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After a year-long wait, I finally got the chance to go to the PAX Australia in Melbourne, It was a very memorable experience.
What is PAX?
PAX Australia is a gaming convention where local indie game developers can showcase their games to the public alongside big behemoth corporate games studios and their triple-A games. Adding to the mix are some pop culture pop-up shops and cosplayers, creating an event where everyone can celebrate gaming.There are brand new games to play and test in your own time however you need to have the patience to wait in a 20 min line for a 5 min gameplay. If you want to prove your Hand-eye coordination skills to the fellow gamers, you will find the open gaming arena where you can test your skills against fellow gamers.Amongst all of the attendees, you can spot some talented cosplay artist who brings your favourite character to life.
How Are the Games?
There are not that many exclusive triple-A games being announced compared to events like E3 in the USA, because most of the games showcased are already out in the market so there is no surprise there. If you are looking to have pre-play before you buy a game or you are looking to get some offers and discount on the games, you won't be disappointed if you attend. Still, it is a very good opportunity to experience the games in its full glory with high power gaming PC's.On the other hand, the independent games titles are full of surprises and unique experiences. The indie games have something different to offer and their booths are run by the actual developers, so it gave the opportunity for me to have an in-depth Q&A.For more than 15 years as a gamer, watching a new type of game concepts coming to life is a welcome change in the market. It’s much better than playing the same games under the different skin every year like Call of Duty or FIFA.
Tech Demos
Intel NUC 8
Intel mainly showcased their mini Computer “Intel® NUC 8 with an 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor with Radeon™ RX Vega M Graphics” it a small factor computer, with a powerful dedicated graphics card inside. Technically this means that you could play the graphically intense game with this mini PC, however, best graphics would only work for games like Overwatch and Fortnite. Yet games like Red Dead Redemption could run in the system but it should be in the medium to low-quality setting to get a bare minimum of 25fps. The NUC 8 would be a decent platform for casual gamers but nowhere close to replacing a Gaming PC yet.
Intel 8th Gen Core i9 Processor
New to the Intel family of processor aimed at 4k in 60FPS quality driven gamers and content creators who don’t like to wait until the video load for playback. I didn't have the chance to test it in software like Maya or Unity but I believe this will also help the gaming industry as well.
Razer Phone 64GB
Nowadays, mobile games have a special place in the game industry, that being said, there are phones hitting the market. With this in mind, one of the well-known names is RAZERPHONE.I had the chance to experience this amazing Hardware. With the 120Hz panel, the games look stunning. This type of phone can lead to a new revolution in mobile gaming, particularly in the graphical performance.
Nvidia GEFORCE RTX 2080 TI Graphic Card
Nvidia showcased their real-time ray tracing GPU namely the GEFORCE RTX 2070, GEFORCE RTX 2080 and GEFORCE RTX 2080TI. Traditionally real-time ray tracing only used in filmmaking to simulate real light behaviours like reflecting, subsurface scattering and many more. It’s not used in a game engine because the excessive amount of processing power needed. Thanks to the RTX it is now possible to generate lifelike lighting using ray tracing. Only a hand full of games are using this technology at the moment, but I believe this will be the new standard for Triple-A games in the future.
Summary
Overall PAX Melbourne was an ok experience for me, mostly because I was comparing pax to E3. I enjoyed it for what it is; a place to try out new games and buy some new loot for good deals.
I am looking forward to the PAX Australia 2019. Next time I will spend a little more time at the event, so I can explore the event in my own time other than rushing through it.
If you want to get a feel of the PAX Melbourne 2018 show, then check out the Video.https://youtu.be/heL1PkJFLrEby Upenthiran Tharmagulasingam3D Designer