3D Animation

PAX East 2011 Recap

March 17, 2011



PAX East 2011 was a huge video game conference located at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.  I was surrounded from all sides by large video displays, booming speakers, rows upon rows of some of the fastest computers in gaming, video game controllers, 3D monitors and thousands of tech geeks and gaming fans dressed as their favorite characters. It was overwhelming to say the least, nearly 70,000 in attendance.

This year's East Coast show featured a keynote address from Jane McGonigal, author of Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, READ IT!

There was a lot of interesting new technologies and games being exhibited and tested by the masses. The Old Republic had one of the longest waiting lines, 2 to 3 hours, but that's because the game rocks. XBox, Kinect, and Nintendo DS 3D got a lot of buzz as many lined up to be among the first to play the latest games on the newest hardware. I even got a chance to play “Child of Eden” and “Rock Band”, what a wild experience.  3D Monitors were everywhere and a lot of discussion about 3D games vs. 3D films went on. The majority agrees that 3D gaming is here to stay, as for film many think it's just a fade.

Boston University CDIA had great attendance as usual. I must have bumped into at least 15 alumni and a hand full of current students. Some of the alumni worked their magic and networked their way to a job interview with some of the leading companies here in Boston. I'd like to thank the students who helped man the CDIA booth, we had fun!

This was an extremely successful event for the Boston area. Not only did PAX East bring in many people from around the world, but it proved that video game development on the east-coast is alive and among the best in the industry. I look forward to another great PAX East event next year.