Top 5 Things DVE Store Saw At PAX West

Pax West 2018 has come and gone. If you were fortunate enough to attend, I'll bet you were just as amazed as the staff at DVE Store were! The people, the costumes, the games, and the merchandise were just a few high points of this amazing event. For those of you that were out of the loop and didn’t attend PAX, we are here to deliver the goods.

Wait, you don’t know what PAX is?... Well, let me drop a little knowledge. PAX, originally known as the Penny Arcade Expo, is a series of gaming festivals that are held all over the country--even in Australia. We just happened to hit PAX West in Seattle this past weekend. Each location is hosted differently, but with the same theme: a love for games. Dedicated to tabletop gaming, arcade gaming, and video gaming, this show brings together large companies such as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Facebook, Twitch, and Mixxer; as well as small companies and developers you may have never heard of. A few of these include Sabotage and Ask An Enemy Studios. If you want to attend a gaming festival, this is for you. Now that you've become a little wiser, ON TO THE SHOW! We saw so many things from gaming booths to cosplayers to video games to tournaments, but there were a few things that really caught our attention. Especially since DVE Store is full of gamers, myself included.

1) The first thing you noticed when you walked in were the hordes of people, though the lights are what stood out and brought this place to life. Blues, purples, reds, oranges, yellows, greens and more. Like a rainbow was reflected from booth to booth throughout the convention center and brought us into this dream-like landscape. On closer inspection, a lot of these lights were created with RGB tiles and strips. These were displayed at each booth, on chairs, walls, streaming desks, competition… I could go on and on. The space was a fantasy brought to life, a dream in the corner of your mind that you forgot you wanted to be a part of. Each light directing us to the next stop in this magnificent maze.

2) How can we be at a gaming expo and not have games on this list? Let me introduce to you "A Duel Hand Disaster: Trackher". It’s the only split-screen single-player twin stick game out there and made by Ask An Enemy Studios. This game has a great concept behind it, and though it’s not easy, it will turn you into a better gamer by enhancing your hand eye coordination. You play on two screens; each screen houses a different player you control with each stick on your Xbox/Playstation/Nintendo switch controller. One causes destruction while the other collects points from it--the points don’t matter if you can’t stay alive! The points you take away are when you exit the challenge. But keep in mind, you won’t hold the high score if you exit too soon. So, you are constantly pushing yourself to be the best, though you may die and lose it all in the end. I know I’m all about the risk for the greater prize.

3) Next on our list is the tournaments, from Fortnite to Dragon Ball FighterZ. Though I do enjoy Fortnite, the Dragon Ball FighterZ tourney really caught my eye. A large arena, cameras on dolly’s, great graphics, cosplayers, and intense fighting. What else can I say?! This arena had it all; the excitement, the drama, the disappointment, and the VICTORIES! It was intense. Definitely a game worth checking out.

4) Have you ever pictured yourself floating in the air, jumping from building to building, web slinging crooks, or swinging after a robber? At the Spider-Man booth, it was possible to get this glimpse of your crazed-adventurous side. With multiple cameras setup in a semi-circle, a photograph was shot from each of these cameras at the same time. When you jump, a picture at your highest point is captured. With that one photograph from each camera they would show a .gif of you floating in air, next to Spider-Man crawling on a building, from all the angles. It was spectacular and innovative, fulfilling many dreams of becoming a Super-Hero. (For an example of the Spider-man photo booth click here)

5) At number 5, we have a tie. We leave you with two last things that caught our attention at PAX. Many here at DVE Store would say it was the Elgato Stream Deck. This is a switch deck that allows you to stream graphics, content, music, and sound effects all while you are streaming live. From gaming, to a cooking show, to anything you’d like really. Easy to use, customizable and fun to experiment with. From entry level to your hardcore broadcaster. It’s easy to see why many would choose this to round out our list, but since we were at PAX West, I’m going to have to throw in "The Messenger" by Sabotage Studio--for me, one of the coolest things I got to see.

The Messenger is a game much like the original Ninja Gaiden from 1989, but it also has a huge Castlevania (1986) mantra as well. This game has different phases you go through. As you begin the game, it has the 8-bit feel but as you battle your way through and travel into the future, the graphics become 16-bit. To me that’s an amazing concept and brings you into the game even more. It’s a way to transform with the game and evolve your playing abilities as the game gets harder and harder. I think it’s a great shout out to games of the past while also making itself its very own entity. I can’t wait until this game is available on more than just STEAM.

In the end, there are more than 5 things I could count off, but I’d say attend the next PAX event near you and see for yourself! It’s worth every dollar and can’t be summed up in a list or article. If you are a gamer of any sort, this event will bring you into its world even more. To me PAX West was just a taste, so now I feel the other event I need to attend is E3. Heck, I might even drink the kool-aid and cosplay as well.

If you would like to know more about PAX West or have some feedback and insight on this list, hit us up (twitter @dvestore). I’m always into talking games and nerding it up. Until then, enjoy what’s to come.