Pax South was an interesting experience for me this year. Unlike when I went last year, this year I represented Cheap Ass Gamer as both media, and as a panelist. It was an interesting experience, I thought I’d share.
After driving for six hours from my home in East Texas to San Antonio, I checked into my hotel. I was invited to a party held by Insomniac Games so I began walking to its location. The map I printed out from Google Maps was a bit weird and I got a little lost. I noticed Adam Sessler, who’s currently working on a “Friday the 13th The Game”, also with a puzzled look on his face. I came up to him and asked if he was looking for the same party, and sure enough he was. I introduced myself, and explained that I had my panel right after his Friday the 13th panel as we figured out the restaurant, that the party was being held at, faced the San Antonio Riverwalk instead of the street. As I stood in line Adam asked me if I was the only panelist. I told him that I was and this would be my first panel ever. He jokingly remarked that I was “really walking on fire,” and gave me some tips. I thanked him and they started letting people into the party.
As I entered the party I noticed that Ted Price, CEO of Insomniac Games, was by himself for the moment. I introduced myself and told him how I was already telling people about their new game “Songs of the Deep” on the CAG Twitter/Facebook/Front Page since $15 is already really cheap for a retail video game. He smiled and thanked me. I asked if he would sign some games for me and he politely agreed.
I pulled out four games from my bag and explained how I was going to give away the copy of Sunset Overdrive at my panel the next night. He asked me a lot of questions, like which was my favorite game as he signed them. I told him Sunset Overdrive, which brought a smile to his face. After he signed them I thanked him and headed off to get some food, and watch some gameplay footage of “Songs of the Deep.”
The next morning, I got up early so I could attend the PAX South Media Expo Early Access Event where they let media in an hour before attendees. As media I had two goals in mind. First was getting contest giveaways for the CAG Twitter and Facebook in order to help grow the number of followers and likes. By doing giveaways, more people would follow/like CAG and the dev/publisher would gain awareness of their game to all the people who follow/like us already. My second goal was to get dev/publishers to literally tell me when their stuff is on sale aka get it straight from the horse’s mouth, rather than much later when someone posts it on the forums, if anyone does.
I made a nice pamphlet explaining this and handed it out to everyone I either had a meeting with, or ran into while walking the show floor. A few people seemed confused, asking if I wanted an interview, or wanted a press kit, while others were ecstatic. One person asked for a pamphlet for themselves so they could use this for their other clients, and said CAG had a lot of UVs. I asked what that meant and they said “Unique Visitors.”
The following are some video games I had meetings with the developers to see, and what they are about:
Light Fall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3jxNEX6N1w
Light Fall seemed like a game that would be a good one to help someone wind down after a hard day’s work. The beautiful art style and simple puzzle mechanics are fun.
Western Press
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntYEpsxvgbQ
It’s a simple game where whoever completes the button prompts the quickest wins. Seems like a great way to see whose stuck doing the chores, and will only be $5.
Marble Mountain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxzn__MYP1w
A relaxing puzzle platformer where you guide a marble through various obstacles. It also supports VR Headsets.
Epistory: Typing Chronicles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axwiuAoQnJk
If you want your child to learn how to type better on a keyboard, this is the game you need to buy. It’s like Typing of the Dead, but child friendly, and has a great origami art style to it.
Livelock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwCYXIB2r34
A twin sticks shooter about a world where robots with the downloaded consciousness of people who are long gone fight against other robots. This will be a great game to play multiplayer with friends when it comes out.
Moving Hazard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij1G6qjYfXU&feature=youtu.be
A multiplayer FPS where players take advantage of the zombies on the map as weapons through various means in order to take out the enemy. You can toss a grenade at the zombies and they go hunt your enemies in your name for example.
Dead Star
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVrgtjIOS_Q
Dead Star is a Twin Sticks MOBA. What’s most interesting is some people behind the Metroid Prime Trilogy are working on this game and from the art style you can tell. I secretly call it “Metroid Moba” to myself.
Omnibus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHtCtxjZ-Rw
I played a level where the creator told me that “In this level, the bad kids want you to knock off the head of this statue.” I told the developer that the statute looked very similar to a certain statue in The Simpsons. He grinned and said something like “Oh really.” In the game you control a bus that can’t stop, and you need to complete goals, like the aforementioned. It was a really fun, goofy game.
So after I looked at some games, and attended some panels, it was time to get ready for my panel. I read my script one more time and got my 2 giant suitcases full of prizes ready. Luckily my friend Daniel helped me lug them down to the panel. It sure was funny showing the elderly security guard at the door my brand new Jabba the Hutt and so forth.
I showed up early to catch the Friday the 13th Panel Adam Sessler was a part of, and put the giant suitcases next to a wall as I watched. This might sound weird, but I wasn’t really that nervous. I just kept thinking about all the stuff I’ve done in the past, like call in on Mega64 shows, when I’ve run booths at video game conventions, when I’ve asked questions at panels in the past, or even the fact that I tell tons of people information on a daily basis on the CAG social media. Heck before the Friday the 13th panel started I walked up to the panel and asked Randy Greenback if he had a copy of Saturday Morning RPG, a game Limited Run gave him copies of to give away at PAX South. Sadly, he only had some stickers.
As soon as their panel was over I quickly made my way up to the stage and started settings up all the prizes. One enforcer said something like “So I hear there’s a raffle.” I gave him the roll of raffle tickets and gave him the details. I then told them I needed to use my laptop to show some slides I made. One guy showed me the HDMI cable and said it won’t use sound, but I told him that was fine. After I was done setting up I just kind of made small talk with the enforcers, who looked like they had a hard day’s work and were ready for it to be over.
They started letting people in after a bit. The enforcers were impressed by the huge amount of people that were lined up since it was a Friday night. There was a music concert, multiple industry parties and many bars within walking distance.
My panel went pretty well except for when I asked who didn’t have a raffle ticket. You couldn’t see on the camera, but about 50 people raised their hands. They were all people who came in after the panel started.
After the panel ended a lot of the enforcers told me it was one of the best one person panels they ever saw. They asked me about Best Buy Gamer’s Club unlocked, and if they’d get rid of it. I told him about Amazon, and how they can’t now since it’s like a video game deals arms race of sorts.
The next day a lot of people came up to me with their raffle ticket asking if I had any of those games left. I let them choose and they told me that they really liked my panel. It made me feel good. Adam Sessler saw me as we were both walking back to the same hotel and asked me how it went. I told him it went really good and complemented him on his panel.
The next day, I drove six hours back to my little East Texas home a happy man, since I accomplished everything I set out to do at PAX South.
After driving for six hours from my home in East Texas to San Antonio, I checked into my hotel. I was invited to a party held by Insomniac Games so I began walking to its location. The map I printed out from Google Maps was a bit weird and I got a little lost. I noticed Adam Sessler, who’s currently working on a “Friday the 13th The Game”, also with a puzzled look on his face. I came up to him and asked if he was looking for the same party, and sure enough he was. I introduced myself, and explained that I had my panel right after his Friday the 13th panel as we figured out the restaurant, that the party was being held at, faced the San Antonio Riverwalk instead of the street. As I stood in line Adam asked me if I was the only panelist. I told him that I was and this would be my first panel ever. He jokingly remarked that I was “really walking on fire,” and gave me some tips. I thanked him and they started letting people into the party.
As I entered the party I noticed that Ted Price, CEO of Insomniac Games, was by himself for the moment. I introduced myself and told him how I was already telling people about their new game “Songs of the Deep” on the CAG Twitter/Facebook/Front Page since $15 is already really cheap for a retail video game. He smiled and thanked me. I asked if he would sign some games for me and he politely agreed.
I pulled out four games from my bag and explained how I was going to give away the copy of Sunset Overdrive at my panel the next night. He asked me a lot of questions, like which was my favorite game as he signed them. I told him Sunset Overdrive, which brought a smile to his face. After he signed them I thanked him and headed off to get some food, and watch some gameplay footage of “Songs of the Deep.”
The next morning, I got up early so I could attend the PAX South Media Expo Early Access Event where they let media in an hour before attendees. As media I had two goals in mind. First was getting contest giveaways for the CAG Twitter and Facebook in order to help grow the number of followers and likes. By doing giveaways, more people would follow/like CAG and the dev/publisher would gain awareness of their game to all the people who follow/like us already. My second goal was to get dev/publishers to literally tell me when their stuff is on sale aka get it straight from the horse’s mouth, rather than much later when someone posts it on the forums, if anyone does.
I made a nice pamphlet explaining this and handed it out to everyone I either had a meeting with, or ran into while walking the show floor. A few people seemed confused, asking if I wanted an interview, or wanted a press kit, while others were ecstatic. One person asked for a pamphlet for themselves so they could use this for their other clients, and said CAG had a lot of UVs. I asked what that meant and they said “Unique Visitors.”
The following are some video games I had meetings with the developers to see, and what they are about:
Light Fall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3jxNEX6N1w
Light Fall seemed like a game that would be a good one to help someone wind down after a hard day’s work. The beautiful art style and simple puzzle mechanics are fun.
Western Press
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntYEpsxvgbQ
It’s a simple game where whoever completes the button prompts the quickest wins. Seems like a great way to see whose stuck doing the chores, and will only be $5.
Marble Mountain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxzn__MYP1w
A relaxing puzzle platformer where you guide a marble through various obstacles. It also supports VR Headsets.
Epistory: Typing Chronicles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axwiuAoQnJk
If you want your child to learn how to type better on a keyboard, this is the game you need to buy. It’s like Typing of the Dead, but child friendly, and has a great origami art style to it.
Livelock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwCYXIB2r34
A twin sticks shooter about a world where robots with the downloaded consciousness of people who are long gone fight against other robots. This will be a great game to play multiplayer with friends when it comes out.
Moving Hazard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij1G6qjYfXU&feature=youtu.be
A multiplayer FPS where players take advantage of the zombies on the map as weapons through various means in order to take out the enemy. You can toss a grenade at the zombies and they go hunt your enemies in your name for example.
Dead Star
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVrgtjIOS_Q
Dead Star is a Twin Sticks MOBA. What’s most interesting is some people behind the Metroid Prime Trilogy are working on this game and from the art style you can tell. I secretly call it “Metroid Moba” to myself.
Omnibus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHtCtxjZ-Rw
I played a level where the creator told me that “In this level, the bad kids want you to knock off the head of this statue.” I told the developer that the statute looked very similar to a certain statue in The Simpsons. He grinned and said something like “Oh really.” In the game you control a bus that can’t stop, and you need to complete goals, like the aforementioned. It was a really fun, goofy game.
So after I looked at some games, and attended some panels, it was time to get ready for my panel. I read my script one more time and got my 2 giant suitcases full of prizes ready. Luckily my friend Daniel helped me lug them down to the panel. It sure was funny showing the elderly security guard at the door my brand new Jabba the Hutt and so forth.
I showed up early to catch the Friday the 13th Panel Adam Sessler was a part of, and put the giant suitcases next to a wall as I watched. This might sound weird, but I wasn’t really that nervous. I just kept thinking about all the stuff I’ve done in the past, like call in on Mega64 shows, when I’ve run booths at video game conventions, when I’ve asked questions at panels in the past, or even the fact that I tell tons of people information on a daily basis on the CAG social media. Heck before the Friday the 13th panel started I walked up to the panel and asked Randy Greenback if he had a copy of Saturday Morning RPG, a game Limited Run gave him copies of to give away at PAX South. Sadly, he only had some stickers.
As soon as their panel was over I quickly made my way up to the stage and started settings up all the prizes. One enforcer said something like “So I hear there’s a raffle.” I gave him the roll of raffle tickets and gave him the details. I then told them I needed to use my laptop to show some slides I made. One guy showed me the HDMI cable and said it won’t use sound, but I told him that was fine. After I was done setting up I just kind of made small talk with the enforcers, who looked like they had a hard day’s work and were ready for it to be over.
They started letting people in after a bit. The enforcers were impressed by the huge amount of people that were lined up since it was a Friday night. There was a music concert, multiple industry parties and many bars within walking distance.
My panel went pretty well except for when I asked who didn’t have a raffle ticket. You couldn’t see on the camera, but about 50 people raised their hands. They were all people who came in after the panel started.
After the panel ended a lot of the enforcers told me it was one of the best one person panels they ever saw. They asked me about Best Buy Gamer’s Club unlocked, and if they’d get rid of it. I told him about Amazon, and how they can’t now since it’s like a video game deals arms race of sorts.
The next day a lot of people came up to me with their raffle ticket asking if I had any of those games left. I let them choose and they told me that they really liked my panel. It made me feel good. Adam Sessler saw me as we were both walking back to the same hotel and asked me how it went. I told him it went really good and complemented him on his panel.
The next day, I drove six hours back to my little East Texas home a happy man, since I accomplished everything I set out to do at PAX South.
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