PAX East 2013

Last weekend, I took the bus up to Boston to join my friend John and his brother Joe for PAX East. For those of you who don't know, PAX is a video game convention that started as an annual event in Seattle in 2004. Now there's a PAX East in Boston, and a PAX Australia coming up this year, but let's be honest, PAX Prime in Seattle is where it's at. Granted, I'm just grateful that I was able to attend any of them. The reason why it's such a big deal is that it's a chance for average gamers to check out what games publishers have coming up in the next year or so, and talk to representatives from the developers or publishers. PAX is really dedicated to providing gamers with access that normally only games journalists get.

I know this blog is supposed to be about life in New York, but I'm counting a trip to Boston for PAX East as part of life in New York. It's a huge opportunity for me to attend it, either in Boston or in Seattle, and many people from New York thought the same way as me and made the trip.

My alarm was set 8:30 on Saturday, because I wanted to get out to the convention center fairly early. I convinced John and Joe to plan for an early day, and they were happy to get out to the convention center early as well. I made sure to bring a backpack, because you want a place to store a coat and all the free swag you get. Plus, I was able to leave my 3DS on sleep mode in the backpack. All three of us made sure to bring our 3DSs, because there's a very cool feature that allows you to share your Mii with other people's 3DSs that are on nearby. It does this automatically, and Streetpass (the name of the feature) proved to be a huge hit at the show for us.

The first game we went to play was Transistor, the next project that Supergiant Games is working on. Supergiant is the studio behind Bastion, one of the games of the year in 2011 and just an all-around incredible game. Transistor looks to follow in Bastion's footsteps while branching out in some new ways, including a cool combat system that is a mix between real-time and turn-based combat. The line to play it was a chance for us to use Streetpass, and get closer to our goal of getting a Mii from every state and many different countries.

A beautiful Bastion poster I purchased. Love that game.

After walking around the show floor for a while longer, we decided to go see round two of the Omegathon, a tournament held at PAX every show. The game selected for the second round was NBA Jam: On Fire, which is a favorite of mine for its crazy gameplay and entertaining multiplayer. Every time someone in the tournament played as the Celtics, they were cheered for, while teams playing as the Heat or Lakers were booed relentlessly. Unfortunately for all the Boston fans, neither team playing as the Celtics was very good, evidenced by them selecting an Allen/Pierce lineup instead of an Allen/Garnett lineup. We decided to leave after 4 games had been played

By that time, it was 2:40, and we were hungry. The convention center in Boston is near the waterfront, meaning it is relatively isolated and there is very little food besides what was available at the convention center. We decided to take the T to Downtown Crossing and go to Five Guys. On the silver line bus there, we all got a Mii from the tiny British territory of Anguilla, which is an island east of Puerto Rico. AJ from Anguilla, you're kind of a legend to us!

The Five Guys location had a Coca Cola freestyle machine, so I was able to enjoy some peach Fanta with my burger. Try it and thank me later. We headed back to the convention center and wandered the show floor for a while before going to the PC freeplay area. They had a couple hundred PCs set up with a good selection of games for people to play. Before, we had discussed making our names in-game the same as famous sports commentators and using their catchphrases in-game to troll everyone. I chose to impersonate Gus Johnson, which I did by yelling into the mic the player's name whenever someone was killed in Team Fortress 2 (what we were playing). Joe summoned up his best Dick Vitale impression, yelling "Yeah babay!!!" and "Upset city babay!!!" among other great Dickie V lines (and typing #dickievpicks in the chat). We were all laughing the whole time, and it summed up the sort of goonery (I'm making that a word) with friends that I love about PAX.

I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted that night, but thankfully there was a 5 Hour Energy booth with free samples outside the expo hall, which we had been stockpiling. After waiting in line for bag check, as I left for the bus straight from the convention center, I had gotten a lot of new Miis through Streetpass. By the end of the show, I had gotten someone from every state on the east coast!

We checked out the new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game, which just left me wanting to play a Pokemon game from the main series, before heading to the show floor. The Nintendo booth on the main show floor was poorly organized, so we left without playing anything, though we did get lots of Streetpass Miis from the great state of Washington. Nvidia was showing off a handheld gaming platform they were working on, so we tried that, but it just didn't seem ready to compete with the 3DS. Maybe with the Vita though.

Google Maps on WiiU?

Finding a place to eat lunch was an adventure, because we saw this deli on the map, but didn't know where it was. Turns out, it was in the Boston Globe building near there, but it was closed! We ended up taking the silver line to South Station and getting Regina's Pizza there. The day ended with us spending a lot of time in the handheld lounge and laughing at the random Streetpass Miis we got. Somehow, I had someone from South Dakota before I got to PAX East. I would guess that was at PAX Prime in Seattle. We picked up Miis from Japan, the UK, and Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, most of the Canadian Miis didn't have a province specified, so we lamented them not just SAYING they are from Nunavut or the Northwest Territories. How else am I supposed to get a Mii from there? Oh well.

PAX went by way too fast and was very exhausting, but the chance to hang out with friends, laugh, and enjoy our shared passion for video games was great. I can't wait to go to PAX Prime in Seattle this August!

Knife Party concert

The best thing about living in New York, for me, is being able to see so many of my favorite producers live. It's still hard to believe that in less than two months' time, I've seen Feed Me, Porter Robinson, Madeon, and Knife Party. Plus, I've got a Mord Fustang concert coming in April. I really feel like I am experiencing the most exciting things for me, because above all, I love music and sports.

My passion for electronic music has developed in the past year, but I had quickly fallen in love with a group called Pendulum. Nominally, they were considered drum 'n bass, and their first album reflected that, but their second and third albums took influences from electro house, rock, and other genres. Their third album, Immersion, is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. It's just an incredible work from start to finish.

Sadly, Pendulum broke up a couple of years ago. The two main producers from Pendulum, Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, formed Knife Party, and have been producing a unique mix of electro house, dubstep, and even some moombahton. They've created a very unique sound and have released a lot of loud, epic songs that I grew to love. Some of their songs use some quirky vocal samples, like "Centipede", which talks about giant tropical centipedes. Knife Party's music is definitely something of an acquired taste, but as someone who fell in love with electronic music through Feed Me's unique mix of electro house, progressive house, and dubstep, I have come to love Knife Party.

I knew that they wouldn't actually take the stage until 1:15 or 1:30, so I didn't get to the club until about 12:10 am Saturday morning (Friday night, whatever you want to call it). The opener used a nice mix of electro house, and didn't get caught up in producing as insanely loud bass as possible while ignoring musical quality, which I appreciated. The second floor of Pacha (the club), where I stood for the Madeon concert, was VIP only for Knife Party, so I was stuck on the first floor. I thought I had found a little bit of space near the stage to stand, but this obnoxious group of bros and bro-ettes (whatever girls hang out with bros) were standing there too. I didn't really care, but then more of their obnoxious friends came and pushed and shoved in near them. I was livid, because I was standing there first and minding my own business when they intruded in the small bit of space I had been standing in like they owned it. The worst offense was the girls in the group continually getting pictures of themselves taken, for which they needed to carve out a large swathe of space so they could get maximum likes when they posted it to Instagram.

I am a very tolerant person, so I wasn't going to do anything, but it was infuriating. I kept wishing that I could just have a little bit of space somewhat near the stage in which to stand. Having some sweaty bro's back pressed up against you is not comfortable. Whatever. I wasn't going to let them ruin my night, because I was seeing Knife Party and that's all that really mattered.

When I saw two guys nearing the stage, one with a hat, I knew it was time for Knife Party. Gareth was wearing his signature hat, of course. Rob Swire looked just as awesome as expected. I wish I could grow a goatee like his. The concert reinforced my veritable man-crush on Rob Swire, he's just too awesome. I wish I could rock a midi-guitar like he did in the Pendulum days.

Anyway, they had an epic setlist of loud, bass-heavy songs that got the crowd pumped up. Their song "Tourniquet" came on early in the setlist, and the catchy electro house tune was great to hear live. "Fire Hive" was another one of my favorites, with loud bass and a unique rhythm that mixed dubstep and moombahton. They mixed in their remix of Swedish House Mafia's "Save the World" and a little remix of part of Swedish House Mafia's hit "Don't You Worry Child". While the songs almost all had a loud, driven bass line, it wasn't overpowering and exemplified their ability to produce catchy songs with epic bass.

Until they kick us out... until they kick us out...

They saved their song "Bonfire" for the end, and what a way to finish. The crowd yelled the word "Bonfire!" whenever it came up in the song, and the crazy bass drops of the song left my ears buzzing the whole way home. If they had played any Pendulum in their setlist, I think the world would have exploded from awesomeness overload. Ok, maybe that's just me, but it was an amazing concert nonetheless. Those two crazy Aussies know what they're doing.

Lunch in Midtown Manhattan

This weekend was pretty uneventful for me, other than seeing my beloved Arsenal suffer a brutal, agonizing defeat to our bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur. I'm still mad about that and likely to be so for quite a while, but I figured that I would write a post about my experience getting lunch at work in Midtown. As I mentioned in a previous post, I think that going to get take-out for lunch is a significant part of the experience of working in New York, and after nearly two months here, I've developed a bit of a routine.

Hale and Hearty

Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a good cup of soup, especially when I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Hale and Hearty has a wide variety of delicious soups, sandwiches, and salads, and the comfort and convenience has made this a big hit for me. Today, for example, I enjoyed a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, lettuce, and aioli, along with a cup of split pea soup (high on the list of looks gross and tastes delicious foods). Their sweet corn chowder with chicken is another one of my favorite soups, with just the right combination of the different ingredients. I like that they give you a piece of bread with your soup, because I can always go for dipping fresh bread in soup. Hale and Hearty has become an established part of my rotation of restaurants for lunch.

Chipotle

What's there to say about Chipotle that hasn't already been said? It's awesome and there's a location just over a block from my office, so I've gone there a fair amount. In fact, I went there 4 days in a row back in January. Nowadays, I've gotten a little more adventurous, and I like to keep some variety in my lunch routine, but I still go to Chipotle once a week. My go to order, in case you were wondering (which you probably weren't, but you can read it anyway), is a chicken burrito bowl with pinto beans, brown rice, hot salsa, corn, lettuce, and cheese. An excellent combination with a little bit of spice, though sometimes I go for a burrito. Bottom line, Chipotle is awesome.

Toastie's

I discovered this wonderful sandwich shop when I was browsing Yelp for good places to get lunch near my office. They have a large selection of delicious, unique sandwiches, as well as a create-your-own salad station. I have not ventured to try the salad, because I'm a little worried that I would have no idea what to put in my salad, but the sandwiches have served me well and given a nice array of options whenever I go to Toastie's. The Popeye sandwich was the first I tried, which is a chicken sandwich with mozzarella cheese, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, roasted red peppers, and honey mustard. That's certainly a unique combination, yes, but the honey mustard really brings it all together. The Alice sandwich is another favorite of mine, which is a delicious turkey sandwich with brie cheese, sliced granny smith apples, romaine lettuce, and honey mustard (there's a pattern). I do also enjoy sandwiches that don't have honey mustard on them, these just happen to be two of my favorites.

Pongsri Thai

I discovered this nice Thai restaurant a few weeks ago on 48th st, between Broadway and 8th Avenue. They have a nice lunch special with about 7 different options, though I usually opt to go for the chicken pad thai. They serve it with some vegetables on the side, which I make sure to eat because I worry that I don't eat enough vegetables, and it's solid pad thai. It's a nice option now because I know exactly what to expect and have a good go-to menu item. The Sriracha fried rice is next on my list of dishes to try, however.

Chef Pho & Peking Roast Duck

While this Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant has an odd name that combines two popular dishes from the two countries, it's only a couple blocks from my office and they have a huge lunch menu. I only first tried it a week ago, but I was delighted to find that it tasted very good. The chicken with garlic sauce and vegetables was delicious (even the broccoli, surprisingly), and I got rice and a spring roll with it. I will definitely be going back there, I love some good Chinese food!

Majestic Deli

This deli is very conveniently located, and have a nice selection of delicious hot paninis. I enjoyed the charcoal chicken and the Tabasco chicken paninis, served with chips and a pickle. New York seems to be obsessed with pickles, I see them served a lot at delis or diners. Nothing against pickles, I just find this obsession kind of funny. Anyway, they make excellent paninis at Majestic Deli.

I've tried out some other places as well, but these restaurants have become my rotation. I'm always looking to add to it, perhaps an Indian restaurant or a Mediterranean restaurant. The delis that have serve-yourself hot and cold food of every variety, along with sandwiches, are not my favorite, because the food usually isn't that good. Some people like this, but it's not for me.

That's all I've got for this week, thanks for reading!