PAX Hits 60K Milestone

[Logan Westbrook]

PAX Hits 60K Milestone

The Penny Arcade Expo, more commonly known as PAX, has grown considerably since its inception, and this year had over 60,000 attendees.

In 2004, at the first Penny Arcade Expo, nearly three and a half thousand gamers gathered to celebrate all things geek. Fast forward five years and PAX 2009 was attended by nearly 20 times that number.

The official attendance figure was announced as 60,750 which is only a small increase from last year, but the event only had limited tickets due to concerns over overcrowding. However, after the convention center owners saw how well the volunteer staff - or 'Enforcers' - were handling the crowds, they authorized the sale of another thousand day passes for the Saturday and Sunday.

Penny Arcade's Robert Khoo has suggested that the event will continue to grow next year due to expansion plans at the convention center, and there also PAX East to be held in Boston in late March next year.

Source: GayGamer [http://gaygamer.net/2009/09/pax_attendance_tops_60k_expans.html]


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[Abedeus]

In other news, the Swine Flu diseased count has increased by 60k. The cause is yet to be found.

 

[Therumancer]

It's not about regulating games for being a negative force, it's about censorship and finding a way for the authorities to get a fingerhold in the right to censor information. No matter the reason (sex and violence, health issues due to obseity, etc...) once the goverment gets the authority to actually do something about it, the snowball starts running. Right now the party in charge is "big goverment". Basically the Democrats believe that an all powerful federal goverment should exists that controls everything (albeit they think it's for the greater good in most cases in addition to their personal power), this is a power grab.

That is however off the subject. I think PAX is also benefitting from the economy since relatively "cheap" forms of entertainment take off when the ecnomy gets bad. Going to a con like that for a vacation probably costs less than going to an actual tourist spot.

Also the success of various things like Gencon over the years makes it so the potential draw of a big convention for nerds isn't all that surprising.

 

[The Rockerfly]

That's....That's incredible, I could imagine PAX would hit any cose to this number
Seriously, wow!

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Yay PAX East is in Boston. Now I can buy a ticket and not spend 400-700 dollars flying over to the convention center.

 

[Chimaera]

That is however off the subject. I think PAX is also benefitting from the economy since relatively "cheap" forms of entertainment take off when the ecnomy gets bad. Going to a con like that for a vacation probably costs less than going to an actual tourist spot.

Oh hey not to be a downer on your actual rant with real facts here, but last I checked, Seattle's a pretty big tourist destination all by itself. (As is Boston, for next spring.)

It's nice to see some official numbers though it wasn't as high as I thought it was going to be. It was a fantastic and well mannered event, and as a first time attendee (represent!) I look forward to future outings.

ps. not dead from swine flu

 

[Emphraim]

That is awesome that it reached that high. It's possibly even more amazing that the gamers were well ordered.

Now, if only all these conventions occurred within a 100 mile radius of where I lived...

 

[randommaster]

Yay PAX East is in Boston. Now I can buy a ticket and not spend 400-700 dollars flying over to the convention center.

I'm still waiting on a PAX South.

I'm also proud to announce that i dont know a single person attending that convention.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you're acctually attending it right now. Whatever you think you're doing, you're actually just imagining it because of the delerium caused by all the happyness and H1N1.

 

[MarsProbe]

All of whom are now going to die of flu.

Somebody in my friend's Computer Science lab went there, and is sick right now. So great, no ym university is going to get it and I DONT WANNA DIE

Actually, if all these people are fairly healthy, any of the people who may have caught swine flu will likely be over it in a relatively short period of time.

Anyway, scaremongering aside, congrats to PAX for reaching 60k attendees. Pity there aren't really any events like that this side of the pond. Maybe I will just have to save for a ticket (plus plane ticket, accommodation, spending money and the like...nyaaahh).

 

[theultimateend]

All of whom are now going to die of flu.

Somebody in my friend's Computer Science lab went there, and is sick right now. So great, no ym university is going to get it and I DONT WANNA DIE

Actually, if all these people are fairly healthy, any of the people who may have caught swine flu will likely be over it in a relatively short period of time.

Anyway, scaremongering aside, congrats to PAX for reaching 60k attendees. Pity there aren't really any events like that this side of the pond. Maybe I will just have to save for a ticket (plus plane ticket, accommodation, spending money and the like...nyaaahh).

My Girlfriend was one of the Swine Flu victims. We just gave her tons of water and medication and she's fine. A little upset but fine .

 

[TraumaHound]

While I thankfully didn't catch "Swine Flu" I did get sick (felt it coming on late Saturday night and still had a day at the show to go.) Mostly mild fever and a little scratchy throated; no high-velocity projectiles coming out of me, definitely a plus there.

As for the show, it was great! My only real complaint (swine flu carriers aside) is that Wil Wheaton's show was packed early with no way of getting in so I had to sit through some online podcast's panel where they talked about videogame "history" using old Penny Arcade strips for source material. Yeah, it was lame. Hopefully they can move Wil to the Main Theater instead of the smaller satellite rooms since he can clearly pack the room.

The PA chat-sessions were funny and I especially loved the PA Draws-a-Strip show where Scott Kurtz took Tycho's spot until he showed up from the hospital (his wife delivered their daughter the night before.)

Can't wait to go back next year.

 

[Proteus214]

Now if only GameX gets that many people...

 

[MarsProbe]

My Girlfriend was one of the Swine Flu victims. We just gave her tons of water and medication and she's fine. A little upset but fine .

See? There's nothing to worry about! Let's get on with our lives! If you believe the worst of the recession is over, then things may actually stand a chance of getting better! But yeh, I digress...

 

[clericwithnolife31]

the swine flu was more then worth it.