Leaving the bar on Saturday night someone was overheard questioning if the mass of people leaving the bar were “those video game people”. Why yes good lady, we were those video game people. PAX East was a huge success, it was completely sold out and Boston accepted us video game people with open arms. The panels were fantastic and the games even better.

But what did I really think of the first PAX on the East Coast? It was a blast but there are certainly some things that could be tweaked for next year.

1) The show floor could be bigger and it would be nice to have a stronger presence from the big three. Sony was non-existent. Nintendo had a booth promoting the new Pokeomon but Metroid and Mario were no shows. And Microsoft had Crackdown 2, undoubtedly a big title, and a large variety of XBLA games but no Alan Wake or any other big upcoming titles.

2) The show could have some more vendors. There were only a few booths that had games for sale and I know that I probably would have spent a whole lot more money if there were more games for me to peruse.

3) More games. Sadly PAX East is at a weird time of the year. It took place right after GDC and just a couple months before E3. Companies just were not willing to show off a ton of stuff at the show. Sure there were some great booths with some highly anticipated games but there were also more than a few booths showing off games that were already out (like Sega’s booth).

While I did have some issues, most of the show was great and there were a few things that really surprised me. The biggest surprise for me was how much more I enjoyed getting a look at the smaller titles. Stuff like Breach, Hydrophobia and Puzzle Quest II really stood out as some of my favorites from the show and considering this was a show that had playable Crackdown 2, Red Dead Redemption, Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, etc…

In anycase here are my personal top five games of PAX East 2010:

5. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - Honestly I was not expecting to come away liking this title. I really enjoyed the 2008 version and this seemed like a step back but based on what I played it is a nice solid mix of platforming and action, so in effect its classic Prince of Persia. Day one purchase for me.

4. Puzzle Quest II - I’m not going to lie. I did not get into the original Puzzle Quest. I played it a bit but it just never hooked me. A lot of my issues with the game were due to delivery of the story. Puzzle Quest II seems to present the story in a style more akin to traditional console RPGS and I like that. I also like the new additions, like the equipment system, which adds an added depth to the game that I didn’t feel was there before.

3. Split/Second - Before PAX East, I had played some Blur and was looking forward to it. After playing Split/Second, Blur is nowhere to be seen on my want list. Split/Second is that damn good.

2. Hydrophobia - So for $15-$20 you are going to give me a full length single player game that you could probably stuff in a box and sell to me for $60? And it features realistic water physics? Really? Sign me up.

1. Breach - One of my favorite games from last year was Battlefield 1943. For $15 I got three maps and tons of fun. Breach seems to be going along those lines, except more of a mix between Battlefield and Modern Warfare. And it will ship with more maps (five) and features than Battlefield 1943 did all for the same price.

And with that, it was over. PAX East 2011 can not come soon enough.