Greetings from the Media Room here at PAX 07! If someone asked me in 2004 if I would someday be granted access to a secure, comfortable workspace with dedicated Wi-Fi access, as one of many perks given to those working to bring PAX to the people, I’d of said you were crazy. Nevertheless, here I am, surrounded by a modernized, miniature equivalent of a major metropolitan paper’s newsroom, completed with bustling newshounds engaged in intense fits of typing and hushed conversations, and I’m loving every minute of it.

But for once, I’m not the story. The real tale is that the entity knows as PAX has been transplanted like an overgrown spider plant from its old, cramped clay pot to the near-infinite garden of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. What was once cramped and oppressive has become free-flowing, a convention finally moving at the speed of the industry that it is dedicated to.

Friday saw the event quickly stand tall on its new legs, with a rousing keynote address from geek-lord Wil Wheaton (go find it on YouTube). The attendees of PAX07 then split off in a dozen directions, towards events ranging from panels coving such subjects as the ins and outs of game testing to the (unfortunate, in my opinion) rise of episodic gaming. The Omegathon was back again this year, kicking off with the most suspenseful game of Jenga that’s ever been played. With $5000 and a trip to Japan at risk, slow and steady won the day. Fortunately, the fun and games were limited to the luckily few Omeganauts, all comes were welcome to try a win a prize at the Chatterbox radio game trivial panel, and hidden gem of an event that experienced games can take advantage of (I won a PS2 game myself, by correctly identifying the background music of the NES Classic, Blaster Master!)

The day ended with the traditional concert, as well as the screening of several gamer movies, followed by dozens of after parties for fans of all ages. Ok battery’s almost dead, see you later.