The Problem With PAX - Game news at Chat Place

Sunday, 13 October 2024

The Problem With PAX

Added: 10.09.2013 20:55 | 10 views | 0 comments

Seriously, we NEED to talk about PAX.

Now, if you've been reading my pieces since I've come on board to GameRevolution, you know two things: A) I'm terribly clever, insightful, handsome, and modest.
B) I'm not at all afraid to tackle social issues in gaming full force. And PAX has some serious issues we need to discuss, as gamers, as humans. Hey, come back here! Diablo III can wait five minutes.

PAX, for those who have never looked up anything about video games on the Internet ever, stands for "Penny Arcade Expo" and consists of the original convention (now termed "PAX Prime") in Seattle, which began in 2004, "PAX East" founded six years later in Boston, and as of this year "PAX Australia." Born from the webcomic Penny Arcade by authors Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the expo celebrates all things gaming, including console, arcade, tabletop, and card gaming, and routinely pulls in close to twice the amount of attendees as E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. This difference in attendance is due to the fact that PAX primarily touts itself as a fan-facing expo, as opposed to E3, which is classified primarily as a trade show.

PAX Prime just wrapped up in Seattle for the 2013 year, selling out as usual, with the conference expanding to a fourth day. Amidst the competitions and cosplay contests, developers are out there giving the fans a taste of what's to come in the upcoming year. And though every year brings a new batch of heroes, villains, and mythical species of every shape and size, there's one creature that Holkins, Krahulik, and the rest of Penny Arcade (or do they?) wishes would just go away: the Dickwolf.

The Dickwolf, an unseen creature in a 2010 Penny Arcade strip, "rapes" an NPC to sleep nightly, as he begs a hero-type to rescue him. What was meant as a little light humor turned into a firestorm because, as most rational people understand, rape is never funny.