search” panel is about the reality TV show. (Hopefully that doesn’t disappoint you too much, but I’m not here to judge.)
Looks like we’re in for the usual PAX experience; chock full of awesome panels, great music, an exciting display out on the show floor, and all the tournaments you can handle. As of this past weekend, passes are officially sold out for each and every night, so hopefully anyone interested in attending already got their registration taken care of. I regrettably had to miss out on PAX East last year, but our time apart has only strengthened my desire to get back to my favorite convention for gamers, by gamers. If you want to hang out or play a few tabletop games, feel free to send me a message on Twitter. If you want to tell me how much you hate my feature editorials, I guess that’s fine too. Or you could just tell me how much you love me. Either way, I’ll be there having a good time and you’re welcome to chill alongside me.
Who here plans on attending PAX East this year? Let us know which days and what events you plan on being around for in the comments below.