Even though I ended up walking through Boston for the same amount of time on my second day as the first, I started off my final day much earlier. I woke up at 9AM and headed into Boston. After missing my turn and getting turned around, I arrived at the convention center at 11AM. I didn’t have the same luck the second day as I did the first, so I ended up having to find parking elsewhere. Now that I knew the layout of downtown Boston better, I managed to find a parking garage that advertised convention parking. Luckily it was near the hotel where the fan meetup was held the previous night, so I didn’t have any problem making my way back to the convention center.
I didn’t get to go in through the exhibitor’s entrance this time, but luckily the crowd was already inside, so the line wasn’t nearly as long as it was when I arrived at the opening of the show on the first day. I spent the previous days checking out the indie games, so I decided to check out the big name games on display before heading to work. I stopped by Nintendo’s booth, and tried out the games on display. I was pleasantly surprised by Starfox Zero. From what I played, I found it really enjoyable, and didn’t notice the slowdown that many had seen. My favorite booth was the Shadow Warrior 2 booth, which was adorned with cherry blossom trees. It was really a sight to behold. I didn’t get to play the game, due to the long lines, but it looked impressive in motion. I was hoping to try out the games for the virtual reality headsets, but the waiting lines were so long there was a list that was filled up ahead of time, so that was out.
Since the Shadow Warrior 2 display was so close to the Double Fine booth, I decided to see if anyone wanted me to take over so that they could take a break. My offer was gladly accepted, so I took the tablet that was being used for credit card transactions and settled in for my last day helping out at the show. The large T-shirts were mostly sold out by the time I arrived, and the Brutal Legend art books sold out before the show closed. Gang Beasts continued to be a crowd-attracter, and more Everything also brought in its share of people to marvel in its charming weirdness.
The time seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, it was 5:30 and we began counting down the clock. Of course, the last thirty minutes seemed to crawl. It always works that way when you are paying attention to the time. I decided to help the team pack up before they headed out, as they had an early morning the next day, since their flight back to California left at 6AM. I bid the team farewell, and told Spaff that I was available to help out again if they ever came back to PAX East in the future.
I did get lost on the way back, as to be expected, but thankfully I was close this time. I asked for help on my previous days, but their advice just ended up in me going around in circles. This time, the parking garage was right down the street, so I was able to easily find my way to it from the directions I was given. I was going to head directly back to New York, but I was tired so I opted to spend an extra day and a half relaxing before I headed home. All in all, the experience was fun, despite my knack of getting lost. I got to check out some games that I was anticipating, got to meet some of my gaming heroes, as well as people that I had only known online through fan websites and in my time as a community manager. Best of all, I got to help one of my favorite companies, and I have a lot of fond memories and pictures to remember from my experience. If the opportunity to do something like this came up to do this again in the future, I’d take it in a heart beat.
