Live Magazine Christmas 2016 Edition
Want gift ideas? We've got almost 200 pages of gift ideas, reviews and pics - plus our "Board Games for the Family" special feature - take a look at what you can play as a family this Christmas. And if you like to WIN stuff - we've got movie tickets thanks to Sony, plus a whole lot more!
Want gift ideas? We've got almost 200 pages of gift ideas, reviews and pics - plus our "Board Games for the Family" special feature - take a look at what you can play as a family this Christmas. And if you like to WIN stuff - we've got movie tickets thanks to Sony, plus a whole lot more!
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PAX AUS<br />
PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) returned<br />
in <strong>2016</strong> enticing those of<br />
the gaming community out for 3<br />
days of celebrating gaming culture.<br />
Many we spoke to were<br />
returning attendees, proving the<br />
PAX community is growing strong<br />
after 4 years on the Australian<br />
convention circuit.<br />
PAX provides a unique space for<br />
this community to connect the<br />
players and the fans with game<br />
publishers, eSports stars, developers<br />
and industry representatives.<br />
From indie developers to industry<br />
heavyweights all have the<br />
chance to showcase and connect<br />
with the people that make<br />
their games great – those who<br />
love, adore and most importantly<br />
play their games. This is what<br />
makes PAX special and a unique<br />
event for the Australian stage of<br />
gaming.<br />
However you play PAX wants you.<br />
From the huge stands of PS4 and<br />
Xbox, Tech giants and big ticket<br />
games as you moved through the<br />
excited crowds past the flashing<br />
lights to the stage of the Arena,<br />
people gathered squeezing into<br />
seats all wearing their favourite<br />
eSports team jerseys they<br />
purchased from PAX. Here PAX<br />
hosted the ESL Counter-Strike:<br />
Global Offensive AU & NZ Championship<br />
Finals and many tournaments<br />
throughout the weekend,<br />
highlighting the local talent and<br />
giving their fans the opportunity<br />
to meet and cheer them on.<br />
Moving on from the Arena you are<br />
met with a real treat – and I’m not<br />
talking about the Skyrim sweet<br />
rolls that were so highly sought<br />
after each day. The Indie developers<br />
have a serious stamp on the<br />
PAX map. A great chunk of floor<br />
space is dedicated to the colourful<br />
and often swamped booths<br />
of games like Mallow Drops, Orwell<br />
and Hyper Jam. Most gamers<br />
know the big titles – they’ve<br />
pre-ordered them, have seen<br />
walkthroughs, trailers and previewed<br />
the game before playing<br />
it at PAX. This is where the Indies<br />
win. You don’t know what you’re<br />
going to find and are often pleasantly<br />
surprised – the journey from<br />
booth to booth is part of the fun.<br />
When you move through to the<br />
next hall you really find where<br />
PAX shows its heart. The tabletop<br />
area is huge- I mean you<br />
probably won’t find an Australian<br />
event where there is such a<br />
large gathering of players playing<br />
this variety of games. Magic the<br />
Gathering ran events all weekend<br />
– decks of Kaladesh selling like<br />
hotcakes. The fun was brought by<br />
games like The Ultimate Drinking<br />
Game, expansion packs of Cards<br />
against humanity and the games<br />
that were likely to come out at<br />
night after a full day of shopping<br />
and playing. New card games like<br />
Final Fantasy were being taught<br />
in their own tabletop areas, multiple<br />
booths selling every board<br />
game you can think of, precious<br />
stone D20 sets, miniatures with a<br />
painting area – this was tabletop<br />
mecca.<br />
The really amazing part of this<br />
is that there was barely a spare<br />
seat. The players were coming<br />
together with people that shared<br />
the same love of the game –<br />
complete strangers outside PAX,<br />
but here they were friends playing<br />
their favourite game. A place<br />
for players – whatever your game<br />
- PAX is where you come to play.<br />
Every person can find their place<br />
at PAX. You have the free to play<br />
PC areas, crowds watching the<br />
speedruns, retro gaming area,<br />
tabletop, pinball, console – and<br />
of course this year you couldn’t<br />
miss the next dimension of gaming<br />
– VR.<br />
There was a VR set up on most of<br />
the major booths. From HTC Vive<br />
to Playstation VR the lengthy lines<br />
for these experiences showed<br />
that this is not a fad. The next level<br />
of gaming was seen as players<br />
walked around ducking, turning<br />
and shooting with their headsets<br />
on. It didn’t really make sense un-