How was your PAX Online weekend? We hope you indulged in many delicious snacks as well as delicious demos, a panel or two, and maybe ventured onto the PAX Discord to experience an online version of the traditional chaos that is the PAX community. It really is a thing of beauty, and if you haven’t been on the Discord yet, we highly recommend it. It will definitely go a long way to rounding out your PAX experience!
But in between typing and tapping, your wrists are going to need a break—so in true Nintendo Fire fashion, we’re continuing the tradition of highlighting what we think may be panels of interest for our readership base. These are panels that have Nintendo themes, content, perhaps a panelist from a Nintendo-oriented media outlet, and so forth. It’s all subjective, and of course we suggest you check out the official schedule at https://online.paxsite.com/schedule for the full slate.
We hope you enjoy this next third of PAX Online!
TUESDAY (15/9) – *All times in EST
11:30pm (14/9)-12:30am – Twitch: /PAX2 — Controller Bending: How to play Games Wrong!
Gaming has brought us some of the most wonderful experiences. It also has brought us some of the weirdest controllers that we’ve ever seen. From fishing rods to turntables, plastic guitars to power gloves, even the Kinect was fun for a while. What if we combined controllers with games that they weren’t built for? Playing Super Mario 64 by with Motion Controls? How about exercising by playing Dark Souls with a Ring Fit Adventure Mod? What if you played Halo using only Bananas? Join Super Louis 64 as he takes us on a motion-controlled dive into this sub-culture of gaming. He’ll take you through how to design controllers for games they were not intended for. (Pre-recorded)
3:15am-4:15am – Twitch: /PAX2 — Let’s Dive In! Animal Crossing and Mental Health
Animal Crossing has been a comfort game for so many of us throughout the years and in this panel we’re going to talk about exactly why that is!
Join Sarah Crowe, Lauren Clinnick, James Hester, Lucy Mutimer, James Swinbanks and Emily Shiel as we share insights from our vastly different perspectives within the industry and explore how the game has personally helped us in times of distress. Particularly at the moment, as the game was released in the midst of Covid-19 and has been an especially prominent coping mechanism.
We also chat about why the design of games similar to Animal Crossing are so beneficial to improving our wellbeing and how we can further incorporate gaming into our self care practices.
(Pre-recorded)
1:30pm-3:30pm – Twitch: /PAX2 – Minecraft Punch-A-Chunk Challenge EXPRESS
Join James and Serge from LoadingReadyRun as they welcome SlyTQ and PearlescentMoon as each team punches their way through a Chunk of Minecraft. Donate to Child’s Play through the Tiltify link provided during the stream to apply BOONS and BANES while they fight to come out on top, at the very bottom! (Live)
9:45pm-10:45pm – Twitch: /PAX – The Animal Crossing Summer Olympiad
Do you miss the biennial global display of sportsmanship that we can’t legally name in this panel description? Does watching challenges of skill and athleticism bring you to your feet, cheering? Well, prepare to be disappointed by The First (And Maybe Only?) Summer Animal Crossing Olympiad! Join game industry veterans as they compete against each other in devilish mini-games in hopes that they will bring glory to their Animal Crossing island. Do these games take skill? Kinda. Are they fair? Probably not. Will it be fun to watch? DEFINITELY! (Pre-recorded)
WEDNESDAY (16/9) – *All times in EST
9:45pm-10:45pm – Twitch: /PAX — Zelda Universe Presents: A Musical History of Zelda
Music has always been an important part of The Legend of Zelda games, not only as an integral part of their gameplay but also as an iconic soundtrack. These tunes launched a six-year worldwide symphonic tour and provided the basis for the musical spinoff game Cadence of Hyrule. Join Zelda Universe for a melodic journey through the franchise that will have you feeling nostalgic one moment and tapping your toes the next. (Pre-recorded)
11:30pm-12:30am – Twitch: /PAX2 — Super Mario Bros. 2 & 3 Speedrun
Are you a lover of nostalgic Nintendo games? If so you do not want to miss this! Let our toot take you to a far away land! With some Super Mario speedrunning! Come watch your favorite Mario games beaten crazy fast, live on the internet, by an ordinary guy who has a love for them like you do! Games being speedrun include: Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3. Come for a whistle, stay for the warps, and see what makes these games so special in a very abridged format. (Pre-recorded)
THURSDAY (17/9) – *All times in EST
1:15pm-2:15pm – Twitch: /PAX3 – World of Nintendo: Exploring Nintendo in [Eastern] Europe
The NES has been credited with re-vitalizing the American video game industry with numerous publications exploring Nintendo’s flagship console invading the household of American children
The NES, however, was not limited to just the US. Most commonly cited regions of release for the NES include Australia, Western Europe, and Japan.
Other regions such as Central/Eastern Europe have been downplayed or skipped over in the context of the NES, with the assumption that they were home to only clones, such as the Russian Dendy or the Polish Pegasus.
However as we will explore, nearly every country within continental Europe had an official Nintendo presence, with hundreds of thousands of dollars being poured into marketing the NES, GB, and SNES in the 1990s.
In this presentation, we will look at how Nintendo – and the NES – arrived in Poland and Hungary, while also exploring their presence in other parts of Europe such as the Czech Republic, Romania, and the former Yugoslava. (Pre-recorded)
5:15pm-6:15pm – Twitch: /PAX2 — Nintendo Life Indie Spotlight
Join Alex from Nintendo Life as he showcases a generous helping of new indie games – the majority of which are being announced for the first time – coming to the Nintendo Switch eShop in 2020 and beyond! (Pre-recorded)
6:30pm-7:30pm – Twitch: /PAX2 — Virtually Unplayable: The Story of Virtual Boy
In 1995 the Virtual Boy was poised to be Nintendo’s next big handheld, but the red and black behemoth soon became one of the greatest flops in gaming history. Join Memory Card co-hosts Ben Bertoli and PushDustIn as they break down the bewildering history behind this ill-fated console and its small library of games to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Stick around after the history lesson for a special mini concert from Australian chiptune sensation and Memory Card mix master JAMATAR, who will be crafting and remixing a special set of Virtual Boy tribute tracks. (Pre-recorded)
