Got home around 11pm which was nice. Sorry I couldn't meet up with you guys but we took off on the train as soon as it was over. We had to get back out to the airport to get our car which was still at the hotel and then drive 3+ hours home. I'm glad I did it ASAP as I was pretty wiped out. I even considered stopping at a hotel instead of going all the way home since I was getting sleepy and my son was no help at all in keeping me awake. He wouldn't talk to me about anything
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But he was definitely happy. When we got home he did his post-PAX ritual of laying all his swag out on the floor and taking pictures. We got some nice stuff last minute.
The best swag spot was the same as it was last year - out in the hallway by the smaller escalators. Last year that was where PopCap was with all their Plants vs Zombies hats and plush. This year it was Harmonix/Fantasia. The hats and pins were nice, but they gave out those PSN/XBL $2 cards along with them. Then at the end they were handing out stacks of XBL codes. They gave me 8 and my son 6 just then. I mean, of course, I could have not spent $600 on a hotel (plus other expenses) and bought XBL codes with that money instead. But it was a nice bonus on top of being at PAX. Giving XBL/PSN codes is pretty much like handing out cash.
Overall, though, there was definitely less stuff than last year (especially in regards to T-shirts). It seems we were getting shirts for playing games with lines of just 3-4 people last year (eg, LBP Karting, Unfinished Swan, NSMB 2) and this year it was much harder. And just to be clear, my kids have been wearing these shirts all the time since the last PAX, so they are definitely put to use when we do get them.
I did finally get to play my first PS4 games today. I gave a bunch of the "lesser" games a try like Warframe, Drive Club, and some PSN-type game with really bright colors (Hohokum or something I want to say?), and a few others. The one game I've preordered (Knack) I did not get to play, unfortunately - for whatever reason the lines for that, while not Titanfall/Rhyse/Bayonetta 2/Wind Waker-sized (ie, 2 hours plus), were longer than I wanted for that game.
All-in-all it was pretty fun though. I just wish there had been something like this around when I was younger. The non-show floor stuff makes the whole experience pretty nice but unfortunately I just can't partake in much of that. I can't do parties and such when I'm with my son. And since we got a last-minute airport hotel this year we couldn't even really come back in the evening for the PC tournaments and such. If you stay by the convention center and have all the time in the world and no one to take care of, it could be incredible.
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