- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
This weekend will see the return of arguably the biggest video game-centric convention in the country.
PaxAus is notorious for being a geek and gaming mecca, with stalls to show off everything from the newest indie titles to some of the best hardware on the scene. With the rise of esports’ popularity in Australia and particularly in Melbourne where the convention is held, there’s plenty to look out for – no matter what type of competition you’re after.
This year will see the inclusion of some bigger brands than we usually see at PAX. Xbox have their own booth and it’s a must-see for any PUBG fans.
Stopping by will give you the opportunity to play War Mode on the Sanhok map in a world first opportunity. The booth will also be sporting 32-player rounds of Battlefield vs Conquest mode so there’s a lot of FPS action to be had.
If you’re after fighting games, then the Pax Australia Console Tournament Area is where you’ll need to head. The folks over at Couch Warriors are hosting different competitions all throughout PAX and you can get a look at the Tokyo Game Show demo of Dead or Alive 6 on the show floor.
If you’re not quite tournament ready there are also learn to play sessions and practice modes being held in between the major games, or if you just want to see the Community Tournament finals for Smash Bros 4 and DragonBall Fighter Z live, you can catch that at 6:30 pm on Saturday at the Fruitbat Theatre.
Speaking of Smash Bros there’s also The Ultimate Super Smash Bros Panel at 11:30 am on Friday at Gamespot Theatre. This event goes into some of the game’s history before the release of Ultimate later this year.
Among the panellists are Joshua Lyras – a pro Melee player from ORDER – and Nick Mckenzie who specialises in Smash 4 with Dark Sided. Plus you can get a look at Ultimate in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Let’s Play panel which is also at Gamespot Theatre but at 3:00 pm on Saturday.
Blizzard is also making a big showing at the event and this means Overwatch. If you want to listen in while some Overwatch fans recap some of the best moments we’ve seen then you can catch the Overwatchiest Home Videos 2018 panel at the Galah Theatre on Friday at 10:30 am.
Fans attend Overwatch League Grand Finals. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Blizzard Entertainment )
Later that day you can watch some pros play for real instead and bare witness to the Legacy Esports Overwatch Showmatches in the PAX Arena at 2 pm on the Samsung stage. There’s also tonnes of opportunity to jump into the competition yourself with matches peppered all over the schedule for the three-day convention.
If Overwatch isn’t your thing (but why not?) there’s a Starcraft 2 open tournament at 11:30 am on Friday or just stop by the Blizzard booth to see what else they’ve got on show.
League of Legends fans can also get their fill with Community matches and pro team Legacy also set to present show matches at the Pax Arena from 11:30 til 2 pm on Friday.
League of Legends. (Ryan Nash)
If you’re ready for a break from all the competitive games and are a bit curious about some of the behind the scenes aspects of competitive gaming in Australia, then try the Turning Passion into Profession: How to Establish a Career in Esports panel.
You can catch this on Saturday at 1:30 pm in the Kookaburra theatre where you’ll see industry professionals, including team members from Melbourne Order talk about how to turn pro gaming into a profession.
Vendors will have their own displays showcasing not only games but also tools that pros use to play them and give rare hands-on opportunities with some of these set ups. Not only that but these are often in a LAN capacity so you can really see what pro players have to work with when they pull off some of those incredible moves.
Whether or not your wallet will allow you to take them home or not is a completely different story.
As previously mentioned PAX is always a huge convention and it’s worth taking stock of what you personally want to see. Searching for your favourite game on the website or the app should give you a pretty good indication of what’s being covered and when.
Aside from some of the highlights noted above you can find tournaments for Rocket League, Splatoon 2, Fortnite, Hearthstone, Rainbow 6 Seige, Mario Kart, and tonnes of others if you check the current lineup.
Plus, due to Pax’s generally incredibly inclusive atmosphere, this is also a great way to make friends with other fans for future esports viewing parties. Some of us from The Roar will also be walking around the show floor, so make sure to let us know what the best esports experience you’ve had at PAX is in person if you see us.