The Problem: I need to confess something up front: I'm not a huge fan of cosplay to begin with. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the time and effort that is put into each of these costumes, but there's something about the whole process that just creeps me out. I don't like it when people do it with movies or TV shows, and I certainly don't like it with video games. But PAX is the kind of place for cosplay, so I let them be and go on with the work at hand. But this year I noticed something about the cosplay that troubled me. It wasn't a particularly bad outfit or anything; instead it was the complete lack of originality. Usually at these sorts of events you see some really unique costumes, including people who dress up as the most obscure game characters you could find. I like that. I may not care much for cosplay, but if you're going to come as a character you might as well come as something so unique that you know nobody else is going to choose it. That certainly wasn't the case this year, especially with all of the Joker's walking around. Outside of the movie cosplay, it seemed like this year's variety wasn't as creative. I saw plenty of Half-Life 2 stuff and even a Fruit Fucker (from the Penny Arcade comic strip and, more importantly, their recent game). But where's the truly original stuff? Where are the costumes that look like they took months to craft? It wasn't at this year's convention, which actually bums me out a little. I know, that shocks even me.

On the Other Hand: Okay, even though nobody was all that creative this year, there were a few costumes that stood out. There was an attractive young woman who came as Yuna from Final Fantasy X. In fact, there were a lot of Final Fantasy players, which shouldn't surprise anybody. Perhaps it's up to the various game companies to show people what it's done. We already get the Lara Croft model at events like this, why not have Sony bring out the official Sack Boy? Or, better yet, why not have a contest for who comes as the best version of that chick from Mirror's Edge? I'm just spit balling here. Whatever needs to happen, hopefully the next twelve months is enough time to rectify this problem. If you ask me, I wouldn't mind people coming as the old school Bionic Commando, Tim from Braid or anybody from Thrill Kill. Just give me somebody unique, that's all I ask for.

The Problem: I hate to derail my bitching with something so inside baseball, but I can't write an article about PAX without complaining about this year's media restrictions. Obviously this isn't going to matter to most people, but bear with me because the changes that were made this year affect the coverage you are going to get from sites like Defunct Games. In the past the PAX organizers allowed the media to have access to a lot of areas that were off limits to the regular attendee. This allowed the journalists to conduct interviews without being interrupted, play games without standing in line and get prepared in piece. One of the most important aspects had to do with the various panels, which allowed the media to enter early so that they could take some pictures and sound check. Unfortunately this year we weren't able to do that, instead we got in at exactly the same time as those with non-media passes. Now this may sound like whining, but this does affect the job that the media is there to do, which is to cover as much of the convention as we can. As it is the media had to miss out on a lot of the panels because there was no time to go from one event to another. Couple this with the fact that the media was allowed in early on only one of the days (as opposed to two and three as it has been in the past) and you have a situation where it was hard for the legitimate media to get their job done. I would also like to throw in how none of the Enforcers knew quite what the media rules were, but at this point I feel like I'm just being mean. Either way, this year's media restrictions meant that you (the reader who didn't get to go to PAX) isn't getting the coverage that he/she deserves.

On the Other Hand: The good thing is that most of the games on display were playable in July at the E3 Media & Business Summit. And while I didn't make it to a lot of panels thanks to this year's draconian restrictions, I did catch most of the interesting ones last year. The truth is that outside of not being able to complete a couple of interviews, my life wasn't impacted as much as it could have been. But that's because I'm prepared, I can only imagine how terrible it must have been for somebody who has never covered a PAX before. I can only hope that more of the media will speak up and next y ear's PAX will be a little friendly for the media. I heard from a lot of the Enforcers that there was some paranoia about bloggers who started their blogs only weeks ago in order to get a press pass. Trust me, I do sympathize. But it's a shame that all of the media has to suffer because of these no-good faux-journalists. Perhaps instead of punishing us they should figure out a better way of verifying who gets a media pass. PAX wouldn't be the first convention tightening this process up.

The Problem: Don't worry if you've never heard of "Star Fucking" before, because even if you can't describe it you will surely know it when you see it. The Urban Dictionary describes star fucking as "A person or persons who uses popularity and celebrity acquaintance's to get further in business or social situations, sometimes without even having sex." That may be, however, I tend to extend the definition to include those who swarm to their favorite celebrities and do nothing more than kiss ass. Either way, there was something foul afoot at this year's Penny Arcade Expo. You could see it everywhere, from the Penny Arcade Q & A to panels to the concerts, it felt like the only reason people came to PAX this year was to tell the speakers how much they loved and adored them. It was fine when it was just the Penny Arcade guys, but this year it was everywhere. At least half of the questions/comments pointed to Giant Bomb, Destructoid or 1up were nothing more than people expressing how amazing they are. Things went from annoying to horrible the moment that people started saying things like: "What does it feel like to be a celebrity?" I'm sorry, think what you want, but Jeff Gerstmann is NOT a celebrity. I have a hunch if you take him outside and ask 100 people who he is less than a quarter of them will know. Everybody may know who you are at a video game convention, but the last thing we need to do is inflate their egos any more than they already are. After all, we don't want them to turn into Jeremy Parish.

On the Other Hand: As a fellow games journalist, I suppose it's not a bad thing to see other people in my industry treated as celebrities. I may not agree with all of the ass kissing going Destructoid, 1up or Giant Bomb's way, but I also don't want to sound like some jealous blogger. I guess my concern is that with all the adulation it was hard to get anything done. I can only imagine that there were twice the amount of worthwhile questions asked during any one of those events, yet those people didn't have a chance to talk because there were too many idiots going up to the panelists how amazing they are. Dude, seriously, they get it. Trust me, you took time to come and watch Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis show you pictures of crazy beards, they know that you like them. So instead of telling them that they are as big as Angelina Jolie, why not ask something important that, you know, will actually make them remember you the next time you see them. Or, better yet, ask them why they never posted a link to that Game Boy Comic Book you worked so hard on and pitched at E3. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

The Problem: Why does it seem like there's always that one guy that is out for you? Even if he doesn't know he's ruining your day, there he is just standing there being loud, rude and annoying. Unfortunately for this trip I didn't have one of those people ... oh no, I have dozens of those people. And while they came in all shapes and sizes, the one thing that united them is that they were right in front of me. Sometimes it was the impatient jerk that couldn't get through the line fast enough. At another part of the show it was the really tall guys that decided to stand right in front of me at the concert. At the Giant Bomb Reunion Tour 2008 there was this kid in front of me who actually pushed me out of my chair so that he could take my seat. What a prick. From the morning until the evening, it was one rude person after another. Say what you will about this year's E3, but at least there weren't rude people pushing me out of my seat. Then again, there wasn't anybody at this year's E3, so maybe that's a bad example.

On the Other Hand: You know, maybe that guy in front of me isn't that big of a douche bag after all. I mean, he actually paid to go to this event and has every right to stand in front of me at the Freezepop concert. And while I disagree with him pushing me out of the chair, at least he didn't punch me. Maybe I should cut that guy some slack; because chances are I'm never going to see him again anyway. And while I'm at it, maybe I should cut PAX some slack. This article makes it sound like I hated my time in Seattle, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sure I'm disappointed at what PAX is starting to become, that's just the growing pains you can expect from this kind of event. I still look forward to checking it out next year, even if they keep the media restrictions and tedious panels. It's easy to love something like the Penny Arcade Expo, but every so often you need somebody to throw a little mud and expose some of the negatives. This year it's me. Maybe next year we won't have to get our hands dirty.