Unwinnable Presents: The Best and Worst of PAX East 2011

PAX East 2011 gave Team Unwinnable a lot to look forward to in the world of videogames and geek culture. It also gave us some memorable moments that we won’t -and can’t – soon forget. So much so that if all of it made it to print, let’s just say our readers may think of us in a different light. With that being said, clear your mind [“…and the rest will follow!” Ed.] and in no particular order, here is our list of what we thought was the best and worst of PAX. Enjoy.

[Editor’s Note: If we indeed told you everything, you would actually think that we work at what we do, and goddammit, we still like to think this is a whole lot better than working for a living!]

Stu Horvath: Best:Fez, Snake 361, Bastion, Shoot Many Robots, Brink, The Darkness 2

Worst: Duke Nukem, lines, sad cosplay, Post-PAX exhaustion

Chuck Moran: Best: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, girls at the Duke Nukem booth, the Funspot arcade, getting hammered at the Brink event,  the Trapdoor booth, bathrobes.

Worst: Darkness 2, the line for Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, overly sensitive steering controls, hangover after Brink event 

Ian Gonzales: Best: Shoot Many Robots, Civilization board game, Snake 361, AR Games, Mortal Kombat

Worst: The lack of shocks on cabs, overpriced con food and restaurants closing between lunch and dinner.

Dave Trainer: Best: WARP, Mortal Kombat, DYAD, Shoot Many Robots, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Brink, Turtle Beach headphones, the surprise jack, Snake 361, Don not Don, dinner in Chinatown, gold memberships.

Worst: Duke Nukem, dumb contests, L.A. Noire [Editor’s Note: Did they really have to add the “e'”?] not giving us the time of day, food, lines, capacity of panels.

Don Becker: Best: Fez, Shoot Many Robots, Slam Bolt Scrappers, Civ board game, The Darkness 2 (that was a pre-alpha?!)

Worst: No blankets at the Renaissance, restaurants taking time to switch over from lunch to dinner (here’s how to do it during a con with 70,000 people: take lunch, add $3 to the price. Voila, dinner!), Duke, lines, food court

Matt Marrone: Best: Slam Bolt Scrappers, the “Press B to Laugh” panel featuring Rob Dubbin of The Colbert Report, our historic/haunted hotel, the city of Boston itself, my Plants vs. Zombies dunce cap.

Worst: My performance in Brink

Peter Lang: Best: DYAD, Ash, Mr. T. cosplay, Ashley Arnold, Snake 361, Brink party, Douglas Adams’ birthday, Frederik Kaupang (Subvivor), Shoot Many Robots, Half-Tierney’s [Editor’s Note: Yes, I go to Boston and find a Tierney’s.]

Worst: PAX waffling on media perks, Rockstar Games, the saddest Wendy’s in the world.

Ken Lucas: Best: MK, Darkness 2, Geek Chic, our dinner in China Town, Snake 361, DYAD, haunted hotel, Jack DAGNALS!.

Worst: Nothing to eat around convention center, overpriced food, Duke Nukem, no respect for the media.

Richie Procopio: Best: Guild Wars 2, Dragon Nest, World of Warcraft in 3D,
Free T-shirts

Worst: Dungeons and Dragons Live Demo, Long lines (3 hour wait to try Star Wars: The Old Republic!),  Boston closing down EVERYTHING after 6pm! WTF?

Dan Imperiale: Best: Geek Chic, Ash, Bastion, Gambit, Turtle Beach, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Chivalry (great potential), Beantown floozies [Editor’s Note: Homegirls are spark plugs!].

Worst: Lines, limited media access, liquid nitrogen, D&D Live, Zombie proliferation, Beantown floozies.