March 23, 2023 marks day one of PAX East 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. Media gather for badge pick up at 8 a.m. with Media Hour at 9 a.m. David, Stephanie, and Pat from the Boss Rush Network begin their journey covering various indie games and merchandise.
DAVID: Editor in Chief
It’ll be difficult to top that first day hype. Getting to the convention center this morning and seeing the vendors and booths prepping for the crowds, walking by the Tears of the Kingdom Link statue, sprinting to our most-hyped destinations at the start of media hour—these are stuff of gamer dreams.
I had four to five must-do items for PAX East; today I checked every item off my list. In one day. From taking a picture with Link to getting my Zelda pin (Nintendo actually manufactured enough this time!), the day was filled with joy. Two moments stand out to me though.
Getting to interview the lead writer for Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly was a treasured moment. The first game was art I felt in my soul. Being a Seattle native who worked at an overnight coffee shop in college, the characters and mood resonated at a deep level. Hearing the stories behind the first game and how the team dealt with the passing of Mohammad Fahmi was deeply moving. My experience playing the demo of the game was phenomenal.
The second standout moment for me was getting to play Aliens: Dark Descent. As a passionate fan of the Aliens franchise, I was shocked to learn the game was available to play at PAX East. How could I have missed this?! Getting the chance to interview the game’s producer was beyond my wildest imagination. The game captures the atmosphere and horror which make the franchise legendary.
I’m not sure what day two holds, but day one was for the ages.
PAT: Co-Host of EXPCast
PAX Day 1 left me breathless . . . literally. The experience started with Steph and I parking at the convention center parking lot and then us taking a lap back and forth to finally get to the main entrance. Sore feet aside, I had an amazing time today. We started out over at the NIS America booth where I got to demo the Trails series that are coming out this year, as well as two other games that NIS has slated for 2023. We moved over to the Nintendo booth hoping to score the exclusive Tears of the Kingdom pin, but after 15 minutes of standing, we found out that it was being distributed at the main entrance . . . so we left to find something else.
That something else was the recently announced beat em up: Toxic Crusaders. That was a blast to play with Steph and David together. Steph and I moved on to the XSEED booth, where I got to try out the upcoming RPG Loop 8, made by the creators of the Grandia and Lunar series. There were other games I wanted to try, but the lines were getting long, and we had places to be.
I dropped by the corner booth of Behemoth games to play their upcoming game Alien Hominid Invasion, and I loved it a lot. I need to try to convince Steph and David to try it out as the chaotic gameplay would be amazing with more people.
After lunch, we went back to check out some merch tables and hit up an appointment with Toge Productions. While David and Steph were having their interviews with the creators of Coffee Talk, I talked to another representative regarding A Space for the Unbound, a game they had prominently displayed. I needed to let them know that A Space for the Unbound was they best game I’ve played so far this year and just how perfect I thought the story was, and then she told me her story about the struggle her company had to get the game made. I think that was the highlight of my day was bonding over this amazing game.
We hit up a few more developers before leaving the convention and ended the night experiencing Boston driving, something I don’t recommend to anybody!
STEPHANIE: Copy Editor, Co-Host of Boss Rush Podcast
Anticipation crawled under my skin as my colleagues and I sat, waiting for Media Hour. Thursday, March 23 was day one at PAX East, and I had a long list of things I wanted to see and play. One of the first things I saw was the life-size Link statue for the upcoming title, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. After taking some photos, I found the Nintendo booth in the Expo hall, hoping for my Tears of the Kingdom pin. However, I waited in the wrong Nintendo line (yes, there is more than one), only to find out the line for the pin was up front, and the line had already capped out before 10 a.m. Sad to say, but that’s typical Nintendo. I will try my luck tomorrow.
Other than the vague direction for this limited edition Zelda pin, several highlights included playing the demo for Toxic Avengers, Xseed’s Melon Journey, and speaking with the creators of Art’oVision and VGNY Soft. Everyone so far has been incredibly approachable, and I’m looking forward to learning more about new and upcoming games.
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The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, LeRon, Stephanie, Edward, and their friends from around the internet come together to talk their week in games, entertainment, and more while also bringing topics for conversation, answer listener and community questions, and cover major news and events happening in the video game industry. Watch The Boss Rush Podcast Monday mornings at 7AM ET on YouTube and listen on podcast services everywhere. Thanks for listening!
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