Hawty McBloggy Invites You to Play

While PAX is a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers, for me it was primarily a place to soak in as much amazing in-person Bungie goodness I could handle. And lucky for me, I can handle a lot. Upon entering the exhibitor hall, I meandered my way around the giant maze of booths until I caught a glimpse of one very familiar pregame lobby screen. Hoping to be able to score some time with Assembly before the masses hit the floor, I was disappointed to see that Bungie was apparently experiencing some red bar as they were lagging significantly behind the other exhibitors. All the booths I had passed thus far were completely set up and already interacting with the media but the Halo corner was still in an unfortunate state of disarray.

Since they weren’t ready to go, I made my way over to the Guitar Hero: World Tour area and spent some time rocking out to a new batch of songs. And thus my PAX 08 began the same cycle of PAX 07, a simple two-step dance between Halo and Guitar Hero. I played some songs, checked out a few different games, and went back to the Bungie booth. Still not set up. I returned to Guitar Hero and played a few more songs, ogled Isaac Clarke from Dead Space, and went back to the Bungie booth. Still not set up. At that point two hours had passed and I had some appointments that needed attending to so unfortunately my Halo craving had to go unsatisfied for the time being.

Thankfully Bungie put some awesome screenshots of Assembly on b.net so people not attending PAX could still catch a glimpse of everybody’s new purple passion. After spending some time on the map that Bungie repeatedly has said is not Midship, I am thrilled to report that this map is definitely not Midship. However everybody clamoring for a Covenant-themed map will find their itch thoroughly scratched. It’s completely symmetrical with a few different levels and a nice central area in the middle, allowing you to get from Point A to Point B quite quickly. As far as appearances go, looking up will instantly reward you with one of the most beautiful sights ever. The first thing I did upon setting foot on Assembly was an immediate search for the area of the map that Luke drew in the 07.25.08 Bungie Weekly Update. I was disappointed to discover there is no shield door comprised solely of pubes but even without those delightfully curly hairs, this map plays extremely well. I found the most success staying on the upper level with a battle rifle or carbine and using the central walkways to pick people off from a distance.

Luke

Shishka

Some people there had little interest in Assembly and instead were focusing their attention on winning the highly coveted Recon permutation of Halo 3 armor. People often began lining up for the Recon Challenge hours in advance, waiting patiently for their turn to play against whatever Bungie team happened to be present that day. One rather hilarious moment happened when Luke threw a drainer in the middle of a rather intense battle and it just happened to land at Shishka’s feet. Needless to say, it spelled instant death for both of them. Good times! While a decent amount of people came away with a new set of armor on Friday, I heard through the grapevine that only three teams found success on Saturday. Regardless, the recon-wearing Spartan population got just a little bit bigger over the weekend.

I’m terrified of Jerome

He’s really just a big teddy bear!

Along with the Recon Challenge, Bungie also had a variety of special guests lined up throughout the weekend for designated autograph signing sessions. From Marty O’Donnell and Joseph Staten to all of your favorite artists, there were opportunities to interact and mingle with many of the members of our beloved Bungie team, assuming you could make your way past the Bungie bodyguard. I stood in line for many of those sessions, often times crushed from the sheer number of people pressing to make their way up to the table. Jen Taylor, the voice of Cortana, was one I was particularly looking forward to. I had an armload of things to get signed and when it was finally my turn with her, she did not even bat an eye as I excitedly deposited my items in front of her. She was so incredibly gracious and friendly, I just can’t even tell you how amazing of an opportunity it was. While I typically try to avoid being “that fangirl”, it was rather challenging keeping it under wraps in this circumstance. Watching her surrounded by some of her most passionate fans was incredible. She was patient and took the time to chat with every single one of them. I came away with some signed things, a picture with her, and even more respect and passion for the person behind our favorite holographic AI.

Jen Taylor

With all of the hardcore Bungie fans present, there were of course some people cosplaying as our favorite characters from the game. After catching a glimpse of someone in classic Halo green-colored Master Chief armor, I had the brilliant idea to ask him if he would be willing to recreate a few of the screenshots from my Spartan pr0n collection. Absolutely giddy with excitement over the prospect of getting into the football position with the Chief, I began to make my way through the crowd when I saw him take off his helmet. He couldn’t have been a day over 15. After throwing up in my mouth a little, pictures with him were then completely out of question, not because he was young but because of what my original intentions were. It didn’t matter anyways because then a barely dressed Cortana walked by which completely distracted me. I wish I had pictures to show you but the costume on top consisted only of a see through bra and I don’t feel comfortable posting pictures of nipples. I have to draw the line somewhere, and unfortunately for you I choose to draw it at the Wii Fit Boy. If the costume had been a bit more well done, I probably would have gotten some shots but unfortunately it wasn’t that impressive. So instead I offer you a tasteful red Master Chief and Cortana cosplay whom embody the intense passion for anything and everything Halo related that was present at the Bungie booth over the long holiday weekend.

Overall the complete Bungie PAX experience was an amazing one. From all the activities they offered during the day to the special ones they offered in the evenings, it was a weekend that will not easily be forgotten. The Bungie artists even pulled together and sponsored a small party one of the nights as a last minute replacement for their canceled fanfest. Bungie consistently goes above and beyond for their fans, and this weekend is just another example of that. To everybody I met from the Halo community, it was an absolute pleasure. Oh, and one small note about the b.net moderators. Apparently you have to be hot to hold that position because I met a fair amount of them over the weekend and let me tell you, I would rock any of their cradles all night long. And by rock I mean stick and by cradles I mean face. Bring it!

*If I met you over the weekend, throw me an email! I would love to stay in touch.