The cake is a lie!”

“…a chance for her paladin to practice ‘laying of hands’…”

“ZOMG!!!”

PAX rings with the enthusiastic mating calls of the geek to the industry: A cacophonous union of anticipation, love, desire, and seething thirstiness. The upcoming fall release season is especially succulent, with a score of titles gamers have been waiting for for quite some time. And here I’ve had the chance to observe these games, whetting my appetite for the coming-of-age avalanche the industry is preparing to unleash.

Looking back to the delightful fiasco of Day One, I saw a lot of thirst in the ubiquitously myopic eyes of the video-gaming masses. Glasses everywhere reflected the lusted-after objects. Fallout 3, Dragon Age, more, more, more. You know the titles, and if you’re lucky enough to attend PAX, you may know the hunger in the eyes of which I speak. The only thing standing between your sweaty hands and an early experience of Rock Band 2 are the lines, dense and humid things that they are.

But that’s okay. I propose that nowhere on earth is a more entertaining place to wait for something. Pop on your DS, get into a Pictochat room, draw some penises! Listen to the gaming in-jokes everyone around you understands. Look out for men dressed as Princess Peach and women dressed as Scouts or obscure JRPG heroines. Or, just turn around and start talking. Geeks are especially friendly, and the common ground of a convention is fertile soil for friendship.

Taking the pulse of PAX on Day One, I would say that the gaming industry is secure. Faces young and old were in evidence, from the fresh-faced n00b who may have stumbled into PAX unknowingly from the city streets to have his cherry popped thoroughly and gloriously, to the grizzled online champion who flew halfway around the world to be here. The games being shown - from the big titles to the indie products just fledging - are all of an unprecedented uniqueness, quality, or both. There hasn’t been this much love in the air since Woodstock.

The pulse of PAX is rapid, hearty, and it’s time for this Quiksaver to plunge back into the fray.

Day Two begins now!