PAX East 2013 is just around the corner! If you’re not familiar with it, PAX is a videogame convention where fans can come play some games, meet the devs, and attend some great panels and parties. PAX East is in Harmonix’s backyard in Boston, and we’ll be at the show all weekend. Check below for info on our Rock Band party, our Dance Central booth, and panels featuring Harmonix devs.
See you at PAX East!
Harmonix is hosting our third annual Rock Band Night at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square! If you’re one of the lucky ones that got tickets before it sold out, you’re in for a night of crazy Rock Band antics, guest judges from Giant Bomb, exclusive swag, and more!
If you didn’t get tickets, don’t worry! We’ll be streaming the event live Thursday March 21st from 8pm ET until midnight on our Twitch.tv channel at Twitch.tv/harmonixmusic. Subscribe to our channel now so you don’t miss out!
For more info on our Rock Band Night and the Brattle Theatre, check out BrattleFilm.com.
Harmonix will be a part of Microsoft’s booth, showing off Dance Central 3. Stop by and play with the Harmonix team and get awesome new swag like duffel bags and wristbands. We’ll have all the songs available to play, so pick your favorite or try out a new one! We’ll be there all three days, so stop by Booth #524!
Dance Central swag at PAX East
Harmonix employees will be on a number of panels this year, including a Rock Band tell-all panel!
Rock Band Behind the Music: A Music Gaming Tell All
With over 4,000 songs released during a 5 year run of weekly DLC, Rock Band has included songs by a veritable who’s who of the greatest musicians in the history of rock. Rock Band’s catalog includes hundreds of artists, and there are countless others that they attempted to get in the game. Oh, which bands? Yep, them. Oh yeah, them too. Definitely those guys. Interested in hearing more? Join Harmonix for a candid look behind the soundtrack of the highest rated music games ever released, as they finally respond to long burning community questions, comment on unreleased projects, and dish on all the dirt behind your favorite music games.
PANELISTS: Aaron Trites [Manager, Community Development, Harmonix], John Drake [Director of Communications & Brand Management, Harmonix], Eric Pope [Community Manager, Harmonix], Chris Rigopulos [VP Music and Strategy, Harmonix]
FRIDAY, 3/22 – 6PM-7PM – PHOENIX THEATRE
404ing It: Breaking (Down) the Internet
Too busy to keep up with all the things that make the Internet so awesome? 404ing It: Breaking (Down) The Internet is the show that does your homework for you. This monthly Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre comedy show features a panel of comedians and super nerds that break down the best the Internet has to offer: Funny photos! Amazing videos! Memes! It’s everything you love about the Internet except with none of the jerky YouTube comments or trolling 14 year-olds. For one night only, host Pat Baer (UCB Theatre) brings the show to you at PAX East, for free, with celebrity guests Ryan Davis (Giant Bomb), Eric Pope (Harmonix) and Chris Kohler (Wired).
PANELISTS: Pat Baer [Technical Director, Comedian, UCB Theatre], Ryan Davis [Co-founder of Giant Bomb, Giant Bomb], Eric Pope [Harmonix Community Development, Writer, Harmonix], Chris Kohler [Editor of Game Life, Wired]
SATURDAY, 3/23 – 7PM-8PM – NAGA THEATRE
Narrative Design - telling stories without words
Where do we find the most powerful storytelling in video games? It’s not just in Hollywood-style dialogue and cinematics: it’s in art direction, level design, game mechanics, music cues, and in the strategies and choices and stories players invent for themselves.
Austin Grossman moderates a panel of story and design experts from Harmonix, MIT, Valve, and Arkane to talk about Narrative Design. We’ll analyze past and present games, successes and failures, and talk about our own and the audience’s greatest play experiences, to better understand how the most meaningful game stories happen - through interactive, emergent moments only games can create.
PANELISTS: Austin Grossman [Writer, Designer], Matthew Weise [Narrative Designer, Harmonix], Clara Fernandez [Postdoctoral Researcher, MIT], Chet Faliszek [Valve Software], Ricardo Bare [Arkane Studios]
SATURDAY, 3/23 – 8PM-9PM – WYVERN THEATRE
Everything You’ve Heard About Patent Law is Wrong
Major news aggregators and discussion sites agree - US patent law, and software-related patents in particular, are out of control: a major computer company patented rounded corners; a retailer patented clicking once; and it’s not worth developing a product because you’ll get immediately get sued into oblivion by some troll. Find out why all these are wrong, as we talk about the popular myths and fallacies, why patents do spur innovation, and how you can use patent law to increase the value of your gaming company. Of course, patent law is not perfect, and we’ll also discuss why the current arguments for reform don’t work and what arguments might.
PANELISTS: Daniel Rose [Patent Attorney, Foley & Lardner, LLP], John Lanza [Patent Attorney, Foley & Lardner, LLP], Adam Losey [Attorney and Educator, Foley & Lardner, LLP], Dave Walls [CEO and Developer, Funkitron, Inc.], Seth Goldstein [Engineering Manager, Harmonix Music], Additional panelists to be named
SUNDAY, 3/24 – 1PM-2PM – MERMAN THEATRE
For more information on PAX East, visit east.paxsite.com. Be sure to follow @Harmonix on Twitter for updates throughout the show.