Another year, another Penny Arcade Expo. Did you know only 3,000 people showed up to the first one, which was organized in just a few months? In 2009, more than 60,000 people hit Seattle to be part of the fun. Adam Sessler interviewed Penny Arcade founders Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins during the three-day event, where Holkins explained why they put together PAX in the first place:
"The overriding philosophy of PAX is, I would say, this is the convention that should have existed but didn't. More or less, people love to read about what other people are doing at E3, but there was no venue for publishers to bring their stuff and actually show it to people who purchase games. That isn't to say the media doesn't purchase games or -- this is the offensive thing -- the media don't consist of real people. But at the same time, it's an opportunity for a more robust dialogue between the people who play games and the people who make games."
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Jonsted
I have to say that I have a tremendous respect for Adam. I've watched his growth over the years, and from my own observations as well, placing him at first an entertainer and then to a reflective, intellectual person. The more I learn, the more I admire. I always have a feeling that viewers assume G4 put Adam into a video to do a little song and dance to entertain, not expecting that he will sneak in his broader depth and insight as well. At first glance he's a funny comic host, and yet still, a deeper layer exists which I find more and more interesting to discover week after week. If you look for it, you start to see a pattern in his appearances that reward long-time viewers. Seeing his recent Sessler's Soapbox segments will attest to that, and his mediation of the adventure gaming panel was brilliant. These are the sides of him I wish more people would see!
I think that G4 has a real gem with Adam, and I hope that he will put his thoughts on gaming into a more critical text that people can study, such as the "Handbook of Computer Game Studies" by Joost Raessens and Jeffrey Goldstein or "The Business and Culture of Digital Games - Gamework/Gameplay" by Aphra Kerr. Adam can offer as much discourse on the gaming industry as anyone else, more qualified I would suggest, since he has firsthand experience with it.
Best of luck in all that you do, keep on inspiring us Adam!
-Matt