PAX Swag Report: The Good, The Bad And The WTF

The crappy swag is the reason why I don't bother with collecting swag at ALL. It just takes up precious floorspace in my bedroom.

Ahhh weak! Girlfriend and I counted up our free stuff last night. We came away with 27 free T-shirts, plus 2 we bought. Won a copy of Resident Evil 5 PC at the launch party, as well as 2 Sand Globes each. Not to mention Guild Wars 2 signed Art Book...nevermind all the little knick-knacks (ie: swords, stickers, badges, bags, etc).

I'M A COP

ThePhantomnaut

3 cat toys

brown. pink . purple.

My suspicious Sherlock sense tells me it is that furryball wich the cute cat looks at.

I never understood why people make gaming shirts like that default orange one, do people seriously act or ( in this case) smell like how the shirts describe?

All they do is reinforce whatever sort of stereotype your shirt states when people see you wearing them.

Z33RO

It looks like there is some good swag there, but I'm not sure about passing up the Poogie. At the very least you could have bought it then sold it for me to buy for $40.

That 'smelly t-shirt' shirt seems to be a horrible idea though. I'm not sure who would want to where a t-shirt saying that they want to smell bad, and smell bad because of gaming no less. The only gaming I hope makes people sweat that much is DDR and intensive drumming on RB/GH.

Good stuff overall, but I want the Poogie :(

Eviltim

lol why the random copy of LotRO?

Kamakazie

@(Zombie) Goldwings: Ya, I just want the kitty.

The bright orange 'if this t-shirt doesn't smell...' is like the worst idea for 'swag' in the history of swag.

Seriously,I've been to packed con rooms. Anyone who thought it would be cute to encourage a subset of the gaming population not to shower needs to die.

Evdor

Does kitty come with the prize?

Oh and I believe the Sackboy was hidden cat toy.

Who makes that con shirt about smelling?

Must buy.

@NKato: Umm...errr...I got plenty of floorspace here so um... y'know...

Holly molly a free cat!

@awesomenessticitation....ism: Yes. I never had to buy a slim, my fat one still works fine.

@awesomenessticitation....ism: I still have two PS2 Phats, what are you saying, "No one has them anymore," for?

I believe your cat has already claimed the shirts for him self.

The correct answer is: everything here is a cat toy if left unattended.

DraconisXC

is that a phat ps2 back there?....wow didn't know ppl still had those. Do any of you guys still have yours?

@Z33RO: Yeah, well fuck the people that pay attention to them.

I don't agree with the stereotypes either. I just DO smell after I'm playing some L4D with my boys. Shit is nerve wracking from time to time. lol.

@MCWHAMMER:

Ps2s did not break like new consoles?

Maybe not as much as 360s...but close to the amount of broken ps3s I'd wager.

I've had several ps2s break, one 360, and one ps3...

Gotta love Nintendo though...haven't had one console fail.

@NKato: Prison?

Pretty sure that shirt is satirical in nature, since, let's be honest, we've all had experiences with "those people" in line.

You know the ones I mean, where the odor is an almost perceptible aura of rank disgust.

It was a joke, one that I guess went waaaaaay over most people's head.

I see a pink fluffy thing next to the deadspace book.

do i win?

Is it me or is Sony crap and Merchandising?
many is the day I have dreamt of a PlayStation hat.......alas

@awesomenessticitation....ism: You do know that as of August 18, 2009, 138 million PS2's have been sold, the majority of them being "phats", right?

I think it's pretty safe that few people probably still own one.

....

@awesomenessticitation....ism: I love my SCHP 50004 version

@NeVeRMoRe666: Try living in a house where your bedroom is 10x10 feet.

@awesomenessticitation....ism: I still have one, too. I bought it used, and refurbished. It still hasn't broken, either.

Correction:

"If this t-shirt smells, I'm not washing hard enough"

I think I'm just a cleanliness freak.

Looks like a good haul for freebies!

All good stuff, with the exception of the Rockstar keyrings. In comparison to the ones they bundled with the GTAIV SE, it seems a little lackluster. Those t-shirts are all pretty awesome however.

@awesomenessticitation....ism: Why would anyone have a Slim PS2? If you had a PS2, you probably bought it when it was a big deal (pre-slim), and you probably still have it because PS2's did not break like new consoles do.

@awesomenessticitation....ism: I still have mine. It's my go to dvd player.

@Mr Pappzy lurves Orange Soda: I want a free cat too blub ;_;

Pudgie'sSmokerGivesAGoodTongueing

@awesomenessticitation....ism: My launch fat still works perfectly. <__< I'm something of a gentle, caring gamer.

HJSoulma

It's nice to be able to bitch about free shit. Maybe one day, they'll stop bothering to give away anything at all.

That'll show us!

@SketchyIndividual: You know the ones I mean, where the odor is an almost perceptible aura of rank disgust.

I heard Daigo essentially gets all of his victories via olfactory submission.

Kobun

I have a phat PS2 that is still chugging along. I also have a slim that I've never used, and keep solely as a back up in case the phat ever breaks.

you know you are addicted to kotaku when you start to miss stuff. where are this weeks 'polls' and 'lists'?

Azriel101

@Vecha: Tired of America's Solution to Health Care.: Yeah man. Nintendo products are sturdy as hell. I dropped my gameboy phat off of a third story balcony once and all it had was a dent at the top. The battery casing thing broke, but after I taped that back on, it was as good as new and in fully working condition. I lament the weaksauceness of the new gen consoles. I mean, you can't even enclose them in tight spaces, let alone take a sledge hammer to them for crying outloud.

@awesomenessticitation....ism: still use mine most every night to fall asleep to dvds :P

@awesomenessticitation....ism: Dude... I still have my PS2 from launch and it still works.

@(Zombie) Goldwings: It'd definitely be a hidden dog toy.

One of my dog's ate Pikachu's tail once. True story.

spiderweb1986

@Evdor: I'm so sorry.

====The joke====

====Your head===

If you know anything about cats, you'd know that everything is a cat toy. If kitty can reach it, it belongs to her! =P

Those Assassin's Creed 2 ads were freaking brilliant. My favorite swag by far. After the Saturday night concerts, there was a stack of maybe six cases of those ads sitting in the corner. I took like fifty of them home from the con, and am handing them out to the gamer geeks at work. Although not my favorite, the absolute best swag of the con was the Guild Wars 2 artbook. I had to wait in line for an hour to get my copy, but it was EASILY worth it for a signed hardcover full of such gorgeous artwork. It's even too awesome to sell on Ebay, although I'm sure I could get $50-100 for it.

SaryuHeron

@awesomenessticitation....ism: Yup, still have mine. I installed a HDD and have a backup system for my PS2 games. right next to my PS3 :D

@AJ Glasser: I've got a lovely free vacation for you, if you'd sit through a fun 8-hour seminar. No pee breaks, dammit!

That career guide looks unbelievably awesome. And yet you didn't do a closeup of it! I am a sad panda.

Sugoi

@NeVeRMoRe666: I once dropped my Gameboy into Mount Doom, where it was made and the one place it can be unmade, and it still works.

Although the screen which was once as clear as red flame begins to fade. A secret now only fire can tell....

@awesomenessticitation....ism: Still got mine, I think it's from 01/02.

@Dipic: I think it was something like 30:70 ratio on Phat:Slim, which is one of the draws for Sony to get a slim out the door.

@Mr Pappzy lurves Orange Soda: Don't you mean "Holy Moley"?

@KylenX:

I'm tired :(

@Bondage_Zombie:

AMEN TO THAT!

lbmanuel1

I want the t-shit pl0x ^_^

I hung around booths I was more interested in. So I didn't play Brink. Nor didn't I wait to play L4D2, Mass Effect 2 or any of Blizzard's products.

Next year, I plan to open my pallet and enjoy more "uber long" lines to play games; maybe bring a fold-out stool to sit on. Where should I buy one of those "over the shoulder" canisters to keep all the free posters?

@dowingba: My precioussssssss.....

I want the cat...it's so fluffy and white.

But since I can't get the cat, I'll settle with the spear thingies, those look cool! And I think the pink puffball is the cat toy.

Rachel Fogg

@Kamakazie: It was free in the PAX bag you got before getting in line. My friends all got one in their bags too, unfortunately mine didn't have a copy in it :(

ImpsterX

@Bondage_Zombie: i think the point is that it's not all made equally- for instance the murasama bags were awesome, while the torchlight bottle opener (while useful) was less so.

still, i was just happy to be there, and happier to be among the first pax'ers to play splinter cell: conviction (which was SWEET).

jack m

Where's the Battlefield stuff? I got three of those shirts and 1943 from that booth.

Fenring

I couldn't help myself........

Jay Jay Deng

Kitty is bored by your gaming swag. None of it smells like catnip or gooshyfood. And (aside from the pink ball), anything kitty can carry or whap around is a cat toy.

I like the inflatable swords and the blue APB shirt.

I thought the assasin's creed II was clever.

Lumice

@MCWHAMMER: You're joking, right? PS2s broke at an pretty craptastic rate.

Of course, the 360 has desensitized us to a point where anything under 20% is a blessing from above, but PS2s died like goombas.

Moonshadow101

i think i have that dead space poster thingy

curly haired boy

@HJSoulma: I still have mine, and it works just fine even after being totally submerged (while plugged in) during a flood for about two hours. Now that's a durable system.

@awesomenessticitation....ism: my ps2 broke, so slim ps2 to the rescue.

njd09

The Dante's Inferno comic was easily the worst of the swag I got. It's bad enough that they're totally ripping the story apart for the game. They had to make a prequel comic book to go along with it?

@jack m: Its free, why would it be made equally?

@MCWHAMMER: Um I actually had my PS2 break around the time the slim came out. I don't remember if I replaced it with a PS2 fat or slim. I'm part of the MTV generation you see, we can't remember what we had for breakfast, let alone what happened three years ago.

Flyhawk

@Ackers rhymes with Crackers: Sorry, the pink fluffy thing is actually swag promoting Dead Space:Cat edition.

Flyhawk

@SketchyIndividual: Yes, I don't know about you...but I don't like to even be compared in joking to those people. The shirt doesn't bother me, I just don't find it funny.

Ajh

I didn't know they gave out cats at PAX.

Ajh

My wife would have gone to PAX if she knew they were handing out cats. Yours looks just like ours. Turkish Angora?

jeremyschultz

What game is the cat from?

Bricked

Any info on that Guild Wars 2 art book? Dying to see it.

@Mr Pappzy lurves Orange Soda: Aww... I liked Holly Molly :D

@LordChris915: Actually, that hat exists. I got one back when the PSP came out, for being part of the "Gamer Advisory Panel." It was black, and had a PS logo on the front in white and "Gamer Advisory Panel" in red on the back.

darkshaddow42

@awesomenessticitation....ism: Ill have mine till the day it dies. And so far that day seems a long way off yet.

I'll buy that shirt from you

@awesomenessticitation....ism: SCPH-30001R here. Not the most silent phat PS2 but it has been serving faithfully for some 7 years now.

@awesomenessticitation....ism: yes, I still have my phat. But I removed and sole the network adaptor for $50.00 on Ebay. I have a 60 gig ps3 and didn't need it anymore.

@jeremyschultz: I had a Turkish Angora years ago and what a weird cat he was. We would fill the sink up to do dishes and he would promptly hop in and just sit there staring at us like "What? I needs a bath too ya know!"

I miss him alot :(

My favorite two favorite pieces of swag I picked up: Borderlands T-shirt, and the "Art of Guild Wars 2" book signed by three of the artists. I couldn't believe they were handing out the art book for free...I'd love to know how many they ended up handing out, as they disappeared fairly quickly on Friday.

djfp

@[visublog.mechafetus.com]

It IS awesome. By Persona, one of them brilliant peoples from Mecha Fetus.

Oh, phew, glad the Dragon Age people were giving inflatable SWORDS. There's sex in the game, after all.

How could you do a swag report without mentioning the kick ass Guild Wars 2 hard cover art book that was given out FOR FREE at their booth, along with having artists in attendance for book signing. Even if you aren't a fan of the game, the artwork is incredible.

A very high quality item and probably the best piece of swag I have ever received. I still can't believe they were giving them out for free.

Did... did you guys not get one?

Dreavus

@Evdor: I've got one of those shirts here, and I don't think I'd be caught dead painting in that particular shirt, much less wearing it in public.

I see a pink fluffy which my cat would love, what appears to be a squirrel or rodent of some sort with a bushy tail and a purple mouse next to the energy drink. I also spot a green ..feather thingy?

And of course, the bloody swords. What kind of cat wouldn't like those?

Also, as far as kitty is concerned they are all kitty toys.

Are my Kotaku points redeemable for Internets?

Sabbatai