It’s now been a week since PAX 08 opened its doors, and I still can’t believe it’s over. Weeks of planning and preparation went into that one weekend, and it passed by in a flash. Still, even though I’ve been back on the east coast since Monday, I am continuing to feel the impression that PAX left on me. Maybe it’s because I’m still trying to catch up on sleep, maybe it’s because the constant information overload left my brain fried, or maybe it’s because I had such a kick-ass time that I already can’t wait for the next one.

As expected, some of my favorite moments came from getting to play the games on the floor, most of which won’t be released for weeks or even months. While Left 4 Dead blew me away and hungry for more, I also got to play both Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 before the public got in. In fact, I made a beeline for the music games first thing on Friday, because I knew that once the convention center got crowded, there would be no getting on them again, media badge or not. Luckily, Nikkita was on hand to rock out with me, as was Jacob Metcalf of 8BitJoystick.com.

One of the many things to love about PAX was just the general crowd of people there, and how varied they were. Among the 58,000 attendees, I saw kids, teenagers, and adults, parents and children playing together, guys and their girlfriends playing together, complete strangers playing together, and pretty much everyone was having an absolute blast. People of all ages were cosplaying, and most of us couldn’t get enough of those crazy cosplayers. Sure, there were the occasional ignorant folks, like the dudes watching me play Saints Row 2 in absolute awe that a girl was playing as a girl, or the one instructing me on how to use a 360 controller, telling me to push the B button, “that’s the red one”. However, for the most part, everyone was friendly, and totally psyched to be at PAX, just like I was.

Among my most memorable moments were talking to people who were involved in making some of the games I grew up with. Meeting Ron Gilbert, the man behind Maniac Mansion and a handful of other games that I love, was amazing, and the only time I really felt like I had stopped being a member of the press and turned into a fangirl. It hit me then that I was really a part of all this now. Like I said before, I used to devour video game news, especially when it came from conventions, and now I’m reporting it. It’s really kind of surreal when I stop and think about it.

As much as I would have liked to spend all of my time on the expo floor, we did end up spending some time in airports and our hotel. I haven’t traveled much in the last few years, so I forgot, until last weekend, that two hours on a plane pretty much makes you feel like you’ve gone a week without a shower. Despite the annoyances of traveling, I really don’t mind flying, and found ways to keep myself occupied on the planes and while waiting for them in various airports.

You might be wondering how a girlie girl like Nikkita and a non-girlie girl like myself fared sharing a hotel room for a whole weekend. Pretty well, as it turned out! She did make me wear a dress for Friday’s Champions Online party, despite my protests, but I guess girling it out a little bit can’t hurt… much. Besides, we had a nice hotel room and a lovely view, so what else did we really need?

I wish I could remember more of the moments from the floor, or documented my sightings a little better, but my schedule was jam-packed and there wasn’t much time to rest and collect my thoughts. If I wasn’t playing a game or going to a panel, I was writing about a game or a panel. I didn’t even get to take as many pictures as I wanted to because there were very few moments when I was standing still long enough to do so.

I’ve been to a few conventions during my time here at Gamervision, some bigger than others, but this was my first major video game expo. In the days leading up to PAX, I was pretty nervous for various reasons, but once those doors opened, I was nothing but excited. I met a lot of great people both in the industry and not, saw some hilarious panels, and met the guy who made Maniac Mansion. I might spend most of this weekend indoors, sleeping and catching up on my games, but I’m already psyched for when the next convention rolls around.

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