IT’S game on for Melbourne this year as it gears up to host the second Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) Australia 2014 by boosting Internet connection speeds.
Set to draw tens of thousands of gamers, the PAX Australia 2014 will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). The expo brings together international guests, speakers, musicians, developers, and local game industry representatives to showcase games and community events in Australia.
The convention centre anticipates participants downloading as much as three times MCEC’s monthly data, and has increased Internet speeds to run at one GB per second, thrice the speed of the standard service.
MCEC’s director of technology operations, Michael Walsh, said: “A high-tech event like PAX Australia is a fantastic opportunity for our team to showcase our skills, leading technology, and capabilities.
“PAX Australia is taking full advantage of our venue’s internet capabilities, digital signage, and social media packages. Given the tech-savvy nature of PAX attendees, it’s important we deliver the best.”
The event will showcase products from over 150 exhibitors, with more than 500 PCs and 100 Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo consoles across the Console Tournament and Freeplay areas for attendees to use.
Also on the agenda are at least 100 panel sessions, events, demos, and screenings that will take place at five satellite theatres.
Operations will depend on and highlight MCEC’s integrated audiovisual system which was recently upgraded to a digital fibre optic signal path for quicker connections and displays.
PAX Australia event director, Bernadette Neumann, said: “After last year’s successful sold out inaugural we knew we needed to expand, so we are very excited to now call the largest convention and exhibition centre in the southern hemisphere our new home.”
