PAX Panic

I was always nervous about speaking at PAX, because I'm 35, I don't play FPS or MMORPG games, and the younger gaming generation has probably never heard of me, other than via the mob at Digg, which isn't the best introduction in the world.

I thought I was talking to a crowd with an average age of 31-32 at PAX, though, so I wrote a keynote specifically to that generation. They are slightly younger than me, and would get all of my cultural references to things like arcades, and the other 80s gaming stuff I'd planned to talk about.

Then I found out this afternoon that, in fact, the average age will be more like 26.

That's nearly a decade younger than me.

That's just a few years older than my kids.

Watch me go from "relevant" to "out of touch" faster than you can say "Xbox Live" or "get off my lawn."

I scrapped the entire thing, and restarted. Now I plan to talk about the NES, console gaming, and how the Wii and Guitar Hero make gaming a social experience again . . . I hope. I don't know if I can pull this off, but the plan is to talk about the common threads in gaming that tie us all together and hope for the best.

It's incredible -- and quite disconcerting -- that I can go from confident to terrified so quickly, but having spent nearly two decades dealing with people who hate me, you'll understand that I'm a little gun shy about speaking to an audience who likely have no idea why I am there instead of some dude who worked on Halo.

The original plan for me was to goof off and play games all weekend long, and enjoy the con. However, if this goes the way I'm terrified it will go, I'll be sneaking home with my tail between my legs on the first flight out Saturday morning, massively hungover.

The next two days just went from relaxing to panicked. I'm pretty sure I'm going to crash and burn and they're all going to hate me.

Awesome.

Comments

[GeekgirlUnveiled]

Just remember that you also have two decades of people who like, respect and admire you.

Have fun at PAX.

[Exick]

I'm actually quite surprised that the average age is that high. This will be my 2nd PAX in the past 3 years and during the 1st one I attended in 2005, it seemed like the vast majority of people there were my age or younger. I'm 27 now and was obviously 25 then.

Not trying to freak you out more or anything, just a 1st-person observation.

[Kristin]

Aw, Wil, try not to freak yourself out too much. You know what I would do? Address it straight off and make it a joke. "So you may be wondering who I am and why I'm here instead of some dude who worked on Halo..."

As Donald O'Connor says, "Make 'em laugh!" If there's one thing I've become quite certain about in the time I've been reading your blog, it's that you're very good at that.

Plus, there's no way they'll be a tougher crowd than Ryan's creative writing class, and you did just fine there.

[Sarah]

I'm twenty. Don't scrap the arcade references.

As much as my friends and I love the ability to stay up all night playing Wii in my friend's dorm, we totally secretly wish we were part of the arcade generation. I've spent some time at arcades, but I have a feeling video games were a lot more fun when they weren't always at your fingertips.

I think there's a great speech to be had, and I don't think the references of your age are completely lost on people my age and a little older. It's not like you're eighty and discussing the finer points of jazz to a group of sixteen year olds who listen purely to hip-hop.

You're talking to the nerds. We know what you're talking about.

Or at least, we know someone who does.

Good luck. :)

[igwarrender]

Okay calm down, being one of those young whipper snappers of 26 who's dreading the day he ever approaches 36 I have to say you have very little to worry about. I'm sure there are a few reference we might not get, but I've read both your main books so far and your blog ever second I can (by the way I love twitter but feel like I'm stalking you now) and I understand almost all of your references on here and in the books.

Think about it, most of your early reference that you can fully understand start from 10 onwards and although from that point on we might not have fully understood everything around us, we know about it and somehow by the age of 26 we should be able to fill in the gaps.

One other point is I'm British and many of your early references are very American (no complaint) now if I can understand an American reference from my early years I'm very sure an American will total get you.

One final final point I can't speak for all 26 year olds but may are like me in the following, we were too young to be aware of the Die Wesley Die movement in the 80's what were weren't too young for is seeing a teenager not a 1000 years older then us driving a cool spaceship and thinking 'I want to be that guy, I want to out smart the adults, I want to save the day, I want to drive that cool ship'.

Have faith in yourself your speech WILL be GREAT.

[caitlen315]

Wil,

If everyone hated you, you wouldn't be there at all. I'm not going to blow smoke up your ass and say that you're delusional and everyone loves you, because we both know that's not true. (It's not true for anyone.) However, I think it's a safe bet that you're going to be dealing more with people who don't know who you are at all. Maybe that's not a fabulous thing either, but I think it's the lesser of two evils. I'm 29 and have been a TNG fan since before high school, and I can say that most people I remember didn't really have an opinion on it one way or the other; or they didn't know about it at all. Perhaps you should just look at your audience as a blank slate. Someone who worked on Halo is only cool because they worked on Halo. You’re cool because you obviously know enough about the industry to have been asked to be a speaker, AND because you've been on television - that's always worth a few bonus points.

[Amalthia]

I'm 27 and I've played a lot of arcade games growing up as well as the Atari and yes my grandmother kicked my ass at Miner49er. I imagine I'm probably not the only one that grew up with arcade games and I'm sure your audience will get most of your reference if not all.

Also, I'd like to think by the mid-twenties most people have grown up and can act like adults when they are attending a panel.

[incandescant]

Wil,

I just signed up to TypeKey so that I can comment here.

I've been reading your blog since I discovered it a few years back and in all that time I've never read anything by you here, or at SG, that I didn't find extremely amusing and interesting.

The articles you right are always bang on with relevant references for your target audience, regardless of age. I'm still a few years under the average PAX attendee age and I've yet to read you mention something that I didn't get.

I have no doubt that anyone in the audience that doesn't get some of the references will still enjoy the talk!

Keep fighting the good fight!

[neoplasm]

Be strong for the rest of us. Heard Matt Damon say he was 36 the other day like it was something to be ashamed of. The idea that people don't have anything left in them because they passed the 30yo barrier is absurd. You know it. Stand up, please, for all of us.

[Enkanowen]

psh, you are pretty much 'the' coolest mid-thirties guy ever, so you have nothing to worry about. My generation worships you for being a Guru of Geek. You will do great :)

[Brittany]

Add another tick mark to the "I just signed up to comment on this entry" column.

First off, you're a great storyteller. The subject of the story- well, that's important, yes. But so is the way it's told, and it seems like you've had a lot of practice in that.

I'm 22, and I've played games on the Atari 800, the Wii, and my fair share of systems in between. I've got fond memories of going to the nickel arcade... about a month ago. So don't be too afraid that you're speaking to the wrong generation! We all speak some form of geek.

...Of course, that doesn't mean a few NES references wouldn't go over well. ;)

[Doc Nielsen]

well, getting drunk is always fun - as long as you're not the pilot, it'll be ok ;)
And will, if you can, mention the new Little-Gamers game coming out ;)

[Amy]

I'm twenty-two years old, and I've known who you are since I was five. There are plenty of geeks in my generation who were huge Trekkies growing up and thought that a teenager flying the Enterprise was about the coolest thing ever. It's great that you're doing your best to fit your remarks to your audience, but I wouldn't worry too much about them not thinking you're cool. The 20-something crowd may well be just the right age to have wanted to be Wesley when they were kids.

[piekid]

I'm 27, and, like a few of the other commenters, I don't think you should completely scrap what you originally wrote, especially anything about arcades. Some of my earliest and favorite memories are from arcades, or playing Atari at my friend's house.

When it comes to cultural references and the like, I hold my own during conversations with the friends I have that are closer to your age, and I'm often insulted when they think I don't understand.

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't underestimate your audience either, that's just as bad (or even worse) than losing them because they don't understand.

[Firebyrd]

I'm 26 and while I was on the tail end of some of the things like arcades, I certainly know what you're talking about. About the only stuff that goes over my head is the poker foo. We might be younger than you, Wil, but plenty of us love you and do understand what you talk about. Geeks unite!

[Damian]

I'm 26, a hardcore Star Trek nerd, but not much of a gamer, and I would probably get your 80's and gaming references. I may not know of many classic titles other than Pacman, Frogger, and Pong, but I could probably fill in the blanks. We still had Apple IIe's my freshman year of high school, and we all wanted to play that wagon train game... whatever it was called... Oregon Trail, maybe? And this was back when Doom was getting blamed for school shootings. So, you know... goof off, play games, and enjoy the con.

[chzimmerman]

Wil,

I don't think that talking about the arcade experience is at all going to fly over the heads of the people at PAX. I'm just above that median age at 27 and I completely identify with your experiences in arcades as written in your blog.

Now, I wouldn't begin to tell you how you should write your keynote. I'm just looking forward to seeing it. Were I in your position, however, I might consider trying to marry your two concepts. Being of the arcade generation, you have an insight into the evolution of gaming out of public spaces and into private ones. Hearing your perspective and voice on the joy of playing games socially is something I know many would enjoy.

[txt_eva]

I'm 21...

I don't get most of the arcade refs... but I kinda do and I know what it means to the (slightly) older generation.

To be honest I only found you after looking up Stand By Me cause I though one of them looked like the cute guy I liked on ST:TNG.

Then I saw you had a blog, and I've been hooked ever since.

A fair few of your comments bout old skool techyness go over my head, and I don't get poker.

But I love to read your posts. All of them.

Esp the ones about old ST stories and all of your auditions and I really love hearing you talk about your family, its like a secret window in to the life of someone who values so much of whats around him. Its lovely.

But anyway- you're cool. You've got 5194 people with your blog on the livejournal feed and thats just the tip of the iceberg I'm sure.

If a 21 year old english girl with only a passing knowledge in gaming & geekhood knows about you, and is interested in whatever you say- then a bunch of 26 yrs gamers will love ya!

[rmd]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to crash and burn and they're all going to hate me.

dude, you got up in front of a bunch of potentially hostile poker nerds two years ago and totally won the room over. (and you looked pretty freaked out before hand, iirc. or maybe you were just sick.)

you're funny, you're an excellent storyteller, you're a *very* good speaker, and you know and love games.

it'll be awesome.

[SpaceDog]

You. Will. Do. Great.

I've never seen you speak, but I've read your stuff and I've heard from others that've seen you.

It's never fun to have your audience changed at the last minute, but just go with the flow, talk about what you know.

And the very fact you care about this is going to make it a great talk.

But keep the fear, it's going to make it feel even better when it goes swimmingly.

I'm looking forward to reading about it.

Have fun

[Nathan Gill]

Mr. Wheaton,

I definitely hate to tell you not to panic because I'd likely be even more stricken than you in a similar situation, but don't panic. Like a few other people who have posted, I'm twenty and a regular to your blog. In my opinion, your writing is relevant, perhaps even essential, to nerds of any age. I've always been a big nerd but it wasn't until I started reading your blog two and half years ago that I was really able to define and structure what that meant, at least to me. I suppose it's likely through this sort of meticulous concern (dare I say paranoia?) that allows your writing to resonate as well as it does. It's pretty surprising now, when I actually think about it, how much of an impact some of your writing has had on my thinking since I started reading.

... So much so that I actually just wandered through my mind on the topic for a solid 6 minutes there.

And while I'm at it, thanks for introducing me to art I otherwise might not have discovered. From Battlestar Galactica to Planetary to Joel Hodgson's quote on writing jokes.

But, hey, I trust your judgement.

[Kelly]

You can always connect your nostalgic experience to the experiences you have with contemporary games.

Draw a line between "when I was your age" and how stuff now connects.

Which is what you already do in your more luminous posts about anything.

There, the freshman comp teacher in me is satisfied and will go away now.

[MiloBloom]

Ahhh... The voice of self doubt. (I'm halfway through teh audiobook)

Regardless of age, you have something relevant to say about what games mean to YOU.

I suspect the experiences attendees have had playing Guitar Hero, DDR or some MMORPG are similar to the experiences you've had playing it with your sons, and THAT is what connects you to the audience.

Craft a story about what games mean(and have meant) to you. People attend PAX because games mean something to them too.

Good luck on the talk.

[Tandaina]

Will, breath. Relax, you'll be fine. 26 is about the age of my younger sister and she most definitely knows who you are and likes you. I'm pretty sure she had a crush on you as a kid. ;)

Sounds like good topics to talk on, folks our age will get it, folks in the 26 age group will get it.

Now if I could just find a Wii so I can join all these crazy young kids in the 21st century.

Good luck, and ENJOY!

- Tandaina

[ChazB]

You could always start your speech by commenting on the average age of the attendees, your age, and how when you were their age...

Add a cane or walker for dramatic effect. :)

But seriously. You could still talk about arcades and the pre-console days. Gaming back then was an intensely social experience and with the Wii making gaming social again, in a face-to-face way not an "I have internet friends" way, things have kinda come full circle. There is a good point to be made, too, about how Nintendo not only started the big console push that took people away from arcades and social gaming, and how they have now taken people back to social gaming.