PAX Prime 2011

After months of anticipation and days worth of hype, Achievos has finally reached PAX Prime in Seattle.  There are a lot of booths, dozens of games to play, and some amazing cosplay.  With so much convention to cover, I will be general for right now.  But you can expect more detailed analysis of what I experienced later.

Upon entering the convention center, Friday found itself not to be as crowded as I assumed it would be.  Its well known that Saturday is the busiest day.  But after hearing the harrowing tales of escape from the obscene hoards at ComicCon, I was prepared for the worst.  Luckily, there was a total manageable and very friendly crowd.

The gamer spirit runs deep at PAX.  I know that sounds like an obvious statement, but there is a nearly tangible current of kinship.  Everyone is excited for free swag and blown away by fantastic demos.  Lines are long but people are patient and easy to chat with.  Booth babes, advertisers, developers, and higher are all ready and anxious to answer any questions.  

Fellow attendees Stefanie (left) and Frank (right) met and chatted with Gears of War 3 Lead Producer Chris Wynn (center).  Now that is some fan service!

But above all things, we all show up for the games.  One game that I was able to try out was Kirby's Return to Dreamland which is slated to release in late October.  Available on the Wii, this latest addition to the Kirby lineup allows for four players and is very easy to play.  I have never played a Kirby game in my life and this one was pretty simple from the get go.  There was a younger child next to me who didn't know what he was doing, but he appeared to have a good time.  So in the ten minutes I was allowed to play, I can say that this is definitely a very family friendly game.  Everyone will be able to pick up a controller and play along, even if they are a little below the learning curve.

Debbie playing the new Kirby

This is just a tiny sampling of things to come.  I will write and post more throughout the weekend.  I am also grabbing tons of goodies to give away to our loyal readers.  Keep reading to find out how you might win yourself posters, buttons, t-shirts, and autographed cards.