My experience at PAX East

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It may come as a shock to people, but I am addicted to video games.  I like to playing video games so much that I have all three video game systems, and have a pc that I spent around 5k on a few years back.  Let me tell you that when I heard that PAX, which stands for Penny Arcade Expo, was bringing the convention to Boston I was excited.    Know if you are wondering why they decide to hold such type of a convention here, it is cause some of the biggest games are made right here in Mass.  We have been the birthplace of Rock Band, Dance Central, Bioshock, and Lord of the Rings Online just to name a few.  
PAX has been billed as the biggest gaming convention to date.  PAX not only deals in video games, but tabletop gaming as well like D&D and Magic the gathering.   This has been my second PAX I have attended and was ecstatic to learn that my favorite online celebrity Ms. Felicia Day was going to attend this year's PAX.   If you do not know who MS. Day is check out the web series she co-created called The Guild  You can watch it on youtube or at watchtheguild.com.  
Another thing that I was interested in attending was two panels about weight loss and video gaming.  This is a subject matter that I know quite well.  If you remember a couple years back, I was able to lose 60lbs, and most of it was do to exercising video games.   PAX has been the biggest convention that Boston has hell and both PAX’s East and Prime compete over who has the most attending.  This years had close to 75,000 in attendance.  I was in heaven getting to go.  This year I was able to see an exclusive look at Assassin's Creed 3, which is set right here in Boston during the American Revolutionary War.  PAX is a great place is see upcoming games for the next year.  I also got to play an early beta of Max Payne 3.  Now you can buy tickets per day or a three day pass.  I suggest the three day pass for there is so much to see and do.  Most of the major gaming companies for xbox 360 and pc are there and tons of panels. I stopped in on two panels that talk about gamers and losing weight.  This is an industry that is just beginning and has the potential to be a huge money maker in the future.  Like I said, this is a topic I know quite well.  The first panel was about an online portal call Fitocracy.  The guys behind this site have taken a gamers perspective to getting you fit.  The goal behind this site is to get people moving and in shape by using terms gamers use.  They focus on strength training but do it in a way and use terms familiar to gamers.  You start off by doing simple quest and you level up by completing them.  In my own quest to lose weight, I viewed my journey to like leveling up in World of Warcraft.  The second panel talked about using modern tech from video games and even cell phones as a tool for losing weight.  I was impressed that a representative of Harmonix, makers of Dance Central was able to lose 60 lbs just by dancing to Dance Central.  I already knew about using smartphones as a tool in my weight loss for I use an app called NOOM.  This app has it all from tracking your workouts, manually or via your phone's GPS, or through a bluetooth enabled heart monitor.   Now if you are looking for some great games to use in your workout regime, I suggest picking up EA Sports active.  To date they have 5 games, one of which is available on all three systems.  This is like having a personal trainer in your house.  I have versions for the Wii and Xbox 360 and suggest getting the Xbox 360 version.  The games are so advanced, that with the Kincet it can tell if you are doing the exercise right.  It even comes with a heart rate monitor, for better calorie burn.  And if you are worried that you will not get the same workout as a gym, let me just say that Sports Activate still will get me out of breath and sweating buckets when I am done.