For those who hadn’t heard me say so elsewhere, I attended PAX in Seattle over the weekend. It brought to mind a smaller, friendlier E3, which is certainly an improvement in my eyes, particularly given the complete lack of booth babes. Much of my time was spent attending every single panel in which the staff of Telltale made an appearance, resulting in such brag-worthy experiences as getting called by name whenever I went up to ask questions and even playing the role of Sybil in an audience-generated Sam & Max scene, in which I got to say such classic lines as my now-favourite “I’m an orthopaedic surgeon, baby!” [1] I also ended up spending quality time chatting with assorted internet buddies in person, as well as running into a couple of people I used to know from high school. (I suppose it was bound to happen, considering that Seattle is about four hours away from my hometown.)

The one thing that bothered me throughout, however, was several game companies’ overwhelming tendency to refer to their games as “products” and to their players as “consumers”. It’s unsurprising that they would do so, really, but it also makes me more than a little uncomfortable. What does it mean to “consume” a game, anyway? Did I miss the memo stating that games are to be officially relegated as food items or somesuch? Maybe that’s the reason why they decrease in value as they get older. Hmm…