International PAX? | Forums

[EscoBlades]

Had a bit of a Twitter discussion with a few people (including Max) about the possibility of a PAX event outside of the US.

There was an announcement of sorts yesterday and google should yield more in the way of articles and discussion.

Anyway, wanted to see what you guys think about this. Would you attend a PAX outside of the States? Do you think its a good idea? If so, where do you think is the best location for an International PAX event?

[EscoBlades]

Had a bit of a Twitter discussion with a few people (including Max) about the possibility of a PAX event outside of the US.

There was an announcement of sorts yesterday and google should yield more in the way of articles and discussion.

Anyway, wanted to see what you guys think about this. Would you attend a PAX outside of the States? Do you think its a good idea? If so, where do you think is the best location for an International PAX event?

[seductivpancake]

Unless your company is paying, flying outside of the states, or North America is generally too expensive for most gamers.

[EscoBlades]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Seductivpancake:
Unless your company is paying, flying outside of the states, or North America is generally too expensive for most gamers. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Its the same everywhere. I would have payed a small fortune to get to Seattle had i got a visa to go.

The point is, there is still a huge gamerbase outside the states, so there would be no shortage of attendees for a PAX event outside North America i feel.

[seductivpancake]

Probably so, but I think most American's wouldn't Maybe Europeans would attend.

[Mcmax3000]

I'm completely against the idea of another PAX, regardless of where it happens.

Being Canadian, I completely understand what it's like not to have events where you live. I don't think we have any gaming events in our country (there was one in Montreal every November but a quick Google search leads me to believe that it no longer happens) so I get the frustration of nothing happening near you. I really do.

However, I would never want PAX here.

PAX is an extremely special event. It's special because it happens so infrequently. The more of them they do, the less special it will become. If there was an E3 every three months, would anybody still care about E3?

Think of it in a game sense. Guitar Hero used to be something really special. Now that we've had, by my count, 20 different Guitar Hero games across various platforms since the first one hit in November 2005, it's not longer special.

I'd be all for a gaming specific event here where I live or elsewhere in the world & if a company is looking to start one, I highly recommend they look at PAX and everything PAX does right (which is a lot) but I want to see the Penny Arcade guys work on making the two events they have now the best that they can possibly be as opposed to looking at adding more & more events.

[DevinMace]

I'd even settle for a decent size lan event.

[EscoBlades]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mcmax3000:
PAX is an extremely special event. It's special because it happens so infrequently. The more of them they do, the less special it will become. If there was an E3 every three months, would anybody still care about E3?

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I completely understand your point, but i'm gonna combine what i said to you on Twitter and what Pancakes said up there.

It would still be an infrequent event primarily because any plans for a PAX outside the US will start at once a year. Assuming hardly any of the American crowd attend the International event (either due to cost, scheduling clashes, etc) then they won't suffer from the over saturation effect you've mentioned.

The International event would most likely be attended, primarily, by the fans outside the States who have never been a part of such a unique event, or those who can't go as frequently as their American counterparts. And of course, the die hard American fans who would go just cause its PAX. However, the number of the 3rd group would be drastically small in comparison.

[DevinMace]

well a International Pax would likely be in Europe, and as far as I know in Europe they have some decent gaming conventions. I would like one in Canada, maybe Toronto, Halifax, somewhere out west. To if it was out west I'd likely just wait for the real pax to come around.

[EscoBlades]

Europe (the mainland anyway) really only has Gamescom. That's the convention of any real worth.

The UK has Eurogamer Expo, and the MCM Expos (included in which is the London Comic Con). But none of the above are of the scale or quality of PAX, or any of the American Comic Cons.