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[Nirolak]

It's worth considering what they have to show.

EA just launched their last big non-sports game until either Dragon Age or Battlefield comes out.

Capcom has jack shit of anything announced.

Sony is pretty barren sans Drive club and The Order, neither of which I'm convinced are in a notably playable state.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

Unfortunately, this is also the segment of developers that is most turned off by Jerry and Mike being shitty human beings, and there isn't anything like a good alternative in terms of a consumer-oriented game con.

What's Jerry done that's been shitty? He's always seemed like a really nice guy to me and tends to avoid polarizing issues. As far as I'm aware, the vast majority of the backlash is a result of the Mike.

 

[charlequin]

What's Jerry done that's been shitty?

Tolerate and defend Mike, mostly? I cut him a looooot of slack but after a certain point I just didn't have gas in the tank anymore.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

Tolerate and defend Mike, mostly? I cut him a looooot of slack but after a certain point I just didn't have gas in the tank anymore.

Has he defended Mike that much? I don't read every post of his, but as I said, he seems to stay out of the fray mostly, so far as I can recall

 

[MegaByte]

GDC and PAXEast are usually within 6 weeks of each other.

What was weird this year is that Nintendo had a bunch of indies to show off at GDC and nothing for PAX East. Last year, they had no games at GDC at all, only at PAX East, and in the years before that, they'd show mostly the same games at both venues. I'm not quite sure what their strategy is there.

 

[Whipped Spartan]

Pax east is for indies. All those booths for most part are normally pretty lackluster truthfully.

I'll miss Nintendo, capcom and twisted pixel. Sony normally only brings their AAA games so no big loss this games take hours to play. Last of us was their booth last year. Took an hour to play and came out in months. Others play video's a lot.

 

[DarkKyo]

No Nintendo?! I was fully expecting playable Mario Kart.....

 

[PsychoSoldier]

Has he defended Mike that much? I don't read every post of his, but as I said, he seems to stay out of the fray mostly, so far as I can recall

Which is part of the problem, really. Staying out of the fray can sometimes seem like implicit agreement, especially given the degree to which the two are tied together.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

Which is part of the problem, really. Staying out of the fray can sometimes seem like implicit agreement, especially given the degree to which the two are tied together.

Maybe, but only one of those options can be true.

Though I don't like the idea that he has to speak out in order to not be assumed guilty by association. I mean, they are friends after all, and he has a working business relationship to maintain. Staying out of the line of fire really is the best case scenario both professionally and publicly imo, particularly as I've rarely heard anyone speak ill of Jerry, as opposed to Mike.

 

[kyoya]

In all fairness Gabe/Mike Krahulik did write earlier this year that he's stepping away from PAX, he and Jerry brought it up at PAX Prime.

You’ll notice that it is no longer the Penny Arcade Expo. It’s outgrown us and it belongs to the gaming community at large now not just PA fans. Someday I expect to attend a PAX and not even be recognized. That’s honestly fine with me. I don’t want the material on PA or who I am to keep people from attending and enjoying PAX. During the Q&A at PAX Prime we actually talked about slowly removing ourselves from the show over the next few years. We’ve been doing it for a decade now and I’m happy to step out of the way and let the show grow without me rather than inspite of me. That’s only part of the problem though. The other part is fixing some of my own issues and that’s something I need to do on my own.

Link to his full write-up here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2014/01/01/resolutions

That being said, if certain exhibitors stepped away from the show because of the controversy and backlash, it's my hope they'll return as time passes.

What makes up for the no-show of many of these exhibitors is the fact that Anamanaguchi will be performing live on Friday night, and then on Saturday night The Doubleclicks, MC Frontalot, and The Video Game Orchestra will be performing. That's going to be so awesome and a real treat for me personally.

 

[pelican]

They really should move East further into the summer, after E3.

And then you have Gamescom. Which pulls a bigger attendance, and covers a wider audience.

I always thought PAX East was redundant. By the time it arrives the big "spring" games are available to buy before the end of QTR 4 and the developers will have both eyes on E3.

 

[Mr.Monitor]

Most of the exhibitors this year look like pure garbage, with the exception of a few indie studios. Me and a friend looked up every single one and were pretty hugely disappointed. This might end up being our last pax, unless the few exhibitors we're excited for REALLY deliver. Even the panels aren't as interesting this year. There's maybe one I wanna go to each day, and that's pushing it. The only one I -gotta- see is Mega64.

Edit: at least Anamanaguchi is playing :/

 

[OnPoint]

Unfortunately, this is also the segment of developers that is most turned off by Jerry and Mike being shitty human beings, and there isn't anything like a good alternative in terms of a consumer-oriented game con.

The Indie Megabooth received more submissions than ever before, I believe. So I don't know if that actually mattered in the long run.

 

[Artorias]

I don't know why they thought they could support two trade shows a year anyway. It's a pretty classic case of a business overvaluing itself in the first few years.

I'm sure it is and will continue to be successful, but you can only do so much when your show relies on others to make it exciting. Frankly, many publishers are probably weighing the pros and cons of setting up for yet another show every year, and one that isn't covered by anyone outside the gaming world.

And yea, it probably doesn't help that they employ and represent several bigots and generally unlikeable people.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

And yea, it probably doesn't help that they employ and represent several bigots and generally unlikeable people.

Several?

 

[sixteen-bit]

If it's backlash, PA made their bed and deserve to lay in it.

 

[Mesoian]

What was weird this year is that Nintendo had a bunch of indies to show off at GDC and nothing for PAX East. Last year, they had no games at GDC at all, only at PAX East, and in the years before that, they'd show mostly the same games at both venues. I'm not quite sure what their strategy is there.

I'm gonna go with...they don't have one.

And then you have Gamescom. Which pulls a bigger attendance, and covers a wider audience.

I always thought PAX East was redundant. By the time it arrives the big "spring" games are available to buy before the end of QTR 4 and the developers will have both eyes on E3.

I've always thought that PAXEast was more for indies than big games. PAXEast is where most of the press for stuff like Monaco, AirMech, BattleBlock, etc came out from. I never understood standing in line for hours trying to go see demos of, for example, Elder Scrolls Online or Bioshock Infinite when there are playable demos with no lines for games that are going to be GOTY contenders just around the corner.

I don't know why they thought they could support two trade shows a year anyway. It's a pretty classic case of a business overvaluing itself in the first few years.

I'm sure it is and will continue to be successful, but you can only do so much when your show relies on others to make it exciting. Frankly, many publishers are probably weighing the pros and cons of setting up for yet another show every year, and one that isn't covered by anyone outside the gaming world.

And yea, it probably doesn't help that they employ and represent several bigots and generally unlikeable people.

Because both of them sold out in 17 minutes?

Are you guys sure you understand how this works? It seems like a lot of you are really stretching to find excuses to continue to pile on Mike Krahulik. And it seems like most of you who are had no intentions of going in the first place.

 

[ghst]

i think a lot them are saving up their best stuff for the smash misandry conference 2014.

 

[PedroLumpy]

Hmmm, that is interesting.

Gotta say though, if this results in more space for Indie booths rather than ad-space, that'll be good.

 

[WyndhamPrice]

Did anyone ever really go to PAX for the expo hall? For big names, anyway? That con always seemed more about the indie booths and fun panels and social atmosphere.

 

[dave is ok]

People claiming this is backlash are ridiculous

Sometimes you just don't have shit to show yet.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Capcom has jack shit of anything announced.

MH4U...

 

[Mesoian]

MH4U...

Jack shit announced for North America he means.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Jack shit announced for North America he means.

It was announced for North America though...

 

[Proven]

It was announced for North America though...

Not for this year. I'd be surprised if it's playable anywhere before PAX Prime.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

Did anyone ever really go to PAX for the expo hall? For big names, anyway? That con always seemed more about the indie booths and fun panels and social atmosphere.

Exactly! This is why I've gone the past 4 years. For the big stuff it's either the TGS, Pax Prime, E3 or Gamescom.

I've always felt that Pax East was to show love to the East Coast and to provide a more relaxed environment for gamers.