You think you have guts? You think that you have the fortitude to stride into the lion’s den wearing hamburger underpants? Well you must know what it feels like to be the infamous filmmaker, Uwe Boll, taking the stage in front of over two thousand gamers who just had the rug pulled out from under them.

In a moment that has probably gone around the world several times by now, the man some say is strangling the game-movie subgenera dead with his astonishingly awful movies like Alone In the Dark and House of the Dead, stepped onto the stage after the first PA panel to the sound of mouths dropping open. I was there myself, and I know that the man is an outspoken critic of his critics, and notorious for challenging them to boxing matches, but this time he was WAY outnumbered, and the jovial mood of the massive Main Theater turned cold instantly.

He was there to not only absorb abuse from angry gamers, most of which instead just got up and left in either disgust (or possibly disinterest), but also there to screen clips from his new film: Postal, which is, in name only apparently, an adaptation of once-headline grabbing FPS from years back. What was actually shown were scenes containing the kind of dark humor and ballsy satire too rarely seen in theaters. I won’t get into details here about their content, not out of what has to be described as reverence (because they have to be seen to be believed), but because of what his appearance at PAX means for PAX.

At a press conference the next day Gabe and Tycho discussed what happened and revealed that they were relieved that their first choice of surprise “unwelcome” guests, the Scold I’ll just refer to as “Jack,” didn’t take them up on their offer. Gabe himself said that in regards to the atmosphere turning sour, that it was the least PAX-like moment in PAX history. He was glad that Jack didn’t show, knowing now that PAX, attendees and organizers alike, may not have been ready for him. (The plan apparently was for there to be a debate between Jack and a pro-game advocate with the goal to try to show him the error of his ways, who that other person was going to be was apparently never decided, and a fascinating question that will be explored further)

This event I believe is a watershed moment for PAX, and in hindsight I need to think about what it means for something like this to happen to PAX attendees out of the blue. While all were, as I mentioned, shocked, many were visibly upset. There have been surprises for attendees to PAX panels, particularly the G&T panel, but they have all been clearly and obviously positive. Why was this, something that PAXxors would have gladly avoided or attended if properly announced, kept in the dark? Was it as simple as the possibility that he wouldn’t show? I don’t think so, it’s not as if his stock could go any further down with the vast majority of attendees if he ditched. I shutter at the prospect that PAX kept us in the dark because it was afraid of either our reaction; or at the prospect at looking weak if they couldn’t draw that fifth rate sprocket jockey onstage.

Let me get this straight, I believe in PAX, it’s done many things for me, and knowing it as I do, I can confidently say that they are never going to try and pull this sort of thing again. Call it growing pains, but like a childhood injury, the scar will be carried for a lifetime as a reminder.

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Back of the Bus is © 2007 by Seth “4:10” Robison, used with exclusive permission by gamertransit.com. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.