This year saw the second edition of the Penny Arcade Exposition, Eastern Variant, otherwise known as PAX East. In the new Boston Convention Center venue, the 2011 fan festival saw gaming of every stripe celebrated with CCG groups playing Magic: The Gathering in the hallways, giant LAN parties for FPS and fighting game competition and hands-on demos for some of the year’s hottest upcoming games.
But, of course, no nerd fest is complete without scores of folk dressing up as a their favorite fictional heroes and villains. At first, I wasn’t even going to take pictures of the cosplayers at PAX East but the quality of their outfits–their performances, really–was so good that I couldn’t not document them. So, gaze in wonderment at the devotion of the inspired and occasionally cross-dressed costume-wearers of PAX East 2011.