So the inaugural PAX East has come and gone. They say PAX is an experience unlike any other, and it certainly was. Here’s my rundown of our weekend.

The doors didn’t open until 2pm on Friday, and we arrived a little bit before noon. We got some coffee and headed in to see how long the line was, and after walking through one queue room, we came to a SECOND queue room. An Enforcer told us they expected both rooms to fill up and then some. So we got in line and got ready to wait, and luckily they made sure no one would be bored in line.

Several giant screens were set up to play “line games,” which were simple things that relied on audience participation via cell phone. There were trivia games and “this or that” type games, and everyone would text their answer in and the results were reflected on the screen. The most interesting was a storytelling game in which everyone in line picked the hero, conflict and resolution of a story. Pac-Man got to combat the polluted Lifestream by casting Holy on Sephiroth. It was awesome.

When we got in, we decided to attend the keynote by Star Trek alum and geek icon Wil Wheaton. This led us from one line into another, something that would become a bit of a theme for the weekend. We weren’t sure if we wanted to attend the keynote since we’re not big Star Trek fans, but I had a feeling that we’d regret it if we didn’t, so when the line forked we took the path to the right.

Wil’s speech was incredible, an hour-long reassurance that it’s okay to be a geek, and we’re a very unique group of people with a lot of common experiences that allows us to form unique bonds with one another. If you weren’t able to attend, I’d very highly recommend listening to the audio from the keynote here. It was honestly one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever heard, and I really understand why Wil has earned the love and appreciation he has as one of the icons of our culture.

Once Wil was done speaking, Gabe and Tycho took the stage for their first panel, which was a riot. Sometimes in interviews they can come off as jerks, but it’s really not who they are at all. Listening to them speak to their fans, how it’s a real back-and-forth and not just “ask a question and sit down” really shows that although they’re rock stars, they’re still very much one (I mean two) of us.

The only downer during the panel came when they were asked about Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3. Unfortunately, Hothead Games has a lot on their plate and in order for the third episode of their game to come out, Hothead wouldn’t be able to give it the polish it needed. As Gabe said, “We’d rather not release a game than have it half-assed and not as good as it should be.” As Tycho explained the situation and apologized several times for it, with genuine regret in his voice, he vowed that they would continue the story via another medium so fans weren’t left hanging. I loved the first two games, so it was a big disappointment to me, but their reasoning makes perfect sense. These guys are gamers through and through, and if the game isn’t going to be the game they want to be made, it’s better off not being made.

I saw that Scott Kurtz, another hero of mine, had a booth outside the Exhibition Hall, but he wasn’t at it. So I kept checking back every hour or so until he was, and luckily I managed to catch him there, with no line to boot. He signed my copy of his new book, and we talked a little bit about his writing style and how sitcoms are a huge influence on how he writes. I got to tell him how much I liked Truth, Justin and the American Way, and he was really appreciative of the praise since unfortunately the project didn’t get the recognition he and his partners had hoped. So everyone go buy it! It’s a great throwback to 80’s television, and a fantastic read.

We hit the Exhibition Hall, and it was insanely crowded so we didn’t really get a chance to try anything, but we did stop by the Fangamer booth. They had Camille Young’s clay figurines on display, and they were absolutely stunning in person. I’ve seen pictures of them online and in the Mother 3 Handbook, and photos absolutely do not do them justice, especially these I took with my DSi.

Mega64 was there, but they didn’t talk to you unless you were buying something or were with the press. I kinda had the feeling these guys thought they were too cool for school, and I guess it’s true. Maybe I’ll start making four minute long videos with one joke and then act like my farts smell like roses.

That was it for Friday. Saturday we came back early for Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo and former Newsweek writer N’Gai Croal’s panel “Canon Fodder: The Top 10 Video Games of All Time.” They had come up with a scientific method to determine the top 10 games ever made. They took the 10 highest ranked games on Gamerankings.com, and went to several key figures in the game industry and gave them a chance to alter the list in one of several ways: they could leave it as is, replace a game, or swap two games that were already on the list. It was really interesting and a lot of fun, and there were several outcries from the audience when a controversial move was made. The full rundown of the panel is on Kotaku.

Next we went to Major Nelson’s live podcast recording, which was a blast. Major Nelson is such a cool guy. He’s one of the guys who you can tell really loves what he does, and working with video games hasn’t gotten him completely jaded. Him and his co-hosts lollip0p, e, and Stepto were very fun to listen to, and I can’t believe I haven’t followed his podcast regularly until now. Thankfully, the audience wasn’t full of frat boys who only care about Modern Warfare, either. As a cool bonus, everyone who attended got a PAX East hoodie for their Xbox Live avatar as well.

We went back to the Exhibition Hall for a bit, because I wanted to check out Crackdown 2. I loved the first game, but as we waited in line, I saw that it was just a deathmatch demo, which I had no interest in, so we decided to check out the other games in the Xbox booth since the lines were much shorter. I’m really glad we did, because as we walked into the booth I ran right into Tycho. He signed my badge and was cool enough to pose for a picture.

I can’t stress enough how humble the man is. I apologized several times for bothering him and he kept looking at me saying “It’s no bother, really.” He was walking the show floor specifically for that reason. The fame hasn’t gone to his head at all, and he’s obviously very grateful of all the success he has and how he got there. I didn’t run into Gabe, but I imagine those who did had a similar experience.

We checked out a few games, and what we played was awesome. Frobot is an upcoming Wiiware game about futuristic disco robots made by a self-proclaimed Nintendo fanboy, and it was surprisingly fun. We played The Behemoth’s new game Battle Block Theater, which is a crazy arena-style game with all the style and flair you’d expect after Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. Raskulls was a neat little game that was like a platformer met Mr. Driller, with a little bit of Bomberman and some racing elements thrown in. Christina gave AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! a quick play, and it was visually stunning and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I guess that’s obvious with a name like that. It was developed right here in Boston, and while the other games in the Boston Indie Showcase all looked great, we didn’t get a chance to give them a hands-on.

We stopped by the Nintendo booth, where we got HeartGold/SoulSilver shoulder bags and checked out the DSiXL. The screens were nice, but in my opinion the games look a little too stretched out. Christina tried Picross 3D, which she says is a little confusing but she’s looking forward to picking up all the same. This was also the apparent spot for everyone to link Pokéwalkers, as we linked with a dozen people in about two minutes, including this really cute little girl who came over when she saw what everyone was doing, clutching her Pokéwalker containing her Sentret in both hands, too shy to say anything. Luckily we noticed her and she became part of the group.

There was actually Pokéwalker linking all over the con, which was fun. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do a single Pokémon battle.

We went to go get in line for Adam Sessler’s panel about an hour before it started, but they had Enforcers with signs saying it was already full. We turned around to leave and I ran right into Adam Sessler himself. “Hey, Adam Sessler!” I said, giving the thumbs up. He smiled and said “Hey, how ya doin?” I’m counting that as meeting him. I’d give it a four… out of five.

We didn’t make it back on Sunday, as we had some other things to do and neither of us were really feeling that great (luckily we didn’t wind up with any form of animal-themed influenza). All in all, though, I’d say PAX East was a ton of fun, but there were several things that could have been improved.

For one, considering the event was supposed to be about socialization, they made it remarkably hard to game with other people. The “Handheld Lounge” was just a bunch of beanbag chairs in second and third floor hallways, so everyone just used them as a resting spot rather than an opportunity to link up with others. I entered the Union Room in Pokémon several times in the “lounge” but never found anyone else in there. Considering the amount of Pokéwalkers I saw clipped to people, I knew it was being played.

The console gaming rooms weren’t much better. You had to check games out and check into a station, with a 30 minute time limit. There was no encouragement to sit down at a station dedicated to a game and invite a passerby to pick up a controller and play with you. I understand why they ran it the way they did, but the game room at Anime Boston every year is much more optimized to play with others than this was.

Really, a lot of the empty rooms were dedicated to tabletop and CCG games, so they seemed to be the primary focus when it came to the socialization aspect.

However, I’m very glad we went and I had a fantastic time. The atmosphere was very comfortable and relaxed, and everyone was having a good time. I got to meet some of my personal influences and tell them what their work means to me, and Christina sat on the “be cool” button and kept me from being a babbling idiot.

When they roll back into town next year, you can bet I’ll be there.