Ken Levine’s talk to open PAX didn’t stray terribly far from last year’s Keynote. He walked us through his childhood, his budding nerdery, and how he ultimately found his way into design. Along the way, he brushed against some nerd culture ephemera (Logan’s run, the Atari, etc.), and the underlying message was a constant, “it’s ok to be a nerd.”

This is just our second time at PAX, and two keynotes does not a pattern make, but it’s not terribly surprising that a community event is about making the community feel good about itself. It’s just that a big part of being a gamer is the basement-dwelling socially inept stereotype, and shame is really the low-hanging fruit. Nevertheless, it seems like a tired trope to trot out—if there’s no reason to be ashamed, then why do we dwell on it so much?

Regardless, he gives a smart and funny talk, so go looking for it on YouTube. We’ll try to post a grainy mp3 when we return.

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