Heading to PAX Australia? Looking to plan your weekend? You can start now — the schedule is up.
Both myself and Alex are featuring in a few panels, so you should come and cheer us along!
I’ll be on…
Aiming for Equality: Why Games Should Be For and By Everyone
1:30pm-2:30pm (Friday, 30 October)
Games are played by all kinds of people, but who makes them? Why is that? Is this a problem? What can we do about it? This panel will investigate some practical approaches to supporting, retaining and encouraging women in games development and delve into why game development needs diversity.
Panelists:
Giselle Rosman [Business Administrator, Hipster Whale], Kim Allom [Associate Producer, Defiant Development], Anna Irwin-Schutze [Co-Director, Sound Librarian], Mark Serrels [Editor, Kotaku Australia], Clara Reeves [Manager, Games, Digital Content and Animation, Film Victoria], Morgan Jaffit [Director, Defiant Development]
The 1st Annual PAX Food Fight
5:00pm-6:00pm (Friday, 30 October)
Who said you shouldn’t play with your food! Join Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen (Good Game), Scott Edgar (Tripod), Mark Serrels (Kotaku Australia) and Eve Beauregard as they prepare their favourite gaming snacks LIVE ON STAGE in our first ever PAX cooking demonstration. Moderated by GeekPlate’s Tristan Lutze.
Panelists:
Tristan Lutze [Creator, GeekPlate], Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen [Co-Host, Good Game], Scott Edgar [Guitar Guy (Usually), Tripod], Eve Beauregard [Boss, Eve Beauregard], Mark Serrels [Editor, Kotaku]
What Do You Do When the Internet Turns on You
7:30pm-8.30pm (Friday, 30 October)
What do you do when you say something on Twitter and it gets retweeted to thousands of people who disagree with you? When the game you’ve developed hits front page of Reddit for less than amazing reasons? This panel hopes to address some situations where people and brands have suffered at the hands of the “internet mobs” (whether rightly or wrongly), and the effects that it has had. A team of experts will give advice on both how to cope and how to handle the situation if it ever happens to you.
Panelists:
Kelsey Gamble [Social Media Manager, Zomato], Jennifer Hazel [Doctor/Psychiatrist], Mark Serrels [Editor, Kotaku]
And Alex Walker will be on…
Secrets of Free to Play. How F2P is Driving the Future
9:30pm-10:30pm (Fridat, 30 October)
Free to Play is quickly becoming one of the major drivers in the present and future of the video game industry.
Much maligned for abusive bait and hook practices, is it evil, or saviour of the game? F2P is now a very broadly defined category, with no one model.
Meet developers responsible for some of the best known F2P games and explore if this is exploitation, or the perfect balance of play and option to pay.
Panelists:
Adam Mierzejewski [eSports Producer, Hi-Rez Studios], Matt Hall [Director, Founder, Hipster Whale], Alex Walker [Journalist, Kotaku]
Come and watch us talk about stuff!
Comments
39 responses to “The PAX Australia Schedule Is Up! Come And Watch Us Talk!”
Mark Serrels gaming snack – Dark Souls Porridge, a combination of porridge and pigs blood. Mmmm, yummy!
Not Bloodborne porridge?
That’s for dessert.
Is it actually possible to get into panels now that they’re at a bigger venue?
That was the biggest turn off for me the first year. The fact that you had to line up for hours if you wanted any chance of getting in. Panels are the main thing I’m interested in.
Definitely improved for all but the most popular ones. There were quite a few where I rocked up 15 minutes late last year and had seats to choose from at the back.
Behind a support beam…
…
…in the janitors closet…
…with a sign on the door saying “beware of the leopard”.
Yeah, massively possible to get into panels now. Most you had to wait was about 10 minutes for the huge things. The change of location has done wonders for PAX, really.
Also helps that the panels are in a separate building from the main halls, but they’re right next to each other, so you don’t get a huge amount of traffic bumping into each other and it’s just an infinitely nicer experience.
Isn’t it the same venue as last year? I imagine any of the issues you saw last year should still exist unfortunately.
EDIT: Misread your post.. .:) Thought you said last year, not first….
Having said that, I didn’t have to many probs getting into panels last year, but I did go to the smaller ones mostly. The only really big one I saw last year was the “make a comic” panel, and that was fine to get into….
Yeah, I didn’t go last year so I was wondering how the new venue went. Might be enough to tempt me back.
According to the last email there are still tickets.
It was a lot better – more space, more theatres, better transport. More people as well, but it felt less crowded whilst still having that “cosy” feeling….
Where’s my Halo: Reach tournament schedule!?
lol just checked and Reach will be getting two tournaments. They also listed MCC and Halo 4, but I’m still calling them the Reach tournaments considering how their LAN networks usually work out.
I just wish they would record and/or stream the panels.
With Fallout 4 coming out, I was hoping for a talk by Bethesda but there doesn’t seem to be one.
Bit close to release, I think.
Last year, Bioware had a talk and a lounge where you could play Dragon Age:Inquisition and they had a similar release timeframe. It was those two things that convinced me to buy the game. I think Bethesda would be a bit mad if they didn’t have anything Fallout 4 -related at PAX this year.
Not really. If you think about it, how many people do you know that are interested in Fallout 4 that are still on the fence about it?
It’s not like DA:I where they had the storm of DA2 to get over. Even people who hated the buggy launches of F3 and F:NV are keen as mustard to pick up F4 on release; many have pre-ordered. Bethesda’s got this on lockdown and they know it.
*waves* hi
There’ll always be a few, but you know what I’m getting at — a hell of a lot of people have already made up their minds. (See the demand for the Pip-Boy edition)
I have to cancel my trip this yeear – trying to get into contact with Pax to see if I can get a refund on my 3 day pass. 🙁
How about you un-cancel your cancellation and go to PAX instead?
Pretty sure you can only get a refund if you bought insurance.
Yeah I have insurance, but there are still things I need to provide to prove I can’t go :/
Some really good, diverse panels this year. And I’m on one … so that’s good :p Should be a fantastic weekend for all involved, can’t wait!
I remember when gaming was a fun hobby…..
Inside the Hug Box: The Power of Positive Communities
Taken for Granted: Gaming With a Disability
Actually, It’s About Ethnics in Games Journalism
More Than A Game: Playing for Mental Health & Wellbeing
Queer Geeks of Oz: The Games Up and Out!
Sick Heroes: Exploring Representations of Illness in Games
Aiming for Equality: Why Games Should Be For and By Everyone
What Do You Do When the Internet Turns on You
Downvote away…
I would downvote you… If you were only joking. Some of those titles are actual panels
How dare people talk about how minorities can have fun too!
You’ve got me wrong I am constantly aggrieved about the lack of Inuits portrayed in video games and can be stemmed to racism in the gaming industry obviously. I’m starting a new slacktivist hashtag to ensure there are more Inuits in gaming. Very very passionate about this blatant injustice.
Gaming is a fun hobby … to some people. Let’s face it, the industry has changed, evolved and grown in ways we didn’t consider back in the 90’s arguing about who was better, Mario or Sonic (or Bubsy. Remember Bubsy?). It’s good to talk about these topics in a space that’s devoted to it, whilst also remembering why we’re here in the first place. That’s why I love PAX, it’s a space where everything exists to serve everyone in gaming, industry and fan alike.
I still have a copy of Bubsy somewhere around here with my other SNES games. Sorry, off-topic.
Technically on topic :p
Gaming is a fun hobby.
How are these panels affecting your fun?
Sadly I won’t be seeing any, gotta look after a couple of friends who are cosplaying.
I’ll be there! Travelling from Adelaide with my 3 day pass. Keen as to get in on as many panels + hope i can squeeze into some of the tourneys.
All welcome: (seems to have been a drop off this year, less of a novelty…) https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/200664/2015-pre-pax-drinkies-thursday-29th-oct-7pm
NAUGHTY DOG PANEL??!??! ok I’ll calm down now…
I haven’t really looked through the whole schedule yet to plan it all out but I thought Mark did a great job on the Australian games industry panel last year so will probably try make it to at least one of these.
@markserrels Hey, just wanted to shill for a little bit and get some attention to the Swinburne Games Lab booth at PAX. It’ll be present for all three days at booth 3016 near the Indie Pavillion and will be showcasing the final-year projects us games students have been developing over the course of the year. There is a mix of co-op, competitive and single player games ranging from vehicular combat to point-and-click adventure. We’ve been working really hard on these games and it would mean a lot to us if you guys would come check us out. Thanks a bunch.
At the very least, I’ll stop by.