PAX AUS 2026

My third year at PAX AUS was very brief but highly memorable!

Being very short on time, especially in comparison to the second trip to PAX AUS Jonathan and I made last year, I knew nothing less than Batman-levels of preparation would get me around to each and every one of the PAX highlights that the People of Perth & beyond fervently demanded coverage of.

However before I launch head first, like E. Honda, into this tale of my personal speedrun of PAX AUS, and for anyone who's spent the last decade or so fighting demons in feudal-era Japan or in outer space, the Penny Arcade Expo Australia (PAX AUS) is a showcase event where our fellow PAXgoers, including gamers, game developers, gaming media, speed runners, gaming community organisations, and more Rogues than you can possibly count converge on an annual basis in October at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre across three days to celebrate all things gaming.

At PAX AUS there really is something for everyone, from the opportunity to tee up some multiplayer action with a fellow PAXgoer on old-school consoles like the Nintendo 64 in the Classic Gaming area, to playtesting the latest upcoming AAA and indie games in the Expo Hall, to tabletop gaming, pin collecting, prize winning, merchandise hunting, cosplaying, panel attending, and way way more!

My Friday morning at PAX AUS began eagerly awaiting the opening of the dedicated media entry at 9:00am sharp! While I waited for my chance to rush the Nintendo and SEGA booths, I managed to get a glimpse of some fellow PAXgoers showing off some moves in the recently released, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. While for all intents and purposes this Johnny has long since taken Guile's advice that he should "go home and be a family man!" to heart, it was certainly a thrill to see Captain America and his closest pals brought to life in Unreal Engine 5 while waiting for entry to the Expo Hall. 

My first stop in the Expo Hall was of course the Nintendo megabooth, which much like 2025 was nothing short of grandiose and this time offering hands-on experiences with recently released and hotly anticipated AAA titles such as Splatoon Raiders, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, Bluey's Happy Snaps, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort and 007 First Light.

Following a short side quest to collect an essential Ocarina of Time key ring and take in the majesty of the Nintendo booth's tribute to the entire lifespan of The Legend of Zelda series, I caught up briefly with Jemma, host of the excellent Pure Nintendo podcast, and witnessed some 007 First Light 'work in progress build' gameplay. Having recently heard the news that the Switch 2 port of the game had been delayed to 2027, I arrived at the booth with a fair bit of curiosity about how this AAA title would run on the hybrid console. I watched Jemma skillfully manoeuvre a very youthful James Bond through the wreckage of what appeared to be a military aviation disaster for a few minutes before blast processin' myself promptly over to the nearby SEGA booth.

Having been a Nintendo fanboy since the NES days of the early 90s, it's fair to say that in the days leading up to PAX I had been going through something of an existential crisis being genuinely more excited for the contents of the SEGA booth than Nintendo's, and particularly for the playable demo of the forthcoming Alien Isolation sequel. Was the early 90s aggressive console wars marketing actually true?! Was SEGA really about to do what Nintendon't?! Although I had a legitimate fear of the Xenomorph, it turned out that it was my fear of being stuck in a long queue that sent me in the direction of the Stranger Than Heaven demo (on Xbox Series hardware) instead of the queue for Alien Isolation 2. Stranger Than Heaven, a yakuza simulator with a rolling historical setting that starts off in the early 20^th century and takes the player through to 1960s Japan proved to be a really pleasant surprise. PAXgoers like myself had the opportunity to try out the game's innovative control scheme which relies heavily on the shoulder buttons in effort to give players a feeling of direct control of the protagonist's movement. Stranger Than Heaven is set for release on PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series X/S on 15 January 2027 - I better hurry up and finally clear the decks of my not-insignificant (1986 to) 2026 gaming backlog!!

As I hurriedly made my way up & out of the Expo Hall for a mid-morning Meet & Greet with legendary voice actor, Lenore Zann, I did rue that there wasn't sufficient time to properly delve into the presence of the likes of Bandai Namco, Ubisoft, Activision and Crunchyroll. Nevertheless there was no time for regrets, as my early departure from the Expo Hall guaranteed prime position in the queue of highly enthusiastic X-Men fans waiting to meet Lenore. The long-time voice actor behind the X-Men's Rogue had so much warmth and charisma - she spoke at length about her eagerness to visit beautiful Perth in the near future! - and I left the Meet & Greet with Lenore's autograph on a Rogue card I've owned since I was around 14 or 15 years old. (Massive personal highlight for this X-Men super-fan!)

I was in particularly high spirits when shortly after meeting Lenore I visited the classic gaming area in its new upper-floor location. While initially sceptical of the classic gaming room's relocation away from the Expo Hall, I was pleasantly surprised by its new, more roomy digs (not to mention longer opening hours!). I seized the opportunity to play some Transformers pinball, which prominently featured my fav Decepticon of all time, Soundwave (I always did love a good tape deck!) and even enjoyed a quick game of Pac-Land on Japan's PC Engine console (I'm still not much better at those springboard jumps than I was in the late 80s unfortunately...). 

Speaking of indie developers, much like previous years the Australian and overseas-based indie developers and publishers were out in force this year at PAX AUS. My number one pick this year was the cozy, narrative exploration game Soup Weather from now Tasmania-based, Brie Healy. The day before PAX AUS kicked off (yes, I wasn't going to get through this speedrun without squeezing a few things in early!) Brie was incredibly generous with her time as she took me through some of the real-life, Subiaco-based inspirations for the world explored by the game's protagonist Bean, the game's fourth-wall breaking sense of humour and the cast of colourful characters encountered in a typical play through of Soup Weather (including Bean's ex! Yikes!). And truth be told, the story behind Brie's first commercial video game is equally impressive as the game itself and its pleasing sound design choices and retro pixel aesthetic. Brie's mentor at the University of Tasmania, Ian Lewis informed me that Brie wrote her first line of code roughly 18 months ago and taught herself the skills needed to build a game from scratch! How impressive is that?! The People of Perth and beyond will no doubt be looking forward to Brie's next project!

Other indie standouts included Rain98, an upcoming psychological horror adventure game set in late 90s Japan, which was brought to PAX by Tokyo-based, Ukiyo Studios. The game's developers have stated they have drawn on a few different influences for the game's unique atmosphere, including from one of my fav titles from the moodiest section of the early 90s Studio Ghibli catalogue, Ocean Waves. I also was very fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down with Rick Salter from Sydney-based, Hojo Studio to discuss the eagerly anticipated, BraveCart. Rick and the team at Hojo Studio are currently nearing the final stages of development of their cinematic, turn-based puzzle adventure that features an abandoned shopping trolley on a mission to topple a very familiar duopoly and importantly change some public attitudes toward waste and consumerism. 

On my way through to my final stop at PAX AUS I got to enjoy some of the best cosplay I've witnessed in my three years at PAX. Highlights included an exceptionally elegant Rogue & Gambit duo, Leonardo a.k.a. the fearless leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the magnificent Chun-Li & the ever-disciplined Ryuuuuu!!! from the Street Fighter franchise, numerous Spider-Men and Spider-Women, some people-sized Pikmin and the aforementioned army of Rogues.

My final stop at PAX AUS 2026 was the Fruitbat Theatre and (for this videogame history nerd at least) the hotly anticipated Future of Gaming's Past: Game Preservation in a Digital Future panel discussion. The panel brought together experiences and insights from game collectors and curators from the National Film and Sound Archives and Sydney's Power House Museum. High on the panel's agenda was reactions to Sony's recent decision to end production of physical games media in early 2028 and the implications for game preservation. I unfortunately had to leave the Fruitbat Theatre to catch my Uber to Tullamarine Airport before the panel concluded but I was impressed by the panel's passion for video game history, provocative questions to the audience of PAXgoers present and the sophistication of the panel's approach to game preservation issues to say the very least!

Despite being a very short PAX AUS visit, it did not disappoint whatsoever on the merchandise and freebies front. This year's standouts in addition to the abovementioned Ocarina key ring from the Nintendo booth included a very handy Stranger Than Heaven carry bag and a copy of Turtles of Grayskull, a Masters of the Universe (MOTU)-TMNT cross-over issue from the King's Comics stand.

Did you go to PAX AUS this year? If so, head on over to Instagram and Bluesky and let us know all about your experiences and your merch haul! 

Are you also pumped for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake or Alien Isolation 2? Or perhaps you're just dying to thumb-wrestle all your mates in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort?!

Or perhaps you're craving more Street Fighter shenanigans and/or Spooktober-themed outings?

Check out our recent Nintendo GameCube console retrospective or 2D Castlevania series spotlight over on the Perth Gaming Crew Show podcast.

---Johnny @PGC

29/10/26