website tracking
Nerd Nature: A PAX Train Story on Game and Player

Nerd Nature: A PAX Train Story

Alexandr Beran  //  September 14, 2009


Hello, geeks. Hello, Seattle.

P

eople exhibit great fluctuation in mood as they animate with pounding fists or sidewalk jigs. They're simply a joy to watch as they swing from the vines. But at times people get too close or they sneeze near me, and I provide myself a break for video games. Interacting with artificial characters in a place unlike my own gives me respite from a pushy world. The Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle is significant because it pits my two favorite hobbies against each other for the prize that is my attention.

           

My long journey began 32 hours before the show opened its doors. On Wednesday, September 2, I boarded the Amtrak in Sacramento at 11:59 PM. When I got to the station, it wasn't hard to figure out who along with me would be taking the official West Coast Train Trip that begins in Los Angeles and ends in Seattle. I got into the boarding line behind two long-haired gentlemen wearing game T-shirts and a woman with one blue eyebrow that matched her hair. In front of the train were several others belonging to our group, including Arco, a tall PAX Train veteran with a blond wave of hair sweeping his forehead, who would later act as my tour guide.

Amtrak is divided into two levels: the majority of coach seats are on the top level along with the observation deck, dining car and sleeper rooms (closets); and the bottom level contains restrooms, a snack bar, an arcade and a mysterious dark room. There are plenty of areas to inhabit but each is connected by narrow passageways, and the staircase between levels is a pinball chute where the amount of wall a passenger bounces off of corresponds to the amount of alcohol consumed.

After Arco showed me the observation deck where passengers from LA had already been engaged in games, I revealed stashed cans of Czech lager I've been saving for that moment. Arco and I had a couple each as we looked through the transparent walls and ceiling at the night-drenched topography speeding by. Outside shapes could be identified with help from the low-lit blue glow of the interior.


Night Train Games

The rest of the group was involved in board games, collectible-card battles and portable video game marathons; all jumbled together in four-person booths upstairs on the observation deck and downstairs near the snack bar. The group from LA had been on the train at this point for 14 hours, so a few were already tucked away having reached their gaming limit. Arco and I joined different board games. I sat in on a game of Lost Cities — a game I own — only this was no ordinary retail version.

Board games, collectible-card
battles, video game marathons.
Nemaihne left the official game board behind in favor of a homemade cloth rendition she constructed for portability. The drawn images exactly resembled the colors and detail of the original's five areas. This was a good introduction to the dedication I was dealing with on the train.

Arco sat down to Space Truckers, a much more elaborate game of ship-building, resource management and asteroids! Owner Torgen, who came off as humorless, had all of the game's many pieces neatly organized in individual plastic bags and would strictly monitor the whereabouts of strays. Nemaihne played a round and vanished to bed, so I jumped in for her. Space Truckers was lacking in simplicity, and I grew drowsy as my fledgling ship became dismantled by the horrors of space travel.

The next morning I awoke to a sunrise that danced across valleys, trees, barns and homes with triangle roofs. Each hill we passed blotted out the sun momentarily as we sped through what began as the Pacific Northwest. Our first big stop happened at Klamath Falls. As we mixed with fresh air, stirrings of Rock Band on the train reached their pinnacle.


Train of Rock

The fact that a moving train has enough spare juice to facilitate working outlets, let alone a complete Rock Band setup, was news to me. In the arcade car lived three coin-operated arcade cabinets: Soul Calibur III, Cruisin' USA and a soccer game with a screen ravaged by time. Squirminator, the train's resident Rock Band setup expert, stated one important rule articulated to him by the conductor: to not block any access to the existing coin-ops with our TV and/or instrument setup.

PAX Train-goers all
rock on expert mode.
He followed that by saying there's no way around blocking Cruisin' because, "Well, it's Cruisin' . . ."

To fetch his plastic instruments, Squirminator and I walked down the narrow path through the observation deck to the exclusive dining car (reservations needed), where he was scolded for being in socks. Beyond the dining car is where the sleeper car laid. Squirminator was a towering redheaded Englishman that must have contorted his limbs to fit into the sleeping bunk provided. Imagine the size of lush train compartments depicted in films like Harry Potter divided by eight, and it becomes clear.

Two sets of arms down a narrow path is a tall order for an entire set of Rock Band instruments plus drum throne, but we squeezed through to the arcade car. A 26-inch LCD TV rested on a cardboard box there. One end of the box crushed inward, so I wedged in a pack of gum to keep the display level. In the box: fluffy pillows for the passengers. We rocked the entire way to Seattle, and one thing I can say about PAX Train-goers is that they all rock on expert mode.


Arrival



Not likely to thank you
for holding the door.
We arrived around eight o'clock on Thursday night, and adrenaline for the show to come was kicking in for most. There were around 60 people in our group after all the stops, and as we lined up to take our group photo, one Amtrak-suited woman walked by and shouted, "Bye, geeks." Hello, Seattle, I thought.

I won't spend much time discussing the show outside of the people there. Nerds rarely say thank you when holding a door for them; and except for Arco, my fellow train-goers seemed to forget who I was as I nodded to them during the crossing of paths downtown and at the show. I stopped nodding halfway through day two.


What to Wear to the Game

Time Cruiser Mike, a permanent fixture on the annual train, had a permanent fixture of his own. The Nintendo power glove that hugged his power wrist throughout the journey was still providing him support during the show. The thought of the care that must go into cleaning it distracted me as I spotted him shaking hands and eating with it on in the distance.



PAX is PAX: the show floor
evolved little over three days.
And I don't know what the draw is for those fancy, black rimmed-hats a lot of PAX men sport. The hats are usually worn in conjunction with not-so fancy T-shirts and shorts, so it ends up being quite the paradox. But it's the pleated kilts that had the most impact this year at PAX. Utilikilts are the brand that's taking PAX by storm, and by storm I mean there are at least 50 unique users. They're not just for the Enforcers (PAX security) anymore.

The show floor evolved very little over the course of three days. But it was the panels that provided the most variety for PAX-goers, and the creative topics were part of the draw. One of the most interactive panels was "Pitch Your Game Idea", where each participant forms in a line and is given 45 seconds to pitch something serious or something hilarious. Wil Wheaton, joined by two esteemed judges, took each option into consideration and had a laugh every time.

Then there's the grandest of all PAX events, The Omegathon, where 20 randomly chosen players are pitted against one another in six unique games. Competition spans all three show days, and this year the final two "Omeganauts" went head-to-head at Skeeball for $5,000 and a fat trip to Tokyo Game Show.


Good Night/Bad Morning

The final night of PAX for me was held at Tap House Grill a block away from the convention center. Private parties for the Enforcers and our train group were held in the back rooms. Arco organized the Post-PAX Dinner, and close to 100 attendants came to partake in the Rock Band sing-along, as well as the 160 tap beers. It was a good, crowded night that left few ready for the epidemic.



160 brands of beer on
the wall, 160 brands of beer.
As I sat on the train the next morning, coughing was heard from every vent. People looked more disheveled than usual sprawled out in their seats as I walked down the choked path. If we knew then what we know now about the swine flu sufferers to come out of PAX, including at least one confirmed case on the train, then cramped hysteria may have posed a threat. The arcade car was also closed due to the conductor's excuse of "The change machine is out of tokens."

But we survived our trip home, although no sick or healthy person in his seat or walking the train had anything more to look forward to. Games continued to be played as nature took its toll on the nerd.





G&P Latest

July 1, 2011



June 28, 2011




About  //  Editors  //  Contributors  //  Terms of Use