This year I decided once again to do the PAX Enforcer thing again as I did last year. A PAX Enforcer is basically the staff you see all over the Boston Convention and Expo Center from the time you walk in the main doors throughout the entire building. If you have ever gone to PAX or if you ever go to PAX and you attend any of the many panel's that are held in the various halls on the upper levels of the BCEC then that is one location where you would see a PAX Enforcer organizing and compressing the hundreds of attendee's into lines in front of each theatre waiting for the guest speakers to arrive.
After changing my travel plans several times I ended up heading into Boston on Thursday afternoon. I checked into the Westin hotel next door where I shared a room with another PAX Enforcer. I decided to head over to the Made In MA. Party. I got a cab and twenty two dollars later I arrived at the party which was at the Microsoft N.E.R.D. Center in Cambridge, MA. I usually end up going to these sort of parties and events alone because I know that when I feel like leaving which is usually a bit early, I don't want to wait forever for someone else to finish what they are doing. I also do not want to interrupt someone else that is having a good time and be the one to pull them away because I feel like leaving. I made my way to the bar and grabbed a drink but after walking around the party for a while and finishing my first drink I realized I did not know a single person at this party and I usually know at least a few.
I was tired from traveling and not finding anyone I new at the party I decided to head out even though I had only been there less than a half hour. I got in the elevator and headed down and after only one floor the doors opened and I could hear the sound of several different games all playing at once so I asked the people who got on what was happening on that floor and they said it was another floor for the Made In MA. Party. I of course being the curious person I am I wandered off the elevator and around the corner and that is when I saw the hallway had probably fifteen or twenty game demo's set up along the window and to the left was a large room with another twenty or thirty tables set up and each had a different game demo on it. I started walking around and checking some of the games out and almost immediately a game called Bacon Man caught my attention and I am sure it may have had something to do with the guy dressed up as a giant piece of Bacon but also because the game demo that someone was playing looked very cool. I stood around and watched for about five minutes and I do wish I spent more time there and maybe even played it for myself because from what I did see of Bacon Man it looked awesome.
Continuing to browse the different games I started to learn that most of these games if not all of them were completely developed by college students from different area colleges. Having tried to learn coding once before I have a huge amount of respect for game developers especially the coders because it is stupid how hard it is, but I guess if it was easy everyone would do it. I soon realized that I had been browsing the demo's for almost two hours and the party would be over soon and just after that the lights when off and on as a sort of “Ending soon” notice or something. I started to head toward the door and that is when I saw an Oculus Rift sitting on a table in the middle of the room with a nice girl sitting quietly next to it. I walked up and told her that I had not yet seen one in person. She asked if I wanted to try it and like a kid in a candy store I think I said “boy do I” or something along those lines. I was standing in front of a screen where people could see on the screen what I would be seeing in my Oculus Rift Headset.
She handed me a Playstation Move Navigation controller in my right and and told me that is how I will move. Next she helped me put the headset on and after seeing what looked like some bright lighting and a large lobby type area very briefly I immediately I almost fell over. I had an overwhelming feeling of dizziness come over me and the only thing I could think to do was to look down. As I looked down I could see two Purple legs and feet. After seeing these legs and feet my brain must have been tricked into thinking they were my legs and feet because I caught my balance and felt normal again and it was instantaneous. I remember saying “Holy Shit!” and then I pulled the headset up above my eyes looked at the girl running the demo and said “I got legs, I was dizzy until I found my legs” She laughed. I said “This is awesome.” I put the headset back over my eyes and again looked down to catch my balance quickly this time. I looked up and I could see I was in a giant Lobby of a enormous Museum of some sort. I was on a balcony overlooking the lobby so using the Playstation Move Navigation controller I walked forward toward the railing and just looked around in amazement because what I was seeing and feeling was incredible. It literally felt like I was inside of a video game world inside this museum. I new of course it was not real but my brain was having a hard time it felt like telling the difference between being in a real Museum and not. After doing a turn and seeing everything around me I looked back at the railing walked up to it, leaned over and looked down and to me it looked and felt like I was really looking down to the floor below me. Once again I pulled the headset above my eyes to talk with the girl a bit and that is when I heard that the party was over and that they should start packing up. She smiled and I told her I thought it was amazing, I thanked her for letting me try it and I headed out.
As I walked through the doors to exit the building I was caught off guard by a huge gust of wind. I remember thinking to myself if they can figure out how to do wind, smells, and tastes to use with some applications for VR it is going to be even bigger than I ever thought. I hailed a cab and paid the twenty two dollars again to get back over the bridge to the Westin hotel next to the Convention Center. After arriving I went and sat at one of the restaurant bars inside the hotel, I believe it was O’Connell. I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger, but after ordering all I can remember is zoning out thinking about being inside that Museum with the Oculus Rift. I must have zoned out for at least ten minutes because my food arrived and I don't remember doing anything except thinking about the Museum from the time I ordered until I smelled that delicious 16. Dollar Bacon Burger in front of me. After eating I went to my room and got some good sleep so I could have energy for PAX which was starting the next morning at 9 A.M.
After changing my travel plans several times I ended up heading into Boston on Thursday afternoon. I checked into the Westin hotel next door where I shared a room with another PAX Enforcer. I decided to head over to the Made In MA. Party. I got a cab and twenty two dollars later I arrived at the party which was at the Microsoft N.E.R.D. Center in Cambridge, MA. I usually end up going to these sort of parties and events alone because I know that when I feel like leaving which is usually a bit early, I don't want to wait forever for someone else to finish what they are doing. I also do not want to interrupt someone else that is having a good time and be the one to pull them away because I feel like leaving. I made my way to the bar and grabbed a drink but after walking around the party for a while and finishing my first drink I realized I did not know a single person at this party and I usually know at least a few.
I was tired from traveling and not finding anyone I new at the party I decided to head out even though I had only been there less than a half hour. I got in the elevator and headed down and after only one floor the doors opened and I could hear the sound of several different games all playing at once so I asked the people who got on what was happening on that floor and they said it was another floor for the Made In MA. Party. I of course being the curious person I am I wandered off the elevator and around the corner and that is when I saw the hallway had probably fifteen or twenty game demo's set up along the window and to the left was a large room with another twenty or thirty tables set up and each had a different game demo on it. I started walking around and checking some of the games out and almost immediately a game called Bacon Man caught my attention and I am sure it may have had something to do with the guy dressed up as a giant piece of Bacon but also because the game demo that someone was playing looked very cool. I stood around and watched for about five minutes and I do wish I spent more time there and maybe even played it for myself because from what I did see of Bacon Man it looked awesome.
Continuing to browse the different games I started to learn that most of these games if not all of them were completely developed by college students from different area colleges. Having tried to learn coding once before I have a huge amount of respect for game developers especially the coders because it is stupid how hard it is, but I guess if it was easy everyone would do it. I soon realized that I had been browsing the demo's for almost two hours and the party would be over soon and just after that the lights when off and on as a sort of “Ending soon” notice or something. I started to head toward the door and that is when I saw an Oculus Rift sitting on a table in the middle of the room with a nice girl sitting quietly next to it. I walked up and told her that I had not yet seen one in person. She asked if I wanted to try it and like a kid in a candy store I think I said “boy do I” or something along those lines. I was standing in front of a screen where people could see on the screen what I would be seeing in my Oculus Rift Headset.
She handed me a Playstation Move Navigation controller in my right and and told me that is how I will move. Next she helped me put the headset on and after seeing what looked like some bright lighting and a large lobby type area very briefly I immediately I almost fell over. I had an overwhelming feeling of dizziness come over me and the only thing I could think to do was to look down. As I looked down I could see two Purple legs and feet. After seeing these legs and feet my brain must have been tricked into thinking they were my legs and feet because I caught my balance and felt normal again and it was instantaneous. I remember saying “Holy Shit!” and then I pulled the headset up above my eyes looked at the girl running the demo and said “I got legs, I was dizzy until I found my legs” She laughed. I said “This is awesome.” I put the headset back over my eyes and again looked down to catch my balance quickly this time. I looked up and I could see I was in a giant Lobby of a enormous Museum of some sort. I was on a balcony overlooking the lobby so using the Playstation Move Navigation controller I walked forward toward the railing and just looked around in amazement because what I was seeing and feeling was incredible. It literally felt like I was inside of a video game world inside this museum. I new of course it was not real but my brain was having a hard time it felt like telling the difference between being in a real Museum and not. After doing a turn and seeing everything around me I looked back at the railing walked up to it, leaned over and looked down and to me it looked and felt like I was really looking down to the floor below me. Once again I pulled the headset above my eyes to talk with the girl a bit and that is when I heard that the party was over and that they should start packing up. She smiled and I told her I thought it was amazing, I thanked her for letting me try it and I headed out.
As I walked through the doors to exit the building I was caught off guard by a huge gust of wind. I remember thinking to myself if they can figure out how to do wind, smells, and tastes to use with some applications for VR it is going to be even bigger than I ever thought. I hailed a cab and paid the twenty two dollars again to get back over the bridge to the Westin hotel next to the Convention Center. After arriving I went and sat at one of the restaurant bars inside the hotel, I believe it was O’Connell. I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger, but after ordering all I can remember is zoning out thinking about being inside that Museum with the Oculus Rift. I must have zoned out for at least ten minutes because my food arrived and I don't remember doing anything except thinking about the Museum from the time I ordered until I smelled that delicious 16. Dollar Bacon Burger in front of me. After eating I went to my room and got some good sleep so I could have energy for PAX which was starting the next morning at 9 A.M.
Next: Day 2. Show Floor.